PLEASE NOTE: This is an interactive PDF. INDEX To ensure interactive elements function effectively please use the free Adobe Acrobat reader. Vision and Strategy for the Lakes of the Rotorua district Whaia te pae tawhiti kia tata, whakamaua te pae tata kia tina! Strive for your long term objective so that it may draw closer, once within reach grasp it! INDEX ROTORUA TE ARAWA LAKES PROGRAMME Vision and Strategy for the Lakes of the Rotorua district I think the lakes have a beautiful heart inside them and inside there’s a good heartbeat Patricia Waugh Lake Rotoma School ii INDEX ROTORUA TE ARAWA LAKES PROGRAMME Vision and Strategy for the Lakes of the Rotorua district Index Foreword . v Whakapapa - background . vi Haere i mua whakakotahi – moving forward as one . vii Reach of the strategy . 1 Setting for the strategy . 2 Our vision . 3 What does the vision mean? . 3 What the community told us . 3 Ways to deliver the vision of the strategy – what the community told us . 4 How will we work together? . 8 Guiding principles . 8 Delivery of the strategy . 9 Life of the strategy . 10 Connected . 11 Key focus areas . 11 Iconic . 16 Key focus areas . 16 Prosperous . 20 Key focus areas . 20 How do we know if the strategy has been successful? . 25 Future legacies of the strategy . 26 Glossary . 27 iii INDEX ROTORUA TE ARAWA LAKES PROGRAMME Vision and Strategy for the Lakes of the Rotorua district Mihimihi Toitu te Wai, Toitu te Whenua, Toitu te Tangata Tihē Mauri Ora Te Arawa wai Maori Te Arawa wai Karekare Te Arawa wai Marino Te Arawa wai Wera Te Arawa wai Ora Te Arawa wai Ariki Anei ngā taonga tuku iho Ā Te Arawa ki te motu Whano Whano Houa mai te Wai Tapu Haumi e! Hui e! Taiki e iv Kaumātua outside Te Takinga Marae INDEX ROTORUA TE ARAWA LAKES PROGRAMME Vision and Strategy for the Lakes of the Rotorua district Foreword The Rotorua Te Arawa lakes are important For Te Arawa particularly, the lakes are The lakes are an important environmental to our district, they are important to our part of us. and economic asset. We need to make region and they are important nationally. The lakes are important to us historically, sure we are protecting our lakes and They are our key tourism attraction for traditionally and also in terms of the using them in a sustainable way. this area. They are often regarded as the future and “the future wealth” they jewels in our crown. can bring to this region in helping the For me the vision of the Rotorua lakes development of our economy. means that we continually undertake Kevin Winters work to ensure our lakes are as clean as The Mauri and what it means to me is that can be. Mayor Rotorua District Council and Chair we have a responsibility that we ensure Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Strategy Group the lakes are in a state of preparedness to assist our people to live. John Cronin Chair Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toby Curtis Chairman Te Arawa Lakes Trust v INDEX ROTORUA TE ARAWA LAKES PROGRAMME Vision and Strategy for the Lakes of the Rotorua district Whakapapa - Background In 1998 a Lakes Strategy Working Group The lakes of the Rotorua district and their Council, Te Arawa Lakes Trust and the Bay comprising the Chairman of the Te Arawa Māori catchments are preserved and protected of Plenty Regional Council. This Group is Trust Board, the Chairman of Environment for the use and enjoyment of present and charged with providing leadership in relation to Bay of Plenty and the Mayor of Rotorua future generations, while recognising and implementing the vision. District Council began developing a Lakes providing for the traditional relationship of The original Strategy is now over twelve years Management Strategy. This was an important Te Arawa with their ancestral lakes. old and although the vision is as relevant step in addressing problems arising from the In preparing the original Strategy, individuals today as it was, relationships, knowledge and lack of coordination between those involved in and organisations across the district were innovation have evolved since the Strategy managing the lakes. asked what they wanted to see achieved for was developed. Achievements and gains have The purpose was to provide an agreed vision our lakes catchment. They were asked to been made. Partnerships are strengthening and for the lakes of the Rotorua district, unite efforts identify goals for the future, and what could be developing. and focus resources to achieve that vision. done to protect our lakes. In August 2000, the Lakes Strategy Working The status and importance of the original Me huri whakamuri, Ka titiro Group adopted the original Strategy for the Strategy was formalised through the Deed of whakamua- Lakes of the Rotorua district. That document Settlement1 and the Lakes Settlement Act2 . In set out why people value the Rotorua Te Arawa that Act, a joint committee called the Rotorua In order to plan for the future, lakes, their concerns and a vision for the future Te Arawa Lakes Strategy Group (the Group) we must look to the past of the lakes. was established between Rotorua District vi INDEX ROTORUA TE ARAWA LAKES PROGRAMME Vision and Strategy for the Lakes of the Rotorua district Haere I mua Whakakotahi – Moving Forward as One This Strategy updates the original Strategy The purpose of the Strategy is to achieve the approved in 2000. It builds on the commitment original vision and work under an overarching of partner organisations to provide an goal of co-management3. integrated and holistic direction for the The Strategy aims to be clear, simple and management of the lakes catchment. easily understood. Although it sets out how The community have been involved in the the partner organisations will deliver the vision, scoping of the Strategy which provides a the Strategy belongs to everyone who has an pathway of what the community and partner interest in the lakes now and in the future. This organisations want to achieve and a framework includes iwi, the lakes communities and lake Lake Rerewhakaaitu planting for action. users, as well as our future generations. 1 Deed of Settlement 2004 of the Te Arawa Lakes Historical Claims and remaining Annuities Issues 2 Te Arawa Lakes Settlement Act 2006 3 The overriding intent of co-management has carried over from the original Strategy adopted in 2000 which states: Establish in partnership with Te Arawa a co-management framework that achieves the best integrated management. Lake Tarawera - Photo by Bruce Webber vii INDEX ROTORUA TE ARAWA LAKES PROGRAMME Vision and Strategy for the Lakes of the Rotorua district Reach of the Strategy The area that the Strategy applies to is the Rotorua lakes catchment. The catchment area includes the rivers, streams, tributaries and land area that feed into the 12 lake catchments. However what happens in these catchments has downstream effects (Kaituna River, Maketū Estuary and Tarawera River). The Strategy acknowledges the concept Mai i nga maunga ki te moana - from the mountains to the sea. The Rotorua lakes catchment includes: Lake Ōkāreka Lake Ōkaro (Ngakaro) Lake Ōkataina (Te Moana-i-kataina-a-Te-Rangikaroro) Lake Rerewhakaaitu Lake Rotoehu Lake Rotoiti (Te Roto-kite-a-Ihenga-i-Ariki-ai-a Kahumatamomoe) Lake Rotokakahi4 Lake Rotomā Lake Rotomahana Lake Rotorua (Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe) Lake Tarawera Lake Tikitapu 1 4 Under legal guardianship of the Rotokakahi Control Board. INDEX ROTORUA TE ARAWA LAKES PROGRAMME Vision and Strategy for the Lakes of the Rotorua district ERSHIP FRAMEW PARTN ORK Setting for the Strategy wa Lakes Settlement A e Ara ct 20 T 06 a Lake Alongside the geographical area, which the Te Araw s Strateg rua y Gr Roto oup Strategy relates to, we need to be mindful of the operational setting the Strategy sits in. rawa Bay of P Te A lenty Regio nal a O ru Cou th While the Strategy reflects the community’s to ncil In e o ct te r R tri re is il Pa ste aspirations for the lakes, specific planning and D nc rti d ou es Rotorua Lakes C regulatory documents will be important for Restoration Regional MOU & Local achieving the Strategy’s vision. For example, the Strategies regulatory tools in the Regional Policy Statement, Regional TNERSH S AR I P P N Policy P AMEWOR R K O Regional Water and Land Plan and District Plan A F L Statement L P I Funding C K D are critical for reducing nutrients entering the P Y R Deed N O , S A P O A L N N I L lakes. C A G W A D ROTORUA Y L Iwi N N D R I P , S P Rotorua Regional U C Management N K LAKES VISION L A R L A A R E District Plan Plans Plans N The Strategy connects all the partner agencies U S N O G D O & STRATEGY Ten Year Workstreams S S W N E R I and guides how they will manage the Rotorua R & Annual and U C R L Plans Programmes E U S lakes catchment. Although water quality is a key O S S T R Y E AT EG consideration, the Strategy supports a holistic Rules R FO S CU approach and considers how best to achieve all Lakes Management aspects of the vision. Other Policy The following diagram provides an overview of CO S A N U ll N RO es is E E k g c CT SP la in the interrelationships that operate around the o on ED RO us iv u n P o r o r w ec er th ng u a ted ICONIC osp – ki Strategy.