Agenda of Ordinary Council Meeting

23 May 2022

11.1 Community Stadium - feasibility study and next steps

File Number: A13421657

Author: Jeremy Boase, Manager: Strategy and Corporate Planning

Authoriser: Gareth Wallis, General Manager: Central City Development

Purpose of the Report

1. This report introduces a feasibility study into a community stadium on the Tauranga Domain, prepared on behalf of a group of project partners led by Priority One and including Council. It also seeks endorsement of continued participation in the project.

Recommendations

That the Council:

(a) Receives the Tauranga Multi-Function Stadium Feasibility Study (Attachment 1) and appendices (Attachment 2)

(b) Agrees in principle that the Tauranga Domain is a suitable site for a community stadium

(c) Approves Council’s participation in the project’s next steps, including development of the business case and further design work

(d) Continues to engage directly with mana whenua and affected parties, including existing users of the Tauranga Domain, and with wider stakeholders as appropriate.

Executive Summary

2. Priority One have been leading work on the potential development of a multi-function stadium for Tauranga. Tauranga City Council has been involved as a project partner.

3. The project partnership has commissioned and received a feasibility study covering a potential stadium on the Tauranga Domain. That study is now presented as part of this report.

4. Next steps for the project partnership include the development of a detailed business case and the further progression of design work. Council is invited to continue its participation in the project partnership, and to continue a funding contribution to this work in 2022/23.

5. Priority One representatives will attend the meeting and will talk to the feasibility study and proposed next steps.

Background

6. On 18 December 2018, Council’s then Economic Development & Investment Committee considered a report relating to a proposed assessment of the feasibility of a sub-regional stadium in Tauranga. That report noted that a ‘stadium establishment group’ of interested stakeholders had been formed, with the backing of council’s then-Chief Executive, with the objective of ‘taking a robust and analytical approach to the potential for a stadium’. That report proposed Priority One as the co-ordinating agency and identified co-funding partners as being Sport New Zealand, Tauranga City Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Priority One, and a ‘community contribution’. In response to that report, the Committee resolved to:

Endorse the approach to partner with key regional stakeholders and assess the feasibility of a Western Bay of Plenty (WBOP) sub-regional multi-purpose stadium (Tauranga).

7. A draft report was subsequently received by Priority One, Council and other funding partners in July 2019. This report is referred to in subsequent documents as ‘the PwC Needs Assessment Report’.

8. In 2020, Priority One commissioned further work from Beca Limited on the opportunity. In December 2020, Beca Limited completed and delivered to Priority One a report titled ‘Pre-feasibility Study’. That report reviews the PwC Needs Assessment Report, identified long-term desired outcomes, develops a multi-criteria analysis framework to support site selection, and develops the characteristics of a potential feasibility study.

9. In August 2021, Beca Limited completed and delivered to Priority One a report titled ‘Tauranga Stadium Site Selection’. That report covers a two-stage process of site identification and assessment. Initially 18 sites were identified and then assessed for potential suitability. Sixteen of these sites were in Tauranga city (the majority, but not all, owned or managed by council) and two in the Western Bay of Plenty district. Of these 18 sites, nine were identified as worthy of closer consideration. The second stage of the process further assessed and ranked the nine sites. This assessment and ranking included input from relevant council staff members. The Tauranga Domain was the top-ranked site.

10. Subsequently, the project partners (led by Priority One and now including Tauranga City Council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, and Sport New Zealand) engaged Visitor Solutions and Tuhura Consulting to ‘set the direction and provide recommendations for delivering the right multi-use stadium in the right location’.

11. The report on that work, titled ‘Tauranga Multi-Function Stadium: Feasibility Study’ (“the Feasibility Study”) and dated 27 April 2022, is included as Attachment 1 to this report. The 14 appendices to the Feasibility Study are included as Attachment 2 to this report.

The Feasibility Study

12. Key elements of the Feasibility Study, outlined in the Executive Summary on pages 3 and 4 and detailed further in the full document and appendices, include the following:

· a Tauranga stadium is required ‘but only if it is in the form of a world class boutique community-centric development, a “peoples stadium”’

· the stadium must be multi-functional and accommodate ‘community clubs, local cultural events, festivals, professional sport, and commercial concerts alike’

· the Tauranga Domain can accommodate the proposed stadium and associated facilities

· a covered arena on the Domain site is not the best option

· a range of cultural opportunities have been identified for consideration and incorporation into the stadium design and function, one of the strongest of which is direct sightlines to Mauao

· the optimal size for the stadium includes 8,000 permanent covered seats with the flexibility to expand to circa 18,000 seats in ‘full sports event mode’, and to accommodate up to 40,000 people in festival mode

· initial analysis indicates the stadium is best owned by an independent charitable trust and managed by professional facility managers

· two concept sub-options have been considered, one incorporating a fitness centre (gym), and one incorporating an exhibition space

· direct construction costs are estimated at $155 million for the fitness centre sub-option and $166 million for the exhibition space option[1]

· non-Tauranga City Council capital grant funding of $60 million has been assumed

· all other funding is also assumed to be by way of a grant ‘so that the Trust would have no ongoing debt obligations’

· both sub-options return positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (“EBITDA”)

· neither option is cashflow positive over a 50-year timeframe, and neither option ‘contributes sufficient profit to cover debt and interest payments nor a satisfactory contribution towards depreciation to fund replacements over time’

· ‘augmented funding can be justified on the grounds of the wider economic and social benefits that are generated from the sub-region’.

13. The Feasibility Study includes five recommendations to the project partners, which effectively form the ‘next steps’ for the project. These are included on page 5 of the Feasibility Study and cover:

(1) further analysis of the open-air boutique “peoples stadium” concept

(2) further exploring the concept of a charitable trust

(3) advancing the detailed business case and further design (as a pre-requisite to the detailed funding discussions needed)

(4) further engagement with industry and community stakeholders

(5) continued governance oversight of the programme.

14. The Feasibility Study includes a ‘development road map’ at page 42. Work proposed to be progressed in the next financial year includes:

· business case development

· establishment of the independent charitable trust

· developing concept and schematic designs

· fundraising, and establishing partner and contractor agreements.

15. Resource consent applications are expected to be lodged in the 2023/24 year, with detailed designs completed and building consent applications lodged in the 2024/25 year. An optimistic timeline sees construction commence in the 2024/25 year with the facility opening by the end of 2026.

16. The existing Community Stadium Advisory Group, made up of members of the original ‘stadium establishment group’, Priority One staff, and mana whenua and TCC representatives, will continue to oversee the delivery of the proposed next steps. The Community Stadium Advisory Group is chaired by the Chair of the Tauranga City Council Commission, Hon. Anne Tolley.

Strategic / Statutory Context

17. Council is currently refreshing its strategic framework and developing a vision for the city. Together this work will ensure council has a current and cohesive strategic framework that provides a clear line of sight from council activities and policies to strategy documents, and from there, to the city’s vision and adopted community outcomes.

18. At a regional level, the Bay of Plenty Spaces and Places Strategy, in a section headed ‘Proposed Facility Approach – Regional Key Considerations’, states[2]:

· It is acknowledged that the current stadiums in Tauranga are not optimal for some sports.

· There are a number of proponents and possible proposals regarding the development of a purpose-built stadium in Tauranga to cater to rugby, rugby league, football and events. These proposals should be considered alongside the TCC Events Strategy.

· Due to the investment required to provide stadium facilities it is important that their specification is aligned to regular use and their capacity to attract and retain national tournaments such as rugby 7’s, international cricket fixtures, northern league football and considerations for special events such as concerts, and commemorations. They also need to be accessible and affordable to be utilised to maximise their use.

· (Given) the current infrastructure available, one-off events are better catered for as an event overlay that bolsters the asset’s capacity over a peak use period.

· The capacity of Tauranga to attract frequent professional sports franchise games is likely to be limited and this fact should be taken into consideration when planning facilities.

19. These sentiments are consistent with the approach taken in the Feasibility Study.

20. At a city level, the Te Papa Spatial Plan, adopted by Council October 2020, includes a multi-purpose stadium development as one of a number of potential key projects for the city centre.

City centre and the Civic Precinct

21. The proposed amendment to Council’s Long-term Plan would enable the implementation of the full Te Manawataki o Te Papa (Civic Precinct) Masterplan (“the Masterplan”) that was adopted by Council in December 2021.

22. The Masterplan seeks to achieve six objectives, three of which are site-specific and three of which can be applied to the city centre in general. The community stadium proposal is consistent with these three broader objectives which are to:

· create a more vibrant, safe, accessible and successful city centre

· create spaces and facilities that generate activity, create attraction and stimulate the area

· engage with and create opportunity for mana whenua.

23. The Masterplan recognises the Tauranga and Wharepai Domains as being a sports and events precinct within five minutes’ walk of the civic precinct site.

24. The Masterplan includes, among many other facilities, a museum and exhibition space.

25. It is currently unclear whether, and how, the proposed exhibition space as part of the community stadium sub-option proposal may complement the exhibition space included in the proposed civic precinct development. It is expected that further clarity will be provided as the business cases and designs for both developments are progressed. Through these processes it will be important to ensure that unnecessary duplication of facilities or services is avoided.

Options Analysis

26. Council contributed funding and staff involvement to the development of the Feasibility Study and the processes that preceded it. This does not necessarily mean that Council is obligated to be involved in future processes. In particular, if Council does not agree that either the site or the favoured concept for a stadium are appropriate, then it may wish to withdraw from the project partnership.

27. In regard to the site selection, the Tauranga Domain was the highest-ranking site following the assessment process led by Beca Limited, including involvement by a number of relevant council staff members. This assessment process included consideration of:

· Site size and shape

· Stadium design potential

· Current land use and zoning

· Accessibility (including separately assessed sub-categories of: car, passenger transport and cycle accessibility; walking catchment; impact on surrounding network; direct access viability; network connectivity; and on-site or nearby parking opportunities)

· Critical infrastructure (including separately assessed sub-categories of: site grading; site serviceability; access roads; and impact on existing infrastructure)

· Natural hazards (including separately assessed sub-categories of: flooding; harbour inundation; tsunami; and slope stability)

· Opportunities for complementary or shared facilities.

28. The Site Selection Report is included as Attachment 3 to this report. Staff support the site selection process and its outcome.

29. In addressing the matter of site selection and continued involvement in the project there are three main options:

(a) Endorse the site selection and Feasibility Study and continue involvement in the project partnership in 2022/23

(b) Endorse the site selection and Feasibility Study but withdraw from the project partnership and allow the other project partners to develop the project

(c) Do not agree with either the site selection or the favoured concept in the Feasibility Study and advise the other project partners of this fact.

30. Brief commentary on these three options is provided below.

Option (a) – Endorse the site selection and Feasibility Study and continue involvement in the project partnership (recommended)

31. Under this option, the project and council’s involvement in it would progress consistent with the recommendations and timelines included in the Feasibility Study.

Advantages

Disadvantages

· The Tauranga Domain was the highest-ranking site following work conducted preceding the Feasibility Study.

· Endorsement from Council as the site owner allows the project to proceed through stakeholder engagement, business case, and design phases.

· Final agreement to using the site is not required until later in the project development cycle.

· Continued council involvement allows for meaningful contribution to the leadership of, and input into, the project, and a strong awareness of potential implications on other council processes and projects, including the Civic Precinct programme and the wider Te Papa Spatial Plan implementation.

· Project timelines would be unaffected.

· Relatively small funding commitment required in 2022/23.

Option (b) – Endorse the site selection and Feasibility Study but withdraw from the project partnership and allow the other project partners to develop the project

32. Under this option, Council would ‘allow’ continuation of the project relating to building a stadium on its land, but would take no active part in the process (other than as landowner).

Advantages

Disadvantages

· Site selection advantages as for option (a).

· No further financial commitment at this stage.

· Lack of council involvement removes the opportunity for a meaningful contribution to the leadership of the project.

· Lack of council involvement would provide for fewer opportunities to understand the potential implications on other council processes and projects, including the Civic Precinct programme and the wider Te Papa Spatial Plan implementation.

· The impact on ‘project confidence’ among other project partners and potential funding partners if council withdraws from active participation, is likely to be negative.

· Project timelines would be likely to experience some delays.

Option (c) – Do not agree with either the site selection or the favoured concept in the Feasibility Study and advise the other project partners of this fact.

33. Under this option, Council would effectively reject either the site selection findings or the Feasibility Study, or both. This would require that the project partnership reconsider the relevant processes or conclusions and establish a revised path forward.

Advantages

Disadvantages

· Allows for a ‘fresh start’ if that is what is required.

· No further financial commitment at this stage.

· A revised assessment of site suitability may need to be conducted, potentially with revised criteria.

· A revised Feasibility Study would be required, potentially considering a different site(s).

· Engagement processes already undertaken may need to be reset or restarted.

· The impact on ‘project confidence’ among other project partners and potential funding partners is likely to be highly negative.

· New project timelines would need to be established depending on the outcome of discussions around Council’s concerns.

Financial Considerations

34. Council has contributed $100,000 to the work done by Priority One to date. This was sourced from existing strategic planning budgets. This amounts to approximately 30% of the costs incurred by this phase of the project. Other funders have contributed the balance.

35. For the 2022/23 year, council expects to contribute $175,000 to the project. $100,000 of this can be sourced from existing strategic planning budgets with the additional $75,000 included as part of recommendations to the Annual Plan deliberations. Council’s contribution to the anticipated costs in 2022/23 is approximately 25%.

Legal Implications / Risks

36. At this current stage, there are few risks or legal implications to council. However, as the project progresses, attention will need to be given to:

· the robustness of the business case developed in the next phase and the quality of the assumptions under-pinning it (senior staff involvement in this process will help mitigate this risk)

· legal implications associated with the establishment of the charitable trust, including avoiding the risk that it may become a de facto council-controlled organisation

· ongoing relationships with mana whenua (noting that significant work has already commenced in this space – see page 29 of the Feasibility Study)

· consenting risks (covered briefly on page 32 of the Feasibility Study)

· funding risks, both for the capital development and ongoing operations

· construction risks including cost risks (noting that a 20% contingency has been built into construction costs in the Feasibility Study).

Significance

37. The Local Government Act 2002 requires an assessment of the significance of matters, issues, proposals and decisions in this report against Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy. Council acknowledges that in some instances a matter, issue, proposal or decision may have a high degree of importance to individuals, groups, or agencies affected by the report.

38. In making this assessment, consideration has been given to the likely impact, and likely consequences for:

(a) the current and future social, economic, environmental, or cultural well-being of the district or region

(b) any persons who are likely to be particularly affected by, or interested in, the matter.

39. In accordance with the considerations above, criteria and thresholds in the policy, it is considered that the matter of a potential community stadium in Tauranga is of high significance. However, the decision sought by this report, to agree in principle that the Tauranga Domain is a suitable site and to continue council’s involvement as a project partner, is considered of medium significance.

ENGAGEMENT

40. Taking into consideration the above assessment, that the decision is of medium significance, officers are of the opinion that engagement with mana whenua and key affected parties, particularly Tauranga Domain existing users, should continue and should be led by council.

41. The Feasibility Study recommends to the wider project partnership, that ‘further engagement is undertaken with industry and community stakeholders based on the findings of the feasibility study’, and that is appropriate. But council has different relationships, both in recognition of the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and as landowner. As such, it is appropriate that council takes a strong lead on engagement with mana whenua and existing users of the Tauranga Domain.

Next Steps

42. The next steps for the project are covered by the Feasibility Study recommendations and the development road map outlined above at paragraphs 13 and 14.

43. Progress on this project will be reported back to Council on a regular basis through 2022/23.

Attachments

1. Tauranga Stadium Feasibility Study Final - A13481197 (Separate Attachments 1)

2. Tauranga Stadium Appendix_Final (reduced) 27th April 2022 - A13429917 (Separate Attachments 1)

3. Site Selection Report Final Aug 21 - A13448451 (Separate Attachments 1)

Ordinary Council meeting Agenda

23 May 2022

11.2 Three Waters Reform

File Number: A13402807

Author: Dianne Bussey, Contractor - Three Water Reforms

Cathy Davidson, Manager: Directorate Services

Authoriser: Nic Johansson, General Manager: Infrastructure

Purpose of the Report

1. The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the recent recommendations of the Department of Internal Affairs Working Group, the Representation, Governance and Accountability (Working Group), and to assess how those recommendations respectively respond, or otherwise, to the concerns captured from the community in September 2021, Te Rangapū and commission, in relation to the original Three Waters Reform proposal.

Recommendations

That the Council:

(a) Receives the report Three Waters Reforms Programme – Impact Assessment on Working Group Recommendations.

(b) Notes the approach to consider information based on two categories; (1) Reforms, (2) Transition.

(d) Notes the revised impact assessment by staff on the concerns raised by community, Te Rangapū and commission.

(e) Notes that a verbal update will be provided by Te Rangapū representative, post discussions on 19 May 2022.

(f) Notes and confirms the next steps.

Executive Summary

2. Updates Received

Since the Government’s initial Three Waters Reform proposals, clarifications and revisions to the original proposal have been advised. These updates have been delivered via:

(a) Exposure Draft Water Services Entities Bill.

(b) DIA Letter of response to TCC feedback questions.

(d) Government advice that 44 of the 47 Working Group recommendations will be incorporated, in some form, into the Water Services Entities Bill prior to introduction.

3. Reform or Transition Category

Two substantial categories of work have been identified to support the understanding of key concerns raised regarding Three Waters Reform proposals. Those categories are (a) Reform and (b) Transition:

(a) The Reform category relates to developing strategy, governance and ownership proposals, policy, regulatory framework, and legislation.

(b) The Transition category relates to the implementation of Cabinet decisions, identifying impacts and preparing TCC for reform, whilst managing risks and minimising disruption to communities.

These two categories have been used to summarise the Tauranga Community concerns raised with Department of Internal Affairs in September 2021.

4. Re-assessment of TCC Impact

An assessment has been completed by staff against the key community concerns raised with the original Three Waters proposal. This has been based on the draft legislation, clarifications and recommendations advised. The assessment was completed on the advice from Government that the DIA will adopt most of the Working Group recommendations, in some form.

Six of the ten key concerns raised in September 2021 remain high concerns, two have progressed and one has been resolved, being the ‘Privatisation Exclusion’ concern. Further details of the assessments by key area, can be found in Appendix A.

5. Te Rangapū Position

The mana whenua concerns advised to DIA in September 2021 will be reviewed at a Te Rangapū meeting scheduled for 19 May 2022. An update and revised assessment of concerns will be provided verbally by Carlo Ellis, Manager Strategic Māori Engagement to the Council meeting on 23 May 2022.

Background

6. On 30 September 2021, after public consultation, TCC provided a letter to Government advising their position regarding the proposed Three Waters Reform. This letter included tangata whenua and community feedback. A TCC response from DIA was received 7 March 2022 and provided via report to Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee meeting 28 March 2022.

7. As a result of the significant feedback received, Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) established a Working Group on Representation, Governance and Accountability (Working Group) to provide independent advice regarding feedback across three key areas being:

(a) Ownership of Assets.

(b) Protection against Privatisation.

(i) The Working Group, comprising equal number of local government and iwi leaders, released their feedback report in March 2022. Overall, 47 recommendations were provided, a high-level summary of which follows: Strengthen community ownership of assets, and protection from privatisation, through a public shareholding structure where councils hold shares on behalf of their communities. Proposed shareholding for Entity B councils can be found in Appendix B.

(ii) Strengthen the local voice, with new mechanisms to strengthen the role of the new Regional Representative groups (RRGs) through the establishment of advisory Groups (sub-RRGs) that will feed into the larger body. The proposed governance model has been attached as Appendix C.

(iii) Recognising and embracing Te Mana o te Wai as an underlying principle of all aspects of the reforms to underpin the Water Service Entity (WSE) framework.

(iv) Ensure the continued improvement of Three Waters service delivery and environmental protection through increased representation of our communities, including iwi / hapū, with co-governance as a central principle.

(v) Government to consider its ongoing communications and engagement with the public to build understanding of both the direct impact and the broader context of the Three Waters reforms.

8. In December 2021, a draft exposure Water Services Entities Bill was released. This Bill included changes from the initial Three Waters Reform proposal and strengthened the owner voice in the overall governance of and direction setting process for the entities.

Summarised changes within Draft Water Services Entities Bill:

a) Greater flexibility for each Regional Representative Group (RRG) to determine its own arrangements through a constitution, rather than the original proposal which required legislative control.

b) Provision for regional advisory groups (sub-regional representation groups) based on regional or geographic areas.

c) Board appointments and removals being made by a RRG Committee, rather than an independent ‘arm’s length’ selection panel.

d) Direct accountability of the entity to the RRG, with the RRG permitted to remove Board members for not performing their duties.

e) The Board to give effect to the statement of strategic and performance expectations issued by RRG, enabling more direct influence over the entity’s strategic direction.

Taituarā commented in their appraisal / report that:

‘These four changes do represent a strengthening of the owner voice in the overall governance of, and direction-setting’ process for, the entities. They do not weaken the operational control that the entity Board and management will have.’

9. The City Waters and Three Waters Reform project team have continued to participate in the transition preparation process through:

(a) Appointments to National Working Groups:

(i) Transition Reference Group: Asset Management, Operations, Stormwater

(ii) Transition Reference Group: People & Workforce,

(iii) Transition Reference Group: Customer,

(iv) National Working Group Operational Technology Technical

(v) Stormwater Strategic Working Group.

(b) Appointment and establishment support to the Entity B Local Transition Team (LTT).

(d) Nomination for National Information Architecture Working Group.

(e) Nomination for National Integrated Planning Working Group.

(f) Attendance of webinars held by National Transition Unit Workstreams.

(g) Completion of National Transition Unit (NTU) Requests for Information – Workforce and Data and Digital request for high level information. NTU have advised a full ‘Discovery’ process of numerous requests for information over the coming 12 months.

These engagements, as well as providing a forum for clarification and transparency, have established positive working relationships across the region and nationally.

10. On 29 April 2022, the Minister announced details of which of the Working Group recommendations would be adopted, and how the recommendation would likely be included within the Water Services Entities Bill. A detailed list of all 47 Working Group recommendations and the relevant Government Response is included in Appendix D.

11. Government advised that further work is currently underway:

(a) With Standard and Poor to confirm the final design of the entity governance and accountability arrangements (achieving balance sheet separation). Whilst the Regional Representative Group (RRG) is to approve strategic direction, Government’s requirement was still to preserve balance sheet separation.

(b) To align the principle that, for the purposes of three waters service delivery reform, Te Mana o te Wai encompasses the interconnection with, and the health and wellbeing of, all water bodies that are affected by the three waters system – with other Government frameworks and legislation that relate to Te Mana o te Wai. Any legislative changes will be incorporated into the second bill, implementing the three water service delivery reforms.

12. Of note within the Government Response to Working Group recommendations:

(a) Flexibility, likely via Entity constitutions, will enable unique characteristics of each Entity to be represented.

(b) Two Tier governance through:

(i) Regional Representation Group - co-governed, represent views of local communities, appoint Board, monitor and accountability role; and

(ii) Entity Board - independent skills based, operational management of entity and hold management to account for delivery of water services.

(c) Co-governance, being equal representation between local government and mana whenua applies to the RRG only. Entity Boards will be independent with merit-based appointments taking into account relevant knowledge, competency and experience.

(d) RRG role to be extended to allow for comment, but not decisions, on operational matters. RRG cannot direct the entity at a project, investment, or operational / management level.

(e) Entity constitutions will enable RRG to set composition of the group. Including representation from mix of urban, provincial, and rural councils. The Minister of Local Government will make the first constitution for each entity in regulations, following engagement with council owners and mana whenua in each entity region.

(f) Mana whenua representation will be through iwi and hapū appointments on a tikanga basis reflecting hapū groupings.

13. Staff Reassessment of Key Concerns

Staff have reviewed the information and advice received since the key concerns were raised with DIA, post community consultation in September 2021. The impact of these changes on TCC key concerns has been analysed and the position reassessed. The detailed analysis of the key concerns is noted in Appendix A.

The re-assessment is summarised in the table below:

Table A: Reassessment of Significant TCC Issues with Original Three Waters Proposal

*30 Sept Position – as advised to DIA*	*Concern Category*	*29 April Staff Assessed Position*
REFORM
	Governance Arrangements
	Mana Whenua Concerns	Te Rangapū to advise
	Growth and Development needs are met
	Stormwater Infrastructure
	Future privatisation exclusion
TRANSITION
	Workforce
	Communications and Engagement
	Transition timeline viability
	Fair transfer of debt and hedging arrangements
	Funding package adequacy

RED = Significant Concern AMBER = Work is progressing, closely monitor & engage GREEN = Resolved

Staff confirmed there are a number of transition elements that have progressed within the NTU that will have a positive impact on the concerns raised by TCC. These include national transition strategy, funding allocations and communications and iwi engagement strategy. Staff have taken the view that until these elements have been delivered and a specific TCC impact determined, the concern remains as a red status.

14. Te Rangapū is scheduled to workshop the recent Government advice on the Working Group recommendations and will provide a verbal update to Council on the specific mana whenua concerns raised in September 2021.

Next Steps

15. The next steps have been split into Reform next steps that will be led by Government, and Transition next steps. Transition category activities are where, organisationally, we are more likely to have early influence and responsibility as the Entity B Local Transition Team and future Local Establishment Entity (LEE), once legislated start taking effect. With reform decisions yet to be made, the team are focussing on preparations to best position TCC should Three Waters Reform proceed.

REFORM NEXT STEPS

16. The Minister has advised changes to legislation will now be completed, to incorporate the adopted Working Group recommendations. The revised Water Services Entities Bill is expected to commence the parliamentary process late May 2022, with submission process commencing shortly after.

17. The 3WR Project team will co-ordinate a review and further assessment of the key concerns, aligned to the revised Water Services Entities Bill. Determine community engagement approach and implement.

18. NTU to provide detailed funding arrangements to support transition activities at national level and local level.

19. Two further technical working groups are continuing deliberations to inform the Water Services Entities (Implementation) Bill, expected towards the end of 2022. These two groups are reviewing:

(a) The development of policy proposals to ensure an effective interface between the water services entities and the planning and regulatory system, called Planning Technical Working Group.

(b) The obligations of water services entities to support rural water schemes and the communities they serve, called Rural Supplies Technical Working Group.

20. Further legislation is expected in the next year to:

(a) Provide the functions and powers relating to service delivery.

(b) Implement the transition arrangements (including transfer of assets, liabilities and contracts).

(d) Establish economic regulation and consumer protection regimes.

(e) Make detailed, technical changes to other related legislation (such as the Local Government Act 2002).

TRANSITION NEXT STEPS

21. Staff to continue to work closely with NTU at a national level and at a local level with the establishment of an Entity B Local Transition Team so that we strengthen the organisations “readiness” to successfully move three waters operations and services into the proposed future arrangement.

22. Develop funding requirements for ongoing TCC participation to support funding application / allocation to enable backfilling instances where TCC staff provide input into transition activities.

23. Continue to meet discovery request requirements and support requirements as advised by NTU.

Attachments

1. Appendix A - Three Waters Reform Assessments by Key Areas - A13425371 ⇩

2. Appendix B - Three Waters Reform Proposed Shareholder - A13425329 ⇩

3. Appendix C - Three Waters Reform Revised Governance Model - A13424574 ⇩

4. Appendix D - Three Waters Reform Government Response - A13425330 ⇩

Ordinary Council meeting Agenda

23 May 2022

11.3 Executive Report

File Number: A13347070

Author: Nic Johansson, General Manager: Infrastructure

Paul Davidson, General Manager: Corporate Services

Christine Jones, General Manager: Strategy & Growth

Tony Aitken, Acting General Manager: People and Engagement

Steve Pearce, Acting General Manager: Regulatory and Compliance

Barbara Dempsey, Acting General Manager: Community Services

Authoriser: Marty Grenfell, Chief Executive

Purpose of the Report

1. To provide updates on key projects and activities.

Recommendations

That the Council:

(a) Receives the Executive Report

Infrastructure Group

New motor home dump station - Cross Road, Sulphur Point

2. Wally Potts, Chris Nichols and Peng Wang from the drainage team have been working with the Motor Caravan Association to find a suitable site for larger motor homes/bus/articulated motor homes to safely dispose of wastewater. The other wastewater dump stations in Tauranga are too small for the larger motor homes to access safely.

3. The new station features dump points on both sides to fit different vehicle styles and a fence on the eastern side of the dump point protects users from traffic on Cross Rd. As it’s very close to the boat ramp, some people misunderstood the station’s purpose and used it to wash boats and vehicles, but signs have now been put up to inform the public.

4. The Sulphur Point site is close to arterial routes, has good access and is right beside an existing motor home freedom camping area. It’s also a great resilience resource for the city, with power, water and wastewater available, should we need an emergency housing space.

Harrisons Cut Beach Access Upgrade

5. The Harrisons Cut project is providing remedial work to the access road, embankment and parking area, between Pāpāmoa Beach Road and the boat ramp. This is in response to a storm event in August 2018, where erosion led to stability risks on the beach access and boat ramp and threatened the effectiveness of the stormwater channel.

6. To stabilise the access road, we are constructing a new retaining wall in the embankment, which will provide safe and resilient access to the boat ramp and car park. Work also includes the reconstruction and resurfacing of the road and car park, along with the construction of a new footpath to improve pedestrian access to the beach.

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7. Construction began on 26 April 2022 and is expected to be completed in late-2022.

8. Ecological protection measures were undertaken over Easter, including the setting of fish barriers and the trapping/relocation of skink, fish and spiders to protect native species and the coastal landscape.

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A common bully found at Harrisons Cut.

Opal Drive Pipeline underway

9. The Opal Drive wastewater pipeline is now under construction, after a site blessing in early-May with representatives from Ngā Potiki a Tamapahore Trust and Te Kapu o Waitaha. The first part of construction is the above ground pipeline and boardwalk through the Te Ara o Wairākei walkway behind Fashion Island. The boardwalk will be a recreational accessway once the pipeline has been built. The new pipeline is being constructed via a combination of open trenching and high density drilling underground and while it is under construction, the reserve access behind Fashion Island is closed.

10. The section of pipeline being renewed is at full capacity and is at risk of failure. The new pipeline has been designed to accommodate future flows until a second larger rising main from the Opal pump station to Te Maunga is constructed. That project is in the planning phase. Design is programmed to start in FY2024, with physical works expected to start in FY2028 and be completed in FY2031. The total project budget is $76,536,000. Once the second pipeline is completed, this critical link in the eastern corridor wastewater network will be both futureproofed and resilient.

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Design image of boardwalk over pipeline.

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Blessing at Opal Drive project site.

Vale Street/Bureta Road intersection improvements

11. Community engagement took place in the last week of April in relation to safety improvements in this area. There was widespread agreement with moving the pedestrian crossing from the roundabout to alongside the Countdown pedestrian access; and on the need to slow down traffic at this intersection.

12. The project ($1.1M construction cost) is now undergoing a final safety audit and is planned for construction in mid-late 2022. The safety improvements include a roundabout, raised tables leading into the roundabout and a new pedestrian crossing.

Maunganui Road

13. This project is designed to ensure Maunganui Road provides safer, calmer access to Mount Maunganui, with increased green space. The project is being delivered in two sections.

(a) Golf Road to Tui Street

Works are continuing on the Tui Street roundabout, which will be completed by the end of May and the detour removed.

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(b) Sutherland Road to Hinau Street

Works have also started on the Sutherland Road to Hinau Street section of Maunganui Road, which includes stormwater improvements and relaying footpaths.

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Interim Bus Facility

14. The city bus facility will move in mid-June, to allow the demolition of the Council buildings on Willow Street to proceed. The interim bus facility is currently being constructed on Durham Street, between Spring and Wharf Streets. Consultation has taken place with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure the new facility is fit for purpose. The interim bus facility will be in place while a location for a new, long-term bus facility is chosen and developed.

Pedestrian Cycling Improvements: Totara Street

15. The footpath/cycleway on Totara Street is progressing well, with the project on track to be completed in July 2022.

16. Planting of some sections is now finished.

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Waiāri Water Supply Scheme

(a) Intake and Pump Station

The pump station building structure is complete and works on the parking area and lower access road are underway. Pump station pipe work and the connection to the raw water rising mains has been completed. Mechanical and electrical fitout is underway.

Contouring is currently underway on the stream bank between the temporary bridge and the intake plant, to enable planting to take place in this area. The slope is currently too steep for planting.

Construction of the intake and pump station is expected to be completed by July 2022.

(b) Water Treatment Plant contract

The majority of the structural works on the water treatment plant building have been completed. Mechanical, electrical and membrane installations are underway and are the primary focus of the construction team. The treated water reservoir is approximately 85% complete.

The construction of the water treatment plant and reservoir is expected to be completed to a point where commissioning can commence by August 2022.

Once the construction contracts are complete, there will be a period of commissioning and testing before potable water can be delivered. Commissioning is scheduled to commence in late September, and it is expected that potable water will be delivered to the community from December.

The Waiāri Water Supply Scheme provides for the treatment and reticulation (pipeline construction) of up to 60,000m³ of fresh water per day for the Western Bay of Plenty. The project has approximately nine months until completion. The resource consent for the water take is shared between Tauranga City Council (75%) and WBOPDC (25%).

Three Waters Reform Stimulus Funding Delivery (Tranche 1)

17. As at end of March, we have delivered projects valued $13.9M (work commenced in October 2020), which represents 87% of the Department of Internal Affairs-approved, $16M programme (DIA $14.9M + Tauranga City Council co-funding of $1.1M).

18. Based on the March 2022 quarterly report, DIA has recommended release of the government funding contribution of up to 99% (DIA is retaining 1% [applies to all TAs], which will be released once the programme close-out report has been delivered in July).

19. To date, we have completed three physical works projects, with another 10 due for practical completion in May. The funding has also enabled the delivery of a hydrogeneration project at Joyce Road water treatment plant, which will make the plant electricity self-sufficient, as well as investment in stormwater quality improvements and digital solutions to improve our asset management and asset data capabilities.

20. While the programme has faced its share of COVID and supply chain challenges, flexibility within the programme has mitigated these effects and enabled the team to deliver and draw down the full government contribution.

21. DIA audited the programme in late-April, with no concerns raised by the auditor.

Te Maunga Wastewater landward outfall pipeline 75% complete

22. The Te Maunga wastewater landward outfall pipeline is now over 75% complete, with works having reached the last section from Grenada Street to Maranui Street. Grenada Street is currently closed at the easement site while the pipe is trenched underneath the road.

23. This pipeline is being laid beside the existing pipeline and when the project is complete in October 2022, will upsize the pipe diameter from 600mm to 1200mm, providing increased capacity as the city grows.

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Dewatering installation prior to trenching.

Durham Lane Supergraphics | Best Awards

24. Jasmax won bronze at the Designer Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards earlier in the year for the Environmental Graphics that were part of the Durham Street upgrades.

Electric Trucks

25. Our three electric rubbish collection trucks have arrived, and our drivers are undergoing training and starting to implement them on our runs. Our diesel trucks, while almost brand new and as efficient as possible, still use around 130L of diesel per day, which results in around 350kgs of CO² emitted per truck. This represents a huge reduction in emissions, as well as a cost saving.

26. Electric trucks are not currently an off-the-shelf product and are converted regular rubbish trucks. They can last a full day per charge, as the constant stopping at each house charges the battery and uses less power, unlike combustion engines that use more fuel with a constant stop/start.

27. We have a commitment that any fleet growth required due to population increase will all be provided by electric trucks, as these become more available.

28. We have received one complaint about the electric trucks from a resident who called to say that they normally hear the truck at the bottom of the road and then take their bin out, but due to the lack of engine noise, their bin was missed, which serves as a reminder that getting bins out before 7am is important.

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Community Services

Arts and Culture

29. Heritage Collection staff ran a series of tours of the Newton Street facility. Twelve tour groups across three weekends enjoyed a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the collection, with the tours covering aspects of the education, outreach, research and preservation work that the team undertakes. The team received excellent feedback from the tours, with many people surprised at the range and scale of the collection. The demand for tours was very strong, with a wait list of over 150 people. While many of these were able to be accommodated on additional tours added to the schedule, the Heritage Collection team is now exploring options to make the tours a semi-regular occurrence throughout the year.

Example of feedback received: “I wanted to say a huge thank you to you all for such an enjoyable visit to the Heritage Collection last weekend. We were so impressed with the storytelling around the amazing objects you have in storage and can honestly say it was one of the best ‘museum’ visits we ever had. You really made it all come to life. Needless to say, we are great fans of the proposed museum, as it would be great for so many more people to enjoy and learn about our local history. Kia ora rawa atu.”

30. Staff contributed to a workshop convened by Creative New Zealand, to develop a think piece from a local government arts perspective, to be submitted to the Future for Local Government Review panel. Tauranga City Council was selected as a participant, with Creative New Zealand noting that the growing local creative sector has strong potential to further grow capacity and capability. The workshop considered what strategies, activity, structural design and governance settings would have the most positive impact on managing and delivering local government arts, culture and creative programmes that align with better wellbeing outcomes for their communities. The report from these workshops will be produced by consultancy firm Martin Jenkins and when published in late-June, will be put on Council’s website for information.

31. The Incubator Creative Hub has announced the opening of its next projects in developing the arts and culture offering at the Historic Village, with the “Village Cinema, Community Picture Theatre” set to open on 27 May. The Village Cinema will provide an accessible cinema for a wide range of community organisations, supporting the development of the local film sector. The programme will include a particular focus on screenings for neuro-diverse, deaf and hard of hearing groups, incorporating the work of the successful ‘sonic cinema’ project. One of the first season’s screenings at the cinema will be the Matariki Film Showcase, which will include Kaupapa Māori feature films, documentaries, short films, music videos and films for Tamariki.

Community Partnerships

32. On 29 April, we announced the appointment of three interns as part of the inaugural Board Intern Programme for our council-controlled organisations (CCOs). The interns will bring diversity and new perspectives to the respective boards, while also building governance capability and developing a pipeline of talent for the future. The successful appointees are Saima Hussain Anis (Bay Venues Limited), Anthony Campbell (Tauranga Art Gallery Trust) and Suki Xiao (Tourism Bay of Plenty), who began their appointments on 1 May.

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Left to right: Saima Hussain Anis, Anthony Campbell, Commissioner Chair Anne Tolley and Suki Xiao.

33. Letters of Expectation have been sent to the four Mainstreet associations requesting information on their annual plans, in order to be more transparent about how the targeted rate is being utilised and how this benefits their association members. The current agreements are being reviewed with the intention to move to a simpler partnership model, with clear accountability requirements. Consultation with Mainstreet associations will be integral to the success of the change implementation. In addition, business surveys are being drafted to ascertain areas for improvement in the delivery of services provided, and perceptions of Council services around Mainstreet amenities.

34. In the second round of the Community Grants Fund, we received 52 applications totalling $1,471,770. An assessment panel comprising two Council senior managers, a representative from Te Rangapū Mana Whenua o Tauranga Moana Partnership and a representative from the philanthropic sector (TECT) met on Friday 22 April to consider the applications. 16 applications totalling $449,290 were approved. A list of successful applicants has been published on the Council website.

35. In the second round of the Match Fund Medium Grants, we received 10 applications totalling $91,900. These will be considered by the assessment panel in mid-May.

36. Work on the Council Child Wellbeing Study has commenced, with an initial focus on reviewing literature and existing datasets at both national and regional levels, to ensure that our locally-based study builds on current evidence and reduces knowledge gaps. Gathering data on the social and cultural wellbeing of Tauranga’s children and young people will assist in planning and developing the city and improving child and youth wellbeing. This project will move into engagement planning and development of localised methodology in June.

37. Initial conversations on the next iteration of Vital Update: Tauranga have commenced and include a review of the partnerships in place to support this work programme. The next iteration of the survey, which will go out in May 2023, will see a focus on three new target communities: children (3-12 years), Pacific communities (as a separate group to ethnic communities), and rainbow communities.

38. We have recently contracted a fixed-term, part time staff member with a lived experience of disability, which has enabled the team to make some very positive recommendations into a large number of projects across Council, with a particular focus on improving disability access and inclusion. This includes the Accessible Hotspots Project, Park and playground upgrades at Kulim Park and Welcome Bay, Pool upgrades at Otūmoetai and Greerton, the Central City Strategy Refresh, and the Otūmoetai Spatial Plan.

39. The team is also working toward an increased offering of beach access mats and improving how we promote existing facilities such as the Trailrider and beach wheelchairs, to ensure the 2022/23 Summer is a “Summer of Access” for locals and visitors alike.

40. Kāinga Tupu funded a literary review on Senior Housing Stress and what this looks like for Seniors across the Western Bay of Plenty sub-region, what the drivers are, what actions are currently being carried out and where there are gaps/opportunities. We will use the findings to engage with community providers in the sector, as well as those with lived experience, to better understand the issue with a view to responding in a way that will enable and support our community.

41. We have a new Rangatahi Advisor in the team, who has started building strategic youth sector relationships with organisations including Tauranga Youth Development Team and Gender Dynamix Aotearoa, so that we can work together on projects such as Vital Update.

42. Our first Multi-Ethnic Forum was held on 31 March, with a focus on the purpose, whakawhanaungatanga, and strengthening ethnic perspectives and voices in council and other agencies. Forums will be held quarterly at different locations across the city and are a partnership between Tauranga City Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council and NZ Police, through the Welcoming Communities initiative.

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Libraries

43. Media and community feedback on the opening of the library at He Puna Manawa has been positive. Door counters recorded over 17,000 visitors in April. Work continues to add further elements, including a café. A static display of toys and curios from Hands on Tauranga (Museum Collections) has been popular in the Children’s area. Some of the popular holiday activities were a Harry Potter Escape Room for teenagers, a teddy-bear sleepover family night and a full day of robotics and coding for International Robotics Day.

44. Jan Tinetti, Minister of Internal Affairs, will visit He Puna Manawa on 13 May.

45. The archives and rare books collection at Newton Street is now available to customers by appointment. Public tours of the Archive collection are being planned for June. The Library Archives will be showcased, along with the Museum and Elms collections, in the Echoes exhibitin at Baycourt from 18 May.

46. Programmes that had been restricted due to COVID returned to all libraries. Many parents are thrilled to be back for Iti Pounamu (Toddler Time). Volunteers such as JPs and Genealogy drop-ins were able to return. The current programme theme is NZ Music Month.

47. Matariki live events are planned in June, including the Matariki Kite Day at Ferguson Park, back after a two-year break.

48. New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme will conclude in June. Tauranga City Libraries were able to secure an additional $30,000 from the fund for e-books, e-audio and online resources. The three additional staff funded by the NZLPP for two years in the roles of Heritage Trainee, Mobile Library Assistant and Digital Programmes will complete their fixed-terms and will not be replaced. These roles have added greatly to community outcomes over the last two years and helped smooth staffing shortage difficulties during the pandemic.

Spaces and Places

49. Construction work on the Kulim Park upgrade is now complete. A Community Family Day held on Saturday 7 May to celebrate the completion of the park upgrade was very successful, with speeches by Commissioner Rolleston, and the great-nephew of the original landowner, Roger Rushden, who gifted the land to the Council. Also featured was face-painting and balloon animals, while support from Tauranga City Basketball saw 50 basketballs given to young people.

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Family Day at Kulim Park on May 7

50. The Mauao Placemaking project has seen work start on the creation of a new celestial compass, to be installed on the summit of Mauao in time for Matariki celebrations. The installation of the compass and wayfinding signage is the start of the project to revitalise the interpretation of Mauao.

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The bluestone plinth which will form part of the new celestial compass for the summit of Mauao.

51. A follow-up Pampas operation was completed at the end of March. Pampas is an invasive grass that outcompetes native species, as its seeds are windblown and can quickly spread. As with the first operation, this was carried-out with the use of a helicopter. The effectiveness of the first operation was very clear, with a large reduction in mature plants. The use of helicopters for tasks on Mauao has proven to be very efficient and will be further utilised in the future.

52. Several large exotic trees are planned for removal from the southern face of Mauao in May and June. These trees are beginning to fall apart in strong winds and risk damaging the archaeological features they are growing on. Due to the risk of damage to archaeology features and the significant karaka trees below the exotics, a heavy lift helicopter will be used.

53. Tauranga Domain Grandstand is having work undertaken to upgrade its seismic resilience and install a platform to enable media to safely undertake filming activities. Work is progressing well and is on-track to be completed by 27 May 2022, ahead of the NZ Black Ferns match at the venue on 6 June.

54. Construction has progressed on the Pyes Pa Connections cycleway project, with the concrete sections of the path in site 2 (Cheyne Road and Condor Drive link) being poured.

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55. Work has commenced on the seismic strengthening of the Cargo Shed at Dive Crescent, as the first stage of an upgrade of the facility for community use.

56. Earthworks on the construction of the southern section of the Kopurererua Stream Realignment Project are expected to be completed ahead of schedule. The new stream channel has been created and instream features put in place. Two areas of preload have been established to facilitate the installation of two new cycle bridges in the 2022 construction season. Planning is now underway for the instream areas of the new alignment, starting in May.

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57. A site has been confirmed for the Tauranga Destination Skatepark at the corner of Hull Road and Maunganui Road, opposite Mount New World. The site was selected using multi-criteria analysis; assessment of the risks and constraints of the site; and through consultation with the Tauranga skate community and Blake Park stakeholders. We are now working on designs with the design and build contractors, with construction on-track for 2023.

58. The Mount Beachside Holiday Park has seen occupancy and revenue increase in April, with the vaccine passes finishing, borders opening, Easter, school holidays and Anzac weekend all helping to increase occupancy by 3.4% and revenue by 26% compared to April 2021.

59. The Elder Housing Divestment documents are with Kainga Ora, signed by LINZ on the 14 April 2022. Tenants and neighbours were notified by mail-drop and a meeting of tenant village representatives took place on 4 May, in line with a joint media release on the sale agreement. Council also held tenant information sessions on 9-11 May. Kainga Ora, the Ministry of Social Development and the Tauranga City Council Project Team are meeting weekly throughout the next six months of the transition phase, with the transfer to Kainga Ora expected in November 2022.

60. Stage Two of the Elder Housing Tenant Moves are underway (10 – 25 May) to relocate 14 residents from Pitau & Hinau Elder Villages. Seven residents are being relocated by our staff to Tauranga Community Housing Trust, Bethlehem and seven residents are relocating within Council’s Elder Housing portfolio. Five residents will remain at Hinau Village until vacant units are available in June.

61. A wide variety of renewals and minor capital projects are underway and/or have been recently completed by the Parks and Recreation team, including:

(a) Demolition of fire-affected public toilets at Coronation Park;

(b) Elder Village heat pump installs to meet Healthy Homes standards;

(d) Ground-levelling works at Soper Reserve are underway, to make the site flatter and more user-friendly for events;

(e) One of the boardwalks in Johnson Reserve has been renewed. This is one of the older boardwalks in the city and it was great to renew this heavily-used structure;

(f) A number of community planting days are being planned, including the Waitaha Community Care Group, Trees for Survival, the Kopurererua Rotary Trust, and the Welcome Day planting for new citizens;

(g) We removed a large dead pine tree on the embankment below Wharepai Domain. The tree was starting to pose a risk to the walkway and state highway below. With the aid of a large crane, the team was able to safely lift out large sections of the tree and process them on the reserve above. The last lift was a piece weighing approximately 6 tonnes.

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Tree removal at Wharepai Domain.

Venues and Events

62. Tauranga City Council had the hosting rights to the January 2022 Hot Springs Spas T20 Black Clash and on Monday 2 May, we shared the results from the post-event evaluation. Figures showed more than half of the event’s attendees visited from outside our region and brought their wallets with them, spending over $1 million in our city. As stated by Nelita Byrne in the media release, these results are “a prime example of how our major event fund has been used to positively impact Tauranga”, creating vibrancy and delivering social and economic benefits.

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63. Tauranga City Council staff aided in the successful advertising and facilitation of several Anzac Day services across the city, supporting the Tauranga and Mount Maunganui RSAs and the Papamoa community. This year the team delivered the Tauranga Civic Memorial Service in full, due to the limited NZ Defence Force capacity. The service was hosted by Commission Chair Anne Tolley, supported by Western Bay of Plenty Mayor Garry Webber, with moving speeches from the Head and Deputy Head Boys of Tauranga Boys College.

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Mount Maunganui dawn service, Monday 25 April,

64. The Events team is seeing a significant increase in event bookings in public open spaces, with next summer shaping up to be a busy one. Concert bookings at Wharepai Domain in the CBD are tracking to be the busiest yet over the New Year period. The announcement of the booking for UB40, Jefferson Starship and Dragon on 4 January 2023 is the start of a number of events, with more to come.

65. On 26 April, Baycourt Community & Arts Centre celebrated its 39th birthday. While there was little fanfare this year, planning is underway for a large-scale celebration and media/promotional activities to mark the 40th anniversary in April 2023. A collaboration between Baycourt and the Central City Development team is being explored as a milestone event, providing a timely opportunity to highlight the development of the wider precinct and the positive influence it will have on the arts, culture and business sectors, as well as the wider community.

66. With support from the Sustainability & Waste team and TCC’s Energy Advisor, Baycourt is leading a review of its energy usage to understand and quantify the impact of its long-term LED renewal/replacement programme, which is approximately 40% complete, as well as other venue factors such as air conditioning utilisation. Indications are the LED replacement will provide energy savings from both a power reduction perspective and also a decrease in heat generation, which in turn reduces the energy required to cool the spaces. The draft review has also revealed inefficiencies in the existing air conditioning system. In response to this discovery, Baycourt has taken advantage of the decanting of the old library building and secured the air conditioning control system for future installation at Baycourt. This new ‘brain’ will enable the existing Baycourt plant to be used more efficiently, with minimal budgetary impact. The review, once complete, is likely to include recommendations to expedite and complete the transition to LED fittings, and other significant/key energy saving opportunities, and work towards green building accreditation.

67. The Historic Village is continuing its CAPEX works, with Building 89 (Envirohub building) now well underway and the ground broken for the new accessible carparks. Building 15 (The Fire Station) is set to undergo some exterior and interior renewals work from 10 July, after planned Matariki events have concluded. This building will be added to the Incubator Creative portfolio of offerings and will continue as a carving workshop, with master carver Whare Thompson as the artist in residence.

68. The Historic Village Cinema is undergoing a superficial theming refresh with the help of The Men’s Shed, as part of a partnership between The Historic Village and The Incubator Arts Collective. It is being fitted out with murals and themed furniture is being constructed for a ticket booth, candy store, proscenium arch and opera booth. The opening launch date is set for 27 May.

Corporate Services

Tauranga Airport and Vessel Works operational activities

Vessel Works – Marine Precinct

69. Vessel Works has secured Robert Page Marine Engineering as a tenant for the building purchased by Council last year. With the previous engineers exiting the precinct in mid-2021, our customers have perceived a gap in the engineering services offered at the Marine Precinct. This lease solidifies a professional and reputable marine engineering offering on-site. We will be promoting this exciting development with existing and new customers.

70. From an operational perspective, much-needed repair work continues on Bridge Wharf. The ex-Navy refit concrete barge was temporarily relocated to the refit wharf off the hardstand. The barge hadn’t shifted for close to a decade and it was great to see it moving on the harbour.

71. Tauranga City Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council continue to work together to resolve issues related to several vessels moored at Bridge Wharf. BOPRC plans to remove the fluids from one of the vessels in mid-May.

Tauranga Airport

72. Air New Zealand has been, and intends to, continue rebuilding capacity back to pre-COVID levels across its network and will continue to monitor and increase capacity as needed to match supply with demand. Load factors have lifted noticeably, particularly from the start of the school holidays, and then continuing into the business travel sector post-school holidays. There has been a noticeable increase in the presence of International baggage labels in the baggage make-up and arrival areas since the easing of border restrictions around the world. Both international and domestic bookings are strong through to the end of the year.

73. Work is continuing in developing a staged plan for further public and rental car parking at-grade, rather than multi-level. This will require the relocation of the Airport’s Fire Station, power and lighting centre and an area of general aviation taxi way.

Legal & Commercial

74. KPMG has concluded its work to prepare Tauranga City Council for the Waka Kotahi audit (report due). This delivers a clear roadmap to ensure Waka Kotahi has confidence in Council’s procurement and funding controls. More information will be provided in future internal audit reports.

75. To provide greater access to future procurement opportunities for local iwi, Council has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Toi Kai Rawa (Bay of Plenty’s Regional Māori Economic Development Organisation), in order to advance the prosperity of Māori through supply chain opportunities.

76. A collaboration between Legal & Commercial and Digital to deploy consistent electronic signature technology within Council has been kicked-off. Indications are that a toolset may be made available to all staff with relatively low cost of implementation.

77. One of the remaining tasks, after the McHale Group recommended improvements to Council processes (post Harington Street), was the creation of a Procurement Manual. This has now been approved by the McHale Group and is due for further internal approvals before release.

Finance

78. The three-yearly property revaluation process is progressing as planned. The objection period for property owners who disagree with their new property rating values closed on 25 March 2022. 698 objections (1.1% of properties) have been received. Council’s valuer, Opteon, notes that there is an even 50/50 split of ratepayers wanting their values to be increased or decreased. Opteon is reviewing objections, aiming to complete as many as possible before 30 June 2022 when the new values will be used to assess rates.

79. Rates collection to the end of April is at 98.6%, which is similar to last year’s collection rate at this time. Customers contacted regarding late payments have mentioned increases in the general costs of living, and continued impacts of COVID on jobs and the economy. The Revenue collections team continues working with ratepayers on payment arrangements and following up on overdue rates.

80. Ongoing work on the Infrastructure Funding and Financing (IFF) proposal has included confirmation that the accounting treatment of IFF is off-balance sheet. We will follow up the proposed accounting treatment with Audit New Zealand. Off-balance sheet accounting has a favourable impact on Tauranga City Council’s credit assessment and therefore would support maintaining the current credit rating. When IFF is combined with the other funding and financing opportunities council has been pursuing, including (if successful) the recently announced Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF) process, there will be an improvement in our medium-term financial position. The team will continue to analyse the financial impacts of these initiatives, and this will be reflected in the early development of our next long-term plan. These initiatives do not specifically affect the 2022-23 annual plan.

Digital

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Programme forward plan:

81. The digital team continues to work with the wider organisation to move from our legacy technology environment to a modern environment that supports the needs of our organisation.

Our SAP Finance platform upgrade is nearing completion. This is planned to be available for the end of May and in plenty of time to support the end-of-year finance processes. This upgrade will enable new capability to be leveraged by the wider programme, as well as providing some improvements for the finance platform.

The next major milestone, following completion of detailed design, will be to move all “customer data” from our legacy environment into our core SAP platform. The coming month will see a focus on resource planning and mobilising a team to start the migration process.

In parallel, detail design workshops will be completed for property leasing and rating.

In the regulatory and compliance space, an online resource consents pilot will get underway with three identified customers. This will help inform functionality, customer experience and business processes.

82. With the Contracts register initiative moving into an organisation rollout phase, the team will switch their attention to Contractors. This will look at our end-to-end business processes and contractor support systems.

Community Relationships Management (CRM):

83. The organisation continues to focus on improving relationships with our community and stakeholders. As part of these improvements, a new Community Relationship Management (CRM) initiative is well underway to provide processes and tools to improve external stakeholder relationship management.

Our Community Partnerships team has volunteered to pilot the new processes and tools and has now been trained and is using the CRM as part of their daily work.

Our project team is now undertaking change impact/business readiness conversations with other departments across council to inform the wider rollout plan.

It is envisaged that all stakeholder consent processes around council communications will be managed within the CRM. A privacy impact assessment has recently been carried out to assist with the development of business processes.

Building Information Modelling (BIM)

84. BIM is a technology that enables 3D digital representations of real-world objects to be created. In the Council context, BIM modelling is assisting with the creation of accurate 3D digital models of Tauranga City Council assets.

This type of modelling provides a leap-change in maturity for Council’s asset management practices.

Recently, Council’s BIM scanner has been utilised to create a 3D model of a section of the Oropi Water Treatment Plant.

The model created from this scan has allowed dimensions to be accurately measured for a replacement tank to be fabricated and installed in the plant. This has removed the need for significant effort to manually measure and fabricate complex replacement parts, while keeping the data for future maintenance needs.

Images below show the initial scan and the resulting 3D model created, with an example of detailed asset information captured.

Future expectation is that these models, when created, would be integrated into our asset management systems and visualised on our GIS 3D platform.

Image 1 - BIM Scanner Output

Image 2 - 3D Model created from Scan data.

Image 3 – Detailed 3D model of tanks and adjoining assets.

85. Digital and Democracy Services are progressing an update to our Council Committee reporting and information management solution “InfoCouncil”. This update will help to automate and streamline our existing processes for releasing reports delivered within a public-excluded council meeting. We are currently working with InfoCouncil to make changes to the software, coupled with internal development to reduce the need to manually reach out to Report/Attachment writers throughout the business, speeding up the time for releasing information to the public and reducing the effort required to administer the process.

86. Reducing printing is a focus for the wider Information management team and by working with Sustainability and Waste, we managed to reduce their printing by 44% last month.

Digital Education and Learning

87. We continue to see good engagement in the digital e-learning content and we can see from the graph below that the courses that are compulsory or are included within induction have the highest number of completions. This shows that for courses that have a legislated requirement or risk reduction outcome, it should be considered that they become mandatory for all users (e.g. The Privacy Act 2020).

Course statistics:

· 59 courses currently published

· 6486 course completions

· An average of 6.5 course completions for staff member.

Strategy & Growth

Tauriko West Urban Growth Area - Enabling Works Detailed Business Case

88. On 21 April, the Board of Waka Kotahi approved the Investment Paper and Detailed Business Case for the Tauriko West Urban Growth Area - Enabling Works Detailed Business Case. The investment approval included funding for pre-implementation, implementation and property phases, as recommended and consistent with earlier Council business case approval. These phases total $178,000,000 of co-investment between Tauranga City Council and Waka Kotahi, with funding also coming from the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (see separate paragraphs) and the proposed Infrastructure Funding & Financing Levy.

89. The property phase will secure the final land requirements for the detailed design, which will be confirmed through the pre-implementation phase over FY22/23-23/24, prior to construction beginning in the implementation phase FY23/24-FY26/27.

90. The Tauriko West Urban Growth Area - Enabling Works Detailed Business Case will now be followed by the Tauriko West/SH29A – Long-Term Detailed Business Case, which will identify the preferred option and confirm the future form of SH29A and its connections to Takitimu Drive and Cameron Road. We continue working with Waka Kotahi as co-funders and partners to ensure the Tauriko West Urban Growth Area - Enabling Works Detailed Business Case integrates with the Cameron Road Stage 2 Multi-Modal Detailed Business Case, the Accessible Streets Programme Business Case for Walking and Cycling; and with Bay of Plenty Regional Council for future Public Transport integration.

IAF Funding Proposals

91. On 2 May, Kainga Ora advised TCC of the outcome of its four Infrastructure Accelerator Fund (IAF) applications.

92. The following two IAF applications have been approved in principle and moved to the final round of negotiations.

(a) Tauriko West – TCC applied for up to $80m to contribute toward the cost of transport and waters infrastructure at the proposed greenfield residential development at Tauriko West; and

(b) Te Papa intensification – Council applied for $67m to contribute toward the cost of stormwater, water supply and transport infrastructure to support intensification of the Te Papa peninsula.

93. The next stage of the application process will involve negotiation of terms relating to the provision of funding (including the final amount of funding) and the housing supply in these areas. We anticipate negotiations will begin shortly, with agreements finalised late this financial year. The funding will not be received until after the 2022-23 financial year.

94. The following two IAF applications have been declined and will not receive funding:

(a) Wairakei Town Centre – Council applied for $20m of funding toward the cost of transport and waters infrastructure at the proposed greenfield residential development at Wairakei and Te Tumu; and

(b) Parau Farm – Council applied for up to $18m of funding toward the cost of transport and waters infrastructure for possible greenfield residential development at Parau Farm in Bethlehem.

Draft National Adaptation Plan consultation

95. On 27 April, the Minister for Climate Change released the draft National Adaptation Plan and a consultation document which focuses on developing policy options around managed retreat. The documents can be accessed here. The submission period closes on 3 June.

96. The draft National Adaptation Plan: ‘brings together in one place the Government’s current efforts to help to build our climate resilience. And it sets out a proposed future work programme, indicating our priorities for the next six years. The actions in this plan are intended to drive a significant, long-term shift in our policy and institutional frameworks. And they will result in better information about what our future climate will look like, enabling better decisions about our response.’

97. The draft National Adaptation Plan has three focus areas:

a) Reform institutions to be fit for a changing climate

b) Provide data, information, tools and guidance to allow everyone to assess and reduce their own climate risks

c) Embed climate resilience across government strategies and policies.

98. The Plan includes actions that are organised into six outcome areas: system-wide actions; natural environment; homes, buildings and places; infrastructure; communities; and economy and financial systems.

99. The consultation document describes managed retreat as: ‘an approach to reduce or eliminate exposure to intolerable risk. It includes the idea of strategically relocating assets, activities and sites of cultural significance (to Māori and non-Māori) away from at-risk areas within a planned period of time. Managed retreat might be used in response to any climate change impact or natural hazard, whether or not that hazard is caused or exacerbated by climate change. It is an option that may be considered throughout Aotearoa.’

100. The document includes objectives and principles relating to the development of legislation around managed retreat, and separate objectives and principles relating to funding responsibilities for managed retreat. The document includes broad questions relating to:

· establishing a process for managed retreat

· roles and responsibilities

· property transfer

· implications for Māori, and

· interactions with the insurance industry.

101. Staff are currently preparing a proposed submission in response to both documents. As part of this preparation, a hui has been requested with Te Rangapū Mana Whenua o Tauranga Moana and a workshop has been scheduled with the Commissioners. Because of the tight timeframes, it is proposed that the submission will be approved by the Chair and Chief Executive and submitted prior to the 3 June deadline, then formally reported retrospectively to Council on 13 June.

People and Engagement

Community Relations

102. The Media Impact Score fell in March to 1.1, primarily because of Minister Mahuta’s decision to extend the duration of a commission-led council. Positive reporting remained high, but there was significant coverage around a lack of democracy, which lowered the overall score. April saw more positive reporting, with the Media Impact Score rising to 1.4, but still significant coverage around the anti-democratic theme.

103. The Community Relations team has had a busy couple of months promoting and organising engagement opportunities for the Long-term Plan Amendment and Annual Plan. Facebook estimated that 115,232 people saw at least one of the Long-term Plan Amendment posts. During the consultation phase, we ran 15 events between 30 March and 13 April.

Te Pou Takawaenga

104. The past couple of months have seen key kaupapa for the wider Tauranga community hosted by tangata whenua, with the support of Council, for both the Waitangi Day and Anzac Day celebrations at Whareroa Marae. Both dawn events were well-attended by dignitaries, alongside people from all parts of the community, and included a strong livestream audience.

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105. Urban design projects continue to have strong collaboration by tangata whenua from the start, leading to enhanced community outcomes with strong themes of inclusivity. Examples include the recent opening of He Puna Manawa and the opening of a new community facility in Bethlehem with Ngāti Kahu.

106. The ongoing development of strong partnerships with hapū is best-reflected in the joint application by Ngāti Hangarau and Council for Resource Consent for works at Omanawa Falls. The process for this application (which has since been granted) was entirely co-designed and collaborative, incorporating Council technical expertise alongside the cultural expertise of the hapū. We hope it is the precursor for a more collaborative approach to future consenting processes.

107. Te Pou Takawaenga now has a dedicated Papakāinga Advisor in place to assist Māori land trusts in progressing their aspirations towards greater utilisation of Māori land, especially for housing. We have now received our first four applications for the Papakāinga Development Contributions Fund, removing significant barriers for homes to be built at the Te Reti block.

Democracy Services

108. The Minister of Local Government reappointed the existing four commissioners for a new commission term running from 26 April 2022 through until July 2024. The new terms of reference are available on the Council’s website. There is no requirement to discharge the Committee structure and re-establish a new structure, as a decision of the Commission continues in force as if it were a decision made by the local authority, unless and until the local authority revokes or amends the decision. Because the existing Commission has determined by resolution the governance structure now in place (committees, sub-committees and any subordinate decision-making bodies), those bodies do not need a confirming resolution to avoid being dismissed by clause 30(7) of the Local Government Act 2002, as would be the case if the current Commission were to be succeeded by an elected council. Any existing committees, sub-committees and any subordinate decision-making bodies and the applicable delegations and terms of reference, continue to apply pursuant to section 258ZA(5) LGA. This information was verbally provided at the Council meeting on 2 May.

109. The Local Government Commission determination was released on 7 April and upheld Council’s Final Proposal for a Mayor and nine Councillors. This information was verbally provided at the Council meeting on 11 April. Details of the representation arrangements that will take effect for the next election in July 2024, along with the determination, are available on Council’s Representation Review website.

110. The Future for Local Government Panel has invited various commentators to contribute thinking on various aspects for the review. These papers relate directly to their lines of inquiry and are considered by the Panel to be essential in helping shape the Review, but may not always reflect the views and recommendations of the Panel. These research papers include:

· Rethinking democracy - why local government is the best place to start – Iain Walker, Executive Director of the new Democracy Foundation in Australia.

· An exploration into the local government-central government relationship – Think Place New Zealand

· The role of local governance in governing for intergenerational wellbeing – Peter Hodder and Girol Karacaoglu, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Government

· Structures and roles for enabling local authorities to maximise their contributions to community wellbeing and adapt to meet future challenges – Dr Mike Rid, Local Government New Zealand and contributing lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington School of Government

· Civic innovation and local government futures – Professor Ingrid Burkett, Yunus Centre at Griffith University, Australia

· How would local government arrangements need to change to promote tino rangatiratanga/mana motuhake? - Dominic O’Sullivan, Professor of Political Science at Charles Stuart University, Australia and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences at the Auckland University of Technology

· Rangatiratanga, citizenship and a Crown that is ‘Māori too’: Boldness and the future of local government - Dominic O’Sullivan, Professor of Political Science at Charles Stuart University, Australia and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences at the Auckland University of Technology

· Four key points to the Panel – Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, music/story composer and researcher/teacher of indigenous knowledge

111. The Local Government (Pecuniary Interests Register) Amendment Bill has been through the Committee of the whole House on 13 April and is at the Third Reading stage. The Bill would amend the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) to require local authorities to maintain and publish a register of pecuniary interests for elected members of authorities.

112. The Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Bill is progressing through Parliament and is at the Third Reading stage. The Bill applies to Commissioners and elected members as the meaning of discloser is wider than an employee and includes “an individual concerned in the management of the organisation (including, for example, a person who is or was a member of the board or governing body of the organisation)”. This bill replaces the Protected Disclosures Act 2000 and clarifies the definition of serious wrongdoing, enables people to report serious wrongdoing directly to an appropriate authority at any time, strengthens protections for disclosers, clarifies the internal procedure requirements for public sector organisations and the potential forms of adverse conduct disclosers may face.

Human Resources

113. Staff Turnover is calculated on a 12-month rolling basis. It is now remaining steady after a period of increasing. Our aspirational staff turnover range is 10-12%. In comparison to other councils, we are similar to Auckland, Wellington & Hamilton are both running at 27%.

114. The Remuneration Project implementation is making good progress. The Job Description refresh is nearing completion and approximately 90% of roles have had their job size re-evaluated. This project aims to ensure that the Council is competitive in the labour market and can continue to attract and retain great staff. Remaining competitive in the labour market is a growing risk for Tauranga City Council, due to inflation and the current tight labour market in NZ. Failure to stay competitive will make it harder to attract and retain talented people, which in turn will negatively affect the ability to deliver Council services and the Long-term Plan.

115. The annual Salary Review process will commence soon and is planned to deliver the outcomes of the Remuneration project.

Customer Services

116. Service Centre and Library staff joined mana whenua, Commissioners and wider staff for a blessing of He Puna Manawa by local kaumatua when the full complex was opened on 4 April.

117. Customer Services has developed a property e-learning module for TCC staff. This is aimed at improving the knowledge of what property information should be stored in council’s central document management system, to assist with wider accessibility to these documents and thereby ensuring all compliance and legal obligations are met.

Health and Safety

118. He Puna Manawa

The opening of our new facility has seen an increase in H&S instances from what we would normally expect. 15 health and safety incidents or near miss events have occurred since He Puna Manawa opened in early May involving library staff, security contractors or members of the public. One serious near miss involved a fall from stairs of a wheelchair bound patron. These are being investigated and changes made as appropriate, including design changes and relevant operating procedures, as part of preventing recurrence and reducing risk.

119. Spaces and Places – Walkway Maintenance

The Health and Safety team, working with Spaces and Place, is developing a task specific risk register, highlighting specific controls unique to this context to demonstrate health and safety risk is being managed to a level as low as reasonably practicable. This includes creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all tasks that will be undertaken as part of this work – e.g. for the transport, use and storage of hazardous substances.

Regulatory and Compliance

Environmental Regulation

Regulation Monitoring

120. Enforcement has commenced on the Links Avenue Bus Lane Trial. The bus lane went live on 28 March. In the first two weeks, over 8000 warning letters were sent to vehicle owners who illegally used the bus lane. Compliance levels have been low, compounded by two long weekends attracting visitors to our city. We are currently seeing a 20% recidivist offending rate, which we hope will drop along with overall offending as drivers continue to receive infringements in the coming weeks.

Environmental Health

121. The New Zealand Institute of Environmental Health held a Virtual Conference over two days in April. Sessions on the agenda included Food Compliance updates, an update on Early Childhood Education Centres, a Salmonella case study, Plain English Allergen Labelling (PEAL), Implementing verifications for Imported food and a Body Modification court case in Australia.

122. With the help from the Digital Team, the Environmental Health Officers have been working on streamlining the Verification Report Forms for food premises. This will hopefully save time on report writing and enable customers to better understand their reports. It is still a work in progress, but has seen good collaboration between different departments.

123. We are on track with the 3 non-conformances issued by IANZ assessment (commissioned by the Ministry of Primary Industries) in March. Quarterly meetings are held with the organisation’s internal auditor to help address the non-conformances.

124. The Environmental Health team is in the process of employing a Team Leader, an additional Environmental Health Officer and a Health Technician, which will assist in addressing one of the non-conformances issued by the IANZ external auditor relating to overdue food verifications.

Alcohol Licensing

125. The Alcohol Licensing team held three separate ‘meet and greet’ sessions for alcohol licensees at Club Mount Maunganui. These initial meetings were centred around meeting our new teams and then having a quick-fire Q&A session. The forum was well-received by those who made time to come along, and we got some great feedback on what licensees would like to see in the future. Most who attended have asked that we continue “in person” sessions, with occasional online sessions, but in general, the feedback was what licensees want from us is better communication.

126. To address this, we have circulated a map that shows which inspector is responsible for each area, so licensees have a contact point in council, and we will continue to hold these types of engagement sessions on a quarterly basis, with the next session being held online in late-June.

127. It has been a very busy month for the team, with 104 licensing applications received, 74 applications submitted to the District Licensing Committee for their consideration and 18 licensed premises inspected.

128. We envisage even more applications coming through next month, now that many COVID-19 restrictions have been removed.

129. We have three District Licensing Committee hearings scheduled for the month of June, with the probability of a further 3 or 4 more hearings to be scheduled for either June or July.

Animal Services

130. Last month the team has pushed through as many outstanding 2021/22 dog registrations as they can. Our target for the year was 98% and we have managed to achieve 95%, which is a great achievement considering we have been short-staffed for most of the registration year. 234 infringements have been issued during this period.

131. The team is about to have their lone worker devices upgraded from the EGIS model to the G7 model, which will be implemented in July this year. We now have a fully-trained complement of staff who are all operational and warranted. Four of the vehicles have now been replaced with newer models as part of standard lease agreements.

132. In the upcoming months, the team will focus on the new dog registration year with a strategic communications plan. We will also be looking at discarding obsolete forms and upgrading the existing ones to comply with our current privacy policy and provisions.

Emergency Management

Welfare

133. Alana Rapson has been identified as a Welfare subject matter expert and will represent the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group in the review of The National Emergency Management Agency’s National Emergency Management Plan and Regulatory Framework.

134. Welfare is currently reviewing Civil Defence Centre (CDC) venues for Tauranga City to ensure they are still fit-for-purpose in an activation. CDC toolkits and resources are also being reviewed to ensure BOP CDEM Group consistency. This review includes the need to identify council staff to potentially be re-deployed to CDCs, if required.

Operations

135. Recruitment into our Emergency Operation Centre has increased in 2022, with a total of 86 staff from throughout council in our team. Training is still being heavily-affected by COVID-19, however 63% of EOC staff are considered fully-trained, meeting the BOP CDEM Group training target of 60%. With COVID-19 restrictions easing, we have had a number of staff booked into upcoming training, such as CIMS4, Intelligence, ITF and Welfare, which will boost our volume of trained EOC staff.

136. BOP CDEM Group has developed and is delivering an Exercise to each of the territorial authorities. The focus of Exercise Parawhenua Mea is the initial phase of a response. This stage is dynamic, fast-paced and important to getting the initial action plan of a response established. There are a number of inexperienced EOC staff who will benefit from participating in a simulated response in a controlled and safe environment.

The exercise will be conducted on the following dates at the Spring St Office.

· Monday 30 May – 37 TCC EOC Staff participating

· Thursday 2 June – 35 TCC EOC staff participating

137. Waka Kotahi NZTA has approached Tauranga City Council and requested support and collaboration for their annual exercise. The exercise will be conducted on 7 June and the scenario is a regionally-sourced tsunami, focusing on Tauranga. Our Emergency Management Advisor Operations and one of our Lifeline Utilities Coordinators will attend.

Mount Industrial Zone (MIZ) Project update

138. The Mount Industrial Zone Project is well underway, with Stage 1 being completed at the end of April. The objective of this study is to ensure CDEM has the required knowledge to develop appropriate cross-organisation planning for an emergency situation involving the Mount Industrial Zone. Within Stage 1, 10 Major Hazard Facilities were identified within the Mount Maunganui industrial zone and emergency response plans were gathered. High level data from these plans enabled hazard zone radii to be drawn and assessed for natural hazard events which may impact multiple facilities at once. Stage 1 summarised the overall trends and risks and provided an information gap analysis.

Location of Major hazard facilities within the Mount Maunganui industrial zone.

139. Stage 2 of the project will identify and engage with non-major hazard facilities to obtain further hazard plans and expand our knowledge of the area. This will enable the plotting of more detailed, potential impact radius zones for each site. A platform will be created to store this information and the critical data needed to support an emergency response. This may be used as a communication tool for further engagement with the Mount Industrial Zone community.

Resilience

140. An online form has been created and is now live on our Council website under Civil Defence. The form is intended to gather feedback on emergency preparedness from certain groups, with the intent to measure resilience in some of Tauranga’s most vulnerable communities.

141.

There have been a number of speaking engagements to community groups on the topic of tsunami readiness, including preparedness and evacuation routes, some of these groups representing a vulnerable portion of Tauranga’s population.

Building Services

142. The volume of building consent applications received in March (269) is roughly normal, whereas the number received in April (191) is slightly lower than usual, probably due to the number of short working weeks.

143. We granted 251 consents and amendments in March and 206 in April. Again, this is on par with ‘normal’ months, but we are hoping that this will trend upwards in the coming months. As a result of the significant backlog of consents, compliance with statutory timeframes has remained low, with 36% of consents and amendments being issued in 20 working days in March and 35% in April.

144. As has been reported previously, we employed five new staff in February who are currently in training. We are seeking to recruit a further six staff in July, who we aim to have competent by mid-2023. To deal with the backlog in the short-term, we have also contracted an additional 12 external Building Consent Officers from a number of different companies.

145. Inspection wait times for standard 45-minute inspections have decreased to 1-2 days for the most part, however the wait time for final inspections (which take approximately 3 hours) has extended to roughly four weeks.

Environmental Planning

146. The Development Contribution (DC) Advisors have had a busy period assessing DCs on Building and Resource Consents. For this quarter, 610 building consents have been assessed for DCs, equating to a value of $9,109,815.00. In addition, the team also assessed a further 74 Resource Consents in March alone. The team has also been fielding a lot more inquiries about DC increases (which came into effect on 1 February, with further increases signalled from 1 July). To manage the current workload, the team has been actively building capability with ongoing training around the calculation of DCs on more complex Building and Resource Consent applications and identifying and implementing new process improvements.

147. The Development Engineering Team continues to be consumed by assessments on Resource Consents and engaging with specialists across Council to get engineering input. Work is underway to streamline this process, create greater accountability, give greater delegations in terms of decision-making to the DE team and report more frequently on those applications awaiting feedback. With the team fully-resourced, the allocation of jobs to be assessed is largely up to date. Consultant support will be engaged to ensure this high level of service is maintained.

148. The Noise and Vibration Specialist within the Monitoring team has been working closely with the Events team to review noise management plans for upcoming events. With the change to orange under the COVID-19 traffic light system, noise monitoring of local gyms that run 5am and 6am classes has begun again.

149. For the financial year to date, First Security has attended 1,759 noise control callouts. Of these, 37% resulted in Excessive Noise Directions (ENDs) being served, while only 2% resulted in seizures of equipment. Of these jobs attended, 60% were found to be either ‘no noise’, or ‘noise not excessive’.

150. The monitoring team has also increased sediment and erosion control monitoring, particularly with the onset of wetter weather. Through this, it has been identified that many sites have had unsuitable controls in place, with some sites lacking controls. Working with City Waters, arrangements have been made to sweep affected roads and the team will continue an education and training first approach on-site when contractors need more direction to comply, particularly in light of Plan Change 30.

151. The team continues to work through expectations with developers, and the need for consent conditions to be met, through regular site visits. This includes following-up on wetland planting under a resource consent near Harding drive.

152. The number of applications received remains high, while the number of Building Consents reviewed has slowed in comparison to the period following changes to DCs in July last year. Hiring planners (experienced and juniors) continues to be extremely challenging. Along with this, a large number of the team was affected by COVID-19 (either contracting it or had family members who did), placing significant pressure on the already-stretched senior planners in the team and reducing overall timeframe compliance as a result. The team is currently using all available ways to process any delayed applications, aiming to return to improved timeframes as soon as possible.

153. The available days to process an application are often used up by the planners chasing incomplete/missing information from applicants, which (through no fault of the planner) affects overall processing timeframes. This is compounded by applicants varying their proposals to avoid notification and the reliance on experts throughout the organisation to review multiple proposals and multiple versions. To mitigate this, the team has improved the pre-app process, has started encouraging applicants to request notification where appropriate and has focused more on identifying gaps before an application has been officially accepted by Council. Subsequently, this has resulted in more incomplete applications being returned to the submitter. While still being embedded throughout the team, this improvement enables the planners to spend more time processing complete applications, reducing the time required to go back and forth with an applicant and, overall, reducing the time taken to process an application.

154. At the end of March, the team held the first Q1 Consultants Forum to foster greater relationships with external stakeholders and customers. The team presented on and discussed some of the current changes and how it is an uncertain time for many, with the RMA Housing Amendment Bill and Plan Change 33 coming up in August.

155. Understandably, those in attendance were very interested to know more and the team has committed to updates through open, honest communication, as soon as things are finalised. Feedback from the event was positive, and the team is looking forward to the next event in July.

156. To attract more planning applicants, the team has been looking at alternative recruitment opportunities by contacting the universities that offer programmes covering Environmental Planning. Two targeted presentations with students graduating at the end of 2022 have already been held and further discussions are underway to better establish how more soon-to-be graduates can be encouraged to join the team.

157. One of the team’s biggest contracts, the after-hours noise contract, has almost been awarded. This tender process was in collaboration with other services such as Animal Services, Freedom Camping, TTOC and a static guard for the Mount Holiday Park. We are pleased to say that evaluation of the tenders emphasised (20% of the score) Broader Strategic Outcomes such as Health & Safety, Cultural Equity, Environmental Sustainability, Supporting Local and Regional Businesses, Social Equity and Innovation. One example of this is the contractor committing to pay employees the Living Wage, which is a great outcome for Council and the Community.

Attachments

Nil

[1] These cost estimates include a 20% contingency and construction escalation but exclude ‘relocation costs associated with existing users and any new facilities provided, and detailed business case, design, consenting and overheads associated with programme management, fund raising, debt funding, etc’.

[2] Bay of Plenty Spaces and Places Facility Strategy – Reference Report, September 2020, page 178


AGENDA Ordinary Council meeting Monday, 23 May 2022
I hereby give notice that an Ordinary Meeting of Council will be held on:
Date:	Monday, 23 May 2022
Time:	9.30am
Location:	Bay of Plenty Regional Council Chambers Regional House 1 Elizabeth Street Tauranga
Please note that this meeting will be livestreamed and the recording will be publicly available on Tauranga City Council's website: www.tauranga.govt.nz.
Marty Grenfell Chief Executive

Chairperson	Commission Chair Anne Tolley
Members	Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston Commissioner Stephen Selwood Commissioner Bill Wasley
Quorum	Half of the members physically present, where the number of members (including vacancies) is even; and a majority of the members physically present, where the number of members (including vacancies) is odd.
Meeting frequency	As required

· To ensure the effective and efficient governance of the City

· To enable leadership of the City including advocacy and facilitation on behalf of the community.

· Oversee the work of all committees and subcommittees.

· Exercise all non-delegable and non-delegated functions and powers of the Council.