21 May 2024
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Weather event
Enquiry
I was just wanting to follow up on the weather overnight - did the council receive any calls regarding flooding or any other weather-related incidents overnight?
Response
The reporter was referred to the weather updates this link on council’s website
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Media: Radio NZ (Waikato)
Topic: Weather event
Enquiry
I’m just trying to find out whether Rotorua has been severely affected by bad weather this morning/last night?
Has the city experienced any flooding, slips, damaged houses, cars, trees down, crashes due to weather etc? Any thunder storms or a tornado etc?
Is the rain still heavy and how many millimetres has the city had?
Response
The reporter was initially advised that there were no major weather issues, to check with emergency services regarding any crashes, and check with MetService re how much rain had fallen at that point.
She was later provided with this link on council’s website for weather-related updates and was advised to keep an eye on that for further during the day.
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Media: Radio NZ (Midday Report)
Topic: Weather event
Enquiry
Do you have someone available to speak with Midday Report today at 12:10pm for about 2-3mins about the response to the heavy rain?
I understand you have activated the Flood Room response. Just keen for a quick update about what weather you are expecting, the response etc
The interview will be live, with Charlotte Cook.
Response
Stavros Michael (RLC’s Primary Local Controller) was made available for the interview.
RNZ 1:00pm news bulletin can be listened to here.
*RNZ requested a further interview in the afternoon which RLC accepted however, RNZ decided they no longer wanted the interview.
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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Weather event
Enquiry
I'm looking to get some info on the Western Rd evacuation situation.
- How many households evacuated?
- What are the stream levels?
- Where are people being evacuated to?
- Has there been any damage to homes so far?
Response
From Stavros Michael, Primary Local Controller:
How many households evacuated?
Rotorua Lakes Council has not evacuated any households. Our advice to residents has been to prepare to self-evacuate.
Where are people being evacuated to?
Our advice is to go to friends or family but otherwise move away from the waterway to a dry, safe location.
Has there been any damage to homes so far?
We are not aware of any damage to homes at this stage.
The reporter was also advised that Bay Of Plenty Regional Council monitored stream levels so they would need to reach out to them.
A link to the latest weather updates was also provided.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Media: MoreFM
Topic: Weather event
Enquiry
I was hoping to get in touch with somebody from the civil defence team to do an interview about the flooding and evacuations.
Response
Stavros Michael (Local Primary Controller) was interviewed just after 12.30pm and made the following key points:
- A state of emergency has not been declared
- There has been a significant amount of rain
- Some waterways have risen quite quickly
- Rainfalls seems to be easing
- We’re taking this precautionary approach re self-evacuation from Western Rd until we are certain levels will drop
- This could take a few hours
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Media: Local Democracy Reporter (enquiry also sent to BOP Regional Council, FENZ and BOP Group Civil Defence)
Topic: Weather event
Enquiry
I spoke to a Rotorua resident this morning who says the Paradise Valley, Western Rd community is angry at the lack of communication and warnings from civil defence and the council regarding the river levels/flooding.
He said from about 6.45am you could see the Ngongotahā Stream was going into flood.
Regional council data shows the stream level was at 0.6m most of the night and then started to rise at about 5am. It reached it's peak of 5.399m at about 10am.
By 8am there was a house on paradise valley rd near fish and game that was surrounded by about 1ft of water. He stopped to check if anyone was there as a car was parked there. He also called fenz at this point, who arrived about 40 minutes later. Someone arrived on behalf of the homeowner and told him no-one was home. He said he could not reach the (lakes) council.
He said it took hours for civil defence or council to notify residents and the community of the high levels.
"The civil defence alert system has not worked at all. We've heard nothing from anyone."
He said people were putting their lives at risk by checking in on neighbours because there had been no comms.
"I knew if the stop bank goes I would be washed away."
He feared lives would be lost if the event had worsened. The rising river level was confronting for many of the elderly in the area, he said. He believed it would be bad if there was another downpour this afternoon.
He said systems were meant to have been put in place following the 2018 event, and said there should have been learnings from Gabrielle (i.e. the Eskdale situation) "It's just not good enough."
He said it should have been clear to see what was going to happen at the stream and someone should have been able to give a warning.
There was a "complete question of competency around ability for a response".
A timely response was critical, he said, given the number of homes around the stream and how quickly it can rise in a downpour. "Not 3 hours after peak levels."
He said a river level monitor should be placed at the head of the catchment as there was a time delay by the time the water flowed to the existing one.
"After the event is no good for anyone."
Rotorua lakes only posted on Facebook about the situation at about 11.00am.
As well as responding to the above can I please ask how this event has been handled, what communications, alerts and notifications have there been?
At what point does the stream need to reach before an alert is issued? How is this done?
Response
From General Manager Infrastructure and Environment and Primary Local Controller:
We appreciate people get anxious and concerned in situations like this, particularly those living near waterways and we would encourage anyone who is concerned for their safety to contact council or call 111 if it’s an emergency.
We work with other agencies (Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Emergency Management Bay of Plenty), as was the case today, to monitor, review and respond to the situation as necessary.
Today’s increased water levels in Ngongotahā was not sufficient to declare a state of emergency and we are unaware of any life-threatening situations. We were informed by police that they had visited residents at Paradise Valley and determined no action was required.
Regarding the civil defence alert system, that is used when civil defence emergencies are declared, which was not the case today.
Council and its contractors responded to callouts received from 5am today to deal with weather-related matters and responded to advice from the regional council, which monitors waterways, about rising levels in the Ngongotahā Stream.
Regional council advised us that peak levels were reached at around 10:45am and rain forecast was subsiding. The catchment that incorporates Ngongotahā Stream appears to have had a lot more rain than the rest of the district. Self-evacuations in Western Road were encouraged as a precaution, given the known vulnerabilities of the Ngongotahā Stream, and this was communicated as soon as possible after the decision was made. As part of that communication others living near waterways were encouraged to remain alert and contact council for advice if they were considering self-evacuation.
Council generally communicates forecasted significant weather events if/when they are upgraded from “watch” to “warning” and provides advice on how people can prepare and who to call for help. Given the unpredictability of weather there is always the potential for situations to change, the potential for very localised situations and the need for people to be alert and prepared to act if needed. We think the community understands this.
We are pleased with the efforts of our welfare team who visited Western Road residents to provide advice and reassurance today.
Council staff and our contractor crews have continued to respond as required to reports of the likes of surface flooding, slips, trees down etc.
BOPRC provided the following response:
Following last night’s severe weather, and in anticipation of further impacts today, Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s Flood Team has been closely monitoring the situation across the region. This includes overnight monitoring of river levels, flows and rainfall via our Duty Flood Manager.
In response to the rapidly rising river levels in the Ngongotahā Stream this morning, the Flood Room was activated at 8.15am. This means the flood team is set up in our dedicated Flood Room and we have a flood monitoring team out in the field. It’s their job to be the eyes and ears on the ground, checking flood defences (such as such as stopbanks and floodwalls), monitoring river levels, flows and rainfall, and reporting back to the Flood Room.
Any information we gather from both on-the-ground and our Flood Room is then provided to Civil Defence and local authorities (such as Rotorua Lakes Council) in a timely manner to support their decision-making processes, such as community evacuations.
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Media: Radio NZ
Topic: Weather event
Enquiry
Reporter requested an interview providing an overview of the weather situation in Rotorua and latest update.
Response
We noted that our spokesperson had earlier provided an overview, had not long before this latest request provided an update which was the latest.
Reporter said they would check on those reports and get back to us if needed. We did not hear back.
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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Kainga Ora review report
Enquiry
Reporter sought comment from Mayor Tapsell regarding the review undertaken of Kainga Ora and immediate actions announced by the government in response.
Can you please send me an answer to these questions if you're able this morning before midday if possible?
- Are you concerned the review results announcement will slow the building progress in Rotorua?
- Do you think it's still achievable to end all emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the end of next year?
- Will you be meeting with Chris Bishop/Todd McClay to discuss the implications of the review?
- What's your message to locals waiting for a house?
Feel free to add anything else.
Response
*NOTE:You’ll find the Government’s release regarding this, along with related documents, at this link on the Beehive website: Minister responds to review of Kāinga Ora | Beehive.govt.nz
From Mayor Tapsell:
This is the change our community has been crying out for.
Increasing the local decision-making of the management and ownership of social housing will be a big win and confidence booster for Rotorua.
The lack of transparency and accountability in the past has been hugely frustrating. And this review acknowledges that previous decision making excluded the community and that a better approach moving forward should be locally led.
This is something we’ve consistently advocated for and I remain strong in the call for only local people to be placed in social housing in Rotorua.
We also welcome ensuring Kāinga Ora delivers value for money. I’d like to see Government confirm support for local builders, suppliers and contractors to be used as much as possible.
I am concerned that the scope of Kāinga Ora will be narrowed to social housing and strongly urge the Minister of Housing to also consider how they can support affordable housing growth for working families.
I continue to work with Associate Minister of Housing, Tama Potaka, and Minister Todd McClay on a new plan for Rotorua that will give our community certainty that the use of motels for emergency housing is ended as soon as possible and that suitable public housing is available to our locals when they need it.
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Media: NZME (Rotorua Daily Post and BOP Times)
Topic: Use of AI in workplaces
Enquiry
I am writing a story on the use of AI in workplaces. At the moment the Government is taking a “cautious but optimistic approach” to using AI including ChatGPT. It was seeing interest in using AI to support services to the public.
Overall, agencies are in the early stages of trialing and using AI and planned growth in their use of AI over the next two years. However, AI has significant potential for modernising and improving Public Service performance.
What potential do you think AI might have to enhance the services the council provides - and in what departments could it be most effective and how?
Is the council using any AI technologies including ChatGPT at the moment and what are they?
Are council staff allowed to use AI and ChatGPT and why or why not?
What are the pros and cons of AI and have you conducted any research or are any staff working on AI initiatives and what are they?
Have any time frames been introduced in regards to using AI and what are those?
Response
From Chief Executive Andrew Moraes:
Here at Rotorua Lakes Council we are taking an optimistic and cautious approach.
There is the potential for AI or generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to be used to enhance services and functions and create efficiencies but the risks, as well as the benefits, need to be well understood and managed.
In March, Council finalised a policy to guide the use of GenAI by council staff. This policy encourages the use of GenAI while protecting the Council's safety, privacy, and intellectual property rights.
Our staff will be allowed to use GenAI services when the benefits and risks are well understood and manageable. Fully open AI services will be limited, with a preference for Council-managed GenAI services.
We are in the early stages of looking into the use of GenAI in council. There are two main AI initiatives that we are currently looking at; the implementation of Microsoft CoPilot in support of general productivity like automated meeting minute transcription. Where it is appropriate staff will be given access. Natural language AI services (voice activated digital assistant similar to Siri and Alex) has also been identified as an AI service that could be used in support of council’s call centre to quickly give consistent and correct information to customers.
