13 August 2024

Media: Radio NZ (Waikato)

Topic: Emergency housing consent applications

Enquiry

With the council’s submission process for the Emergency Housing contracts closing on Friday, I just wondered what the next steps were?

And when will the submissions be put online?

Response

We provided the following information:

There’s a timeline on our website here: Public notices for Contracted Emergency Housing 2024 - Rotorua Lakes Council that outlines the process

We can’t give you an exact date when submissions will be uploaded to the website – they have to be collated etc before they can be uploaded which may take a little time. Keep an eye on that link I gave you as that’s the page they will be uploaded to or touch base with us again in a week or so.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Media: Radio Waatea

Topic: Illegal dumping on Mountain Road

Enquiry

I am reaching out to arrange [a pre-recorded] interview with a reo Māori speaker from the council that can talk to us about the installation of the fences on Mt Ngongotahā due to illegal rubbish dumping.

I sourced this information from this article

Here’s a few pātai for the kōrero

• Kōrero mai mō te take i whakatūhia ētahi taiapa ki te maunga o Ngongotahā?
• He aha ngā momo para i waihōtia ki te maunga rā, ko ngā para nō te whare nō ngā kamupene, he aha rānei?
• Ka pēhea tā te kaunihera mātai i ngā hua o te whakatūtanga i ngā taiapa i te maunga o Ngongotahā?
• He aha pea ētahi mahi ka tāea e te kaunihera ki te whakarite pēnei ki te whakaiti i te utu mō ngā mahi kohi para, hai tauira?
• He aha te mea nui o tēnei kaupapa ki a koe?
• He aha āu kōrero whakatenatena ki ngā kainoho kei te mahi i ērā mahi arā te waihō noa i a rātou para ki ngā tūtohu whenua hirahira, ā, ki te mata o te whenua whānui?

Response

Below is a rough translation of the questions asked and responses provided by Kingi Biddle on behalf of RLC:

Tell us about why they are erecting fences?

Ngongotahā is precious to our people and what is happening so far is like someone stamping on his mana. Environment is a treasure

What types of waste has been dumped on the mountain, was it household waste from companies?

Predominately household rubbish that can be fitted into a wheelie bin and gave some examples of the rubbish.

What has been the effects of having the fence on Ngongotaha?

The fence has only been erected recently so it’s too early to tell but our taonga is looking magnificent

What can council do to reduce the cost of waste for residents?

All our waste gets shipped out of our district. Who would pay for that? Who is going to pay the staff, the contractors who ship it out. We would have people outside the district coming in to dump their waste.

How important to you is this kaupapa?

It’s very important to me and to council it is our environment and we should treasure it.

What is the one thing you would say to people who is dumping their waste?

The best thing we can do is encourage the community to treasure our environment and simply do the right thing.