May 01, 2014
Iwi a priority in Rotorua council plan
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick says iwi are taking a keen interest in the district council’s new plan, but other sectors have been too quiet.
The council has received just 46 submissions on the plan, and it wants to get more in before the Friday deadline.
Ms Chadwick says Maori make up 28 percent of the district’s population, and they have outnumbered Pakeha at the public meetings on the plan.
Major issues include management of the forest estate, the Whakarewarewa geothermal field, water and sewage.
"The other issue here of course if the Maori economy since the treaty settlements is on the move, so we have said as a council we’ve got to have a strong partnership with iwi so we make the right decisions together," she says.
The council believes Rotorua needs to make more use of its geothermal resource, both as a source of renewable energy for manufacturing and to revive the sulphur city’s reputation as a spa resort.
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