Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Council social media
Enquiry
I wanted to offer the op for the council and the mayor to respond to what Jared Adams said in the meeting yesterday. Including what I have already got relating to council's social media guidelines etc. Please let me know if the opportunity for response will be taken up, and if so can I please have the response by 3pm.
Can I also ask how many people have been temporarily banned and permanently banned please, and what for?
Jared Adams spoke to Rotorua Lakes Council of his concerns the council was restricting public comments on social media at a meeting on Wednesday.
Adams told councillors they had a responsibility to “put the voices of the people and Rotorua community above the preferences of council staff”.
The public trusted them to act on their behalf and listen concerns, to ensure their voices shaped decision-making, he said.
Limiting public engagement on platforms like Facebook and YouTube undermined that trust, he said.
“It suggests that the council was more concerned with controlling the narrative than fostering open dialogue with its community.”
Adams said he understood the council’s intent of providing accurate information, he said relying solely on council information was “dangerous”.
“No institution is infallible and councils, including this one, have been wrong and incorrect many times in the past.”
Limiting comments and feedback created an echo chamber where only the council’s version of events is amplified, he said.
Adams’ view was that residents’ opportunity to challenge information or provide alternative perspective was undermined, and it was in moments of public disagreement the council could learn and grow.
Social media provided residents an ability to engage in an accountability process, he said.
Directing people to emails and phone lines put an “unnecessary wall between the community and leaders”.
While open dialogue on social media may be challenging to manage, Adams said it was more dangerous to shut it down.
“The answer isn’t to silence discussion but to engage with it.”
Comments are turned off on the council’s meeting livestreams but are enabled on other videos it posts on YouTube.
It has at times on it’s Facebook page comments on posts it would monitor them.
One particular post relating to the controversial Tarawera Sewerage Scheme and the protests at Lake Rotokākahi.
“Kia ora, we understand this is a contentious issue and that people hold strong opinions.
“We will be moderating comments that breach our guidelines. You are welcome to share your opinion but please be respectful in your comments to others and the council. Our intention is not to censor kōrero but we will hide comments that are abusive or harassing. Ngā mihi.”
In August it posted its updated social media community guidelines.
The update advised the public that any comments or questions aimed to “derail the conversation” would be removed.
“Rotorua Lakes Council reserves the right to remove contributions and followers on its social media pages that break the rules or guidelines of the relevant communities e.g. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, and our rules stated below.
“Private messages, public comments and images on the Council’s social media pages must always be polite, respectful, appropriate and relevant. Repeated and/or particularly extreme offences will result in a ban from our pages.”
Banned users may request the ban is lifted after six months by contacting the customer centre via email. If the ban is lifted and the user continues to breach its guidelines, then a ban will be applied indefinitely.
Response
From a Rotorua Lakes Council spokesperson:
We welcome comments, discussion and genuine questions via council social media channels and our community guidelines aim to keep conversations on topic and respectful.
Action like removing comments or preventing or shutting down comments is taken only when the rules have been breached. We don’t make these decisions lightly and careful consideration is given before a decision is made.
Banning someone from our social media channels is a last resort.
One person was banned indefinitely in 2015/16 from RLC’s Facebook page for repeatedly breaching council’s Facebook rules. More recently, a person was banned from our Instagram page for repeatedly sending direct messages with offensive content.
We do not have the resources to monitor and engage in all channels so we focus on those most used by people in our community who engage with us via social media, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
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Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Tarawera sewerage scheme
Enquiry
I have the below comment and some questions for response please, regarding the Tarawera sewerage scheme. I'm not sure which council is best placed to answer what.
Geoff Thomas says the council has been putting up "propaganda" around the lake's public toilets.
"My major concern is this propaganda, why are they doing that? It doesn’t stack up, it’s physically impossible."
He is referring specifically to: “Lake Tarawera water quality is declining. Every day more than 200,000 litres of sewerage from septic tanks leaks into the ground and enters Lake Tarawera”
He said If you take 200,000 litres/day from the 446 properties that equates to 448.4 litres per septic tank per day (not taking into account new homes with no septic tanks or the holiday homes unoccupied a lot of the time)
"If the average septic tank range is 2500 litres, then that means every 5.5 days the tank will be empty. Every septic tank at the lake! For the rate of seepage to continue they must be filled again immediately."
He questioned how the council got to its 200,000l a day figure.
" And where is the proof? The evidence? Does the council measure sewage flowing in? Where is it flowing in? How are the figures arrived at. A guess? The only raw sewage we have ever seen running into the lake has been from the council’s own toilets at Stoney Pt and The Landing."
"Another sign advises people not to drink the water in the lake. Has the council advised all the residents of this? People who have been taking their water from the lake for 70 years. What is that advice based on?"
He understood septic tanks only contributed about 2pc of the nutrient load to the lake.
"And few septic tanks actually leak any more because in the early 2000’s the regional council required all septic tanks to be inspected, and any leaking had to be repaired (mortared up inside). There may be a handful of very old septic tanks which still leak."
He said the majority of nutrients come from natural sources like geothermal minerals etc, forest and farmland runoff, and from other areas.
Therefore he believed the impact of reticulation would be minimal.
"Everyone agrees the sewerage reticulation scheme must be completed, but to lay the blame for “lake water enrichment” on residents’ septic tanks is scandalous."
Thomas believed it was the only thing the council was able to do and to be seen doing something.
He also believed having the "misleading" posters at the public toilets was bad for tourism - "people will say, 'I'm not letting my kids swim in that lake'."
Tarawera resident Tracey McLeod said the council had "grossly exaggerated" the estimates, and used false information including that septic tanks were banned when they are not.
"Rotorua Lakes Council are putting pressure on residents to change to reticulated sewerage scheme."
She said the council was incorrect in saying septic tanks were not allowed. She confirmed this with the regional council.
"On the Rotorua Lakes Council website page - Tarawera Sewerage Scheme is says that septic tanks are no longer allowed under BOP Regional Council rules (Plan Change 14 rules)"
In her LGOIMA response from BOPRC: The information on the Rotorua Lakes Council website is not entirely accurate. Any new septic tank systems in the Rotorua lakes’ catchments are a discretionary activity (under rule 4) and require an application for resource consent to be made. Plan Change 14 was not progressed past the draft stage due to the requirement to undertake the freshwater plan change that came through the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. The decision was made to incorporate the On-site Effluent Treatment (OSET) requirements within the current freshwater plan change process."
As well as response to the above can I please ask:
When did the council put the posters up and why? (Also noting there were none when I looked a week ago - were these removed by the council and if so why?)
How did the council work out what amount of sewage residents' septic tanks leached?
Please explain the inconsistencies in this estimate - i've previously been told it's 300,000l a day, and have seen it as a range between 200.000-300,000 .
I did see a potentially deleted section of the FAQ page that still comes up with a search (attached)
450 houses x 700l is 315,000l a day - but then this would be assuming that almost every single drop went into the lake? Can the estimate please be explained?
Aside from reticulation what has been done to improve or halt degradation of water quality at Tarawera?
Have there been any studies to see the impact of reticulation on other Te Arawa lakes and if so what are the details?
Please explain how the scheme is justified in relation to cost and benefit.
Response
We provided the following:
Regarding your question about “Another sign advises people not to drink the water in the lake”: So that we can give an informed and accurate response regarding the sign Mr Thomas mentions can you please tell us where that sign is, what it says in full and whether it is an RLC sign? Do you have an image of it? We can then investigate this for you.
From Group Manager – Infrastructure & Environment Stavros Michael:
Regarding the estimates regarding what leaches (note, leaches NOT leaks) from septic tank systems into the ground:
This is based on average estimates of water use and how septic tanks work.
Septic tanks have an inlet pipe that carries wastewater from the house into the tank, and an outlet pipe through which liquid can discharge to a ground soakage system.
Solids sink to the bottom of the tank and accumulate over a long period of time until they need to be removed. Liquid waste sits above the layer of solids.
When household wastewater enters the tank a corresponding amount of liquid exits through the outlet pipe into the ground soakage system and then leaches downward through the soil toward the water table.
