Consultation

We consulted the community between 30 May to 14 July, with a total of 639 submissions received on the original proposal.

Hearings

The Strategy, Policy & finance Committee heard the submissions of 100 submitters during the course of two full days and two half days. Some of those who spoke to their own submissions also spoke on behalf of others who had asked to be heard but were unable to attend.

What happens next?

Council staff will now progress the work required to deliver the decisions made by the Council.

A draft Local Bill will need to be approved by Council before being submitted and would also require further community consultation.

Background

Assessment of the city’s reserves was part of implementing the Open Space Levels of Service Policy adopted by Council in 2021 and identified reserves and parts of reserves that did not meet the objectives of the policy.

Council subsequently approved work be undertaken to assess whether these sites could potentially be viable for housing to contribute to solutions to Rotorua’s housing shortage.

A proposal was then developed, identifying 10 sites – 2 full reserves and 8 parts of reserves – that could potentially be sold and made available for housing. Revocation of reserve status is required to enable the sale of the sites, and a Local Bill was recommended as the fastest way to achieve revocation.

In May 2022 Council approved taking the proposal out to public consultation.

This was followed by hearings before the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee which subsequently (11 August 2022) deliberated on the feedback received and made a recommendation for the Council’s consideration.