New mayor and council to be sworn in

Rotorua's new mayor, Steve Chadwick is set to be sworn in.

Rotorua's new mayor and council will be sworn in during the first Rotorua District Council meeting since elections were held earlier this month.

Council Corporate Planning and Support manager Oonagh Hopkins said the meeting, to be held in the Council Chambers on Wednesday next week, will start at 7pm and is open to the public.

The format for the meeting will start with an official welcome by council chief executive Geoff Williams followed by the swearing in of Rotorua's new mayor, Steve Chadwick.

Mrs Chadwick will then make her inaugural speech and will then proceed to swear in the city's 12 councillors, including the three new councillors Rob Kent, Tania Tapsell and Peter Bentley.

Mrs Chadwick will then officially appoint her deputy mayor Dave Donaldson before the meeting's formal council agenda would be discussed and debated. During the meeting, the council's Annual Report for the 2012/13 financial year will be adopted. Mrs Hopkins said the chief executive would hand over the mayoral chains to Mrs Chadwick.

Each councillor will make an oral declaration and then signs a written declaration.

"All proceedings are part of a formal council meeting - the inaugural meeting of the newly elected council. As with any meeting an agenda is followed," she said.