The Rotorua Business Chamber has been engaging with Rotorua Lakes Council about its draft Annual Plan that was released this week for consultation.

Members of the Chamber Board met with the councillors on Tuesday morning, prior to the draft plan's release, and the Chamber President and Chief Executive had a follow up meeting with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor on Friday morning April 14

'The discussions were open, productive, and positive,” says Chamber President Glenn Tasker.

'We share a common goal – the betterment of our city. We covered a lot of valuable high-level strategic thinking about the direction of Rotorua and shared thoughts on some other areas that we think can make a real difference.

'Although we are disappointed at some of the suggested cuts in the draft plan, it is still only a draft, and we believe councillors are demonstrating a genuine willingness to engage and listen to our views. This receptiveness is seldom seen in discussions of this nature,” says Tasker.

'The Chamber will be engaging widely with its members and the wider business community in the development of a comprehensive submission to Council on the draft plan.”

Chief Executive Bryce Heard says as part of this process, the Chamber will host an Annual Plan consultation meeting for everyone in the business community at the Pullman Hotel on Thursday April 27 from 5:30-7pm.

'We urge members to attend. We believe we have a genuine opportunity to influence a receptive council and your input is important. Getting this right for the protection and enhancement of our Rotorua Brand and local economy is critical. We cannot complain if we do not engage.

'Like many members of the community, we share Council's concerns about any increase in rating charges and the need to keep any increase to a minimum. However, we need to differentiate between expenses and investment.

'We believe Rotorua Lakes Council has a duty to invest in our future. As ratepayers and leaders of the Rotorua economy, we want a say in both the direction of that investment and the impacts of any expense cutting.”