Rotorua Lakes District or Rotorua District is a

territorial authority Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. District councils serve a c ...

district in the North Island of New Zealand. It has one urban area of significant size, the city of

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

. The district is governed by Rotorua Lakes Council, which is headquartered in Rotorua and is headed by a mayor. The district falls within two regional council areas, with the majority of the area and Rotorua city in the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

region and the rest in the

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

region.

Tania Tapsell Tania Tapsell (born 22 September 1992) is a New Zealand politician. She has served on the Rotorua Lakes District Council since 2013 and was elected mayor of Rotorua at the 2022 local elections. She is the first woman of Māori descent to hold ...

has been the

mayor of Rotorua The Mayor of Rotorua officiates over the Rotorua Lakes district of New Zealand, which is administered by the Rotorua Lakes Council (RLC), whose seat is in Rotorua. An elected borough council first came together in February 1923; prior to that, t ...

since the 2022 local elections.

History

Rotorua has an unusual history as the town was built by the Government as a tourist destination in the 1880s. Through the Rotorua Borough Act 1922, which achieved

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...

on 28 September 1922, the Rotorua Borough was formed. The inaugural elections for mayor were held in February 1923 and

Cecil Clinkard Cecil Henry Clinkard (1862 – 24 March 1941) was a United Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand, and the first mayor of Rotorua. Early life Clinkard was born in 1862 in Oxfordshire, England. He came to New Zealand with his parents in 1867 ...

was successful. In 1962, Rotorua was proclaimed a city. In 1979, the status was changed to a district when Rotorua City and Rotorua County amalgamated. The district council held its first meeting on 2 April 1979. At the 27 November 2014 council meeting, it was decided to change the operating name of the council to Rotorua Lakes Council, while the official name would remain unchanged. Since then, the district has been known as Rotorua Lakes and the council's web domain changed from ''www.rdc.govt.nz'' to ''rotorualakescouncil.nz''.

Geography

Rotorua Lakes covers . The district's area is 61.52% in the Bay of Plenty region and 38.48% in the Waikato region. Adjacent districts (in a clockwise direction starting in the north) are Western Bay of Plenty,

Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is the seat of the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. Whakatāne District is the encompassing territorial authority, whi ...

, Taupo, and

South Waikato South Waikato District is a local government district in the Waikato Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located between the cities of Hamilton to the north, Rotorua to the east, Taupo to the south and Ruapehu District to the west. ...

. The Bay of Plenty portion of the district includes the settlements of

Ngongotahā Valley Ngongotahā Valley is a valley formed by the Ngongotahā Stream west of Rotorua, in New Zealand. Springs on the stream were landscaped in 1939 and promoted as Paradise Valley Springs, and the main road into the valley is Paradise Valley Road. ...

Mamaku Mamaku is a small village in the Bay of Plenty Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Mamaku Plateau at an elevation of above sea level. Situated at the highest point of the now-mothballed Rotorua Branch railway line, the ...

, Hamurana, Mourea, Rotoiti Forest,

Lake Rotoma A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

Lake Okareka A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

Lake Tarawera Lake Tarawera is the largest of a series of lakes which surround the volcano Mount Tarawera in the North Island of New Zealand. Like the mountain, it lies within the Okataina caldera. It is located to the east of Rotorua, and beneath the pea ...

, Rerewhakaaitu, and

Kaingaroa Forest Kaingaroa Forest covers 2900 km² of the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand, and is the largest forest plantation in New Zealand, and the second largest in the Southern Hemisphere (after the 6000km² Sabie/Graskop plantation in South Afri ...

. The Waikato portion includes the settlements of

Waiotapu Waiotapu (Māori language, Māori for "sacred waters") is an active Geothermal (geology), geothermal area at the southern end of the Okataina Volcanic Centre, just north of the Reporoa caldera, in New Zealand's Taupo Volcanic Zone. It is 27 kilo ...

Reporoa Reporoa is a rural community in Rotorua Lakes within the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located within the Reporoa Caldera, a caldera in the Taupo Volcanic Zone containing the Deer Hill, Kairuru and Pukekahu rhyolitic l ...

Broadlands Broadlands is an English country house, located in the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Romsey Extra, near the town of Romsey in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The formal gardens and historic landscape of Broadlands ...

, Mihi, Waikite Valley, Ngakuru, and Atiamuri.

Demographics

Rotorua District covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Rotorua District had a population of 71,877 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 6,597 people (10.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 5,976 people (9.1%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 25,056 households. There were 35,148 males and 36,729 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.96 males per female. The median age was 36.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 16,113 people (22.4%) aged under 15 years, 14,148 (19.7%) aged 15 to 29, 31,248 (43.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 10,365 (14.4%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 63.3% European/Pākehā, 40.1% Māori, 5.4% Pacific peoples, 9.5% Asian, and 1.6% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 17.8, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 49.9% had no religion, 35.0% were Christian, 1.8% were Hindu, 0.3% were Muslim, 0.5% were Buddhist and 5.5% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 9,876 (17.7%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 10,434 (18.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $28,000, compared with $31,800 nationally. 7,122 people (12.8%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 27,117 (48.6%) people were employed full-time, 8,541 (15.3%) were part-time, and 3,378 (6.1%) were unemployed.

Local government

Local council

Every three years, a mayor and the district councillors are elected in

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. In the most recent elections in 2019,

Steve Chadwick Stephanie Anne "Steve" Chadwick (née Frizzell, born 15 December 1948) is a New Zealand politician. She served as mayor of Rotorua from 2013 to 2022. She previously held the positions of Minister of Conservation, Women's Affairs, and Associat ...

was re-elected as mayor and ten councillors were returned. Rotorua Lakes uses the

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

(FPP) voting system and elects its councillors

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

Sister cities

Rotorua has four

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

: *

Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was ...

Beppu is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of March 31, 2017, the city had a population of 122,643

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

* The

Wuzhong District Wuzhong District () is one of five urban districts of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, ...

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

, China

References

External links

{{Authority control Politics of the Bay of Plenty Region Politics of Waikato