Lake Tarawera locals push for lower sewerage costs
A member suggested homeowners not sign off on allowing connection works on their properties until they have funding certainty.
Rotorua Lakes Council is considering three funding options for the Tarawera Sewerage Scheme in its Annual Plan consultation
The scheme connects lake properties to Rotorua's reticulated sewerage, replacing septic tanks blamed for declining lake water quality.
The most recent cost estimate is $32.2 million, up from $29 million late last year. The council has said protests and court action added expense.
Under the 2024-34 Long-Term Plan, Tarawera ratepayers would need to fund $20.9m, but this has now jumped to $21.5m.
The council would borrow the money and households would pay it back over time.
Under the first funding option — the status quo — the lump-sum cost was $50,315 each, including GST.
Paid over 25 years, it would be $3899 a year — including covering the cost of the council holding the debt.
This could be split into two rates, one for the main pipeline and the other for connecting to the scheme, with the latter only charged to households that connect.
About 446 existing properties and 104 more to be built in the future could be connected.
These included public toilets, which the council would pay to connect.
The figures reflected a $5286 discount if households agreed by June 1 to having installation work on their properties.
So far, 65 properties have given approval for this.
Households that missed the deadline would need to pay for the connection themselves.
Any who refused to connect may have few options, with the council previously saying septic tanks alone would be non-compliant and upgrades to be compliant were unlikely to get consent with reticulation available nearby.
The two other funding options reduced Tarawera households' costs by increasing rates paid by all other Rotorua ratepayers, through the Lakes Enhancement Rate.
Option two added $2.80 a year to all ratepayers' bills for 25 years, raising $1m and reducing Tarawera households' contribution to $47,737.
Option three raised $4m by increasing rates $11.20 per year, and reduced Tarawera payments to $40,001.
At a community meeting on Easter Monday, the Lake Tarawera Sewerage Working Group recommended attendees support option three.
Group member Duncan Evans told the meeting option three did not "go far enough".
He said the group had told council staff many could not afford the scheme and proposed three non-negotiable conditions.
These were to set the maximum cost for Tarawera ratepayers at $36,600; exclude all cost escalations from their bills; and ask Bay of Plenty Regional Council to increase its funding to $1.485m to match Rotorua Lakes Council's contribution.
He advised attendees not to sign off on installation plans until they had certainty and a capped charge was agreed.
Evans suggested that if the group's maximum was agreed, then homeowners would agree to sign plans within two weeks of that decision.
In a statement to Local Democracy Reporting, group chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden said the council must negotiate with the Tarawera community before the rates are struck.
"This is not a trivial matter. Many community members simply cannot afford to pay for the options council is proposing."
Submissions on the Annual Plan are open until May 5.
The council's infrastructure and assets group manager, Stavros Michael, encouraged people to make submissions for elected members to consider.
"We continue to have discussions with Tarawera property owners and have continued to explore additional funding options to reduce the cost to ratepayers as much as possible."
The council hosted a webinar on the scheme options last week.
Council chief executive Andrew Moraes answered questions including what happened when someone could not afford the 25-year rate.
"The council has a range of policies that address hardship for people who struggle to make rates payments."
He encouraged people to reach out before making "significant life decisions" about their property.
Moraes said the council intended to seek more funding from the regional council and suggested people write to it for the same.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
a day ago
- Scoop
Rotorua Lakes Council Calls For Fair Share Of Online Gambling Profits
Rotorua Lakes Council wants communities to get a share of the profits under the Government's Online Casino Gambling Bill. The controversial bill has sparked concerns from sporting organisations, who fear it will impact existing funding models. However, the minister presenting the bill has argued there is little evidence to support the case and warned that community funding provisions could do more harm than good. New Zealanders can currently gamble on offshore websites, but it is largely unregulated. The proposed bill, which passed its first reading in July, aims to regulate offshore online casino gambling and license up to 15 international operators. At present, the bill offers no obligation for operators to provide community funding. In its submission on Friday, Rotorua Lakes Council urged the select committee to consider adding a policy requiring a percentage of profit to be returned to communities. The council also wanted a proposed 12% online gambling duty to be reinvested into local problem gambling. 'It is only right that where possible, profits generated from gambling [are] reinvested into local communities through initiatives that aim to uplift and provide long-lasting change,' the council submission said. The submission also raised significant concerns around online and social media advertising and its impact on younger and inexperienced gamblers. At present, proceeds from Class 4 gaming machines, or pokies, are managed by community gaming trusts. Legislation requires they return at least 40% of net proceeds into the community in the form of grants, with more than $300 million distributed annually to community groups, including those involved in sport, education, health and the arts. Sporting organisations believe they are particularly vulnerable to the new bill, with gaming trust funding playing a huge role in grassroots activity. Last year, sport was by far the leading recipient of such grants in Rotorua, receiving $3.25m of the $7.4m available – more than double the next highest category received. Regional sport trust Sport Bay of Plenty received nearly $360,000 in grants from the Lion Foundation and the New Zealand Community Trust in the 2024 financial year. The trust is one of more than 50 sporting organisations nationwide that have formed a 'collective sport voice' urging the Government to ensure online casino profits return to communities. Sport Bay of Plenty said the organisation opposes the current form of the bill, which 'fails to uphold the long-standing principle that gambling profits should benefit the community'. It highlighted that roughly half of the funding from sport grants goes to clubs, covering expenses such as equipment, uniforms and coaching, with none going to high performance. Sport Bay of Plenty would not comment on the ethical concerns raised regarding gambling money largely funding community sport. A 2020 white paper by the Problem Gambling Foundation, Hāpai te Hauora and the Salvation Army warned that the current model is ethically and financially unstable, with funds disproportionately sourced from vulnerable, problem-gambling populations in deprived areas. Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden expressed concern this week in Parliament over repeating the same model with online gambling. 'When community groups are reliant on funding from the proceeds of gambling, there is an incentive to increase gambling in order to increase revenue for those organisations,' van Velden said. The Department of Internal Affairs had advised the minister that this model would make it harder to reduce gambling, because 'community organisations are dependent on the funding that they receive'. Van Velden also said there is 'no evidence' that regulation of online gambling will reduce the current funding pool, but remained 'open' to the idea of community returns. She will meet representatives from the sporting community this week. Rotorua has 24 Class 4 venues. This is higher than the national average by population proportion. The current Class 4 and TAB venue policy caps gaming machines at 350, but that is currently exceeded with 362, with 74% of pokies in the district's poorest areas. Annual gambling losses in Rotorua exceed $26m and in 2022-23, 5.33% of gambling interventions were in Rotorua, ranking third nationwide, above Wellington, Hamilton and Tauranga. Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell supported the council's submission but previously admitted deep concerns from the community 'around the morals' of the current model. 'Even though it benefits the community, we know it is being collected by an activity that causes significant harm in our community,' Tapsell said in a council meeting in late July. Submissions for the Online Casino Gambling Bill closed on Sunday, with a subsequent report due in November. Note: Mathew Nash was previously employed as communications manager at Sport Bay of Plenty.
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Rolleston commuters to get long-awaited bus services' boost
Rolleston commuters will soon have access to four times as many buses, with a new private service ready to roll. Metro and Bentley Coachlines will begin a six-month trial on September 1, running direct services along two new routes – 84 Rolleston Direct West and 85 Rolleston Direct East. The change means direct buses between Rolleston and Christchurch will jump from four each morning and evening to 16. Residents have long called for more frequent services, citing problems with overcrowding, inconvenient timetables, and limited coverage across Rolleston. Bentley Coachlines owner Liam Bentley said the approval of the trial was a win for the community. 'Good result, and after six months we can tweak and change it if needed,' he said. The service follows a survey run by Bentley Coachlines earlier this year, with a proposal presented to Environment Canterbury in June. ECan public transport general manager Stewart Gibbon said the demand was clear. 'We know from ongoing customer feedback and submissions on our recent Annual Plan that there is strong demand for better services to and from Rolleston,' Gibbon said. A timetable is expected to be confirmed this week, but all trips will use existing Metro Route 85 stops at 10-minute intervals. At the Rolleston end, services will alternate between the east and west sides of the town on a 'hail and ride' basis, allowing people to board closer to home. Because Bentley buses are not subsidised like Metro services, fares will be slightly higher – expected to be $3.50–$4 compared with Metro's standard $3. Bentley did not believe the difference would deter many. 'It's not much for a commuter who can save money on parking in town. We rely entirely on fare revenue and ads on the back of buses. Because Bentley is not part of the Metro network, Metrocards, free transfers, and concessions will not work on Bentley-operated services. Bentley will accept contactless card payments and cash. Buses will be fitted with clear signage so customers can easily distinguish between both services before boarding. Gibbon said Metro staff will also be out and about talking to customers of the current 85 service in the days before the change to provide information and answer any questions. 'In addition to monitoring patronage, we'll also be engaging with customers who use the new services and reviewing feedback to identify any issues,' he said. The specific timetable for the buses is expected to be on Metro's website this week.
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- NZ Herald
Rotorua Lakes Council calls for fair share of online gambling profits
Rotorua Lakes Council wants communities to get a share of the profits under the Government's Online Casino Gambling Bill. The controversial bill has sparked concerns from sporting organisations, who fear it will impact existing funding models. However, the minister presenting the bill has argued there is little evidence to support
