12 August 2021
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Future use of Wylie Court site
Enquiry
Can I please seek comment from Steve on the following story before 1pm today?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/government-plans-to-turn-vacant-fenton-st-motel-into-transitional-housing/OR5SSOHJTEUVKIQMCAFQU4XCMI/
Questions:
- Do you support transitional housing being established at Wylie Court?
- You have said in the past living in motels shouldn't be a long-term solution. Do you think this proposal is different?
- Locals have expressed concern about having transitional housing on Fenton St given it is the gateway to Rotorua. What do you say to that?
Response
The mayor advised that it would be inappropriate for her to comment on a live consent application that is going through a statutory process.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Flooding concerns in Hamurana
Enquiry
I am working on a story about some properties which have reported flooding in Hamurana.
The property owners claim the following:
1. Stormwater and easement drains in the area off Hamurana Road between Fryer Road and Ward Road have not been cleaned or maintained by the council.
2. The nearby Hauraki Stream and open drains often overflow after heavy rain which can cause driveways to erode or to be so flooded that residents cannot access their properties.
3. Existing pipes and drains cannot cope with the volume of water.
I would appreciate it if you could respond to the following questions before 4pm tomorrow.
1. Is the council or the council's contractor responsible for the maintenance of drains in this area?
2. What regular actions have the council or the council's contractor taken to maintain stormwater drains in the area over the past year?
3. What are the difficulties that the council encounters when maintaining stormwater drains?
4. Has the council received complaints about flooding in the area? If so can the council make a general comment about how often complaints have been received over the past year?
5. How does the recent three waters reform affect the council's responsibilities with regards to stormwater networks in the area?
Thank you for your help. Your information will be very useful to aid my understanding of what is happening.
Further information provided by the reporter:
As far as I understand it the owners' concerns relate to an ongoing issue which they have been experiencing since the late 90's.
The addresses I have include 581, 579, 585, and 597 Hamurana Road.
They said they have raised their concerns with the council multiple times and met with councillors last year.
Hope this helps to clarify.
Response
Iinformation below in response to your questions. You can attribute this to Stavros Michael, DCE Infrastructure & Environment.
*Please note that this information relates to the properties you’ve identified at 581, 579, 585, and 597 Hamurana Road.
Parts of these properties are located within a low-lying area which has limited natural drainage to the lake via natural watercourses. To accommodate private access over the natural watercourses, the property developers have built private access ways which include culverts to carry the water under them. It is the responsibility of the culvert owners to maintain these assets.
In recent years, during significant weather events, property owners have made council aware of surface flooding on their properties. There have been four occurrences that we are aware of since 2017 where the basement areas of two buildings flooded during significant rain events. Those properties are the closest to the largest private driveway culvert.
Since the flooding events Council has; initiated an investigation of the catchment, surveyed the topography of the area, met with the group of residents along with several Councillors a number of times, and provided them with a report containing several options to alleviate flooding issues. The most effective option would be for the culvert owners to increase the size of the culvert. Council also offered to carry out work to lower a portion of the private driveway to reduce the level of water retention however the driveway owner was not agreeable.
Council has assisted both owners whose buildings were affected and is currently carrying out work on their properties to minimise the chance of water from entering their buildings in future rain events. The owners have expressed their satisfaction with this work.
Further info:
There are two open stormwater channels near to the identified properties that we inspect and maintain as needed. The last recorded maintenance was in May 2019 and there have been a number of inspections since that time.
Re your last question “recent 3 waters reforms” – these are currently still proposed reforms so nothing has changed as yet. You’ll find information about the proposed reforms at the DIA website: Three Waters Reform Programme - dia.govt.nz
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Media: Inside Resource (industry publication)
Topic: Roading maintenance
Enquiry
We are looking at doing some profiles on council roading maintenance projects and I was wondering if you could give us some information on what the council is current working on.
Some questions for you below:
- What are the main roading maintenance contracts RLC is working on this year? And what is the budget for those?
- How are the projects going to date?
- What are the expected completion dates for those projects?
- What quarries are supplying aggregate to the projects?
- How much aggregate is being supplied?
- What kind of material is being used?
- How does the amount of material supplied compare to that of last year?
- Have there been any delays to the projects, for example weather events?
Response
Roading maintenance contracts and budgets:
- Road drainage - culvert replacements – anticipated budget of $400,000
- Pavement rehabilitation at five locations – total budget of $1.4m
- Traffic management at two locations – total budget of $100,000
- Seal extension – anticipated budget of $600,000
- Annual road resurfacing programme - $1.2m
All the above projects are in design stage and are expected to be complete in June 2022.
The supply quarry will depend on the contractor and what is most economical. The quarries which regularly supply material are Rainbow Quarry, Rotorua Quarry, Manawahe Stone and Quarry, Henderson Quarry, RNL Quarry Rotorua and Waotu Quarry.
Based on the FY2020/2021 works we anticipate 6,800m3 (Pavement aggregate), 35,000m2 Sealing Aggregate/ Chip seal, and 1,100m2 AC.
Road grade material – For Pavement (GAP65, AP40, AP40 M4), and for Sealing (Chip sealing G2/4, G3/5, G4/6, and AC AC10, AC14, AC20)
No change [in amount of material supplied] anticipated.
In the past year we have experienced some delays within project delivery. These delays were caused by either the impact of heavy rain, COVID-19 lockdowns, and supply issues due to increased demand for materials across the region.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Media: Stuff
Topic: Rotorua Library late fees
Enquiry
Getting in touch with a quick query relating to Rotorua Library.
Ōpōtiki District Library has just announced plans to scrap late fees as a way of trying to encourage more use of the library, so I thought I'd cast the net a bit on this topic.
To that end I wanted to ask:
Can I confirm Rotorua Library currently charges late fees?
Has there been any discussion about whether to scrap fees?
Can I ask too how much in the library owed at present in late fees?\
Response
From Council’s Library Director, Laura Marshall:
Te Aka Mauri, Rotorua Library is committed to removing barriers that may restrict access to our resources, and overdue fines can be a barrier for some. Work is underway to investigate the removal of overdue fees but in the meantime, we have launched other initiatives to help achieve our goal of equitable access.
Every school holidays our Great Te Aka Mauri Reading Challenge programme provides a fun opportunity for children to pay their overdue fines by reading. If they don’t have overdue fines on their own library card, they can read away the fines on the library card of a family member.
For adults who are worried about incurring overdue fees, we have a new fine-free Starter Card available. With a Starter Card you can borrow four books at a time. If the books aren’t returned on time, the card is temporarily blocked. Once the books are returned, full borrowing privileges are restored and no fines are incurred. Existing members are welcome to change their membership type if this option appeals.
During the 2020-2021 financial year $27,635 in overdue fees was paid, with $21,326 outstanding.