Waiariki merger decision in a month

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce says he expects to take about a month to make a decision over the proposed merger between Rotorua and Tauranga tertiary institutes.

Public consultation sought by Mr Joyce over the potential merger between Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Waiariki Institute of Technology closed on Tuesday, with 105 submissions.

The proposal is to disestablish both institutions and create a new tertiary organisation aimed at providing enhanced vocational and applied tertiary education programmes and opportunities for students across the wider Bay of Plenty region.

Mr Joyce said the next step in the process was for the Tertiary Education Commission to compile the submissions for his consideration and he expected to take about a month to reach a decision.

"It's important the proposal meets the needs of students, businesses and the wider Bay of Plenty region and I look forward to reading through the views of the community alongside the detailed business case before making an informed decision," the minister said.

Mr Joyce said his decision was "not pre-determined", and if the proposal did get his go-ahead, it would still need to go through Cabinet for sign-off.

The number of submitters for and against the merger was not yet known, he said.

However, on Monday about 35 Rotorua locals and students made it clear where they stood on the merger by protesting outside Waiariki's main campus.

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick also sent a letter to Mr Joyce urging him to stop the merger process that was co-signed by chairman of Te Arawa Lakes Trust Sir Toby Curtis and Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust Grahame Hall.

However both Bay of Plenty Polytechnic Council chairman Ian Turner and Waiariki Institute of Technology's council chairman Graeme Nahkies said the parties' concerns were "unfounded".