23 July 2019

From Operatons Group Manager, Henry Weston:

"Council and Mayor Chadwick are aware of, and acknowledge, residents' concerns but this is not something either Rotorua Lakes Council or elected members are able to influence as the cell tower is a "permitted activity" on this privately owned site. Council therefore does not have the ability to halt installation of the tower.

The Government introduced the National Environmental Standards for Telecommunication Facilities to provide national consistency in the rules for telecommunications infrastructure across New Zealand. This regulation and the district plan allow the tower to be constructed on this site.

In response to correspondence received from a resident representing concerned locals, we have explained Council's position and encouraged them to continue dialogue with Spark and the site landowner.

We are aware that Spark has engaged with a number of concerned residents and is happy to continue discussions with the community and provide reassurance around their concerns."

Additional information provided:

This activity is permitted under the Operative Rotorua District Plan and the National Environmental Standards for Telecommunication Facilities (NESTF). While not required for the installation to go ahead, Council did receive an application for a Certificate of Compliance for the installation of a telecommunications facility (cell tower) in Springfield and this was granted.

The site for the activity is in a Commercial 3 (Neighbourhood Centre) zone. This type of zone is made up of small clusters of convenience stores such as dairies, chemists, hairdressers and takeaway outlets that provide day to day services to residential areas located within the immediate vicinity. Installing a freestanding telecommunication facility up to the height of 20m is a permitted activity in this zone under the District Plan and the NESTF and therefore does not require consultation. If the proposal had been in breach of either the District Plan or the NESTF it would require resource consent.

If the site was in a residential zone, the proposal would likely require resource consent as a discretionary activity and need to be assessed against the relevant criteria.

Response from Spark:

As per the TCF guidelines in January and March this year, Spark notified a number of neighbours about the build. We provided an informational brochure, site and land plan design along with a covering letter which detailed the build and an invitation to contact Spark to clarify any questions or concerns. Following this engagement, we responded to several neighbours, but didn't hear anything back from them until construction had begun.

Spark does its upmost best to engage with the community and help them understand the importance of building cell sites. As mentioned previously, the Springfield area has seen an unprecedented increase in data usage over the last three years. Currently the Springfield area sits in a digital 'hole' with mobile and digital service currently being delivered to Springfield by one of six existing sites that are reaching both coverage and capacity levels. This means, as more users demand services, the existing six sites wont cope and users will start to experience issues like dropped calls, loss of connectivity to services and coverage issues. This loss of service has the potential to effect day to day accessibility to services and business efficiency.

As stated above, we communicated with a number of neighbours at length, in accordance with the TCF guidelines. Unfortunately, some residents didn't respond until construction had already started.

We continue to engage with residents and provide reassurance in regard to the health and safety concerns of the site as well as to explain the importance of the site build.

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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Potential rates relief for CBD property owners

I've been working on a story about businesses and their thoughts on the potential rates relief. I talked to Karen Hunt last week but to ensure it is fair and balanced I would like to put some comments to you for the right of reply. I understand some of this may seem to be repeating yourselves from stories earlier in the year but I can't assume the readers are aware of previous stories.

What is the council actively doing to increase the attractiveness of doing business in the CBD?

How would you describe what the council are doing to ensure business owners feel supported and looked after by council?

Some owners found the CBD was unsafe, some due to homeless people. What is being done to combat this?

From Rotorua Lakes Council's Operations Group Manager Henry Weston:
"A thriving and healthy business sector is beneficial for the community as a whole and remains a key focus for Council as we continuously look at ways to improve and revitalise the CBD.

"Recently our focus has largely been on improving safety in the inner city and ensuring our CBD is a destination people want to visit and spend time in, which in turn creates an attractive environment for business owners.

"To date improvements have included increased CCTV monitoring and improved lighting, inner city markets aimed at attracting people into the CBD, improved intersections, art installations and alleyway art, the development of Te Manawa and Eat Streat, the Jean Batten Park expansion and revamp, improved maintenance of the city's gardens and public amenities, inner city activations (eg live entertainment), and the CBD safety initiative with police.

"The joint safety initiative with Police has been particularly successful. What started as a summer safety campaign has been extended into the winter months due to its effectiveness.

"The aim of the joint safety campaign between police and Council is to create a safe environment for everyone who works in and visits the CBD.

"The initiative has involved increased CCTV monitoring and increased presence in the CBD by Council's Safe City Guardians, security staff and police staff through regular joint patrols for extended hours. Joint briefings with Council's Guardians, security staff, and police are being held three times a week. These briefings provide the opportunity for all parties to share information and discuss relevant matters. This has immensely benefitted the effectiveness and coordination of the initiative.

"Council continues to work with and support other agencies and organisations to provide emergency and social housing locally. We look forward to seeing how initiatives such as

the Ministry for Social Development's Housing First initiative, which aims to end homelessness, will positively impact our community."

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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Meade Street geothermal activity

I am just emailing about the mud pool on Mead St. We have seen that it looks relatively inactive and were wondering what advice the council has been given in terms of steps forward?

- Has the pool grown? What is the activity levels of it at the moment?

- Will there be plans to close over it?

- How frequently has the council been monitoring it?

- Will the resident who had to evacuate be able to go back?

- Will surrounding residents need to evacuate?

From Geothermal & Regulatory Inspector Peter Brownbridge:
The size of the mud pool remains relatively the same. There continues to be some slippage towards the northern end of the feature. While recent rain has quenched the activity, steam began to reappear around the site yesterday. This could be an indication of further activity to come.

Council has been monitoring the activity daily.

Ultimately the property owner will decide what happens to the feature in the long run.

The property is unlikely to be inhabitable any time soon.

Surrounding properties remain unaffected.