LGOIMA Requests

Date received: 19/08/2026

Requested information: Pedestrian Crossing Audit - Request for Council policies or frameworks governing how pedestrian crossings are audited and prioritised, including the use of crash data, geographic and crossing-type coverage, proposed changes, and confirmation where no such policies exist.

Status: Awaiting approval to release

Date received: 18/08/2026

Requested information: Request for all council costs associated with the Government’s Head Start initiative from 5 May 2026 until the council’s response to the Government, including consultancy, consultation, meeting, workshop, and other related expenses.

Status: Complete

Date responded: 27/08/2026

Response:

1. What was the total cost to the council for of all activities and work undertaken to develop and finalise its response to the Government’s Head Start local government initiative? For clarification purposes, this request is for the total cost or the best estimate of the total cost to the council of the Head Start initiative. Points 2-5 below are for components of this total.

All items in response to the below questions are inclusive of GST.

Total cost (including GST): $13,778.85.

This figure does not include internal staff time, for the reasons outlined in response to question 5.

2. What consultants and contractors were engaged to advise or provided information or analysis for the council’s response to Head Start and what was the cost of each provider’s services? What were the titles of any reports provided by these consultants or contractors?

Morrison Low Advisory Ltd provided a report in June 2026 called “Head Start Pathway Horizons councils”. We contributed to the cost of this report, and work leading up to it, as below:

• $3,012.95 – relating to the facilitation of a Mayoral Forum on the Head Start pathway, and working on the scoping of a detailed report.
• $6,037.53 – direct contribution cost towards the completed report.

Little and Loud assisted with communication during a period of staff absence. They attended a regular Workshop meeting where the Head Start pathway was discussed, and drafted a public news item on it:

• $2,081.62

3. What was the total cost to the council for informing or consulting with local communities and how much was spent on surveys, advertising, informational publications (flyers, pamphlets, etc.), public meetings, websites and other such activities.

Newspaper adverts:

• $1,725

Radio advertising:

• $921.75

4. What was the total cost of any extraordinary or special council meetings or workshops held regarding Head Start or the council’s response to it?

No costs associated with these.

5. What other costs were incurred by the council under this initiative and what was the value of those costs?

No other direct costs have been identified. Council has not attempted to quantify internal staff time, as most roles do not record time against individual projects and the work associated with Head Start was largely undertaken as part of business-as-usual activities.

Date received: 17/08/2026

Requested information: Building Consents Request - Request for residential new-build consent data issued in the district from January 2022 to June 2026, including key consent, property, builder, and value details.

Status: Complete

Date responded: 19/08/2026

Response:

Thank you for your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) dated 17/08/2026, for information relating to residential new build building consents issued within the Manawatū District.

Please find attached the information held by Council in response to your request. The dataset covers the requested period and includes the following information:

building consent number;
date issued;
property address;
consent type;
builder/contractor name; and
consent value.

Manawatū District Council may publish this response along with a summary of the request on our website.   Requests and responses may be paraphrased.    

To protect your privacy, we will not generally publish personal information about you, or information that identifies you.   

If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact the LGOIMA Response Team on 06 323 0000 or by replying to this email.

Date received: 10/08/2026

Requested information: Feilding Property Details - A request for addresses of all properties in Feilding that have backflow valves installed and all properties that are on water meters.

Status: Awaiting approval to release

Date received: 08/08/2026

Requested information: A request for Council to review the property’s rates increase and provide, under LGOIMA, the information and rationale supporting the increase despite a significant decline in the property’s valuation.

Status: Complete

Date responded: 27/08/2026

Response:

1. The basis and methodology used to calculate the recent rates increase for my property.
   See pages 21-37 of the Annual Plan 2026-27 for the methodology of how Council charges each category of rate - MDC-Annual-Plan-2026_Final-Web.pdf
2. Any policies, models, or formulas applied that explain how rates can increase despite a reduction in property value.

Council rates are not inherently a tax on property value. Property value is often used as a method for distributing part of the rates requirement between properties, but it does not determine how much money a council needs to collect overall.

The distinction is:

• Council first determines how much revenue it needs from rates to fund its activities, after accounting for other revenue such as fees, subsidies and grants.
• It then decides how that rates requirement will be allocated across properties, using the rating tools available under the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.
• Some rates are based on capital value meaning property value affects a property's share of that particular rate.
• Other rates can be fixed charges, such as a Uniform Annual General Charge, or targeted rates based on factors such as the services provided, location, land use, or other characteristics.
• As a result, an increase/decrease in a property's value does not automatically mean Council receives more/less rates revenue. If every property increased/decreased in value by the same percentage, the relative distribution of a value-based rate would broadly remain unchanged.
• What matters for a value-based rate is generally a property's value relative to other properties, rather than the value in isolation.

3.  Documentation or reports used by Council to justify rates increases for the current rating period.

See Annual Plan 2026-27 for how Council intended use of collected rates for the 2026-27 year - link above

4.  Any internal or external advice received regarding the relationship between property valuations and rates setting.

Council has received no advice on this specific matter, aside from following legislative requirements in the Local Government Rating Act 2002.

Date received: 07/08/2026

Requested information: Noise complaints information - Request for noise complaint information for the period September 2025 to date

Status: Complete

Date responded: 14/08/2026

Response:

Official information request - Request for noise complaint information for the period September 2025 to date

I refer to your official information request dated 07/08/2026The information you have requested is below 

Council records show that, from 3 July 2026, four complaints of excessive noise have been received in relation to (withheld due to privacy), Sanson:

Two complaints were received on 3 July 2026 (CCR 97944 and CCR 97945).
One complaint was received on 21 July 2026 (CCR 98233).
One complaint was received on 31 July 2026 (CCR 98416).

A search of Council records has not identified any complaints of excessive noise relating to this property prior to 3 July 2026.

Two Directions to Abate Excessive Noise (END notices) have been issued in relation to the property.

The first END notice was issued on 4 July 2026. Following the issue of this notice, Council sent a warning letter to the occupants of the property and wrote to the property owner advising that an END notice had been issued.

The second END notice was served on the occupants on 1 August 2026. This was followed by a further warning letter to the occupants and a further letter to the property owner advising that an END notice had been issued.

Copies of the four CCR records, the two END notices, and the associated correspondence sent to the occupants and property owner are attached to this response.

Personal details (names, addresses, contact details, etc) of third parties, which have been withheld under section 7(2)(a) of the LGOIMA, to protect their privacy. 

I do not consider that those persons’ privacy interests are outweighed by the public interest in the information’s release. Information withheld pursuant to this section will be redacted in the relevant documents.

Manawatū District Council may publish this response along with a summary of the request on our website.   Requests and responses may be paraphrased.    

To protect your privacy, we will not generally publish personal information about you, or information that identifies you.   

If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact the LGOIMA Response Team on 06 323 0000 or by replying to this email.  

Yours sincerely,

Date received: 05/08/2026

Requested information: Process Heat Users - A request for a list of process heat users in the region who are required to apply for resource consent for greenhouse gas emissions and to prepare emissions plans under specific 2023 regulations

Status: Transferred

Date received: 04/08/2026

Requested information: Pool Fencing Inspections - Information about properties in the Feilding township that have swimming pools and pool fencing inspections.

Status: Complete

Date responded: 01/09/2026

Response:

Date received: 04/08/2026

Requested information: Workforce Data - A request for workforce data from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025.  

Status: Complete

Date responded: 11/08/2026

Response:

Please find below the details as requested for 1 July 2024 – 30 June 2025:

The proportion of the council’s employees who are women - 59.32%
The proportion of the council’s employees who are men - 40.11%
The proportion of the council’s employees who are another gender diverse - 0.57%
The proportion of the council’s employees who are Māori - we don't record this
Annual staff turnover. - 24.43%

Date received: 03/08/2026

Requested information: Information on Councils core business systems - Request for information on Council's core business systems, planned replacements or upgrades, supporting documentation, and associated budgets and timelines from 1 July 2023 onwards.

Status: Complete

Date responded: 25/08/2026

Response: