Councillor Mark Gould to represent Rotorua at Sister Cities New Zealand Conference

Mark Gould will represent Rotorua Lakes Council at the Sister Cities New Zealand Conference in May. Photo / File

Rotorua is set to learn about ways of increasing and improving relationships with its sister cities at an upcoming conference.

Rotorua Lakes Council is sending councillor Mark Gould to the Sister Cities New Zealand Conference in May in Lower Hutt.

The conference is an opportunity for councils with sister cities to learn from each other and from guest speakers.

Rotorua has four sister cities: Klamath Falls in America, Beppu in Japan,
Lake Macquarie in Australia and The Wuzhong District of Suzhou City in China.

Gould has been on two sister city visits and said they were important relationships for the council.

"The relationships Rotorua Lakes Council has work very, very well.

"This is a way of looking at increasing and improving on those relationships."

Hutt City Mayor Ray Wallace will chair the conference.

"It will be very interesting for me to go and to be able to report back to my fellow councillors who view the sister city relationships as less important."

Gould will report back to council on June 28 at the monthly council meeting.

In yesterday's council meeting, councillor Trevor Maxwell said he was "more than happy" for Gould to attend the conference.

"He is a worthy choice."

Councillor Merepeka Raukawa-Tait said the conference was about how the council could work smarter.

"It's about becoming more informed.

"A big thank you to Maxwell and Gould who are the ones that are always on the front line and fostering these relationships."

Sending Gould to the conference will cost Rotorua Lakes Council $1448.