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Council Forms New Ōpōtiki Harbour Committee
With the Ōpōtiki Harbour Development almost complete, Ōpōtiki District Council voted this week to form a new committee to govern its operation and ongoing development.
The Ōpōtiki Harbour Management Committee will include representatives from the district council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, the Crown, iwi and both commercial and non-commercial harbour users.
The committee will replace Ōpōtiki Marine Advisory Group, which was set up in 2009 to advise the council on the harbour development.
Other options were considered, including continuing with the existing advisory group structure or creating a Council Controlled Organisation.
Among the reasons for not continuing with the existing group was that it had a larger membership, making decision making a slower process and that the terms of reference for the group would require realigning. A Council Controlled Organisation would be complex and expensive.
A committee with council oversight would ensure alignment with council policies, provide community representation, flexibility with membership and low costs.
The group will meet every two months and responsibilities include development and monitoring of long-term budgets and work programmes, to be reviewed annually and advising the council on navigational and safety requirements for the harbour.
They will also engage with stakeholders and provide a forum for user groups to report to, promoting integrated harbour use to the greatest extent possible.
Another responsibility will be to continually review funding sources to reduce the harbour’s reliance on rates and work together with all users to ensure the harbour’s economic success.
The council also agreed to thank members of the advisory group for the important role they had played in the development of the harbour.
Local Democracy Reporting
Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.
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