Former Rotorua mayor Grahame Hall. Photo / Felix Desmarais / LDR
Former Rotorua mayor Grahame Hall. Photo / Felix Desmarais / LDR
A former Rotorua mayor has delivered a fiery submission to the council over its controversial reserves revocation proposal, saying it is "outrageous".
Another submitter said elected members need to be brave and push the proposal through even if it was at the risk of losing votes in the October local election.
The submissions came on the third of four days of oral submissions about Rotorua Lakes Council's reserves revocation proposal, which would see the revocation of 10 reserve sites and their sale to Kāinga Ora, private developers and community housing providers.
Speaking to the Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee during the hearing on Thursday, former Rotorua mayor Grahame Hall – who was mayor from 1992 to 2004 - said he thought the proposal was one of the biggest issues facing Rotorua's future.
"I did have a packet of earplugs in the car in case anyone didn't want to listen, but I left them in the car, I thought everyone will be very attentive.
"Being a councillor - and a mayor - it's really important that you do what the ratepayers and residents request of you, rather than what you feel you want to do.
"Because I know, from experience, having stood for four terms as mayor and having a clear majority of over 12,000 in the fourth term, I think I know what ratepayers require and what they need."
He said the Government's suggestion of using reserves for housing – revealed to have been made around April 2021 in documents obtained by Local Democracy Reporting in May – was "audacious to say the least".
"It should have been declined, it should have never left the table."
He also believed it was "outrageous" that the proposal proceeded only via a casting vote of the mayor Steve Chadwick as chairwoman of the council in May.
"A casting vote … should not be used if you can't convince your colleagues it's a good idea. The convention has always been a casting vote is [for the] status quo."
He said the suggestion for the revocation to be enabled via a local bill – as opposed to via the Reserves Act – was "equally outrageous", calling it a "shortcut".
"Clearly we've been dumped on by the Government, and then asked by the Government to sell some reserves to house [people].
"As a council you've allowed an appalling situation to develop with our motels … all credit, you are now taking some action, and that action should have been taken two years ago in my opinion."
He said the council had said in its consultation information some reserve sites were "excess".
"Reserves were put there for a really good reason. That is for future generations and for growth. We don't have excess reserves in Rotorua."
Hall said the council should defer the decision until after the October election.
Submitter John Pakes said the city had a housing crisis and he believed those opposed to the reserves proposal were "Nimbys".
"You are here to govern for the benefit of your citizens. You are not here to govern on behalf of citizens who will pontificate with sympathy about the plight of those families who are struggling to have a warm roof over their heads, but then in the same breath they demand that the homes they profess to be so badly needed, should not be built anywhere near them."
He said the people needing housing were "not homeless people".
"They are families and pensioners."
He said reserves were a "luxury" for some, who would appreciate a home with a backyard at a minimum.
"If you are a councillor whose only wish is to win back your seat at the next elections, then you should vote no. If you choose to be a councillor who has the courage to govern, then you will vote yes."
The hearings will conclude on Monday next week.
Local Democracy Reporting is public interest journalism funded by NZ On Air.
