Tarawera residents invited to discuss lake issues

Lake Tarawera residents and regular visitors are invited to discuss what they love and what they are concerned about for their lake with Bay of Plenty Regional Council staff this coming Labour Weekend.

The Lake Tarawera 'Café au Lakes' will be held on Sunday, 23 October at The Landing Restaurant at Tarawera Landing from 11am to 2pm and again from 3pm to 6pm.

Senior Policy Analyst Karen Parcell said the Regional Council was developing a Lake Tarawera Action Plan to reduce the level of nutrients entering the lake. The Action Plan is part of the Rotorua Lakes Protection and Restoration Action Programme being carried out between the Regional Council, Te Arawa Lakes Trust and Rotorua District Council.

"Extensive input was received from the Lake Tarawera Action Plan Working Party during development of the draft Action Plan, but some years ago the entire project was put on hold and the draft Action Plan wasn't completed," she said.

"We started to work on the Lake Tarawera Action Plan again in July this year. As it's been a few years, some things have changed. We've learned some lessons from action plans that have been developed for other lakes and we're trying to improve on how we do things."

She said all the information gathered previously was still available but things had probably changed for the community.

"We want to know what people love about the lake, and we also want to talk to residents and lake users about what their concerns are for Lake Tarawera."

People who could not attend the Café au Lakes can also provide their ideas by filling out a feedback form on the Regional Council's website www.boprc.govt.nz, or attending a second Café au Lakes tentatively scheduled for Anniversary Weekend in January next year.