Steady progress for council's partnership plan

GROUNDWORK: Arapeta Tahana is one of those working on the new model. PHOTO/FILE

Work is well under way to get the Rotorua Lakes Council's controversial Te Arawa Partnership Model up and running, with officials saying the iwi's new council board should be ready to meet by February.

On May 26, the council voted 8-5 to allow Te Arawa representatives with voting rights on to the council's two key committees.

Former Te Arawa Standing Committee member Arapeta Tahana, along with other members of the former council standing committee, is working alongside council staff to prepare the way for the new board.

"We are working with the council on things like how the board will run, how we will organise our elections and form a new constitution," Mr Tahana said.

"We are also working with the Te Arawa Lakes Trust and have asked them to share facilities for an office for the board's new executive officer."

He said he hoped the board would be operational and ready for its first meeting in February.

"Ideally, we'd like to hold elections late this year.

"We are very clear that the implementation has to mirror what was endorsed by the iwi and we have no intention to make any changes. We have built up a lot of trust with many people and we do not want to jeopardise that."

Mr Tahana said a number of hui-a-iwi (tribal meetings) had been planned and he was working with the council to form a communications plan to keep the rest of Rotorua informed.

The council's strategy and partnerships group manager Jean-Paul Gaston said the council was looking forward to the new board being established "so we can give full effect to the decision the council has recently taken around a new partnership with Te Arawa".

"Council staff are assisting the project team," he said.

The Rotorua Pro-Democracy Society, which was initially set up to oppose the board model presented to council, has not decided whether it will legally challenge the decision. It is meeting next week to discuss the issue, among other things.

Society secretary Reynold Macpherson said the board could alienate more than just mataawaka (non-Te Arawa Maori) and the non-Maori majority living in Rotorua.

"Will the 'partnership' even survive? The promises made by the mayor have already been cut or stalled by over half due to resistance in the wider community," Mr Macpherson said.