14 September 2021
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Land use change applications
Request
Follow up to enquiry/response on 26 Aug regarding resource consents.
I have now received a response from my LGOIMA request for questions 1 and 2 and I have sought comment in relation to what was provided. As you'll be aware, the response - in a nutshell - said there were two more applications for land use change on main roads but details of where were being withheld for privacy reasons.
I have one follow up question: My LGOIMA asked for land use change applications for properties on Lake Rd, Fairy Springs Rd and Fenton St and the response said there were two. Would the council confirm which street the two current applications are on specifically?
Some people I have spoken to have expressed concern about the consent process not being notified given the public interest around the issue.
The council has previously given me an extensive response and reasoning around this (forwarded below) which I will repeat in my follow up story but I've noted below the comments in case you'd like to respond further.
Response
In terms of your follow up question regarding the specific street location for the two consents, this request will be processed as a LGOIMA [Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act] in line with your previous questions. We’vereferred this to be actioned and responded to in due course.
Here is a general response from District Development Deputy Chief Executive Jean-Paul Gaston. There is no specific response to the comments that you have provided to us.
“Council has always said that using motels as emergency housing is not a long-term solution and that remains the case. More housing, of all types, is a key priority that this Council is working to deliver with absolute urgency but that isn’t going to happen overnight. We have a significant number of people, a large number of those being families, who cannot find a home because our city simply does not have enough. The work that Council is doing alongside the Government, Te Arawa and a range of local providers is about ensuring those people have a roof over their head in accommodation that is suitable, secure and well-managed with the support they need readily available.
There are 12 motels contracted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to provide that service. Those motels are distributed across the city rather than all in one place, and Council has always said that those motels would be fully assessed against the District Plan.”
*please also note that there has been no decision as yet as to whether the Land Use Consents will be publicly notified or not.
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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Land use change applications
Enquiry
I have sent a request for comment from the council but I'd like to also specifically ask Steve Chadwick for a comment on this issue as well.
The council has confirmed it has two applications for land use change relating to properties on main roads into Rotorua (Fairy Springs, Fenton St and Lake Rd - I have requested the street address for the applications).
It's unclear what the applications are for specifically but there are concerns from residents the applications are not being publicly notified, given concerns around motels being made into more permanent transitional housing - mainly on Fenton St. There is also the ongoing concern from the visitor sector about motels being taken away from beds available for visitors.
I have copied below the criticism for Steve's reference from others in the community.
Can Steve please comment on the following by 3pm today?
- Do you believe motels should be turned into transitional housing to help with the housing need?
- What do you say about the community's concern around this issue? Will you, as mayor, take their concerns into consideration?
- Do you think these consents should be notified publicly?
Jenny Peace (organiser of the petition calling for transparency) has said the following:
She said the council was still not listening and she couldn't understand why they were non-notified in some instances.
She said "everything seems to be hidden from us" yet Rotorua residents have sent the clear message they weren't happy with the direction the city was heading.
She said Fenton St should be protected as the gateway to Rotorua and residents who lived nearby were stakeholders.
She said it was all fine Fenton St was approved in 2018's spatial plan to have more residential housing, but that was long before Covid-19 and before locals knew the issues of having hundreds of emergency housing clients living nearby would have on local residents.
Mayoral hopeful Fletcher Tabuteau said the following:
He said Rotorua was at a crossroads and now was the time to take a principled stand. Rotorua and its leaders needed to ask what now for transitional housing and homelessness solutions.
He said Fenton St should not become the epicentre for transitional housing.
"It might be an easy solution for central government bureaucrats, but it is not a solution that works for anyone in Rotorua. Not only is developing a potential cluster like this bad for the very people we want to be helping, it has already been incredibly destructive to the local residents. Common sense tells us more of the same will lead to more destruction of lives, both in those tightly packed rooms and in the homes surrounding them."
He said Rotorua would be a tourism mecca again, one day soon and if we were to build anything on Fenton St, there needed to be more high-end hotels for high-value tourists and also high-end beautiful apartments for locals looking to be closer to the centre of our beautiful city.
Rotorua lawyer Kevin Badcock said the following:
He said the council was continuing to process applications to look at allowing permanent transitional housing and do so without publicly notifying them.
"That must be a concern to the public given how relevant this topic is to the community."
He said it was unusual the council was continuing against the tide.
Response
From Mayor Chadwick:
We have always been, and remain, adamant that motels cannot be a long-term solution to social housing shortages. We need and want more houses – of all types – and that’s what we’re working on but we need solutions for the interim, now.
As local politicians we are not, and should not be, involved in the consenting process. That is a regulatory, not political, process with decisions and considerations based on what’s in our District Plan and legislation.
What I’m concerned and disappointed about is the growing call from residents to not allow certain “types” or perceived “types” of people in their neighbourhoods. We all accept there is a need for housing, including social housing, and we can’t keep saying ‘but not in my back yard’, especially without understanding what these types of developments can actually look like and how they would be managed.
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Media: NZMNE (Rotorua Daily Post and BOP Times)
Topic: Council salaries by gender
Enquiry
Reporter asked the following questions in relation to RLC staff salaries by gender.
Reporter also submitted an official information request on the same topic – see HERE
If the average male salary is higher than a female's:
Why is there a discrepancy in pay between men and women?
What changes have been or will be implemented in the future to overcome this discrepancy?
What is the council doing as an organisation about this issue?
Response
The responses below to these questions can be attributed to Joe Akari, Rotorua Lakes Council’s Director People and Organisational Development:
Why is there a discrepancy in pay between men and women?
There are various reasons for a difference in the pay between men and women and these include:
- We have a higher representation of males employed at Tier 1 and 2 Levels than females.
- A lot of our more highly specialised roles, eg engineers, are predominantly male oriented occupations.
- Staff in customer service roles, which are of a lower pay grade, are predominantly women.
- Gender pay gaps based on grade (some historical) due to offers made at the recruitment stage.
What changes have been or will be implemented in the future to overcome this discrepancy?
In 2017, Rotorua Lakes Council adopted a Diversity and Inclusion policy and established a Diversity Group. Part of the work carried out by the group was to look at remuneration from a gender perspective. When it was identified that there appeared to be gender pay issues, Council carried out further analysis and engaged Strategic Pay to carry out a Gender Gap Analysis and make recommendations on how these areas could be addressed.
What is the council doing as an organisation about this issue?
Strategic Pay now carries out annual Gender Pay Gap Analysis reviews and where it appears that there isn’t a legitimate reason for a gap, this is reviewed and addressed. We have found, for example, cases where there may be female and male staff who are either in the same role or their roles are graded the same but remuneration differs and upon analysis this is found to be due to their length of service at Council and not based on gender.
Part of Council’s remuneration process focuses on gender to ensure no gender bias is occurring.
By following the above approach since 2017, our gender pay gap has decreased.
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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Buildings lit for Blue September
Enquiry
I'm emailing as I saw on the council Facebook page that there are a number of locations in the city that will be lit up blue for Blue September.
I have sent questions to the foundation, haven't heard back yet, but thought I would flick these through too for the mayor or a council spokesperson:
- What is the full list of locations in Rotorua that are lighting up blue? Is this for the whole month?
- Why does the council think it is important to help promote Blue September/raise awareness of prostate cancer?
- Are there other times during the year that locations light up different colours for causes?
- Is there anything you would like to add?
Response
What is the full list of locations in Rotorua that are lighting up blue? Is this for the whole month?
A number of sites have had their lighting colour changed to blue in support of Blue September, for Prostate Cancer awareness this month. Locations include: The i-site clock tower, the Princes Gate arches, the Civic Centre building tower, Eat Street, the sculptures in Te Manawa, and the canopy of lights at Tutanekai Street.
Are there other times during the year that locations light up different colours for causes?
Council has changed the lighting to blue for Prostate Cancer Awareness month (for September), and pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month (for October) for a number of years, as well as other cause awareness days such as World Polio Day (changed to purple on 24 October), and other causes as they are requested.
Why does the council think it is important to help promote Blue September/raise awareness of prostate cancer?
From Mayor Chadwick:
Council has supported the likes of Prostate awareness, Breast Cancer awareness and other such campaigns by changing the lighting on some of our public buildings.
Having worked in the health sector I know the importance of people looking after their health, how vital fundraising is to the organisations that do such great work in this space in our community, and how creating awareness about health issues can help. It’s great that Council is able to play a part.