Staff and councillors almost outnumbered members of the public at a council consultation meeting held yesterday to outline the main features of the city's draft 10 year plan.
As part of its public consultation process the Rotorua District Council held two public information meetings yesterday at 2pm and 5pm.
The Daily Post attended the 2pm session with 12 members of the public, seven councillors, Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters and other senior council officers.
Chief executive Peter Guerin outlined the key features of the plan - economic prosperity, environmental improvements and continuous business improvement - while reminding those present of the council's proposed rates increases for the coming years.
He said the council was determined to continue its record of maintaining low-level rates increases and was proposing a 2.9 per cent increase in the overall amount of rates to be collected for the 2012/13 year. For the following two years the council is signalling rates increases will be kept below 3.5 per cent and then within 2 per cent of CPI for the rest of the long-term plan's 10-year period.