{"id":418874,"date":"2026-05-09T02:31:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T02:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/418874\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T02:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T02:31:09","slug":"rotorua-council-drops-opposition-to-puwhakamua-parolee-rehab-site-amid-environment-court-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/418874\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotorua council drops opposition to P\u016bwhakamua parolee rehab site amid Environment Court concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

The council then took the matter to the Environment Court, with mediation taking place in February.<\/p>\n

After mediation, the council changed course, seeking a joint declaration with the trust that the activity was permitted under the District Plan\u2019s papak\u0101inga provisions.<\/p>\n

That position was based on an agreed planning assessment that the principal use of the property was residential accommodation, while the P\u016bwhakamua reintegration programme was a secondary or ancillary activity supporting residents.<\/p>\n

Under the Rotorua District Plan, papak\u0101inga is defined as residential and related non-residential activities that support the cultural, environmental and economic well-being of tangata whenua on ancestral land.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn aerial photo of the P\u016bwhakamua programme site. Photo \/ Google Maps<\/p>\n

But despite the agreement between the two parties, in a minute released on April 30, Chief Environment Court Judge DA Kirkpatrick said the court was not yet satisfied the agreed position was fully supported by either the facts or the law.<\/p>\n

Judge Kirkpatrick questioned whether the activity met all elements of the papak\u0101inga definition and associated performance standards, including requirements relating to governance structures and hap\u016b-based occupation.<\/p>\n

The court noted it was unclear whether all residents belonged to the relevant hap\u016b and said further explanation was needed as to why the reintegration programme should be regarded as secondary to the residential use.<\/p>\n

It also warned that any declaration could have implications for how similar developments are interpreted elsewhere in the district.<\/p>\n

The court directed the council to confirm by May 29 whether it intended to continue pursuing the application.<\/p>\n

Tikanga Aroro Charitable Trust status<\/p>\n

The case is further complicated by the recent collapse of the trust\u2019s contractual arrangement with the Department of Corrections to house parolees at the site. <\/p>\n

\"BillyBilly Macfarlane, founder of Rotorua-based organisation P\u016bwhakamua. Photo \/ Aleyna Martinez<\/p>\n

Corrections pulled funding in March following \u201cserious sexual allegations\u201d involving course leader Billy Macfarlane<\/a>. Macfarlane resigned from his role and has denied all the allegations. <\/p>\n

Emails to the trust sent last month bounced back, with an automated message saying operations had ceased \u2013 but that does not appear to be the case. <\/p>\n

The trust\u2019s former deputy, Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, confirmed to Local Democracy Reporting that she was now the chairwoman. She said there would be \u201cno public comment\u201d on the ongoing court proceedings at this time. <\/p>\n

\"TikangaTikanga Aroro Charitable Trust chairwoman Merepeka Raukawa-Tait. Photo \/ Andrew Warner<\/p>\n

As for the trust\u2019s current status, Raukawa-Tait, who is also a Rotorua Lakes councillor, said they were working on a \u201cnumber of issues\u201d at this time. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our focus, and we are making good progress,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Doug Macredie, Raukawa-Tait\u2019s predecessor and now a voluntary adviser to the trust, said the council had been \u201cconstructive\u201d and \u201csupportive\u201d throughout the court process.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce information was completed and transparent, it was a relatively simple discussion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asked about the future of the Te Ngae Rd site, Macredie said the trust would \u201cmove with the mauri [life force]\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"TikangaTikanga Aroro Charitable Trust voluntary adviser Doug Macredie. Photo \/ Doug Macredie<\/p>\n

\u201cThe site is just a site,\u201d he said. \u201cOur work influences the men and their wh\u0101nau far and wide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Macfarlane said he could not comment on the proceedings because he had resigned from the trust, and he had not seen the latest court minute.<\/p>\n

A council spokesperson said that, as the matter remained before the court and \u201cnext steps are being considered\u201d, it would be inappropriate to comment further.<\/p>\n

Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.<\/p>\n

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The council then took the matter to the Environment Court, with mediation taking place in February. After mediation,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[534,10709,15293,10039,25207,5205,1349,28796,273,6119,11163,5504,738,5365,2225,111,43,139,69,6379,32361,133932,20937,9527,184859,28700,17718,36565,1327,21674,1857,61,5619,190832],"class_list":["post-418874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-amid","tag-concerns","tag-continued","tag-controversial","tag-corrections","tag-council","tag-court","tag-drops","tag-environment","tag-faces","tag-facility","tag-following","tag-funding","tag-lakes","tag-loss","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ongoing","tag-opposition","tag-parolee","tag-prisoner","tag-programme","tag-pwhakamua","tag-rehab","tag-rehabilitation","tag-reversed","tag-rotorua","tag-scrutiny","tag-site","tag-to","tag-uncertainty","tag-whata"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}