LGOIMA Requests
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Search results: 616
| Received | Subject | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30/09/2024 | Budgeted and actual costs for food and beverages for Council meetings, employee meetings and functions for 2021, 2022 & 2023 | Complete | Details |
| 30/09/2024 | Costs of maintenance of motor vehicles for 2022 and 2023 | Complete | Details |
| 19/09/2024 | All documents/information pertaining to the removal of the walk bridge at Almadale Reserve. | Complete | Details |
| 18/09/2024 | All Documents/information in relation to CCR79236, Stormwater discharge issues between 37 and 39 Haggitt Street | Complete | Details |
| 11/09/2024 | Over road structures and the corresponding signage | Complete | Details |
| 10/09/2024 | Information about Wall Walk courses attended by staff the over last three years | Complete | Details |
| 06/09/2024 | Information about Councils approach to and use of artificial intelligence | Complete | Details |
| 02/09/2024 | What civil defence measures are there in case of nuclear attack? | Complete | Details |
| 29/08/2024 | Notification of investigation - rezoning of a property on Dundas Road | Complete | Details |
| 16/08/2024 | Is MDC rescinding Māori Wards or going to a referendum | Complete | Details |
LGOIMA Request Details: LG2298
Date received: 30/09/2024
Requested information: Budgeted and actual costs for food and beverages for Council meetings, employee meetings and functions for 2021, 2022 & 2023
Status: Complete
Response:
1. What "other" groups are being catered for when you state "figures in 'other' are not staff only?
MDC financial system does not record all attendees at meetings but merely the details recorded on the invoice of the supplier, it is not possible to accurately group all expenditure into the headings requested of:
· Council meetings
· Employee meetings
· Functions
In the previous response the classification of "council" refers to Governance budget. Costs incurred in that budget relate to events and activities which are initiated or predominately related to elected members, there may or may not be staff involved in those meetings.
· Citizenship ceremony,
· Elected members induction,
· Lunches/Morning tea for Council meetings including focus groups, and hearings committee.
· Meetings with external parties and various elected members
The classification of 'other" refers to any catering that is not initiated or predominately involving the governance team, more specifically activity related.
· Costs associated with community events run at the Library – many are funded via selling tickets: such as the Murder Mystery evening
· Costs associated with community events
· Tea, coffee and milk for council buildings,
· Morning tea shouts for Long service celebrations, retirements, farewells for senior staff.
· Staff Christmas break up
The finance system does not usually record who/entity that was being catered for, the information recorded in the finance system is limited and records the supplier, good ordered, or description from the purchase order.
2. Can you please give us a breakdown of the 2023 expenses and why did this exceed budget by such a significant amount?
The 2023 financial result reflected $15,976 over budget which reflects and is reflected in a range of under and over variances, the main variances are:
The areas that:
· Tea coffee and Milk for council buildings were previously coded to 'general expenses. However, in 2023 the coding of the invoices was moved to more correctly identify the cost as food and beverages, this resulted in $9,619 of costs unbudgeted in food and beverages, and an underspend in $9,870 underspend in general expenses.
· Other variances across the council are small and include: Staff anniversaries, long service celebrations, farewells, The impact of election year, and induction of elected members
3. 2023 was excessively over budget, what groups were catered for in that time period which caused such an unexpected expense?
As above, the finance system does not record who is in attendance at events and meetings, the increase in costs recorded as Food and Beverages is predominately the reclassification of tea coffee and milk supplies.
LGOIMA Request Details: LG2299
Date received: 30/09/2024
Requested information: Costs of maintenance of motor vehicles for 2022 and 2023
Status: Complete
Response:
LGOIMA Request Details: LG2297
Date received: 19/09/2024
Requested information: All documents/information pertaining to the removal of the walk bridge at Almadale Reserve.
Status: Complete
Response:
The information you have requested is below and in the attached documents.
Below is the timeline around the decision to removal the walk bridge;
December 2018: Council Senior Structural Engineer inspected the bridge and identified several structural areas of concern.
As a result of the recommendations from the structural assessment, Council undertook a load assessment and a review of the painting and erosion of the structure and reduced maximum occupancy to no more than 3 people at any one time.
February 2019: Council contracted WSP/Opus to undertake a full condition assessment of the bridge.
Council then engaged contractors to action the recommendations of the Opus report.
February 2023: Significant flood event due to Cyclone Gabriel. This caused significant damage:
1. Excessive stress put on guide wires
2. Some cross bracing was revealed, showing excessive corrosion and lack of structural strength.
3. The true left bank was washed away to the extent that the wooden steps were at risk of collapse.
4. Council’s Project Engineer recommended that the bridge be closed to pedestrians with steps removed and rails put up to prevent admittance to the structure.
February 2023: WSP/Opus Structural Engineers engaged to carry out a full structural inspection of the bridge following Cyclone Gabriel.
See attached email dated Tuesday 21 February 2023 for report findings and recommendations of the flood damaged bridges, including Almadale Bridge.
1. WSP/Opus identified that the cost of this would come to a considerable amount and would only return a live load capacity i.e. Maximum no more than 3 persons on the bridge at any one time.
2. WSP/Opus suggested that a full replacement of the bridge might be a more cost-effective solution.
OPUS report 15/01/2019 estimated a maintenance cost over the next 25 years to be $127,000 ex GST. This was prior to Cyclone Gabriel.
Following Cyclone Garbriel in 2023, the cost of this work increased significantly due to significant catastrophic damage to the bridge. Repairs would not have resulted in a fit of purpose product that was financially viable.
Engineers advised the bridge needed to be removed as a health and safety priority and this was actioned by Council officers.
MDC has no current budget allocated to replace the bridge.
See attached various emails: Council reached out to NZDF to see if they had capacity to undertake an engineering exercise to remove and replace the existing bridge, due to the prohibitive costs associated with replacement.
Unfortunately working in collaboration with NZDF was not feasible at the time and funding was not available for this.
LGOIMA Request Details: LG2296
Date received: 18/09/2024
Requested information: All Documents/information in relation to CCR79236, Stormwater discharge issues between 37 and 39 Haggitt Street
Status: Complete
Response:
LGOIMA Request Details: LG2294
Date received: 11/09/2024
Requested information: Over road structures and the corresponding signage
Status: Complete
Response:
LGOIMA Request Details: LG2293
Date received: 10/09/2024
Requested information: Information about Wall Walk courses attended by staff the over last three years
Status: Complete
Response:
The information you have requested is below and in this link – LG_2293_Release_of_information.zip
1. The total number of staff sent to courses run by wall walks in each of the last three years. Please break down number of staff sent by year.
2022 – 19 staff attended one Wall Walk course.
2023 – 31 staff attended the Wall Walk over three different courses.
2024 – 27 staff attended the Wall Walk over two different courses.
2. Please indicate what course/workshop/training each staff member was involved in is called.
The training course is called The Wall Walk.
3. The total amount spent on sending staff to Wall Walks courses over the last three years. Please break the total amount spent on sending staff to Wall Walks courses down by year.
The Wall Walk is a collaborative activity that we have run with other Councils. This ensures cost efficiency for all involved and makes it easier to maintain the number of participants without compromising customer service. Total costs for Wall Walks, including venue, over the past three years are as follows:
2022 Manawatu District Council total cost for 19 staff on one course $1532.34
2023 Manawatu District Council total cost for 31 staff over three courses $2833.25
2024 Manawatu District Council total cost for 27 staff over two courses $3110.56
Total $7,476.15
4. The value of any other funding provided to wall walks, broken down by date, funding purpose, office location and amount.
There was $Nil funding provided to Wall Walks other than those shown in Response 3.
5. Please provide emails, reports, messages or any other correspondence for the reasoning of staff being sent on these courses and specify whether participation in these courses was compulsory or not.
Attendance on Wall Walks was encouraged via Managers, email and internal webpages; at no time was it made a compulsory. A copy of a typical email to participants is provided. See documents in link
6. Please provide a copy of documentation including but not limited to emails, reports, messages or any other correspondence that explains the content included in the course or description of activities undertaken through wall walks, or any associated courses/training.
A Word copy of an email to participants is provided as are the documents sent to those participants. Note that the internal documents are guided by the material provided by the Wall Walk; which are also provided. See documents in the link
7. Please provide emails, reports, messages or any other correspondence for any measurable outcomes from your agency attending Wall Walk courses.
We do not formally measure outcomes for the Wall Walk however verbal feedback received always centres around the amount of new information that our people have learnt from researching their topic and listening to the presentations delivered by other groups and the Wall Walk presenter. People will often say that they wished that they had been taught our own history, warts and all, at school instead of historical matters that mean nothing to us as a nation.
These comments reinforce why we send people to the Wall Walk. This training is essential for ensuring that our staff understand and respect the unique context in which we operate, and it aligns with our responsibility to foster positive community relationships and deliver effective services.
The "Wall Walk" training provides council staff with a deeper understanding of the bi-cultural history of New Zealand, including the Treaty of Waitangi and its relevance to both Māori and non-Māori communities. This training equips our staff with the knowledge and skills needed to:
- Respect cultural values and customs, ensuring that our services are inclusive and sensitive to the needs of all communities.
- Promote understanding between different cultural groups in our district, contributing to social cohesion.
- Build meaningful relationships with Māori stakeholders and iwi, strengthening community partnerships.
As a local council, we have an obligation to deliver services that meet the needs of our diverse community. By attending the "Wall Walk" training, our staff gain insights into:
- Historical grievances and current perspectives which help us better understand the needs and aspirations of Māori in our region.
- Culturally appropriate service delivery by ensuring that our interactions with Māori and other cultural groups are respectful, inclusive, and effective.
- Building stronger community ties, which leads to improved trust and engagement with our services.
We believe that our investment in this training will have long-term benefits for our district:
- Building trust, by fostering a better understanding of bi-cultural history, our staff can build stronger relationships with Māori and other communities, leading to more collaborative and productive partnerships.
- Inclusive policies and initiatives: With a solid foundation in cultural competency, staff can develop policies and projects that are inclusive and beneficial to all, reducing social divides and enhancing community wellbeing.
The "Wall Walk" training is a vital investment in the professional development of our staff, ensuring they are equipped with the knowledge to engage meaningfully with Māori and support positive bi-cultural relationships. This directly contributes to better service delivery, social cohesion, and the fulfilment of our legal obligations under the RMA and Treaty of Waitangi, all of which are essential for our role in the community.
We believe this investment is not only responsible but essential to our role in fostering an inclusive, effective, and forward-looking council.
LGOIMA Request Details: LG2292
Date received: 06/09/2024
Requested information: Information about Councils approach to and use of artificial intelligence
Status: Complete
Response:
Manawatū District Council (MDC) uses over 120 different business systems, many of which are at varying levels of their AI journey/maturity.
For example, Facebook already uses AI to provide targeted advertisements and marketing material to its users. MDC uses Facebook to promote our internal events/news to the members of the public, so one could argue we are already using AI. The topic of AI is wide, and it really depends on how you define “AI”.
For the purpose of this LGOIMA request, we will assume that the request is asking specifically about GenAI tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, etc.
Currently no such tools have been officially sanctioned by the council, i.e. there are no business requirements or expectations any of our staff should be using such tools however this is not to say that AI is not used in personal capacity, e.g. many of our staff have already been exposed to these tools through the free accounts they have created. They have used it for tasks involving publicly available information, following Council policy (the Communication Technology Policy and the Privacy Policy) that no sensitive information should be disclosed inappropriately.
We are proactively exploring enterprise accounts which will provide safe environment for our staff to utilise AI tools more productively, without fear of accidentally sharing sensitive information in public domain. We believe AI will be very useful going forward and are starting to form our strategies with AI in mind.
We have started drafting our AI policy however it is currently in early draft format.
We are more than happy to discuss our progress in the AI space with our local PSA organisers/delegates and would always keep them informed of any impact on our staff (i.e. their members).
Manawatū District Council publishes responses to Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA). We will publish the LGIOIMA 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.
Warm regards,
LGOIMA Request Details: LG2295
Date received: 02/09/2024
Requested information: What civil defence measures are there in case of nuclear attack?
Status: Complete
Response:
Thank you for your query. Manawatū District Council does not have an Emergency Management Plan for nuclear attack.
Our Emergency Management Plans are available online at Emergency Management | Manawatū District Council (mdc.govt.nz).
LGOIMA Request Details: LG2291
Date received: 29/08/2024
Requested information: Notification of investigation - rezoning of a property on Dundas Road
Status: Complete
LGOIMA Request Details: LG2289
Date received: 16/08/2024
Requested information: Is MDC rescinding Māori Wards or going to a referendum
Status: Complete
Response:
At its meeting 16 May 2024, the Council agreed that it did not support the disestablishment of the Māori Ward. Consequently, there will be a referendum at the 2025 Council Elections.
This information is available on our website - Māori Ward & Representation Review | Manawatū District Council (mdc.govt.nz).
Also, if you wish to watch the Council discussions on the issue, the video will be available here - Manawatū District Council Meeting Videos | Manawatū District Council (mdc.govt.nz)