4 December 2023
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Accommodation building inspections
Enquiry
I have been told by MBIE the below. This is in addition to Spa Lodge and relates to backpackers, hostels or motels offering longer term tenancies.
"In the past 12 months the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Tenancy Compliance and Investigations team (TCIT) has visited eight other accommodation premises in Rotorua.
Most of these visits have been joint visits with staff from Rotorua Lakes Council. Of the eight properties visited TCIT had no concerns about four of them, either because they were not offering long term accommodation and therefore are not subject to the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), or because they were offering long term accommodation and were compliant with the RTA.
TCIT has identified potential non-compliance at four other premises that were visited and investigations into this non-compliance are ongoing."
Questions for RLC organisation:
Can I ask the council which of the eight it visited with the TCIT?
Of the four being investigated, what were the council's concerns for each of them?
What is the council's role when an investigation is underway?
Given the dangerous building notices issued to Spa Lodge, will the council actively look at any other accommodation providers offering longer-term tenancies in the district to specifically address fire safety?
Questions for the mayor:
Any comment on the fact there are five investigations underway on backpackers, hostels or motels offering longer term tenancies?
Does she view this as important and why/why not?
About a month ago she said she was concerned about 14 providers — including backpackers, hostels and motels — that the council believed might be taking in long-term tenants. Has this changed since then and how?
How many of the eight looked at (and spa lodge on top) are included in the 14?
What is being done to address the concerns relating to the 14?
Given the dangerous building notices issued to Spa Lodge, will the council actively look at any other accommodation providers offering longer-term tenancies in the district to specifically address fire safety?
Should it be?
Any other comment?
Response
From Mayor Tapsell:
“We appreciate that government agencies are now working with our teams to address issues around tenancies being set up in backpackers and hostels.
“The health and safety of people is always the priority. When investigations have found issues at premises providing accommodation, our teams work with owners of these to ensure the facilities are improved to meet appropriate compliance and safety standards.
“There are now around eleven premises that council’s regulatory team is working with that could have inappropriate tenancies.
“What’s good, is that we’re seeing a reduction because some premises are returning to tourism.
“Council staff are strongly encouraging owners to choose between operating as a backpackers, or as a boarding house, and to deliver whichever service they choose to a very high standard.
“We cannot allow premises to be unsafe and I’m unapologetic about putting pressure on owners to bring their facilities up to appropriate standards.”
Also for your information but not to be included in the Mayor’s quote - the reduction of premises from 14 to around 11 is due to premises either returning to tourism or being closed. All eight premises looked at with TCIT are within this group.
From: Rotorua Lakes Council, Group Manager Community District Development Jean-Paul Gaston
Regarding the first two questions:
The premises you refer to are currently under an active investigation, and we are not at liberty to share the details at the moment. We will provide this information at an appropriate stage in the investigation.
What is the council's role when an investigation is underway?
Council’s role is restricted to investigating and resolving any District Plan and Building Code compliance matters. Council itself has no jurisdiction under the Residential Tenancies Act, this is handled solely by the TCIT.
Given the dangerous building notices issued to Spa Lodge, will the council actively look at any other accommodation providers offering longer-term tenancies in the district to specifically address fire safety?
Every accommodation provider has a legal duty to at all times ensure that they meet all relevant fire safety requirements specific to their own site/activities, to help keep people safe. In addition, Council will continue to inspect all relevant accommodation providers in a phased and risk based manner.
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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: National Maori Action Day
Enquiry
We have seen on Instagram that a protest is happening in Rotorua tomorrow as part of National Maori Action Day [see below]
Does RLC have any details on this? How are they planning to manage any disruption?
Please feel free to add anything further of importance or relevance. It would be great to receive a response as soon as possible, please.
Response
We informed the reporter that Rotorua Lakes Council is not responsible for organising this event and any questions about how potential disruptions will be handled should be directed to the police and organisers.
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Media: TVNZ - Breakfast show
Topic: Tarawera sewerage scheme
Enquiry
We're wondering if someone from Council would be able to provide us with a statement on this story - https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/503843/crumbling-teeth-or-having-a-home-the-choice-one-retired-rotorua-couple-face
We would like to know more about the scheme & whether other funding options were being explored.
Response
We provided the following:
Re response to the article you have highlighted, you’ll find the full response RLC provided last month re this at the following link on our website, which you are free to use: 13 November 2023 - Rotorua Lakes Council. That includes a link to the project FAQs which you are also free to use.
A producer from the show later asked if someone from RLC would be available to be on air at 6.20am tomorrow. We politely declined.