Rotorua community projects are benefiting by more than $14m so far as a result of contributions from organisations signing up to the district council’s innovative ‘Rotorua Partners’ Programme’.
Rotorua District Council chief executive, Peter Guerin, said the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust, along with Unison, Bay of Plenty Community Trust, Red Stag Timber and The Southern Trust, had previously joined the programme as its original Foundation Partners. “Since then we have been working closely with other organisations keen to support community projects. It’s fair to say that the Rotorua Partners’ Programme seems to have captured the imagination of business leaders and other organisations, and is proving very successful.”
At a function held on Thursday [05 May 2005] to acknowledge participants in the programme and to announce new partners, Mayor Kevin Winters paid tribute to the organisations that have signed up to partner the council in a variety of projects aimed at future growth for Rotorua.
“Today I am delighted to announce a further 11 organisations joining us as participants in the trail blazing ‘Rotorua Partners’ Programme’.
“Firstly, I welcome two new ‘Foundation Partners’ and I congratulate them for their substantial commitment to our community. They are:
- Lion Foundation, and
- RadioWorks/MoreFM.
“Next we have our first members in the ‘Corporate Partner’ category and these five are:
- The Daily Post,
- Damar Industries,
- Opus International Consultants,
- Sigma Consultants,
- Star Appliances/Panasonic,
“And the programme’s ‘Project Partner’ category now has four new participants. They are:
- Canmap Hawley
- Davys Burton,
- Lockwood, and
- PhotoArts
“Every one of these organisations is making a serious and significant commitment to this community because they believe in the future of Rotorua, and they want to help make it one of the country’s very best places to live, to work and to visit. That vision is one we share, and we are absolutely determined to turn it into reality,” says Mayor Winters. “These are exciting times to be living in Rotorua.”
Council chief executive, Peter Guerin said the main project currently being supported by their Rotorua Partners is the proposed $21m Energy Events Centre. “Our fundraising for this ambitious project was kicked off by Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust with a generous pledge of $10m. This sparked the idea of the ‘Rotorua Partners’ Programme’ and RECT became the council’s first and most substantial ‘Foundation Partner’.
“Fundraising has been very successful for the Events Centre project and we already have commitments in excess of $18m, including council’s own $4m investment in the project. If the building consent application is approved soon, building could be underway around July. We’d then be targeting somewhere around the middle of next year for the facility to be up and running.”
Mr Guerin also launched a new website dedicated to the Rotorua Partners’ Programme. “The site gives information on the programme, lists all partners and provides links to their websites. It’s a ‘work-in-progress’ but in due course the website will provide details of other projects and opportunities for prospective partners wanting to come on board and contribute to the community,” says Mr Guerin.
The web address for the new website is http://rotoruapartners.rdc.govt.nz, and it is scheduled to officially ‘go live’ on Friday [06 May 2005].