Solid progress towards Rotorua 2030 goals

Rotorua Lakes Council is reporting solid progress towards the series of goals that make up its Rotorua 2030 vision. The goals were originally set in consultation with the local community in early 2014 following the election of the new mayor and council in October 2013.

Presenting the first quarterly report with a visual snapshot of progress for each of the seven Rotorua 2030 goals, council Strategy manager Aimee McGregor referred to a stream of good news reported for Rotorua’s growth in recent times.

“However we haven’t until now had a holistic view of what these various individual statistics mean in terms of how Rotorua is tracking against the seven goals that our community and council identified as priorities for our district.

“So it’s quite exciting to be able to show this progress in a visual single page form that we can share with our community, our partners and our council team.

“I’m thrilled that this first progress report is so positive, with six of the seven goals showing improvement and being very much on track. Where we can compare them with national averages we’re seeing progress that’s tracking ahead of national averages.

“However we still have a long way to go to reach our vision; so we need to keep working together as a community to keep the momentum going and to address any concerns identified.

Deputy mayor Dave Donaldson said the progress to date was very pleasing.

"While the council can't take credit for all the progress, it can certainly take credit for working closely with the community and our Portfolio groups to help achieve these positive results.

The quarterly progress report summarises results for each of the seven Rotorua 2030 goals. In summary this progress includes the following:

Goal 1 - A resilient community: Seventy eight per cent of residents feel connected with their neighbourhood and community while just 6.6 per cent do not feel connected. Ninety one per cent think the district is generally a safe place to live.

Goal 2 - Homes that match needs: The value of new housing and renewal consents is up 12.4 per cent, compared to national growth of 5.6 per cent. In 2014/15 there were 573 Rotorua homes insulated through the Warm Up NZ Healthy Homes programme, compared to 136 the previous year.

Goal 3 – Outstanding places to play: Ninety three per cent of households use Rotorua recreation facilities at least once a month, and 65 per cent at least one a week. Eighty six per cent say they are as satisfied or more satisfied with recreation facilities available, than the previous year.

Goal 4 – A vibrant city heart: Retail spending for the year ending June 2015 is up 4.6 per cent compared to the national increase of 2.8 per cent. A pedestrian count across multiple locations in the inner city showed 3 per cent more people than the previous year’s count.

Goal 5 – Business innovation and prosperity: A 4.3% increase in GDP (gross domestic product) for the quarter to June 2015 was New Zealand’s highest, while the national average increase was just 2.9 per cent. Visitor nights recorded for Rotorua were up 9.9 per cent for the quarter ending June 2015, compared to the national average increase of 4.1 per cent.

Goal 6 – Employment choices: Median take home pay in the 30-34 age group increased 1.9 per cent in August, on par with the national increase. The unemployment rate for the year to June 2015 decreased by 0.4 per cent while nationally unemployment reduced by 0.1 per cent.

Goal 7 – Enhanced environment: The number of breaches of air quality standards was down 5.5 per cent for the year to June 2015. Eighty three per cent of residents are satisfied with the appearance and cleanliness of the district. However results for lakes water quality were mixed with two lakes showing improvement, five stable, one declining and five as yet not measured.

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