More funding announced for key Rotorua projects

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was in Rotorua today.

The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Redwood Forest projects have received a $2.09 million boost in funding.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Rotorua-based list MP and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau made the funding announcement in Rotorua this afternoon.

The funding, from the government's Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), will see an additional $2 million for Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa Rotorua Museum and $90,000 for Redwood Forest projects that will "significantly accelerate progress and employment outcomes for the region,” Peters says.

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick says the funding is a welcome boost to key projects and will allow the replacement, rather than repair, of the roof of the museum, and the construction of a new visitor centre in the Redwood Forest.

In September 2018, $7 million of PGF funding was announced for the Whakarewarewa Forest project, and $15 million was announced for the Rotorua Museum redevelopment in August 2019.

'Helping these projects progress quickly will provide immediate employment opportunities for local people, and provide more confidence for additional private and iwi investment in the region,” Tabuteau says.

'These are important projects for Rotorua and its economic future,” says mayor Chadwick.

'Both the museum and the forest are much-loved community assets that also play a big part in our proposition as a tourist destination.

'We want to make sure we have outstanding facilities that contribute to our ongoing relevance as a place where people want to live, work, do business and visit,” says Chadwick.

'It's great to the have the continued support of central government and ongoing confidence in the direction we have set and the outcomes we are trying to achieve here in Rotorua.”

The Rotorua Lakes Council is managing an investment of over $53 million to strengthen and redevelop Rotorua Museum and an investment of $14.5 million to enhance the forest amenity and improve the experience for all.

Chadwick says all investigative and deconstruction work is now complete and pre-construction services are nearing completion on the complex museum project which will involve seven construction stages.

The new visitor centre in the Redwoods will be one of the final pieces of the forest developments which have included a new entry hub near Tikitapu.

You may also like....

0 comments

Leave a Comment


You must be logged in to make a comment.