Rotorua Lakes Councillors at an August meeting. Photo / Laura Smith
Rotorua Lakes Council set new rules for dog owners and progressed plans for a new committee with Te Arawa in a meeting on Wednesday.
The council debated for more than five hours in the public portion of the meeting, also settling on terms for a lease offer for Springfield Golf Club.
Councillors unanimously adopted a revised dog control bylaw and dog policy.
Of 483 submissions, 72% supported the changes to the policy, which included introducing a DNA database for use in identifying dogs for prosecution and mandatory desexing for dogs impounded more than once within a 12-month period.
Eight people spoke at a submission hearing, including a woman calling for stricter controls after being attacked by three roaming pig dogs, and a vet who asked for a ban on dogs in the CBD to be lifted to allow on-leash dogs.
Community and district development group manager Jean-Paul Gaston said the council needed to take a zero-tolerance approach to any dog found roaming given the risk it posed, regardless of breed.
Governance, strategy and compliance manager Greg Kieck said submissions against the changes mostly related to the council not going far enough in relation to dogs in the inner city.
He said concerns focused on the cost of DNA banking and who would pay.
Kieck told councillors it cost $65 to run a profile and $13 to store the DNA in the databank. Costs would be added to impounding fees which must be paid before a dog is released.
Gaston said from a resourcing perspective the council was not equipped for dogs to be allowed in the currently prohibited areas of the CBD.
Other implications included that not everyone felt comfortable around dogs, even when they were on the lead.
The council previously decided to hold off the discussion of dogs in the inner city for the time being while it worked to raise dog registration compliance.
Councillor Don Paterson, speaking in support of adopting the revised bylaw and policy, held back tears.
“We came home from a trip to find our horse had been murdered by three dogs. It was like our baby. Terrible.”
The changes to the bylaw and policy will come into effect from October 8 and all dog owners will be notified via email, text or posted letter.
Councillors also received an update on the Te Arawa Partnership Working Party Report and recommendations and efforts to establish a Te Kōmiti o Te Arawa 2050 / Te Arawa 2050 Committee.
Te Tatau o Te Arawa is a partnership agreement between Te Arawa iwi and the council formed in 2015 after a consultation process. The council last year agreed with the Te Tatau o Te Arawa board to establish a joint working party to review the agreement.
The review process was independently facilitated by Leo Watson who highlighted some of the recommendations at the meeting.
These included that the partnership was found to still be valid, a number of deliverables “could have been done better”, and how engagement with Te Tatau could be strengthened.
One of these deliverables was how a council committee restructure resulted in the absence of Te Tatau.
The draft terms of reference of the new committee detailed it was for the partnership to deliver and implement the Te Arawa 2050 vision.
All elected members would be on it as would the Te Tatau chair and three members, and at least four meetings would be held a year.
Its functions included enabling direct Te Arawa input into council policies, planning and decision-making on matters relevant to the delivery and implementation of the Te Arawa 2050 vision.
It would “enhance council decision-making” to include a kaupapa Māori perspective and “enable responsiveness to Te Arawa needs and aspirations to benefit the whole community” as well as ensuring compliance to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and obligations under the Local Government Act.
A final decision on the recommendations will be agreed by both the council and Te Tatau.
Clarification
This story has been amended to remove information incorrectly provided to councillors during the meeting regarding dogs on the lakefront. The council has clarified dogs are not permitted at the lakefront.
Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist since 2019.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
The Rotorua law student who authored it says the support was 'overwhelming but inspiring'.