30 August 2022
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Four Canoes
Enquiry
I have been told the council has "red stickered" Four Canoes.
Can someone please answer the following questions, in line, for me by the end of today if possible?
- When did the council red sticker Four Canoes?
- What does it mean to have a red sticker? Can people still stay there? For how long?
- Why did the council red sticker Four Canoes? Please give specifics about what is wrong with it.
- On August 3 and again on August 22 we asked a series of questions including the following pasted belw. Why did the council not mention it had red stickered the hotel in its response?:
- Has the council intervened at all since Lifewise removed its staff from operated at the site for safety reasons?
- Does the council acknowledge this hotel is not structurally suitable to be housing high needs mental health clients?
- Does the council acknowledge it is not appropriate to house high needs mental health clients in unsafe surroundings in Rotorua's central city?
- Is the council doing anything urgently do rectify this situation, including requesting MHUD move this contract to another location?
- Does the council believe the public has a right to know if the hotel was red stickered? If not, why not?
- Was the council aware of the shocking state the hotel was in?
- Does the council concede it should have pushed the hotel owner/HUD to get a proper resource consent when it started using the hotel for this purpose in 2020?
- Is the council treating Four Canoes differently because it is under a Government contract?
- A resident at Four Canoes has told me the council "condemned" the hotel. He has said there are leaks everywhere. Was that one of the reasons for the red sticker?
Comments provided for right-of-reply:
I've got comment this morning from Todd McClay who is critical of Megan Woods (have gone to her) and the council. Can you please consider if you want to respond to this in your response?
"The Government needs to do an urgent inquiry into the Four Canoes if they have known for a period that the building is unsafe. There are people still in there and they are being negligent in their duties. If something happens to one of those people, it will be on Megan Woods' head.
"This feels like a cover up. The council needs to tell us what action they have taken and the Government needs to act urgently and stop taking Rotorua for granted and using us as a dumping ground for all their problems."
Response
From DCE Community Wellbeing Anaru Pewhairangi:
“We can confirm that the owner of the premises was issued with a Dangerous Building Notice and a Notice to Fix on Monday 8 August 2022. The owner is proposing remediation/mitigation which we are working through with them.
“This is a regulatory matter and we do not deal with regulatory matters through the media. As is appropriate, we will continue to work through the process with the building owner.
“Regarding consenting, as we have previously stated, we are taking a staged approach and all premises operating activities requiring resource consent will be required to get one.”
NOTE TO REPORTER: The building has not been “condemned” and there is no “red sticker” so it would be incorrect to use that terminology. Red (and other coloured) stickers are used in emergency situations eg in Chch after the earthquakes and currently in Nelson.
Also, nothing from the council organisation re Mr McClay’s views but thanks for checking.
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Media: TVNZ (Sunday programme)
Topic: Four Canoes
Enquiry
Reporter who interviewed Mayor Chadwick recently for the Sunday programme requested an update on the Four Canoes ahead of the interview airing, potentially this week.
Response
We provided the same response as the above response to the Daily Post.
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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Consenting process for MHUD-contracted motels
Enquiry
I was wondering if I can get an update, if there's one, about the resource consent hearing process for the 13 HUD motel appilcations.
Given the Emerald Spa application came in late and submissions don't close until this week, has this now delayed the hearing for the other 12? Or will that be held separately?
Do the commissioners have a timeline of when we can expect the hearings to be held and how long they might go for?
Response
Reporter was referred to this page Emergency Housing - Resource Consent Applications - Rotorua Lakes Council on Council’s website, specifically to the updates for July and August which answer her questions re Emerald Spa and hearings dates.
We invited reporter to check out the information on the website page and to come back to us if they had any further questions.