Strong support for council changes

Public consultation on Rotorua Lakes Council's Your Choice 2016 election review closed last week with 52 submissions lodged. Photo / Ben Watson

More than 50 people have had their say on proposed changes to the way Rotorua elects its councillors and the general consensus was supportive.

Public consultation on Rotorua Lakes Council's Your Choice 2016 election review closed last week with 52 submissions lodged.

Nine of the submitters had opted to speak to the mayor and councillors at a public hearing scheduled for November 3.

Your Choice Working Party chairwoman councillor Merepeka Raukawa-Tait said they had not completed a detailed analysis but a preliminary assessment indicated general consensus in support.

The proposals included reducing the number of councillors from 12 to 10 and establishing a new community board to provide a voice for the rural community in addition to retention of the existing Lakes Community Board.

The working party also recommended that the current at large voting system be retained rather than a return to voting for councillors by wards.

Mrs Raukawa-Tait said she was not surprised the council had not been inundated with submissions in the final consultation phase.

"This hasn't become a particularly contentious issue. That's probably a result of the comprehensive and inclusive community conversation our working party members undertook earlier. The recommendations that came out of that phase of consultation appear to have been seen as a pretty good reflection of the thinking of many of the people we engaged with."

Following the public hearing, submissions will be fully analysed and a report prepared for a council meeting on November 12. The hearing and the council meeting will be open to the public.

Once decisions are made, residents would have the opportunity to lodge appeals against any of them. Any appeals received will be determined independently by the Local Government Commission, with final election arrangements due to be confirmed by April.

The next local government election is scheduled for October next year.