21 December 2018

Media: Rotorua Daily Post

Topic: Council response to April flooding

Enquiry

I have got an OIA back from MSD about their role in the flood response and links with other agencies involved. I wish this wasn't falling in the last few days of the year, but it's probably timely I put together a piece based around the OIA following the release of review panel's report. The OIA files list a couple of points that I should really get response from the Rotorua Lakes Council about. These are below. I was hoping to hear back from you Monday next week about this but if that's not doable let me know please.

The OIA says the state of emergency was wrongly declared for Ngongotaha, and it should have been for entire district.

Why was it not widened?

When did the council became aware it should have been wider?

How will this be assessed differently in future?

It also says local welfare groups were underprepared and unaware of all their roles and responsibilities.

Does the Rotorua Lakes Council agree?

Why/why not?

It also says CDEM local level response experienced some initial confusion meaning that emergency accommodation was referred to MSD to organise and MSD then had to refer it back to the council "in what was already a confused and distressing situation". (Pasted below for context if required).

Do you agree?

Why/why not?

Feedback from the Region suggests that the CDEM local level response experienced some initial confusion around responsibilities. As a result (in some cases) things like assistance with emergency accommodation were not addressed as official arrangements indicate they should have been. This led to the Council referring some people needing emergency accommodation directly to MSD rather than the Council arranging accommodation for them.

In cases where people who had evacuated were referred to MSD by the CDEM/Council Emergency Operations Centre

(EOC), assistance was provided rather than referring them back to the EOC in what was an already confused and distressing situation."

The OIA says there was a lack of clear process to collect and collate information about evacuees.

Do you agree?

Why/why not?

Finally, it says council had to seek legal advice about enforcing insanitary notices and the risks to tenants if they remained in their homes.

Why was legal advice needed?

Could you please provide what the cost was for this?

Response

Reporter was advised Council was unable to respond within the deadline given without full context and understanding of what was sought from MSD and what information the Daily Post received.

Excerpts subsequently provided by the reporter were insufficient to provide this understanding and context.

Reporter was advised that the request would be dealt with under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

Reporter was advised Council would need to work through the MSD information to enable us to provide a fully informed response. We do not want to misinterpret material and key technical staff who were involved and will need to have input are now on leave.

The reporter indicated the Daily Post intended to publish a story regardless (ie without Council response) and would look to run a follow-up after receiving Council's response.

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Media: Stuff

Topic: Kerosene Creek

Enquiry

A few questions for a summer series piece I've been asked to put together for Stuff/Waikato Times. The nub is to look at what happens when a location which may have previously been very rarely visited/known only to locals becomes more popular.

I'm also looking at the role social media plays in this process.

We're looking at a number of places up and down the country, but of course my query here will relate to Kerosene Creek.

To that end, I wanted to ask:

Is any monitoring conducted for the amount of visits that are made to Kerosene Creek - and if so could we see the numbers?

Does council keep an eye on social media to ascertain whether certain places are seeing a spike in interest?

What are some of the challenges council can face when a location like Kerosene Creek becomes more widely known, and popular?

How are decisions made like allocating toilet facilities?

Response

From Kaihautū Mahi Rēhia | Sport, Recreation and Environment Manager:

We recognised the need for some services at Kerosene Creek so obtained permission to install toilet facilities and fix some tracks. The area is part of CNI-managed land within Kaingaroa Forest.

We don't have current accurate numbers but last year some counter work showed that about 200 people per day were visiting the area either to have a look at the creek or to swim.

In the last year Council has done some work to improve the access track that was damaged by flooding and in previous years we have installed a toilet at the parking areas. Council also contracts toilet-cleaning and the clearing away of any rubbish dumping that may occur in the area.

Council doesn't specifically monitor social media to ascertain increased interest in visitor hotspots but we tend to become aware if that's happening through other means, like through regular checks and ongoing maintenance and removal of rubbish.

Obviously when more people are visiting a spot, we may then need to consider whether more facilities, maintenance and the likes are warranted and how that would be funded. It's important to note that with Kerosene Creek effectively being on private land, a number of other parties would obviously need to be involved in any consideration of further development of, or additional facilities in, the area.

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Media: Bay of Plenty Times (for regional story)

Topic: Noise complaints data

Enquiry

The data below was provided to the Bay of Plenty Times under an official information act request.

I am seeking urgent comment from the council about the trends and what message the council wants to send the community in terms of these sorts of issues which can cause lots of angst between the parties.

The formatting of stats to send to you is a bit off sorry but the excessive noise direction stats column starts with 526 and ends with 344 and the infringement column 76 in 2013 down to 29 in 2018

Busiest streets

Top 10 sources of noise complaints

Response

From Community and Regulatory Services Manager Neven Hill:

We're pleased to see an ongoing downward trend in the number of complaints year on year.

Now is a good time to remind people to have tolerance over the summer period for your neighbours. And if you are planning an activity or party where noise may be an issue, please be mindful of your neighbours and the neighbourhood.

This will ensure everyone can have an enjoyable event and neighbours are not disturbed.

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Media: Stuff

Topic: Dogs spending Christmas in Council pound

Enquiry

I am doing a story on dogs that will be spending Christmas in animal shelters this year, and contacting all New Zealand councils for their figures.

Please find below questions - deadline: tomorrow, 11am (please let me know if you can't make this deadline).

1. How many dogs will be spending Christmas in the shelter this year?

2. How many of these are adoptable?

3. One of Germany's biggest animal shelters have placed a temporary ban over digs being adopted as Christmas presents - its to prevent dogs from being abandoned or returned to the shelter because they're unwanted gifts. What is your council's view on this?

Link to the German story: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46522116

Response

From Rotorua Lakes Council Team Lead Animal Control, Compliance Solutions, Dylan Wright:

We try and have as few dogs as possible in the pound at this time of year. On average we have between 15 and 25 dogs in the pound during the Christmas break.

Staff always try to reunite lost/found dogs with their owners as soon as possible.

We still re-home during this time of year and people can come and look at dogs at the pound by appointment. However we have found that generally there are not many people looking to adopt dogs at this time of year. Sadly, what we do experience is an increase in people abandoning their pets at the pound over the holiday period. Dog ownership is a big responsibility and we advise people to carefully consider what's involved before deciding to get a dog.

During the 2018 year Rotorua Lakes Council animal control staff re-homed 87 dogs.