1 October 2018

Media: Stuff

Topic: Environment Court case

Inquiry

The reporter asked questions of Mayor Chadwick in regards to the Environment Court case against Rotorua Lakes Council and Waste Management Limited.

I've just received the Crown Charge Notice for the Environment Court case against council and Waste Management NZ Ltd.

• Firstly I wanted to ask is Steve confident council will successfully defend the charges?
• Is it a concern that Bay of Plenty Regional Council have sought to take legal action?

Response

Information provided

Given this case is due before the Environment Court it would be inappropriate for Rotorua Lakes Council to comment and await the hearing date.

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Media: Rotorua Daily Post

Topic: Mamaku bus service

Inquiry

The reporter was following up a story from earlier in the year after hearing that the service is very close to coming to fruition - early story can be found at -. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=12025109

The reporter asked Bay of Plenty Regional Council as operaters the buses but also inquiried with Council to see if there was any involvement in discussions and if so, if Council would like to comment.

Response

From Infrastructure General Manager, Stavros Michael:

As you've mentioned, the implementation of bus services is the responsibility of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC). If BOPRC does go ahead with this decision, Rotorua Lakes Council would be responsible for providing the necessary facilities to support the service, such as bus stops and shelters.

We continue to support the Rotorua Rural Community Board which is working closely with the Mamaku community to identity and address issues in the area such as upgrading footpaths, road sealing and installing street lighting.

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Media: Rotorua Daily Post

Topic: Homeless shelter

Inquiry

Being on month out from the closure of the temporary night shelter the reporter asked the following questions -

• How is the council going with its homeless action plan?
• How will the council support the homeless population when the shelter closes?

Response

Just to be clear Council is not leading initiatives to address homelessness but has joined a collaborative community response to address the issue. It continues to take the lead from those with expertise as well as those who have experienced homelessness first-hand. Council is not an expert on addressing the issues but is using its powers to help and will continue to provide support to those equipped to working in this space.

What we can say is that Council is supporting a variety of efforts to address homelessness as part of its Homelessness Winter Action Plan.

The plan canvasses four strategic projects/ activities and include the follow steps which have been undertaken by Council staff:

Public perception and attitudes:

• Homelessness has been widely discussed by council committees resulting in Council adopting the Homelessness Winter Action Plan
• Council continues to advocate to the Ministry of Social Development for the Housing First model
• It is working with the Ministry of Social Development to support its work on a national homeless count

Public places and safety

• Helping a community group which shares food at Kuirau Park and arranging gazebos
• Liaising with Watchdog, Police, Safe City Guardians and Parks contactors about not disturbing people who are sleeping in parks and reserves

Basic needs

• Working with support volunteers who monitor and open shower facilities during the week for our homeless community to use
• Toilet facilities are open longer in two locations in the city
• Supported Visions of a Helping Hand to obtain consents for the Night Shelter while also providing community grants for five organisations that provide support to the community for the next three years

Collaboration

• Council staff continue to catch up with some of our homeless community
• Council has also been working alongside groups/ businesses such as:
• Safe City Guardians
• Māori Wardens
• Police
• Ministry of Social Development
• Introducing Housing First staff to key contacts in the homelessness community
• Contacting local businesses near the Night Shelter and Drop-in centre
• Providing support to churches to ensure they have a support presence available with the Ministry of Social Development when visiting the drop in centre