5 August 2022
Media: TVNZ (Sunday programme)
Topic: Emergency housing in Rotorua
Enquiry
We are planning a story on the ongoing issues with some of the emergency housing motels in Rotorua, particularly in the Fenton Street area. I know the mayor has expressed concerns to central government about the situation, particularly in regards to the voucher system that allows people to live in motels of their choice.
We are hoping to do a longform, on-camera interview with Mayor Chadwick about this issue.
Response
Mayor Chadwick was interviewed for the programme today. The interview took an hour and covered topics including the emergency housing situation in Rotorua, the housing shortage in Rotorua, community safety, tourism, and Council and the Government’s response to these issues.
The reporter advised the interview would air in a couple of weeks with exact date TBC.
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Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Withdrawal of judicial review
Enquiry
NOTE: This enquiry refers to withdrawal of judicial review sought by local on Council’s representation review – see HERE
Just coming up to be able to hopefully file this story today and I just wanted to check two things
- That the below cost - $148,350 (incl. GST) has not changed since Thursday last week? and
- this line from the statement " conflicts of interest towards Māori and iwi stakeholders and beneficiaries" by beneficiaries I assume it was meant iwi trust beneficiaries, in which case for clarity it would be "iwi stakeholders and their beneficiaries" or "iwi stakeholders and iwi trust beneficiaries" - otherwise it may imply, to some, welfare beneficiaries. I wanted to clarify what was meant and give the council the opportunity to amend that line slightly if in light of what I've raised it would like to. Let me know on that one
Response
As per our previous email, Rotorua Lakes Council will pursue fair and resonable costs and it will be up to the judge to determine what that level is. In regards to costs incurred to date, this figure has not changed from what we provided the other week.
Council has nothing further to add in relation to your second query, as that was Mr Lee’s claim.
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Media: Radio NZ
Topic: CCTV equipment manufacturer
Enquiry
RNZ seeks input on a story of public interest re your council use of CCTV
The LGOIMA at https://fyi.org.nz/request/18519-automatic-number-plate-recognition-cameras-in-rotorua#incoming-70695 shows RLC using 124 CCTV cams supplied by Hikvision
Hikvision is controversial
eg ‘The Financial Times reported last week that the U.S. Treasury Department might place Hikvision on its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list for human rights abuses’ and ‘This state of affairs is particularly alarming given reports of security vulnerabilities in the technology’ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/11/hikvision-sanctions-uyghur-genocide-complicit/ and ‘A group of 67 MPs and Lords have called on the government to ban the sale and use of Hikvision and Dahua surveillance equipment in the UK.’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-62003253
There are many more reports and studies on this eg https://ipvm.com/reports/hikvision-wphttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/world/asia/china-surveillance-xinjiang.html
Questions:
- What due diligence diligence of Hikvision before installing its cameras?
- Is RLC OK with using Hikvision given its documented human rights record?
- Is RLC OK with using Hikvision given reported security concerns?
If RLC uses Hikvision equipment in any other way, pls detail
We request a taped interview on this from the publicly elected decisionmakers in this regard
Response
RLC procures it’s CCTV equipment through a third party. As an organisation we’ll need to look into this further and therefore decline the request for an interview in this instance.
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Media: Mairanga Media
Topic: Whakarewarewa Village road collapse
Enquiry
I am running a follow up story on the Worksafe investigation into the road collapse at Whakarewarewa last week.
May I have someone from the council to talk to this as the organisation responsible for maintaining the road?
Questions:
1. Firstly, what is RLC reaction to the incident?
2. Worksafe is conducting an investigation. Is that a point of concern?
3. Are you satisfied with the level of attention RLC paid to the road in the days leading up to the accident?
4. How often is the road maintained?
5. How often is the road or village monitored with infrared technology to capture data on the status of the land?
6. What are the next steps for RLC?
Response
Council continues to monitor the site and will look to reopen the road once it is safe to do so.
As the incident is now under investigation by WorkSafe, it’s not appropriate for us to comment further at this time.
Previous updates from Council are available on our website here and we will continue to provide updates here when appropriate.