LGOIMA Requests

Date received: 20/12/2024

Requested information: Information about any communications relating to the need for secrecy for the Wilson Road storage facility

Status: Complete

Response:

Date received: 20/12/2024

Requested information: Information about cat management within Manawatu District Council area

Status: Complete

Response:

Please find the answers to your questions below.

1. How long has your Council had either a Cat Management bylaw or included Cat Management in their Animal Management bylaw?

The Manawatū District Council has no specific bylaw dedicated to cats but has included cats as part of its Animal Bylaw (the bylaw) since at least 2014.  A copy of the current bylaw can be found here:  Animal-Bylaw-amendments-22-Sep-22.pdf.  Part three of the bylaw references cats and can be found on page 7.

2. How many complaints about cats has your Council received under your Cat/Animal Management bylaw per year for each year they have had a bylaw?

Yearly reporting from Manawatū District Council electronic database records show the following:

1. In 2013 the Manawatū District Council recorded no complaints about cats.
2. In 2014 the Manawatū District Council recoded two complaints about cats, and five requests / inquiries for the supply of a cat cages to hold feral cats.
3. In 2015 the Manawatū District Council recorded three complaints about the number of cats kept on properties, and two requests for a cat cage to hold feral cats.
4. In 2016 no complaints were recorded.
5. In 2017 no complaints were recorded.
6. In 2018 no complaints were recorded.
7. In 2019 the Manawatū District Council had three complaints about cats (one about the number of cats on a property and two concerning stray cats).
8. In 2020 no complaints were recorded.
9. In 2021 no complaints were recorded.
10. In 2022 no complaints were recorded.
11. In 2023, one complaint was received about cats upsetting a person's dog, and one complaint relating to cats entering a person's house.

Note that 2014 and 2019 were years when the bylaw was being reviewed.

3. What have been the outcomes of the complaints received so far?

The outcomes from complaints received about cats have been:

1. Complaints about property owners keeping more than the permitted number of cats (i.e. four) on a property saw letters and/or advice sent to owners, no prosecution action was taken.  There appears to be no record of further complaints from the complainants.
2. One complaint was received about a neighbour's cats and their welfare. The complainant was referred to the SPCA and advice also provided to the cat owner.
3. Complaints about stray cats whose origin and ownership were not able to be established saw complainants referred to the SPCA.  No prosecution action was taken.
4. Prior to late 2014, requests for a cat cage saw the complainants referred to a vet. Subsequent requests have resulted in the offer of traps and cages for hire.
3. How are the Council managing complaints about cats in breach of the bylaw?
1. What are the cat management processes and potential outcomes?
2. How are the Council planning to manage cats that may have to be seized?

Current complaint processes relating to cats see complainants either being referred to animal control staff for further investigation or, where appropriate, customer services staff (who can provide advice on matters such as how stray cats on a property could be managed). The Manawatū District Council also hires out cat traps and cages to allow property owners to trap feral cats (and has a cat trap hire agreement form and fee for this purpose). 

If, in the opinion of an Enforcement Officer, the keeping of any cats on a premises is, or is likely to become a nuisance they may do all or any of the following: (a) reduce the number of cats kept on the premises; (b) take other such precautions as may be considered necessary by the Council Officer to reduce the nuisance effects.

The Manawatū District Council tends not to seize cats but seeks the cooperation of owners (if known).

5. Have the Council had to employ extra animal control staff with the addition of cat management to your bylaws?

The Manawatū District Council has not employed additional staff to enforce the bylaw. 

6. How many prosecutions have been taken against cat owners?

No prosecution actions have been taken against cat owners to date. 

7. How many prosecutions do the Council envisage they will undertake in the next 12month? Five years?

No prosecutions of cat owners are envisaged within the next 12 months or five years.

8. Are the Council keeping a cat register? If not, how are they tracking cat registrations, microchipping and desexing?

The Manawatū District Council does not keep a register of cats. There are also no specific bylaws or District Plan rules which require the microchipping of cats, but council staff may suggest microchipping to owners as a way of quickly identifying owners of lost cats when they are found. However,

Every person who keeps cats is required to de-sex them if they are over six months old unless they are registered with a nationally recognised cat breeders' body. The transient nature of cat movements, and the number of stray cats / cats not carrying any other identification, makes checking of microchipping and de-sexing enforcement difficult.

9. Is the Companion Animal Register sharing information with the Council about cats registered in the area?

The Manawatū District Council does not have an information sharing arrangement with the Companion Animal Register. 

Date received: 16/12/2024

Requested information: Details of the removal and disposal of Almadale footbridge

Status: Complete

Response:

Date received: 13/12/2024

Requested information: Details of Council committee structure, accountability and remuneration.

Status: Complete

Response:

Date received: 13/12/2024

Requested information: Request for dates from Council of Citizenship Ceremony from December 2024 to December 2025

Status: Complete

Response:

The Manawatu District Council held a Citizenship Ceremony on 5 December 2024 and has planned for the following dates in 2025.

6 March 2025

15 May 2025

21 August 2025

20 November 2025

Date received: 10/12/2024

Requested information: Number of complaints regarding an individual over the last 10 years.

Status: Complete

Response:

Date received: 09/12/2024

Requested information: Information regarding current and future maintenance requirements for Council owned roads intersecting with State Highway 54

Status: Complete

Response:

Date received: 03/12/2024

Requested information: Information on effect of new Government speed setting rule

Status: Complete

Response:

Date received: 27/11/2024

Requested information: Information about the approval process for a storage facility on Wilson Road

Status: Complete

Response:

As previously advised, we are withholding all official information related to Council's communications with its solicitors under section 7(2)(g) of the LGOIMA, so as to maintain legal professional privilege. The Council has a strong interest in its legal advice remaining private to it and there is a strong public interest in the maintenance of legal professional privilege generally, neither of which are outweighed by any public interest in the information itself.  
We are also withholding information which is outside the scope of your request.  
 
The balance of the documents we are releasing are included in this link - LG_2317_Second_release_of_information.zip

In this final release of documents we have redacted documents that; 

1.  include quotes of legal opinion under Section 7(2)(g) - to maintain legal professional privilege and  

2. the charge out rates on invoices under Section (7)(2)(b)(ii) – likely to unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied the information.  

Finally, in response to your requests numbered 3 and 4:  

3.         At any stage was anyone at the Manawatu District Council provided with a report or information from the Health Ministry or any other government entity on the effects of hazardous substances that were to be stored at 393 Wilson Road.  

No specific information was provided from the Ministry of Health (or any other department) on the effects of the substances to be stored at the Wilson Road site. You will see that section 4.7 of the assessment of environmental effect attached to the Ministry's notice of requirement outlines that any effects from hazardous substances would be managed. The planning report on the notice of requirement also observes at 6.1.2.3 that, from 2017 onward, the management of effects from the storage of hazardous substances was no longer a function of the Council under the RMA.  

4.         At any stage during the NoR or planning process, was any council staff member asked by any government official not to notify anything in relation to the plan on national security grounds or for national security considerations?  

No request was made for the non-notification of the notice of requirement or the outline plan on national security grounds.  

Date received: 22/11/2024

Requested information: Information relating to Dog Control Activity

Status: Complete

Response: