July 29, 2015
No legal challenge to Maori reps in Rotorua
A ground-breaking move by Rotorua Lakes Council to have Maori-elected members on key committees is to go ahead without legal challenge.
In May the council agreed to allow Te Arawa representatives full voting rights on two key committees prompting a group calling itself the Pro-Democracy Society to threaten a legal challenge saying it had opinions from top lawyers that the move was illegal.
However at a meeting this week the group decided that the $100,000 cost of seeking a Judicial Review was too high and even if they won and costs were awarded it would be ratepayers footing the bill.
The council's strategy and partnership group manager Jean-Paul Gaston says the council was confident the move was lawful and compliant.
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