Official Information Request - Tarawera sewerage scheme voting

Sent: Friday, 7 October 2022 11:32 am
Subject: Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request - Tarawera sewerage scheme voting

I refer to your Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (Act) request of 23 September 2022 requesting:

• All documentation and correspondence between Rotorua Lakes Council and the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) from 1 January 2022 until 23 September 2022, specifically communication between the Minister for the Environment and Council to confirm the statement by her hour the Mayor Steve Chadwick at the start of the 25 August 2022 Full Council meeting that the Minister had reversed his decision to rescind the $6.4M Freshwater Improvement Fund FIF grant.
• Provide a full summary of the votes received in respect to the letter to Tarawera community of 1 July 2022 and a concise summary of the number of property owners who voted initially for Option C but were coerced into changing their vote to Option A. In this regard provide evidence of how the votes were counted or arranged so as to provide the Minister with confirmation that 75% of Tarawera property owners were in favour of the scheme proceeding under Option A.

With regard bullet point 1, attached are:

• Letter to MfE dated 19 August 2022
• Email from MfE dated 23 August 2022 confirming the Minister has reversed his decision [mobile numbers have been redacted under s7(2) of the Act]
• Letter from Hon David Parker, Minister for the Environment

With regard bullet point 2, below is the summary and analysis of submissions received, as provided to the Council meeting on 25 August 2022 as part of the report considered in the confidential session:

Summary and analysis of submissions received

(a) A summary of the responses received is shown on Table 1 below.

Table 1 - Summary of responses received

(b) Analysis of Submissions on bespoke Preference C

Emails were sent to those who responded in favour of bespoke Preference C. Out of the 202 Preference C submissions received, 167 submitters were sent emails within the short time remaining before the consultation process deadline. 35 Preference C submitters were not able to be contacted because they did not provide an email contact so communication was not able to be completed within the tight timeframe. The breakdown and analysis of the Preference C submissions is shown on Table 2 below.

Table 2 – Analysis of preference submissions

(c) Overall Summary

The following Table 3 summarises the result of all submissions. It takes into account:

• That a non-response to the letter of 1 July 2022 was considered to be in favour of Preference A.
• Changes made by submitters from Preference C to either A or B.
• A non-response from those who chose bespoke Preference C (after a subsequent email) were conservatively considered to be in favour of Preference B.

Table 3 – Overall Summary of Submissions

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. The Ombudsman’s Office can be contacted by calling 0800 802 602, emailing info@ombudsman.parliament.nz, online at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz, or by post to The Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143

Publication of responses to LGOIMA requests

Please note: Our LGOIMA responses may be published on the Rotorua Lakes Council website after they have been responded to, with requesters’ personal details withheld. If you have any concerns about this please contact the Council on info@rotorualc.nz.

Regards