Rotorua Lakes Council (abbr. RLC; Māori: Te Kaunihera o ngā Roto o Rotorua) is the territorial authority for the Rotorua District of New Zealand. It serves as the district's local government alongside the Bay of Plenty Regional Council as the main regional council. The authority's official legal name is Rotorua District Council; the council adopted the current operating name in 2014. The first Rotorua District Council was formed in 1979; in 1989 it was abolished and reconstituted anew.
The governing body of the council has 10 councillors and is chaired by the mayor of Rotorua (currently Tania Tapsell since October 2022). There are also two community boards.
Governing body
Mayor
One mayor is elected at-large; they chair meetings of the governing body and act as the head of local government in the district.
Current composition The current members of the governing body of council are: Role Portrait NameAffiliationWardMayorTania Tapsell IndependentElected at-largeDeputySandra Kai Fong IndependentGeneralCouncillor Fisher Wang IndependentGeneralCouncillor Ben Sandford IndependentGeneralCouncillor Gregg Brown IndependentGeneralCouncillor Don Paterson IndependentGeneralCouncillor Robert Lee IndependentGeneralCouncillor Te Rika Temara-Fenfell Te Pāti MāoriMāoriCouncillor Trevor Maxwell IndependentMāoriCouncillor Merepeka Raukawa-Tait IndependentMāoriCouncillor Karen Barker IndependentRural
Community boards The Rotorua Lakes Council has created two community boards, under the provisions of Part 4 of the Local Government Act 2002, to represent specific communities in Rotorua: Rotorua Lakes Community Board (established in 2007) Rotorua Rural Community Board (established in 2016)
Each community board consists of four elected members and a councillor appointed by the council, and is intended to provide advice to the city council regarding the interests of their communities.
Coat of arms A coat of arms was granted by the College of Arms to the city of Rotorua on 10 December 1963. At the time it was granted, it was believed to be the only city in New Zealand with a motto in Māori. The motto is credited to Pakeke Leonard, a former deputy mayor of Rotorua.
On 2 April 1979, the arms were subsequently adopted at the first meeting of the Rotorua District Council. The blazon for the arms is:
Elections List Mayoral
Council
References