Rotorua Lakes Council

Rotorua Lakes Council or Rotorua District Council (Māori: Te Kaunihera o ngā Roto o Rotorua) is the territorial authority for the Rotorua District of New Zealand.^[1]

Rotorua Lakes Council Te Kaunihera o ngā Roto o Rotorua
Type
Type	Unicameral of Rotorua District
Houses	Governing Body
Term limits	None
History
Founded	6 March 1989 (1989-03-06)
Structure
Seats	11 seats (1 mayor, 10 ward seats)
Length of term	3 years
Website
rotorualakescouncil.nz

The council is led by the mayor of Rotorua, who is currently Tania Tapsell^[2]. There are also 10 ward councillors.^[1]

Composition

Councillors

Rotorua Lakes Council, 2022–2025^[3][4]

Position	Name	Ward	Ticket (if any)
Mayor	Tania Tapsell	At-large
Deputy Mayor	Sandra Kai Fong	General
Councillor	Gregg Brown	General
Councillor	Robert Lee	General	Rotorua District Residents & Ratepayers
Councillor	Conan O'Brien	General	Independent
Councillor	Don Paterson	General	Saving Rotorua
Councillor	Fisher Wang	General	Independent
Councillor	Lani Kereopa	Māori
Councillor	Trevor Maxwell	Māori
Councillor	Rawiri Waru	Māori
Councillor	Karen Barker	Rural	Community Focused Leadership

Community boards

The Rotorua Lakes Council has created two community boards, under the provisions of Part 4 of the Local Government Act 2002,^[5] 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.^[6][7]

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.^[8][9][10]

On 2 April 1979, the arms were subsequently adopted at the first meeting of the Rotorua District Council.^[8] The blazon for the arms is:

Coat of arms of Rotorua

Crest On a wreath of the colours a male huia bird standing in a brake of New Zealand fern proper. Escutcheon Azure on a chevron Or a rainbow trout leaping proper between in chief a pine tree and a sprig of kōwhai leaved slipped and flowered and a geyser issuing from rock in base all also proper. Supporters On the dexter side a figure representing a farm settler of the nineteenth century, at his feet a cattle dog sejant and on the sinister side a figure representing a Māori chieftain all proper. Motto Tātau tātau ("We together")