LGOIMA Requests

1  How many EHOs does your local authority currently employ ?  One

2  When it employs EHOs does your local authority use the list of suitable qualifications on the Ministry of Health's website* to ensure EHO candidates are qualified?   YES
* Please refer to the Ministry link to suitable qualifications:  
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/environmental-health/environmental-health-officers-qualifications-regulations-1993

3  For EHO appointments are the Regulations referred to in your local authority's:

(a) recruitment policies?  NO 

(b) job descriptions?        YES

4  Are the Regulations fit for purpose? NO

5 Could the Regulations be improved on from your perspective? If yes, in what ways?
Yes,  the Regulations does not reflect how some TA’s with close boarders work collaboratively and have formal / informal contracts in place with other TA’s for access to technical expertise when trainees are employed. 
There is limited availability to the types of NZQA courses available for trainees and are up to each TA to interpret what is suitable to include in individual training plans.
While there should still be a need to maintain Qualifications for the Profession,  being able to draw on background knowledge and skills from other industry experience should be considered to determine if they should be appointed as “Trainee” while working towards a formal Qualification.”

Attachment of the Pedestrian Counter Device
I spoke to my colleague who attached the pedestrian counter on the verandah pole outside of Mr Key’s premises. He has advised me that he entered John Key’s premises prior to attaching the pedestrian counter but no one was available at the time. He received a phone call the following day (28 June 2018) from John Key’s wife. She had questions regarding what the device recorded and for what purpose it had been installed. He explained the purpose of the pedestrian counter and that the meter only counted people walking past, but did not include any video footage. This seemed to satisfy her concerns and no request was made to Council to remove the pedestrian counter from the pole.
Correspondence with Interested Parties
An introductory presentation on the proposed Priority Thoroughfares was made to the Developers’ Interest Group and Earthquake Prone Building Working Group Meeting at MDC on the 27th of August 2018. However, the consultation period was delayed by resolution of the Strategic Planning and Policy Committee on the 6th of September 2018, until February 2019. A copy of this presentation is attached for your information.
Attached is a copy of the Priority Thoroughfares Poster. Copies of this poster were displayed in the Council Foyer, Feilding Public Library and the Feilding Farmers Market for the duration of the consultation period.
Also attached is a copy of the two-page flyer that was produced for Feilding & District Promotion (FDP) and a copy of a letter that was prepared by the Manawatū District Council’s Chief Executive, Dr Richard Templer. 500 copies of each of these documents were delivered to FDP who included them as inserts in their “On Track” newsletter which was hand delivered to building owners by FDP. Mayor Helen Worboys emailed FDP information on the priority thoroughfares consultation as part of her Mayoral blurb for inclusion in the “On Track” newsletter (see attached).
Also attached is a copy of a joint invitation from Council and FDP to attend a meeting to discuss the proposal at FDP on the 28th of February. This invitation was mailed by MDC along with the flyer and a copy of Richard’s letter to all commercial building owners in the Feilding CBD. The database of commercial building owners includes approximately 500 contacts (676 contacts but some own more than one building).
The flyer and a copy of the letter from Dr Templer was also emailed electronically to FDP, who emailed it out to their own contact database of business owners.
The letter from Dr Richard Templer was also emailed to all 19 members of the Earthquake Prone Building Working Party in February 2019.
Copy of the website Notice
Please find attached a pdf copy of Council’s “Have your Say” website. This shows the website notice for Priority Thoroughfares.
How long was the website notice on Council’s Website?
This webpage was made live on the 7th of February 2019. The link to the page was removed from the homepage on Council’s website on Monday the 8th of April 2019. However, the page was not removed from the website, but relocated to http://haveyoursay.kiwi.nz/Previous_Consultation/.
Determination that the public notice met the requirements of Section 5 of the Local Government Act 2002
Paragraph 8.1 of Officers Report 7.1 to the Strategic Planning and Policy Committee on 2 August 2018 stated:
Approval is sought from the Strategic Planning and Policy Committee to publically notify the proposal document contained in Annex A. If this approval is obtained, a notice will be included in the Feilding Herald on Thursday the 9th of August. This notice will direct interested members of the community to the proposal document and online submission form that will be uploaded on the “have your say” page of Council’s website. Copies of the proposal document will also be made available at the Feilding Public Library and at the front counter of the Manawatū District Council Building on Manchester Street.
As outlined in the Minutes from this meeting (see attached) the Strategic Planning and Policy Committee resolved
“That the Strategic Planning and Policy Committee approves the Statement of Proposal in Annex A, subject to any changes agreed at this meeting, for public consultation in September 2018.”
This resolution was amended at the 6 September 2018 Strategic Planning and Policy Committee meeting (minutes attached) as follows:
“That the Strategic Planning and Policy Committee approves the Statement of Proposal in Annex A, subject to any changes agreed at this meeting, for public consultation in early 2019.”
The notice was published in the Feilding-Rangitīkei Herald on February 7, 2019. Please find attached an electronic copy of the published notice.
This publication used to be called the “Feilding Herald” and this is a colloquial term that is still commonly used. The omission of “Rangitīkei” from the proposal document was a typo. However, a scanned copy from the Feilding-Rangitīkei Herald confirms that the public notice was published on the 7th of February 2019.
At the time the public notice was given, the requirements of Section 5 of the Local Government Act 2002 required a notice to be published in at least one daily newspaper circulating in the region or district of the local authority, OR in one or more newspapers that had a combined circulation in that region or district at least equivalent to that of a daily newspaper circulating in that region or district.

The circulation of the Feilding-Rangitikei Herald is considered to meet this requirement for the Manawatu District.

In addition, although not legally required to at that time, the Council undertook additional publication methods through the use of its website, Facebook page, Neighbourly and Twitter accounts, as shown on the attached Communications Report. Council staff also advertised the consultation at the Feilding Farmers Market on the 8th of February and the 8th of March 2019.

Is there data available that quantifies the return to Manawatu District Ratepayers on the investment in CEDA and is that proportionate?
The return on investment to Manawatu District Council [MDC] from CEDA cannot be exactly quantified as Economic Development returns are not easily attributable.  What matters is activity that leads to outcomes.  CEDA as part of their contract with MDC is required to report on a wide range of measures some of which relate to activity and some which specify outcomes.  Both of these are available to the public, as you know at: https://ceda.nz/data-insights/accountability-reports/  .  Funding for CEDA is based on relative population.  Towards the end of our three year contract with CEDA, MDC will conduct a formal review [following section 17A of the Local Government Act] and on the basis of that will make a further investment decision.

Why is the governance team not fully represented by local candidates?
PNCC and MDC agreed that it was important that CEDA have the best possible directors with an international outlook, rather than simply recruiting from within the local region.

Is there any impediment that Council is aware of to further accommodation development in Feilding?
MDC has recently notified the district plan change for ‘Precinct 4’ which should facilitate the construction of up to 1600 residential properties.  In terms of commercial accommodation [Hotels, Motels, Air B&B etc.] there are no impediments to further development.  However such developments are always dependent on commercial considerations.

Has CEDA produced any report on the future economic impact on Feilding from the Earthquake Building legislation, and if not why not?
MDC did not ask CEDA to do an economic analysis, nor did it do one itself (as MDC has the capability in-house).  When considering Priority Thoroughfares, the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016, requires Council to consider: earthquake risk [high], the presence of unreinforced masonry buildings [yes] and pedestrian and traffic volumes [data].  Economic analysis of any type is not a consideration under the act, so was not undertaken.

In response to your questions below the precise salary figures are:
2017/ 18 financial year $289,000
2018/ 19 financial year $294,286

The figures below are the complete remuneration package.
2017/ 18 financial year $303,450
2018/ 19 financial year $309,000

I have met with our GIS team who have put together a map that I think will assist you.

We used the map you provided as an overlay, and just note that some of the parcels in the zone are not within the MDC administrative boundary so we cannot advise of details on allotments created – they show as NULL in the table on the map.

Ignore the numbers within the parcels, they are simply the resource consent number for our records.

We have written to you several times asking whether you wished us to proceed, or not, with your request or whether you wished to revise your request.

As we have not had any response at all to our emails, and the maximum time for replying to A LGOIMA request has well passed, we advise that we are formally closing the rquest.

Should you wish to request information in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

In the Manawatu District the only fluoridated Water Supply is the Feilding Water Supply, this supply is for the Feilding urban area and some properties between the treatment plant and the urban area.  The Feilding Water Supply has been fluoridated since 1967.
All mesh blocks in the Feilding Central, Feilding East, Feilding North and Feilding West Area units are in the Feilding Water Supply Area. Most mesh blocks in the Maewa and Rakiraki Area units and a mesh block in the Oroua Bridge Area Unit are also in the Feilding Water Supply area.
A spreadsheet of the mesh blocks in the Feilding Water supply area is attached.
All other  water supplies in the Manawatu District are not fluoridated.  These supplies are located at Himatangi Beach, Rongotea, Waituna West, Sanson and Halcombe.  A rural water supply scheme supplies Kimbolton and Cheltenham.

https://jarvis.mdc.govt.nz/site/orgadmin/LGOIMA/LG1842/OIA%20Response%2022052019-Freedom%20Camping-LG1842.PNG

1. How many firing ranges in your Council area have both indoor and outdoor facilities?
We do not hold a register of firing ranges, there are 4 outdoor firing ranges that we are aware of, all existed prior to the District Plan coming in to force so no resource consents are held for them. There is 1 indoor range
2. How many solely indoor firing ranges are there in your Council area?
One
3. How many solely outdoor firing ranges are there in your Council area?
Four
4. How often are the firing ranges inspected by Council officers and/or Police?
Council do not hold regular inspections of firing ranges. You would have to check with Police to ascertain if they regularly inspect the ranges
5. What is your Council's regime for assessing shooters' and range officers' exposure to lead at the firing ranges?
Council do not check for lead exposure at firing ranges
6. Does your Council require measures at firing ranges to mitigate the effects of lead exposure? What are these measures and how are they reported by the range and enforced by the Council?
No measures are required by Council.
7. What is the protocol for Council inspection of firing ranges, for example, is there a checklist or similar, used by the Council officers to assess the firing range? If so, could you please supply a copy?
There is no protocol for Council inspections, as advised above we do not hold inspections.
8. Could you please supply copies of all reports relating to firearms and firing ranges written by or received by the Council over the last three years?
N/A

Thank you for your request under the Local Government official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (attached).

On behalf of the Manawatu District Council, I respond to your questions:
1. Manawatu District Council has not issued any resource consents for subdivision which has had conditions imposed relating to the keeping of domestic cats. The Manawatu District Council has on record, 1 land use consent for the establishment of a cattery, 1 land use consent to relocate a building to a site to be used as a cattery, and a permitted boundary consent for a cattery building which does not comply with yard setback requirements. None of these consents have conditions pertaining to domestic cat control.  The Manawatu District Council has not declined any resource consent application on the grounds of the impacts of domestic cats on wildlife.
2. Not applicable.
3. Not applicable.

The Manawatu District Council has responded to localised community issues relating to cats, through an Animal Bylaw which is currently being reviewed. The Animal Bylaw did not seek to control domestic cats in relation to wildlife, rather respond to the issue of the number of feral cats in urban areas which may be a health hazard. This bylaw is currently being reviewed. There are no provisions with the Manawatu District Plan currently addressing domestic cat keeping – and Council is undertaking a sectional District Plan Review, to date no issues relating to domestic cat keeping have been raised.