5 December 2017
Media: Sunday Star Times
Topic: Residential water use study
Enquiry
I'm writing a story for the Sunday Star Times on the Residential Water Use Study that is being launched by BRANZ, overseen by building scientist Dr Lee Bint, across New Zealand.
The study will include 3000 randomly selected homes. Six hundred of the homes will have a meter attached to monitor their water use for 12 months.
The results will give insights into many aspects of water consumption in NZ homes, and allow "informed discussion of water metering and demand management".
I'm emailing councils around the country for the following information:
- Do you have some component of metered volumetric charging for residential water?
- Is some form of volumetric charging through metering being considered by your council?
- Could the Residential Water Use Study inform any future decisions on water metering?
For more info on the BRANZ study go to www.branz.co.nz/water
Here's an outline of the study's aims, provided by Dr Bint:
Our aim is to provide robust information specific to New Zealand households:
Understand how, when and where water is used - end-use, outdoor and peak water use.
Explore the influence of demographic and climate variations on patterns of use.
Investigate where and what water efficiency opportunities exist.
Engage with councils, service providers and consumers.
Support engineering calculations, models and forecasts.
Enable informed discussions on water metering and demand management.
Provide regional benchmarks for residential per capita consumption.
Understand just how water conscious New Zealand actually is.
Raise awareness of how water is used at home.
Response
From Rotorua Lakes Council Infrastructure Group Manager Stavros Michael:
Urban residential properties in the Rotorua district are not metered.
All properties on rural supplies and all commercial and industrial properties are metered.
There is no new volumetric charging through metering being considered by Rotorua Lakes Council at this time.
Rotorua's water supplies come from 10 sources - 8 springs, one group of bores and one lake (Rotoma)
Council has a good picture of water supply and use locally but any new information is useful and could help to inform future water management decisions.
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Media: Rotorua Review
Topic: Mudtopia follow-up
Enquiry
Seeking comment/info in the wake of Mudtopia:
How many people attended?
How many tickets were sold?
How many tickets were given away?
How do you feel it went?
Did you expect more people to attend the Saturday night concert?
It's been signalled that Mudtopia could cost council up to $500,000, depending on ticket sales. Is it possible to get the cost to council?
Are you confident that the event will continue and grow now the first one has taken place?
Response
From Arts & Culture Director Stewart Brown:
The general feedback we've heard and seen was excellent - people had a lot of fun, there was a great atmosphere, lots of families came both days. There will be a full debrief and review post-event and there will no doubt be things that can be improved on but overall things went smoothly and people had a great time.
It's always difficult to estimate ticket sales for a first time event, particularly one which is a totally new concept. Ticket sales were definitely slower than we had hoped but we were still selling tickets through TicketMaster as late as Friday and there were gate sales throughout the weekend.
In terms of festival delivery, experience and attendee behaviour the event was a great success. Feedback we've had in person and via social media has been extremely positive and it was great to see so many people from our community enjoying an event with their friends and whanāu.
The organisers are seeking feedback from people who attended the event over the weekend. Suggestions can be emailed to hello@mudtopia.com.
(reporter was informed that the numbers ie ticket sales, attendance etc, were still being collated and would be reported to Council in due course)
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Media: Te Kaea, Maori Television
Topic: Aquatic Centre
Enquiry
Reporter sought response to the following concerns from Amalgamated Wokers Union who are seeking legal advice on behalf of Rotorua Aquatic staff members regarding their concerns such as:
The Rotorua Lakes council did not consult with the staff before any decisions were made - despite a clause in their collective agreement that says they must come to us and consult with us before any decisions made that affects jobs in that facility.
Staff may reapply for their positions but they will lose a lot of the terms and conditions they formerly received with that position.
The reporter was asked what other concerns the union had but indicated the above two matters were the only ones for which she wanted a response from Council
Response
From Operations Group Manager Henry Weston:
There is a lot of inaccurate information being circulated but Council does not consider it appropriate to play out employer-employee negotiations through the media.
However, we can confirm that 28 lifeguards and swim tutors have been offered roles with CLM, at the same pay rates as they currently receive and with similar contract terms and conditions.
We are working with 10 other permanent staff (front-of-house and administration staff, duty managers and supervisors) and their union on options for them, which include applying for new roles with CLM and redeployment within Council. They all have the opportunity to apply for positions with CLM and we are hopeful a number of them will be successful.
Redundancy will be a last resort although that is also an option they can take up if they do not wish to apply for roles with CLM or be redeployed.
Staff will be paid their normal wages by Rotorua Lakes Council until the end of January 2018. Any redundancies would take effect from February.
Council is required to periodically review all its services. The review of the Aquatic Centre focussed on whether a partnership could result in better services and outcomes for the community.
All the current services and programmes - including learn-to-swim and water safety programmes - will continue and at the same prices as now. It's CLM's intention to increase revenue by providing more services and programmes and increasing the number of people using the facility. They have a good record of working with and within local communities, as well as partnering with others to provide additional facilities/features and introducing initiatives like youth programmes.
Council has made a decision to outsource management of the Aquatic Centre in the interests of improving services and outcomes for the community.
The cost to Council of the partnership with CLM for provision of Aquatic Centre services will be about $700,000 less than it was costing council to do this itself.
We are aware a hikoi is being planned and we respect people's right to do so. However we haven't been contacted by the organisers at this stage so don't know what they plan to do or what they expect or want when they arrive at the council.
