The restructure followed a failed attempt to redirect $2m in Crown restoration funding to Te Arawa-led projects \u2013 a proposal voted down by the regional council.<\/p>\n
Senior trust representatives presented their case to regional councillors on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Trust chairman Wally Haumaha told them the request was not for an ongoing subsidy, but an investment in new capability and systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question today is how we reset and strengthen the partnership, so it\u2019s fit for the next 20 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Haumaha said the trust had already \u201ctaken a knife\u201d to the organisation as part of its efforts to reduce costs and secure its future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re now going to operate with a leaner, meaner team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Te Arawa Lakes Trust chairman Wallace Haumaha. Photo \/ Andrew Warner<\/p>\n
Haumaha told councillors the proposal was about ensuring Te Arawa retained the ability to respond to biosecurity threats, environmental incidents and long-term lake health challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lakes are us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are our identity. They are us. They\u2019ll be there a long time after us.\u201d<\/p>\n
General manager Tame Malcolm said the restructuring process was now largely done, and the trust was focused on building a more financially sustainable model.<\/p>\n
Malcolm said the trust would continue with its reset, regardless of the regional council\u2019s decision, but warned that without the funding it would take \u201ca lot longer\u201d to achieve.<\/p>\n
Councillor Stuart Crosby said there was a risk that years of investment in Rotorua\u2019s lakes could be undermined if the trust was not supported through its reset.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot to assist in a restructure would have the bigger risk of all that investment going backwards, not forwards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Bay of Plenty regional councillor Stuart Crosby. Photo \/ Alex Cairns<\/p>\n
Councillor Kat McMillan said the trust\u2019s new \u201cstrategic direction\u201d was \u201creally exciting\u201d but sought reassurance it could successfully rebuild after shedding staff.<\/p>\n
While supportive of exploring the proposal, councillor Raj Kumar questioned how the trust would demonstrate value for money to ratepayers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a responsibility,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will have to tell our ratepayers why we are giving this $2m.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councillor Glenn Dougal supported the motion for staff to do \u201cmore due diligence\u201d to decide if the trust can \u201cbecome sustainable\u201d.<\/p>\n
Councillor Tim Maltby said councillors still needed a clearer understanding of exactly what ratepayer money would be spent on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is public money, so we can\u2019t just spend $2m on a nice, fluffy idea,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Councillor Ken Shirley said councillors needed to consider wider implications of a support package, noting the regional council worked with numerous iwi and hap\u016b groups across the region.<\/p>\n
Ken Shirley, Bay of Plenty Regional councillor. Photo \/ Alex Cairns<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see the challenge that we have in terms of that precedent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Shirley also questioned whether local government risked taking on responsibilities that should sit with the Crown.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere does that end?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Responding, Haumaha told councillors the trust ultimately wanted to \u201cbreak the chains\u201d of dependence on government funding.<\/p>\n
He cited future revenue opportunities including geothermal development, property holdings and other under-utilised assets.<\/p>\n
Councillors ultimately agreed to support the proposal in principle but directed staff to do further due diligence into the trust\u2019s finances, transition plans and long-term sustainability.<\/p>\n
Staff will also investigate possible funding options, including loans, grants and other mechanisms, before bringing the matter back to council for a final decision.<\/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 Britain 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 restructure followed a failed attempt to redirect $2m in Crown restoration funding to Te Arawa-led projects \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[116466,74,216442,1561,5205,6259,18982,23943,1644,676,5365,101,1132,111,43,139,69,1118,94416,5493,22367,1562,17152,5914,13911,1886,8690,61,9438],"class_list":["post-613560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-2m","tag-after","tag-arawa","tag-bay","tag-council","tag-door","tag-embattled","tag-entity","tag-financial","tag-investigate","tag-lakes","tag-left","tag-million","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-oneoff","tag-open","tag-package","tag-plenty","tag-rebuild","tag-regional","tag-sought","tag-support","tag-te","tag-to","tag-trust"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613560","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=613560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}