The councils' invitation to participate in the Community Reference Group (CRG) to "work through the recommendations together with the technical teams", and then to communicate options about Recommendation 17 (structural works) to the public, presents dilemmas.
The Independent Review of the Ngongotaha Flood Event 29 April 2018 took seven months to report, with no progress evident by the end of January 2019. The Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers (RDRR) was invited by residents, iwi and businesses to organise a public consultation meeting on February 15. The leaders of the BOPRC and RLC were invited in good faith, especially to let their engineers explain progress.
The response was a reactionary public relations campaign to recapture the initiative, announce a project timeline, and distribute a flyer in Ngongotahā a few days before the February 15 meeting advising, in effect, that, in my view, its outcomes would be ignored and that attendance was pointless.
Nevertheless, delegates from both councils attended but without clarifying the role of the CRG. Four days after the meeting another press release invited public participation on the CRG.
One dilemma for applicants is that they will be serving as spin doctors and spatial planners. Another, they will be fronting for a council with a record of cynical public consultations. Third, they will be restricted to Recommendation 17 about structural works.
