Rotorua Lakes Council spends more than $100k on withdrawn wastewater discharge stoush
17 Feb, 2021 02:09 AM
6 minutes to read
Renee Kiriona. Photo / Andrew Warner
Rotorua Lakes Council spent more than $100,000 in the space of three months on an Environment Court case it later withdrew from.
The case was in relation to the council s plan to discharge treated wastewater into Lake Rotorua, which was challenged by Te Arawa Lakes Trust in 2018.
The action was withdrawn at the end of August, with the council, Central North Island Iwi Holdings and Te Arawa Lakes Trust working collaboratively toward a solution, according to a council release at the time.
Source: University of Waikato
Estuaries are places Kiwis flock to in summer. They are where freshwater rivers meet the ocean, and where people live and visit.
The estuaries dotted along New Zealand’s coastline provide many economic and recreational opportunities like swimming, boating, sightseeing and collecting kaimoana (food from the ocean).
But the health of our estuaries is declining, and it’s not just a problem in New Zealand.
Many major cities around the world are built around estuaries – they are socially and geographically significant. Their worsening state is a global issue.
Currently, more than 15 University of Waikato PhD students are carrying out important research into New Zealand estuaries in the hopes their findings will contribute to national and worldwide efforts to monitor and improve estuary health.
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Commission for Tauranga City Council welcomed in pōwhiri
11 Feb, 2021 10:20 PM
2 minutes to read
Commissioners Shadrach Rolleston, Bill Wasley, Anne Tolley and Stephen Selwood at Hairini Marae. Photo / Supplied
The four commissioners appointed to lead Tauranga City Council last week were welcomed to their roles in a pōwhiri yesterday.
The commission - chairwoman Anne Tolley and fellow commissioners Bill Wasley, Stephen Selwood and Shadrach Rolleston - took up their roles on Tuesday having been appointed by Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta.
Tolley said the commissioners gathered for the first time as a group on Thursday morning. We were then welcomed to our new roles by tangata whenua at a pōwhiri hosted by Hairini Marae.