KEY POINTS:
Rotorua is another step closer to having a youth prison.
Child, Youth and Family has lodged a notice of requirement with the Rotorua District Council to use land on State Highway 30 south of the Rotorua landfill to build the central Youth Justice Residential Centre.
A notice of requirement is similar to an application for resource consent, although the council makes a recommendation rather than a decision on whether the project should go ahead.
The department wants to build the youth prison on a 10ha block close to the landfill, owned by the Parekarangi Trust.
The plan is to cater for up to 40 young offenders, mostly from the Bay of Plenty and Waikato.
It is hoped the youth prison will be opened by March 2010.
It will include an administrative building, residential units, a specialist secure unit, activities area, gymnasium and cultural centre and a playing field.
It is also proposed to include two self-care programme units where young people can participate in a programme to help them reintegrate into the community.
The city's manager of planning services, Tracey May, said the council was seeking more information about the site relating to water provision, waste water management, noise management and lighting the facility.
A Child, Youth and Family spokeswoman said the council also wanted information relating to the potential impact of the activities of a nearby gun club, consultation with local iwi and archaeological assessment of the site.
Ms May said once the council had the information it needed the notice of requirement would be advertised. The department hoped the notice would be made public by the middle of next month. People would have 20 days to make submissions.
Ms May said there would be a hearing regardless of any submissions. She did not know if a hearing would take place before the end of the year but the department hoped it would be.
Following the hearing the council would make a recommendation to the Minister for Child, Youth and Family, who had 30 days to decide whether to accept it.
Submitters and landowners and occupiers directly affected would be notified of the minister's decision and submitters and council could appeal to the Environment Court.
Daily Post
