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23 November 2023 |
MINUTES OF Western Bay of Plenty District
Council
Council Meeting No. CL23-17
HELD IN THE Council Chambers, 1484 Cameron Road, Tauranga
ON Thursday, 23 November 2023 AT 9.30am
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Whakatau mai te wairua Whakawātea mai te hinengaro Whakarite mai te tinana Kia ea ai ngā mahi
Āe |
Settle the spirit Clear the mind Prepare the body To achieve what needs to be achieved. Yes |
2 Present
Mayor J Denyer (Chairperson), Deputy Mayor J Scrimgeour, Cr T Coxhead, Cr R Crawford, Cr G Dally, Cr M Grainger, Cr A Henry, Cr R Joyce, Cr M Murray-Benge, Cr A Sole, Cr D Thwaites and Cr A Wichers.
3 In Attendance
J Holyoake (Chief Executive Officer), R Davie (Deputy CEO/General Manager Strategy and Community), C Crow (General Manager Infrastructure Group), A Curtis (General Manager Regulatory Services), A Henderson (General Manager Corporate Services), G Golding (Governance Manager), A Ali (Chief Financial Officer), H Wi Repa (Governance Systems Advisor), and C Irvin (Senior Governance Advisor).
OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE
Ross Goudie (Chairperson, Waihī Beach Community Board)
Audit New Zealand
Leon Pieterse - Audit Director
Anton Labuschagne - Audit Manager
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
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8.2 Mr Ross Goudie (Chairperson Waihī Beach Community Board) |
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· The efforts by Council to accommodate and rehome the people who had been displaced by the flooding event had been much appreciated. · It was the view of the Waihī Beach Community Board that the insurance money amount should be established before Council made a decision on whether or not to demolish the pensioner units. · The stormwater infrastructure had to be fixed, and it was acknowledged that Council’s stormwater team were addressing this. Mr Goudie responded to questions as follows: · The pensioners living at Waihī Beach had always enjoyed living there. It would be helpful if there was an adequate car park for them. · The pensioner units were established through several private families providing a considerable amount of money to build the units. · Fixing the stormwater infrastructure would help enormously, however part of the solution would have to be to take the stormwater away from that area. This was not a simple fix, but rather multiple things needed to be done. |
9 Council and Committee Minutes for Confirmation
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9.1 Minutes of the Community Committee Meeting held on 19 October 2023 |
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Resolution CL23-17.1 Moved: Cr M Murray-Benge Seconded: Cr A Henry 1. That the Minutes of the Community Committee Meeting held on 19 October 2023 be confirmed as a true and correct record and the recommendations therein be adopted. 2. That the following amendment be made to item 9.1: ‘Tauranga Western Bay Community Event Fund (TWBCEF) Update: second bullet point:
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‘Round Three of the fund closed on 20 October 2023, and
Round Four
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9.2 Minutes of the District Plan Committee Meeting held on 26 October 2023 |
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Resolution CL23-17.2 Moved: Deputy Mayor J Scrimgeour Seconded: Cr M Grainger That the Minutes of the District Plan Committee Meeting held on 26 October 2023 be confirmed as a true and correct record and the recommendations therein be adopted.
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Resolution CL23-17.3 Moved: Mayor J Denyer Seconded: Deputy Mayor J Scrimgeour 1. That the Minutes of the Council Meeting held on 26 October 2023 be confirmed as a true and correct record and the recommendations therein be adopted. 2. That the Chairperson’s electronic signature be inserted into the confirmed minutes. |
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9.4 Minutes of the Projects and Monitoring Committee Meeting held on 31 October 2023 |
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Resolution CL23-17.4 Moved: Cr D Thwaites Seconded: Cr A Sole 1.
That the Minutes of the Projects and Monitoring Committee Meeting held
on 31
October 2023 be confirmed as a true and correct record and the
recommendations therein be adopted. 2. That the following amendment be made to item 2: ‘Present’:
· That the typo ‘crabsent’ be removed. |
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9.5 Minutes of the Audit, Risk and Finance Committee Meeting held on 7 November 2023 |
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Resolution CL23-17.5 Moved: Cr M Grainger Seconded: Cr T Coxhead 1. That the Minutes of the Audit, Risk and Finance Committee Meeting held on 7 November 2023 be confirmed as a true and correct record and the recommendations therein be adopted. |
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10.1 Proposal to Extend Lease Area - Katikati Rugby and Sports Incorporated - Moore Park - Submission Period Ended |
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Council considered a report dated 23 November 2023 from the Reserves and Facilities Manager. The report was taken as read. Staff responded to questions as follows: · This was an extension of the lease to increase the footprint to allow for the building of a shed. |
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Resolution CL23-17.6 Moved: Cr D Thwaites Seconded: Cr R Joyce 1. That the Reserves and Facilities Manager’s report dated 23 November 2023 and titled ‘Proposal to Extend Lease Area - Katikati Rugby and Sports Incorporated - Moore Park - Submission Period Ended’ be received. 2. That the report relates to an issue that is considered to be of low significance in terms of Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy. 3. That Council exercise its powers conferred on it as the administrating body of the reserve by delegation from the Minister of Conservation under the Reserves Act 1977 and grants the extension of the lease area over Section 6 SO 453028, being part of Moore Park, by approximately 24m². 4. If approval is given, such approval must not be construed by the applicant, as a guarantee that all other consents required by any policy, by-law, regulation, or statute, will be forthcoming. The applicant is responsible for obtaining all required consents at its own cost. |
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Council considered a report dated 23 November 2023 from the Strategic Policy and Planning Programme Director who took the report as read. The General Manager Strategy and the Community and Strategic Policy and Planning Programme Director the responded to questions as follows: · The rates would be struck by 30 September 2024, the legal implications of which had been set out in the report. · Management was satisfied that there were adequate staff to enable the delivery of the Long Term Plan (LTP). The risk of re-work was very high at the moment, given the uncertainty referenced in the report. It was felt this was a more efficient and effective use of staff time, enabling things to crystalise in terms of the new Government’s position on various issues, but in particular, on the Three Waters Reform further legislation, and the transportation policy. · Whilst some councils might be contemplating deferring review of their LTP’s until 2027, this was not seen as a practicable option. The changing legislative environment within New Zealand, and globally, meant that Annual Plans could be overly substantive every year, and Council would potentially have to consult every year, because the Annual Plan would be quite different to years 4-6 of the LTP set in 2021. As a result, these Annual Plan consultations would likely be very difficult conversations with the community.
Chief Executive Officer: · Other councils across the country were looking at changing their LTP time frames which could mean that Council could potentially experience resourcing issues with Audit New Zealand as this would also change their time frames. · Management staff had met with the Audit Director and discussed the LTP. This deferral would change time frames for the LTP, the consultation document and the accounts that came later. A lot of councils were in a similar positions and looking to delay their LTP’s. There was also a strong possibility the new government may force a delay of three months or possibly a year on all councils. · All Council could do at this stage was be very clear with its audit partners about its revised timelines. |
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Resolution CL23-17.7 Moved: Cr M Grainger Seconded: Cr A Henry 1. That the Strategic Policy and Planning Programme Director’s report dated 23 November 2023 titled ‘Deferral of the Long Term Plan 2024-34 adoption’ be received. 2. That the report relates to an issue that is considered to be of medium significance in terms of Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy. 3. That Council directs the Chief Executive to:
b) Adjust the programme to enable the adoption of the Long Term Plan 2024-34 to no later than 30 September 2024, noting that the Schedule of Fees and Charges 2024/25 relating to dog control and registered health premises will require earlier consultation in March 2024 to meet legislative timeframes. |
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Council considered a report dated 23 November 2023 from the Chief Financial Officer who took the report as read. Mr Leon Petersie and Mr Anton Lauguchanne from Audit New Zealand were in attendance to answer questions from Elected Members. Mr Petersie from Audit New Zealand responded to questions as follows: · Audit New Zealand were working towards providing verbal clearance for the Annual Report by next Tuesday. However, there were items of information still outstanding and more changes needing to be made to the report. · Audit New Zealand would continue to have conversations with Council management around assigning extra staff, the cost involved and how improvements could be made. |
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Resolution CL23-17.8 Moved: Mayor J Denyer Seconded: Cr R Crawford 1. That the item 10.3 Annual Report 2022-2023 be adjourned to Council meeting 14 December 2023 at 9:30am. |
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10.4 Removal of Flood Affected Pensioner Housing Units Waihī Beach |
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Council considered a report dated 23 November 2023 from the Operations Manager who took the report as read. The Operations Manager responded to questions as follows: · Although mentioned in the report, the issue of a lack of services for elderly people in Waihī Beach was a separate issue from the removal of the flood affected pensioner housing units. This report was solely about the removal of the seven uninhabitable pensioner units. · The seven units referred to in the report had been deemed not safe to put people back into and therefore needed to be demolished. · It had been identified that some tenants went outside of Waihī Beach for doctors appointments and social services.
Chief Executive Officer: · Any future discussion about the provision of elderly housing in Waihī Beach needed to be addressed at the appropriate committee and at the appropriate time. At this point, it was clear that the seven pensioner units were unsafe to be lived in and the removal/demolish of them was the only formal decision sought today.
The Operations Manager responded to questions as follows: · Currently, advice from the insurer was that the units were insured for ‘resultant property damage’, so the cost of the repair for the other units would be applied to those units. The insurance payout money would be used to demolish the units and ‘make the land good’ by stabilising it and ensuring the remaining tenants could park their cars safely. · The modelling in the PwC report was done on the entire elderly housing portfolio. · According to the Tonkin and Taylor report and the advice of Council’s stormwater engineer, there was no reducing the risk around the drainage situation of the seven units. · Given the age and condition of the pensioner units, and the cost of shifting a unit on a concrete floor base, the cost of shifting the seven units was prohibitive. · Contouring the land could assist in improving the safety of the area for residents. · The insurance payout amount was based on the cost of the four units that had been refurbished. · After the demolition and removal of the seven units and some remediation of the area, it was thought there would be little to no insurance money left.
The General Manager Infrastructure Group responded to questions as follows: · Part of the Tonkin and Taylor modelling showed that the risk was still too high to life even if bigger stormwater infrastructure was to be put in place. The immediate work was to do as much maintenance as possible in terms of a wider catchment to stormwater. There was a lot more work to be done. · There was ongoing work being carried out in terms of talking to the community about flooding issues and implementing the projects that had been initiated. In terms of the flooding risk, the issue of ‘was this a one in one hundred or thousand year event’ had become a greater risk, and had become more challenging in terms of stormwater infrastructure, climate change and the new ‘risk to life’ ratio. This was changing Council’s approach going forward. |
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Resolution CL23-17.9 Moved: Deputy Mayor J Scrimgeour Seconded: Cr A Henry 1. That the Operations Manager’s report dated 23 November 2023 titled ‘Removal of Flood Affected Pensioner Housing Units Waihī Beach’ be received. 2. That the report relates to an issue that is considered to be of low significance in terms of Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy. 3. That Council approve the demolition of the seven empty flood affected Elder Housing units in Waihī Beach. |
11.22am The meeting adjourned
11.42am The meeting reconvened
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Council considered a report dated 23 November 2023 from the Senior Executive Assistant to Mayor/CEO. The Mayor took the report as read and noted the following: The Future for Local Government Special General Meeting was scheduled for 11 December 2023. Mayor Denyer responded to questions as follows: · The final wording for the Local Government General Consensus was being marked up and thought to be coming out tomorrow to be circulated to all Elected Members around the country. · Council had not yet received correspondence from Te Whatu Ora regarding its ‘Boundaries for Our Region’ presentation. Once received, Council would provide its feedback. |
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Resolution CL23-17.10 Moved: Mayor J Denyer Seconded: Cr M Murray-Benge 1. That the Senior Executive Assistant to Mayor/CEO’s report dated 23 November 2023 titled ‘Mayors Report to Council’ be received. |
Nil
12 Resolution to Exclude the Public
RESOLUTION TO EXCLUDE THE PUBLIC
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Resolution CL23-17.11 Moved: Cr M Grainger Seconded: Cr A Sole That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting. The general subject matter of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:
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The meeting closed at 11.51am.
Confirmed as a true and correct record at the Council meeting held 14 December 2023.
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Mayor J Denyer
CHAIRPERSON / MAYOR