Local government awards has sparked a war of words between RDRR and Rotorua Lakes Council. Photo/File
Council critics want an urgent review of the council's bid for local government excellence awards, saying they are ''outraged'' it could win and describing one nomination as a ''tasteless joke''.
Members of the Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers group have sent a letter to Local Government New Zealand seeking an urgent review of Rotorua Lakes Council's applications for the association's excellence awards.
The letter was also sent to other mayors throughout the country including Gore, Christchurch, Auckland, Dunedin, Kaipara, Napier and Whakatāne.
Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick and councillors were also in the email chain.
The council is a finalist in three of the six LGNZ Excellence Award categories; Best Practice Contribution to Local Economic Development, Best Practice in Governance, Leadership and Strategy, and Delivery and Asset Management.
The awards relate to the council's economic development strategy to breathe new life into the inner city, its planning for the Rotorua Way strategy and the Te Aka Mauri Library and Children's Health Hub.
In the letter, by Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers (RDRR) chairwoman Glenys Searancke and secretary Reynold Macpherson, the pair said members of the group were "outraged" the council could win the awards.
Searancke is a former district councillor of 30 years and Macpherson unsuccessfully ran for mayor at the last election.
They said the nomination for the contribution to local economic development for breathing new life into the inner city was a "tasteless joke".
The inner city revitalisation is a strategy including Te Manawa, Eat Streat, lighting, art work and more.
"The change to the Hinemoa and Tutanekai intersection was originally promoted as a 'refresh' of the existing City Focus ... The inner city is now significantly less welcoming than before," they wrote.
"The changes since 2013 are also seen as symptomatic of a council that is trying to turn the district into a theme park for visitors at the expense of the residents and ratepayers."
Councillor Charles Sturt responded to the ratepayer group's statement with his own email, saying in his opinion Macpherson had a "desire to again try and undermine the efforts of this council".
"You have an obsession to undermine every positive message, project and effort on behalf of Rotorua residents and ratepayers who in their droves tell me while they respect your right to make comment that you do not speak for the vast majority of the Rotorua people,'' he wrote, expressing his perspective.
Sturt said in his view the "extreme lengths" Macpherson took to "attempt to undermine this community's collective efforts to move Rotorua forward" were tiresome.
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick, in a statement to the Rotorua Daily Post, said Macpherson and the RDRR were in her view against "anything and everything" the council was doing and trying to achieve.
She also believed that "[He] is attempting to impact the reputation of Rotorua nationally by having a go through LGNZ. This is a new low – for him, his organisation and quite frankly, for the media, who, in their desire for conflict, continue to provide him with a platform."
"He and his organisation constantly put Rotorua down in an attempt to undermine this council and what we are trying to achieve for the benefit of our district and residents."
Chadwick said the evidence of progress was everywhere and the RDRR organisation was trying to undermine this.
"There is a time for politics but right now is the time for us to be getting on with what needs to be done for the ongoing progress of our district. That's what we're interested in."
Chadwick said in her view: "We have important work to do and it doesn't include constantly being distracted by a time-waster who appears to want to see Rotorua return to the dark ages and should accept his losses and perhaps relocate so we can get on with it."
The ratepayer group also took aim at the council's nomination for the Rotorua Way, which is part of the strategic framework for delivering the Rotorua 2030 vision, and at Te Aka Mauri Library and Children's Health Hub.
On the latter, the RDRR group said it was a "grandiose white elephant".
"The design promised an integrated public library and children's health hub, boastfully promulgated as a 'New Zealand first'. The reality is very different.
"It is a reduced library service operating independently from a range of autonomous health-related service outlets. It is not an exemplar of integrated service delivery."
Macpherson and Searancke were also annoyed the award applications were held in what they believed was "secret" and the applications could have "un-validated and potentially fictional data".
"There may be factual errors and mistaken beliefs. Hence, we challenge the RLC to publish their applications and face public accountability."
A Local Government New Zealand spokesperson said the excellence awards went through a "robust and rigorous process".
"They are judged by an independent judging panel who review each application and determine both finalists and winners using general and award-specific criteria. LGNZ reviews the criteria each year and integrates refinements as needed."
Finalist categories
- Excellence Award for Best Practice Contribution to Local Economic Development: Economic development strategy to breathe new life into the inner-city
- Excellence Award for Best Practice in Governance, Leadership and Strategy: Planning for the Rotorua Way project
- Excellence Award for Delivery and Asset Management: Te Aka Mauri Library and Children's Health Hub