17 March 2022
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Tania Crescent law and order concerns
Enquiry
Received Wednesday:
I've spoken to some residents of Tania Crescent and have some questions for the the council and some comments to supply for the right of reply (below).
Please advise if there are any inaccuracies in what has been claimed by these residents, from the council's perspective - particularly the comments highlighted.
Questions:
Is the council aware of the described issues in the Tania Crescent, Steeles Lane area?
How many complaints/requests for service/calls has the council received about these kinds of issues since February 6?
Has the council engaged with the local community about these issues? Please expand
Has the council considered, or will it consider, traffic calming measures (such as speed bumps) on Tania Crescent and or Steeles Lane to deter street racing?
Comments:
One resident, Michelle*, said she was “scared of what can happen next” on the street.
“Since the street got really bad about six months ago and the riot a few weeks back, we sleep with a baseball bats beside the bed.”
She said a neighbour had a rock thrown through a window, a fence had been “smashed by cars”, residents were facing threats and intimidation, and drag racing was a daily occurrence.
“It’s pretty much a circle race track.
“It’s like they’re timing themselves.”
She believed it was just a matter of time before someone was hurt.
She said the area had always been “a not so great area” but it was “manageable”.
“Just the regular speeding, and drug busts and police presence.”
However about six months ago that started to change, she said.
She said on Waitangi Day there was a “massive riot” that started with a party on the street.
Soon cars started doing burnouts, then violence escalated as conflict arose between the party-goers, she said.
She said cars attempted to ram a man and hit a fence.
“It was like Sons of Anarchy in real life.”
A neighbour came out to see what was happening and was attacked with a knife, she said.
“We’re scared people are going to take it too far.
“I’m scared for the kids on our street, I’m scared for their safety. I’m scared for my safety.”
She said she had lived in Australia and she had extended family members in gangs but had never felt so unsafe.
Michelle said it was a stressful and anxiety-inducing place to live and she and her husband wanted to move but it would be too hard trying to find a buyer for the house.
“Now after the riot it’s hard to get people to come and view because no one wants to live on a street like this.”
She said when she locked up and left her house she wasn’t sure it would be in the same state she left it, nor if she would be able to access the street due to the drag racing and burn outs.
“You don’t know if after they’ve done the burn outs and you retaliate if they’re going to get out and shoot you, because it’s happened before, where people have been threatened to that sort of degree.”
Michelle said every time it happened she called the police.
She claimed the police said it would dispatch officers when it could but often by the time they came it was too late.
“They said it’s happening everywhere around Rotorua and I said, what’s it going to take for you guys to come here and at least patrol?’
“I said is it going to take a kid to get hit or killed for you to do something about it and they said yes.
“The whole slogan of keeping communities safe is a total load of crap, because it hasn’t happened.”
She said she wanted assurance from the police that it was making the community safer.
“There’s been no effort to make changes for the future. They’re not actually doing anything to help contain this matter.”
She said evidence had been provided to the police.
Michelle had also called the council to ask what it could do to deter speeding drivers.
She said she had tried to write but received no response.
“It just hasn’t been done, nothing’s been done.”
“With the 5.7 per cent proposed increase in rates, what the heck am I paying for?”
*Not her real name
--
Another resident, who wanted to be known as Marigold*, said she had lived on the street for 15 years and was living in fear.
"It's shocking.
"They're just crazy guys. They're very abusive."
She said she had been threatened by some residents on the street, including people approaching her with a brick in hand.
She said she rang the police and on this occasion had been impressed the police followed up to check on her wellbeing.
"There's kiddies play in the street too, do we have to wait until some kiddie gets run over?"
"If I was a parent of young children I wouldn't let them out on the street anymore."
She said evidence had been provided to police of some offenders, including number plates.
"The police just aren't interested, or don't appear to be anyway.
"They seem to be powerless to do anything. They did tell me that this is happening all over New Zealand, but we're not interested in New Zealand, we're interested in Tania Crescent.
She said the situation was getting worse and it had caused anxiety in her family, and she no longer felt safe to enter or exit via one end of the road, nor go for a walk around her neighbourhood.
"Boys will be boys with their cars ... but this is just total abuse and scaring people."
Marigold said moving away was not possible for her at the moment.
"It's got to stop, and we're powerless, we don't know how to stop it. It's not on. If the police would do their job then it would stop."
*not her real name
ENDS
Received today:
I'm working on a follow up to this: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/rotoruas-tania-crescent-residents-scared-and-stressed-due-to-street-violence-car-racing/IOSVQB2PCYHGIRMYXTXWESK6QA/
I've received some comments from Rotorua MP Todd McClay I'd like to provide to the council for right of reply.
Perhaps I can put the comments I'm waiting on from the council for yesterday's story in today's rather than updating yesterday's - let me know. Can you please get those to me by 1pm?
Comments as always below - same deadline for right of reply - 1pm please. (Have included all for your context, but comments critical of the council are highlighted).
Prioritise this over the credit card query if that helps.
Thanks!
Felix
COMMENTS
Rotorua MP Todd McClay said the situation on Tania Cr was “pretty horrific”.
“Law-abiding citizens in our neighbourhoods shouldn’t have to sleep with baseball bats under their bed in fear of what’s happening around them.
He believed the issue was growing in Rotorua.
“For the council to turn their back on these residents, or for the police men and women not being allowed to do their job, is not good enough.”
He said police on the beat wanted to clean streets like Tania Cr up but he was not convinced they had the support and resources to do it.
"This needs to be dealt with - and quickly - before someone is hurt.”
He said he had “huge respect” for the police, who put their lives in danger to keep people safe in Rotorua every day.
“It feels very stretched in Rotorua. We’ve had police at MIQ, plus we’ve had emergency housing and gang problems growing … I know that they feel under pressure lately.
“If the police are under-resourced in Rotorua, the Government needs to meet their promises to us to make sure the police are able to do their job.
“It’s for the police to decide where they put that resource, it feels like the back’s been turned on Rotorua.”
His message for the Police Minister Poto Williams was “you need to start paying attention to us”.
He said he had constituents who came to him who had approached the council about issues such as roading and noise and “they often seem to fall on deaf ears”.
He said that left residents feeling “abandoned and frustrated”.
He said the disorder affecting residents needed to be dealt with quickly and the council “has a role to play in it.”
McClay said he intended on meeting with the concerned residents of Tania Cr soon to “understand better what’s going on”.
After that, he would meet with the council and police with the residents, he said.
He said if residents were already distressed they would be “even more worried” with Kainga Ora’s public housing development in the street.
He said Kainga Ora needed to make sure properties it managed were “run properly” and residents were “respectful and good neighbours”.
McClay said public housing tenants were not all the same, but the Government had said there would be significant wrap-around social services for them and if that didn’t happen, it was “worse for the people being placed in these developments and their neighbours”.
He said it was not clear if that was working well at already established public housing developments.
ENDS
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait:
It’s as if the police [and] council ... are rooted to the spot. Blinded by the problem and not prepared to meet it head on
and take decisive action.
The trouble makers are usually tenants. If social housing tenants, it should be made clear they will be tipped out for unacceptable behaviour. No ifs no buts. Tenancies need tighter management with a “good character” threshold that must be maintained. Parenting contracts should be developed too. For at least 5 years they should be refused any further social housing assistance if tipped out.
With third party complaints there should be swift intervention and action, with the involvement of the police, landlord and council. With all the social housing proposed for Rotorua, landlords must be held accountable.
Response
FromCommunity Wellbeing DCE Anaru Pewhairangi:
Everyone deserves to feel and be safe in their homes and in their neighbourhoods. Community Safety is a key priority for this Council.
We are keen to better understand the reported issues happening in and around Tania Crescent ad we will be talking to the Police and community safety contacts to see where Council could assist.
Is the council aware of the described issues in the Tania Crescent, Steeles Lane area?
Our records show that we have not received any formal contact about public disorder concerns in Tania Crescent this year.
Council received one request for traffic calming on Tania Crescent this week on 15 March. A response letter was sent the following day. As Tania Crescent has not been previously assessed for traffic calming, the letter outlined the process for assessing roads for traffic calming and an indicative timeline for when that would take place – within four weeks.
Council’s Community Wellbeing team was aware of the riot mentioned however, no further reports or feedback has been received from the Police or community safety contacts about increasing crime or antisocial behaviour in that area.
How many complaints/requests for service/calls has the council received about these kinds of issues since February 6?
As above.
Has the council engaged with the local community about these issues? Please expand
As Council was not aware of any of the issues reported, no community engagement has been undertaken to date.
Has the council considered, or will it consider, traffic calming measures (such as speed bumps) on Tania Crescent and or Steeles Lane to deter street racing?
As above.
There are currently two sets of speed bumps in Steeles Lane.
Further information:
Re Rotorua Lakes Council’s Community Safety Plan:
- Community safety is a key priority of Council’s 2021-2031 Long-term Plan (LTP) in partnership with Police and other key safety stakeholders.
- Council committed an additional $500,000 per year (making a total of $1.13 million) to deliver community safety initiatives including a Community Safety Plan.
- At the end of 2021 it was announced that Council’s community safety efforts would be extended across the district (extension from just the inner city and surrounding areas).
- The extension included increasing the number of Safe City Guardians and staff monitoring CCTV footage. It also included a plan to increase the CCTV network in stages across the city.
- A draft Community Safety Plan was approved in March 2021. Included increased patrols in suburban areas and working with other organisations such as Neighbourhood Support and Maori Wardens.
Re Process for local road traffic calming assessment:
Each request for traffic calming is risk assessed based on speed data, speed-related crashes, pedestrian use and traffic volume on that particular road. The data is used to calculate a ‘priority score’ which enables the road to be ranked in terms of its priority for installing traffic calming interventions.
Council has received 22 requests for traffic calming on local roads since 6 February 2022.
It is also important to note that when Council installs traffic calming measures, it is with the intention of slowing down speeding traffic, but not with the expectation that we will be able to stop all incidents of reckless driving.
*Please note, without knowing the person’s real name or how they tried to contact us, we haven’t been able to confirm whether the correspondence requesting traffic calming has been received.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Council credit card spending
Enquiry
*NOTE: This enquiry relates to a request for information made under LGOIMA, responded to 13 January 2022 – see HERE
As you likely know I requested elected member and staff credit card expenditure information via a LGOIMA in November. I also requested the information from Tauranga City Council, the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and the BOP and Lakes DHBs.
I have some follow up questions for the council to respond to about the information in the LGOIMA response:
General:
- Steve Chadwick is the only mayor or elected member out of all of these organisations to have an organisational credit card. Why does the council view it as important that the mayor of Rotorua has a credit card, especially given other councils don't follow this practise?
- Why don't the infrastructure and environmental solutions deputy chief executive and Te Arawa partnerships deputy chief executive have a council credit card when the other five dces do?
- What are the deputy chief executives' salaries? If you won't tell me these specifically can you please give a range they are within e.g "From $200,000 pa to $280,000" or whatever it might be.
District development dce's expenses:
- What is Zappar for?
- What was the management challenge?
- Why did the council's team in the management challenge travel to Wellington in a diesel van? Is this consistent with the council's 2021 climate action plan?
- What kind of catering was consumed at The Library in Wellington? (district development deputy chief executive's expenses) Doesn't have to be specific - was it food or drinks?
Chief executive's expenses:
- The chief executive doesn't appear to use his credit card at all over a year - has the council considered avoiding the account fees by closing it? Why / why not?
Organisational enablement deputy chief executive's expenses:
- Can you please tell me more about the organisational enablement deputy chief executive's hireage of two e-bikes to inspect the Moerangi Cycleway? What was the purpose of this visit to the Rotorua district and what was its relevance to the OEDCE's role? Who used the second bike?
District leadership and democracy dce's expenses:
- What does "team values contribution for work for completion and adoption of LTP" mean? Particularly the "team values contribution" part.
- Was the "lunch for consultants - communications strategy review" for contractors? Does the council usually buy lunch for contractors? (district leadership and democracy dce's expenses) Can you tell me more about this please.
- $757 to print the 'Mahi' LTP consultation tshirts - why were these printed, what was their purpose, who got them and did the recipients pay for them or were they given away? How many tshirts were printed? Can they be re-used for future LTP consultation periods?
Chief executive's office dce's expenses:
- Can you please tell me more about the flasks bought for the injured colleague (chief executive's office dce's expenses) - what kind of flasks were they and why were there two? Were both for the injured colleague?
Response
The following response was provided:
Comment can be attributed to DCE, Organisational Enablement, Thomas Collé if needed.
General:
Steve Chadwick is the only mayor or elected member out of all of these organisations to have an organisational credit card. Why does the council view it as important that the mayor of Rotorua has a credit card, especially given other councils don't follow this practise?
This allows the Mayor to efficiently pay for incidental expenses incurred while doing her job. If she didn’t have a P-Card she would need to claim back work expenses incurred on her personal accounts.
Why don't the infrastructure and environmental solutions deputy chief executive and Te Arawa partnerships deputy chief executive have a council credit card when the other five dces do?
This was their personal choice.
What are the deputy chief executives' salaries? If you won't tell me these specifically can you please give a range they are within e.g "From $200,000 pa to $280,000" or whatever it might be.
3 DCE's Range $210,000 to $235,000
4 DCE's Range $250,000 to $295,000
(These have been rounded for simplicity.)
District development dce's expenses:
What is Zappar for?
An app that supports CBD way finding signage. This subscription has since been cancelled.
What was the management challenge?
This is a team-based learning and development programme for staff in local government. See more HERE.
Why did the council's team in the management challenge travel to Wellington in a diesel van? Is this consistent with the council's 2021 climate action plan?
A diesel van was used in this instance as generally diesel powered engines fare better on highways, in comparison to petrol counterparts, and are generally more compatible with large loads and driving longer distances - such as driving a van full of people between Rotorua and Wellington.
What kind of catering was consumed at The Library in Wellington? (district development deputy chief executive's expenses) Doesn't have to be specific - was it food or drinks?
Food
Chief executive's expenses:
The chief executive doesn't appear to use his credit card at all over a year - has the council considered avoiding the account fees by closing it? Why / why not?
No, as the card has had previous use and may be required going forward.
Organisational enablement deputy chief executive's expenses:
Can you please tell me more about the organisational enablement deputy chief executive's hireage of two e-bikes to inspect the Moerangi Cycleway? What was the purpose of this visit to the Rotorua district and what was its relevance to the OEDCE's role? Who used the second bike?
The bikes were hired for two members of the Whakarewarewa Forest Loop project steering group at a time when the loop was nearing completion. The OEDCE’s P-Card was used to pay for the hire, neither bike was ridden by the OEDCE.
District leadership and democracy dce's expenses:
What does "team values contribution for work for completion and adoption of LTP" mean? Particularly the "team values contribution" part.
This was recognition of unpaid hours worked by staff involved in developing and supporting the LTP community engagement.
Was the "lunch for consultants - communications strategy review" for contractors? Does the council usually buy lunch for contractors? (district leadership and democracy dce's expenses) Can you tell me more about this please.
This was a working lunch to ensure key staff where available to come together. This was a one-off for this piece of work.
$757 to print the 'Mahi' LTP consultation tshirts - why were these printed, what was their purpose, who got them and did the recipients pay for them or were they given away? How many tshirts were printed? Can they be re-used for future LTP consultation periods?
Mahi was the Council LTP campaign name. T-shirts were printed for staff in the customer centre, elected members, and staff involved in the engagement process. The purpose was to promote the conversation of Mahi, as well as ensuring staff and elected members were visible in community settings and community conversations. The t-shirts can be re-used for other council conversations.
Chief executive's office dce's expenses:
Can you please tell me more about the flasks bought for the injured colleague (chief executive's office dce's expenses) - what kind of flasks were they and why were there two? Were both for the injured colleague?
A colleague was in hospital following a serious accident, these were thermos type flasks for coffee (made by staff) which was taken to the hospital for the patient when colleagues visited during recovery. The flasks are in council resources and can be used as needed.