6 September 2023
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Geothermal mud pot in Meade Street
Enquiry
Just after a council response re the mud pot near Meade St please.
I have spoken with Brad Scott and he said the feature has increased in size by 3m in the last 10 days and now measures between 25-30m.
A woman who lives about 20m from the site is not happy that she learnt this from the Rotorua Daily Post, and said the council should have told her. She said this was important information that was not made known to her.
She said there has been poor communication from the council regarding keeping them in loop. She said she would like to see better communication from the council regarding what was happening at the site. She said she contacted the council about the shaking, but had not had the council contact her in the first instance for anything else/any updates for residents.
Questions:
Why has the council not told residents that the size of the feature increased?
What is the council's response to the above?
What will the council do moving forward to keep residents up to date with information about the mud pot?
Any other comments are welcome.
Response
We informed the reporter that we had spoken to Brad Scott who said the increase in size (he said an estimated 2 to 3m) occurred at the southern end of the mud pot (so not around the entire circumference) and occurred about 10 days ago, not “in the last 10 days” as the reporter had stated.
We expressed concern that the reporter had potentially incorrectly informed residents that the change occurred during the past 10 days, in which case they would believe this to be a further change and if that were the case, their current comments were based on incorrect information. We asked for an assurance that the correct information was (or would be) conveyed to residents and that their responses were/would be in relation to the correct information.
We also provided the following comment from Group Manager Community and District Development Jean-Paul Gaston:
Geothermal surface features commonly change to some degree over time, especially during periods of activity. Changes to the mud pot, most of which is on an unoccupied private section with some on council reserve land, have not increased the level of concern with regards to people’s safety at this point in time.
We will proactively contact nearby residents if we become aware of changes in the level of risk to them or their properties.
Geothermal activity on the site has reduced this week but the area remains cordoned off and we will continue to monitor the feature to help ensure public safety.
Throughout last month we have spoken to residents available while we were in the area inspecting the site and we last spoke to available residents on 30 August. We would encourage people to call Council at any time, 24/7, on 348 4199, if they have any concerns.
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Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Pensioner flat complaint
Enquiry
am doing a follow up story to the pensioner waiting on window replacement and had some more questions and comment for response please.
Rotorua District Community Law Centre legal case worker Meredith Herbert has said the council was in “gross violation of their obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986″, and was happy to support Smith with a Tenancy Tribunal claim if she so wished.
“They have 14 days to remedy an issue and they have exceeded that.”
Beyond this, she said it was potentially not lawful and inaccurate for it to say Smith would need to move out for the work to be complete. She said this was generally required when there were extensive renovations or other issues with the property - not for fixing a window frame.
“It would be a day’s job for that.”
She also said the council had obligations under the Housing Improvement Regulations 1947 which set out basic standards.
“And one of those is ensuring that the property is free from mould and dampness and it’s structurally sound.”
She said there was an obligation to not let a window frame get to the point of being rotted and "falling to bits".
In its original response to Local Democracy Reporting, council corporate services group manager Thomas Collè said it was “very aware of its responsibilities as a landlord”, and took those “very seriously”.
Herbert said, in her view, the situation was “an inaccurate representation of someone taking their responsibilities as a landlord very seriously”.
Three businesses contacted Local Democracy Reporting the day the original article detailing Smith’s story was published, each offering to install Smith’s unit’s windows within a month’s timeframe.
None of them had been contacted to do the work in the last two years.
This included Eco Tauranga sales manager Tony Woodard, who said it’s work included installations in Rotorua.
He believed the council “didn’t look very far” for suppliers and contractors.
Auckland company Ali-Frame also offered to do the work, and general manager Jo Mankelow said it should never take “that long” to get an installer to do the work.
She said she was not sure if there was a lack of installers in the district, but a builder can do the work so two years seemed “excessive”.
Waikato builder Martin Gaines said he competed daily with other builders for jobs, “so if they truly did look they didn’t look very far”.
“There are also a lot of builders in the last few years who are new build guys and don’t look at Reno’s or smaller jobs because it’s not in their wheelhouse. So maybe council called them and not Reno specialists.”
“You can’t live in a house like that with gaps in the windows, it’s a sad state of affairs to not have a home safe and dry enough, whether it’s a council flat or a first home or one have had for years.”
He said there were plenty of councils who did not “have the staff” and may not know enough people outside of their usual contacts.
Council have their reasons and there are plenty of councils who simply dont have the staff and may not know enough people outside of their usual contacts.
“From what I’ve seen in the seven years of doing this is that people just don’t know where to find trades people and then trust them and then offer them work and trust they can show up and do it in a timely manner.”
How many businesses has the council contacted to do the work in the last two years?
Is there anything further needing fixed in Mary Smith's unit or the other two units that complicated any replacement?
Have any further companies contacted the council to do the work in the last two days?
Will the council contact these businesses to discuss doing the work?
Response
From Group Manager Corporate Services Thomas Collé:
Information previously provided to you regarding the process ahead has not changed so please feel free to use that again.
As previously stated, the council takes its responsibilities as a landlord very seriously.
The unit is weathertight and the damage to the existing window has had a temporary repair.
As stated previously, replacement of the window will be undertaken as soon as is possible. We are engaging with new preferred suppliers and hope to get this work completed in the near future.
We will continue to work directly with Mrs Smith.