Agenda of Ordinary Council meeting - Monday, 3 April 2023

UNCONFIRMED Ordinary Council meeting minutes

20 March 2023

MINUTES

Ordinary Council meeting

Monday, 20 March 2023

Order of Business

1 Opening karakia. 3

2 Apologies. 3

3 Public forum.. 3

4 Acceptance of late items. 4

5 Confidential business to be transferred into the open. 4

6 Change to the order of business. 4

7 Confirmation of minutes. 4

7.1 Minutes of the Council meeting held on 27 February 2023. 4

8 Declaration of conflicts of interest 4

9 Deputations, presentations, petitions. 5

Nil

10 Recommendations from other committees. 5

Nil

11 Business. 5

11.1 Bay Venues' Proposed Draft User Fees and Charges Schedule. 5

11.2 Tauranga Art Gallery - approval of funding arrangements for new entranceway onto Masonic Park. 6

11.3 Three Waters Reform - Council Submission on Water Services Legislation Bill and Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill 7

11.4 Lime e-scooter trial completion. 7

11.5 2023/2024 - Draft User Fees and Charges. 8

11.6 Omanawa Falls Safe Access Project - Consideration of Options to finalise Physical Works. 9

12 Discussion of late items. 10

13 Public excluded session. 10

13.1 Public Excluded Minutes of the Council meeting held on 27 February 2023. 11

13.2 Water reform debt settlement update. 11

13.3 Te Maunga Redevelopment and Contracts. 11

13.4 Additional funding for Transport Network operations to maintain road assets. 12

13.5 Exemption from Open Competition - Eco-system Programme Data Migration. 12

13.6 Appointment of CCO board members for Te Manawataki o Te Papa Limited. 12

14 Closing karakia. 12

Resolutions transferred into the open section of the meeting after discussion. 12

MINUTES OF Tauranga City Council

Ordinary Council meeting

HELD AT THE BoP Regional Council Chambers, Regional House, 1 Elizabeth Street, Tauranga

ON Monday, 20 March 2023 AT 9.30am

PRESENT: Commission Chair Anne Tolley, Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston, Commissioner Stephen Selwood, Commissioner Bill Wasley

IN ATTENDANCE: Marty Grenfell (Chief Executive), Paul Davidson (Chief Financial Officer), Barbara Dempsey (General Manager: Community Services), Alastair McNeill (General Manager: Corporate Services), Gareth Wallis (General Manager: City Development & Partnerships), Wally Potts (Director of City Waters), Anne Blakeway (Manager: City Partnerships), Dianne Bussey (Three Water Reforms), Andy Vuong (Programme Manager: Cycle Plan Implementation), Cathy Davidson (Manager, Directorate Services), Brendan Bisley (Director of Transport), Amanda Davies (Manager: Spaces and Places Project Outcomes); Coral Hair (Manager: Democracy & Governance Services), Robyn Garrett (Team Leader: Governance Services), Sarah Drummond (Governance Advisor), Janie Storey (Governance Advisor)

1 Opening karakia

Commissioner Rolleston gave the opening karakia.

2 Apologies

Nil

3 Public forum

Nil

4 Acceptance of late items

4.1 Acceptance of late items

Resolution CO3/23/1

Moved: Commissioner Bill Wasley

Seconded: Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston

That the Council

(a) Accepts the following late item/s for consideration at the meeting:

• Updated version of the report "Tauranga Art Gallery new entranceway" - Open

• Appointment of CCO board members for Te Manawataki o Te Papa Limited - Confidential

The above items were not included in the original agenda because they were not available at the time the agenda was issued, and discussion cannot be delayed until the next scheduled meeting of the Council because decisions are required in regard to these items.

Carried

5 Confidential business to be transferred into the open

Nil

6 Change to the order of business

Nil

7 Confirmation of minutes

7.1 Minutes of the Council meeting held on 27 February 2023

Resolution CO3/23/2

Moved: Commissioner Bill Wasley

Seconded: Commissioner Stephen Selwood

That the minutes of the Council meeting held on 27 February 2023 be confirmed as a true and correct record.

.Carried

In response to a query relating to the petition provided by Mr Singh to the 27 February 2023 meeting, it was noted that staff had been in contact with the petitioner regarding the installation of a bus shelter.

8 Declaration of conflicts of interest

Commissioner Rolleston noted that he had a contract with Ministry for the Environment reforms which connected into Three Waters and he would not speak to Item 11.3.

9 Deputations, presentations, petitions

Nil

10 Recommendations from other committees

Nil

11 Business

11.1 Bay Venues' Proposed Draft User Fees and Charges Schedule

Staff Paul Davidson, Chief Financial Officer

External Chad Hooker, BVL Chief Executive

Adam Ellmers, BVL General Manager: Finance and Commercial

Key points

· The report was at the request of Commissioners at the 27 February 2023 meeting to reconsider the fees and charges and included an update with slightly increased charges in some of the activities. This increased income a further $100,000 to $1.1m.

· Bay Venues would also come back to the Council in May when seeking funding for the capital funding model and outlined what that looked like moving forward.

· Bay Venues recognised that the proposed fee increases would put pressure on user groups, but considered it to be fair and reasonable when benchmarked against services provided in other towns.

In response to questions

· Bay Venues acknowledged the work that needed to be done at some of the facilities to bring them up to an acceptable standard, and would continue to upgrade these over time.

Discussion points raised

· It was noted that user charges had to be kept up to date and that users should pay their fair share; otherwise a bigger share would have to be subsided through rates.

· If insufficient fees were charged there would not be enough funding to provide the level of service people required at each of the facilities.

Resolution CO3/23/3

Moved: Commissioner Bill Wasley

Seconded: Commissioner Stephen Selwood

That the Council:

(a) Receives the report "Bay Venues' Proposed Draft User Fees and Charges Schedule".

(b) Adopts Bay Venues proposed draft user fees and charges as set out in Option 1 and Attachment 1, as a draft for public consultation, incorporating any further amendments as directed by Council at this meeting.

(c) Notes that Council staff are currently working with Bay Venues on a wider piece of work around sustainable funding and financing in the longer term, which will come to Council on 29 May 2023.

Carried

11.2 Tauranga Art Gallery - approval of funding arrangements for new entranceway onto Masonic Park

Staff Gareth Wallis, General Manager: City Development & Partnerships

Anne Blakeway, Manager: City Partnerships

Key points

· The report sought confirmation of the funding for the new entranceway of the Art Gallery onto Masonic Park and noted that the additional cost was to be externally funded.

In response to questions

· Stage two works included the realignment of the internal spaces to gain better utilisation of the areas. Warren and Mahoney had provided plans that were with the gallery team for discussion.

Discussion points raised

· It was requested that any balance of funding be used to offset the ratepayers contribution to the upgrade and a further clause was added to the recommendation to reflect this.

· This would set the tone on how to manage the balance of the funding for other projects and provide the public with confidence.

· It was important to have the work on the entrance to the gallery done in conjunction with the upgrade of Masonic Park as it would become an integral part of Te Manawataki o Te Papa.

Resolution CO3/23/4

Moved: Commissioner Bill Wasley

Seconded: Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston

That the Council:

(a) Receives the report "Tauranga Art Gallery - approval of funding arrangements for new entranceway onto Masonic Park".

(b) Notes that, following a feasibility report prepared by architects Warren and Mahoney, the full cost of requirements needed to deliver on the project objectives has been identified at a total cost of $3.38 million.

(c) Approves the $1.88 million balance of funds needed to create a total project budget of $3.38 million, to be phased over the next two financial years, noting that this will not have an impact on rates because:

- $250,000 will be funded through a private benevolent fund donation;

- $754,000 will come from already approved Tauranga Airport Reserves; and

- $876,000 will be funded through corporate sponsorship and/or other external funding sources, with details to be confirmed once formal agreements are in place.

(d) Notes that these cost estimates will be further refined through the developed and detailed design phases, and will be reported back to the Public Realm and Waterfront Steering Group Committee, and the Te Manawataki o Te Papa Governance Group.

(e) Notes that any reduction in escalation costs should be used to offset the ratepayers’ contribution.

Carried

11.3 Three Waters Reform - Council Submission on Water Services Legislation Bill and Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill

Staff Wally Potts, Director of City Waters

Dianne Bussey, Contractor – Three Water Reforms

Cathy Davidson, Manager: Directorate Services

Discussion points raised

· Commissioner Tolley noted that members of the Select Committee had thanked TCC for the excellent comments, suggestions and points of clarification for changes to the legislation. Appreciation was passed on to staff and technical experts for the great job in putting TCC’s submission together.

· It was a very technical bill. The role of the entity being a plan taker not a plan maker was expressed strongly to the Select Committee when presenting the submission.

Resolution CO3/23/5

Moved: Commissioner Bill Wasley

Seconded: Commissioner Stephen Selwood

That the Council:

(a) Receives the report "Three Waters Reform - Council Submission on Water Services Legislation Bill and Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill".

(b) Notes the submission made to Government in relation to the Water Services Legislation Bill and Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill as attached.

Carried

11.4 Lime e-scooter trial completion

Staff Wally Potts, Director of City Waters

Andy Vuong, Programme Manager: Cycle Plan Implementation (via Zoom)

Brendon Bisley, Director of Transport

In response to questions

· There were only a few responders in the over 85 age group which gave the unusual result shown. The older age group were mostly against the scooters with the younger age group supporting them.

· Over the 12-month trial period staff had looked at what the pain points were and the potential opportunities. There was a challenge with the technology as this was increasing rapidly and changing monthly so they would need to be able to find the right operator with the right skills and technology.

· A lot of research had been done with the operators. Estimates indicated 25-29% of the rides were for commuter use.

· The estimate of $25,000 income from operator and licence fees per annum would possibly go into the transport accessible streets activity or to target other transport projects. The trial covered the expenses for staff over the short term duration.

· There were a number of commuters who now owned their own scooters rather than continuing to hire one. The use of Lime scooters was a good pathway to that mode of transport.

· Staff would consider a fee structure to incentivise good behaviour and provide this to Council. It was recognised that footpath parking was problematic and staff were looking at creating some spaces or to use carparks and reallocate the road space.

Resolution CO3/23/6

Moved: Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston

Seconded: Commissioner Stephen Selwood

That the Council:

(a) Receives the report "Lime e-scooter trial completion".

(b) Concludes the Lime e-scooter trial.

(d) Commences the process to select a post-trial vendor and endorse a single operator limit.

Carried

11.5 2023/2024 - Draft User Fees and Charges

Staff Paul Davidson, Chief Financial Officer

Key points

· Consultation would begin on 24 March 2023 for a month.

· There was an average overall increase of 6% made up of 2% from falling behind inflation last year and 4% for this year.

In response to questions

· A funding model would be provided for the LTP showing the difference between the rate component and the user fees or a combination of the two. It would also outline the public good element, significant investments plus inflation to pay for any new investment.

· The wage movement was 4% last year and there would likely be greater wage pressure this year, staff were using an assumption of 5% but this would not be known until later in the year. A number of contract costs had increased in the range of 15%.

· A query was raised as to what percentage of Council’s annual revenue was raised by way of fees and charges.

Discussion points raised

· It was noted that a finite amount of fees and charges was set by the government and there may need to be representation for these to be increased to cover the true cost of providing the service.

· There was a need to ensure that users were paying their fair share towards the costs and to ensure fees represented actual cost.

Resolution CO3/23/7

Moved: Commissioner Stephen Selwood

Seconded: Commissioner Bill Wasley

That the Council:

(a) Receives the report: 2023/2024 - Draft User Fees and Charges.

(b) Adopts the draft user fees and charges and statement of proposal as set out in Attachments 1 and 2, as a draft for public consultation, incorporating any amendments as directed by Council at this meeting.

(c) Delegates the Chief Financial Officer to approve the final wording of amendments (as per Council direction) prior to public consultation.

.Carried

11.6 Omanawa Falls Safe Access Project - Consideration of Options to finalise Physical Works

Staff Barbara Dempsey, General Manager: Community Services

Amanda Davies, Manager: Spaces and Places Project Outcomes

Key points

· The project had been ongoing for some time as it was a difficult environment to work in, but it was a popular place to visit.

· The RMA process had been delayed with an appeal to the resource consent and the amount of rain over the past three months had caused the environment to deteriorate.

· Additional money was only required if it was needed to complete the works, with options for works provided.

In response to questions

· Any money received from external funders would be used for the work in Option 2, but it would need to be in by a certain date as the work needed to be completed. An additional clause was added to the recommendation to reflect this.

· If external funding was provided to complete Option 3 it would need to be brought back to the Council for a decision.

Discussion points raised

· A considerable amount of ratepayers money had been spent to make the area safe, and Council had a health and safety responsibility to protect people who may not be using common sense and were taking unnecessary risks. The works had been halted due to dangers from the rock formation and would now cost a lot more if that option was pursued.

· While it should possibly be a sub-regional facility with assistance from other authorities, that was not going to happen. There was reluctance to put further ratepayers money into the reserve but Commissioners realised that it was needed as the area did provide a good experience and people must be kept safe.

· Option 2 provided the best use of the work already completed with the walkway through the bush to the bridge, and it was agreed to extend that platform but not to continue along past the dangerous rock face as this would be too expensive.

· This project was a learning experience on the value of clearly understanding the scope definition and risks going into a project.

· The contractors had done a great job with the walkway and staircases through the bush. There were people that still might attempt to get down to the bottom which would result in others having to risk their lives to rescue them.

Resolution CO3/23/8

Moved: Commission Chair Anne Tolley

Seconded: Commissioner Bill Wasley

That the Council:

(a) Receives the report “Omanawa Falls Safe Access – Consideration of Options to finalise Physical Works”.

(b) Supports Option 2 which would approve an additional $1.333 million towards the project budget. This would see an additional budget of $1,053,000 in FY23 and $280,000 in FY24.

(c) Notes that any external funding that staff are able to obtain will be used to reduce the $1.33m cost to ratepayers. The delivery of Option 3 would be totally reliant on external funding and would need to be brought back to Council for approval.

Carried

12 Discussion of late items

Nil

13 Public excluded session

Resolution to exclude the public

Resolution CO3/23/9

Moved: Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston

Seconded: Commissioner Bill Wasley

That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting.

The general subject matter of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

General subject of each matter to be considered	Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter	Ground(s) under section 48 for the passing of this resolution
13.1 - Public Excluded Minutes of the Council meeting held on 27 February 2023	s7(2)(c)(i) - The withholding of the information is necessary to protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence or which any person has been or could be compelled to provide under the authority of any enactment, where the making available of the information would be likely to prejudice the supply of similar information, or information from the same source, and it is in the public interest that such information should continue to be supplied s7(2)(g) - The withholding of the information is necessary to maintain legal professional privilege s7(2)(h) - The withholding of the information is necessary to enable Council to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities s7(2)(i) - The withholding of the information is necessary to enable Council to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations)	s48(1)(a) - the public conduct of the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good reason for withholding would exist under section 6 or section 7
13.2 - Water reform debt settlement update	s7(2)(b)(ii) - The withholding of the information is necessary to protect information where the making available of the information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information s7(2)(i) - The withholding of the information is necessary to enable Council to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations)	s48(1)(a) - the public conduct of the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good reason for withholding would exist under section 6 or section 7
13.3 - Te Maunga Redevelopment and Contracts	s7(2)(h) - The withholding of the information is necessary to enable Council to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities s7(2)(i) - The withholding of the information is necessary to enable Council to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations)	s48(1)(a) - the public conduct of the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good reason for withholding would exist under section 6 or section 7
13.4 - Additional funding for Transport Network operations to maintain road assets	s7(2)(h) - The withholding of the information is necessary to enable Council to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities	s48(1)(a) - the public conduct of the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good reason for withholding would exist under section 6 or section 7
13.5 - Exemption from Open Competition - Eco-system Programme Data Migration	s7(2)(h) - The withholding of the information is necessary to enable Council to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities	s48(1)(a) - the public conduct of the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good reason for withholding would exist under section 6 or section 7
13.6 - Appointment of CCO board members for Te Manawataki o Te Papa Limited	s7(2)(a) - The withholding of the information is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of deceased natural persons s7(2)(c)(i) - The withholding of the information is necessary to protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence or which any person has been or could be compelled to provide under the authority of any enactment, where the making available of the information would be likely to prejudice the supply of similar information, or information from the same source, and it is in the public interest that such information should continue to be supplied	s48(1)(a) - the public conduct of the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good reason for withholding would exist under section 6 or section 7

Carried

14 Closing karakia

Commissioner Rolleston closed the meeting with a karakia.

Resolutions transferred into the open section of the meeting after discussion

Resolution CO3/23/15

Moved: Commissioner Stephen Selwood

Seconded: Commissioner Bill Wasley

That the Council

(a) Receives the report "Appointment of CCO board members for Te Manawataki o Te Papa Limited".

(b) Approves the appointment of Kim Wallace as Chair of Te Manawataki o Te Papa Limited, effective 31 March 2023 for a term of three years and one month, to 30 April 2026.

(c) Approves the appointment of Barry Bragg as Director of Te Manawataki o Te Papa Limited, effective 31 March 2023 for a term of three years and one month, to 30 April 2026.

(d) Notes (in accordance with s80 of the Local Government Act 2002) that, while the process for appointing these trustees is inconsistent with Council’s Appointment of Directors to Council Organisations Policy, the extenuating circumstances of establishing a new council-controlled organisation provides sufficient rationale for this inconsistency. There is no intention to amend the policy to accommodate this particular decision.

(e) Approves remuneration for the Chair of Te Manawataki o Te Papa Limited of $70,000 per annum, plus a 30% to 50% loading for the first 12 months.

(f) Approves remuneration for each of the Directors of Te Manawataki o Te Papa Limited of $40,000 per annum, plus a 30% to 50% loading for the first 12 months.

(g) Resolves to wind up the Te Manawataki o Te Papa Governance Group on 30 April 2023, enabling a managed handover to the new Board of Te Manawataki o Te Papa Limited.

(h) Notes that information relevant to these appointments will be made public through a media release.

(i) Notes that the appointment process will continue until the remaining director vacancies are appointed to the Board of Te Manawataki o Te Papa Limited.

Carried

The meeting closed at 11.02 am.

The minutes of this meeting were confirmed as a true and correct record at the Ordinary Council meeting held on 3 April 2023.

........................................................

CHAIRPERSON

Ordinary Council meeting Agenda

3 April 2023

10 Recommendations from other committees

10.1 Re-purposing of the City Centre Development Incentive Fund

File Number: A14394493

Author: Nick Chester, Principal Strategic Advisor

Authoriser: Gareth Wallis, General Manager: City Development & Partnerships

Purpose of the Report

1. To seek approval to re-purpose the City Centre Development Incentive Fund to enable a broader range of initiatives that will support the ongoing growth and development of the city centre.

Recommendations

That the Council:

(a) Receives the report "Re-purposing of the City Centre Development Incentive Fund".

(b) Acknowledges the endorsement of the Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee.

(c) Approves broadening the scope of the City Centre Development Incentive Fund to enable a wider range of initiatives that will support the ongoing growth and development of the city centre, specifically to:

· attract and incentivise the development of residential and in particular, student accommodation;

· support short- to medium-term tactical parking interventions that will increase the availability of car parking;

· generate initiatives that will support city centre businesses that are severely impacted by the current period of construction disruption; and

· support increased activation and vibrancy.

(d) Delegates approval of expenditure from the fund to the Chief Executive

Executive Summary

2. The City Centre Development Incentive Fund was approved by Council to facilitate an increase in the supply of residential accommodation in the city centre, by supporting feasibility assessments of possible residential accommodation developments.

3. The City Centre Development Incentive Fund was allocated $500,000 per annum (for three years) as part of the 2021-31 Long-term Plan and has assisted with business case studies on residential accommodation, primarily student accommodation in the city centre.

4. It is noted however that the decline in prosperity of the city centre is unlikely to be rectified by focusing on one particular solution. Instead, supporting a wide range of initiatives is more likely to have long-term impacts on the successful redevelopment and prosperity of the city centre, including supporting the growth aspirations of the University of Waikato, and supporting severely impacted city centre businesses during a period of significant disruption.

5. There is an opportunity to broaden the scope of the City Centre Development Incentive Fund to enable and support a much broader range of initiatives, with a specific focus on city centre initiatives that:

(a) attract and incentivise the development of residential and in particular, student accommodation;

(b) support short- to medium-term tactical parking interventions that will increase the availability of car parking;

(c) generate initiatives that will support city centre businesses that are severely impacted by the current period of construction disruption; and

(d) support increased activation and vibrancy.

6. Staff recommend Option 1 – re-purpose the City Centre Development Incentive Fund to enable a wider range of initiatives that will support the growth and development of the city centre as the most appropriate action.

Background

City Centre Development Incentive Fund

7. There is an identified and ongoing need to increase the supply of residential accommodation in the city centre.

8. The City Centre Development Incentive Fund (the Fund) was approved by Council on 4 October 2021. A copy of the current funding framework can be found here.

9. The current purpose of the Fund is ‘to facilitate an increase in the supply of residential accommodation by supporting feasibility assessments of residential accommodation development in the Tauranga City Centre.’

10. A total of $500,000 was budgeted per annum for the first three years of the 2021-31 Long-term Plan. To date, the Fund has supported three feasibility studies, two of which have progressed into opportunities that it is hoped will deliver more student accommodation in the city centre.

11. However, the current scope of the Fund is narrow and there is a finite number of feasibility studies that can be initiated to investigate the viability of residential and/or student accommodation in the city centre.

12. This narrow scope also restricts Council’s ability to support other initiatives that would meaningfully contribute to the future prosperity of the city centre, and support the community while the city centre undergoes a period of significant disruption.

DISCUSSION and Analysis

13. Four key areas have been identified that are expected to have a meaningful impact on the future prosperity of the city centre, and support the community as the city centre goes through an extended period of significant disruption.

Residential accommodation

14. There is an existing and well-known housing shortage in Tauranga, which presently ranges from 4,300 to 5,300 houses.

15. Tauranga’s student population is expected to continue to grow, from about 1,100 students currently, to approximately 5,000 by 2030. As part of this growth, The University of Waikato have a strategic goal of having city centre accommodation for 500 of its students.

16. Additional housing in the city centre would not only help alleviate the current and predicted housing shortfall, and add to the availability of University of Waikato student accommodation, but would also naturally translate to an enhanced level of vibrancy in the city centre.

17. Additional housing in the city centre would also support realisation of Section 5.1 of the City Centre Action and Investment Plan: “A city centre for people” and working with our partners to “encourage and facilitate residential development, to create a ‘living’ city centre”.

18. Council was recently able to secure $67m of grant funding from Kāinga Ora’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF) for infrastructure that enables housing on the Te Papa Peninsula. This grant funding requires council to secure Housing Outcome Agreements (HOA) from developers for a set number of dwellings in Te Papa.

19. Council may need to secure additional HOA to fulfil its Te Papa IAF funding agreement. Signing an HOA should be included as a requirement for receiving funds from the Fund, where developers are pursuing residential accommodation developments.

20. Initiatives to stimulate residential accommodation growth and development in the city centre could include :

(a) Development contributions relief

(b) Building and resource consent support

(d) Additional accommodation-focused feasibility studies.

21. Criteria for projects that could be considered for funding under this category are described in the City Centre Development Incentive Fund Framework (see Attachment 1).

Short- and medium-term tactical car parking interventions

22. Parking is increasingly an issue in the city centre and, with the current and future planned vertical infrastructure developments in the short-term, is only likely to get worse.

23. For example, off-street carparking along Dive Crescent has temporarily closed for upgrades between January and July 2023 and at the same time, off-street parking at 90 Devonport Road has permanently closed. This will equate to approximately 160 parks being unavailable for community use in the city centre. Once the Dive Crescent upgrade is complete there will be ~150 carparks available for use. However, The Strand carpark, which currently accommodates 145 carparks, will then close permanently for redevelopment into a public open green space as part of the delivery of the Waterfront Masterplan.

24. As another example, when Te Manawataki o Te Papa is in full construction, it is expected that over 200 trade vehicles will be on site every day. When you add other large-scale, city centre construction projects with their demand for parking into the mix, the likely impact on the demand for parking in the city centre is significant.

25. There is an opportunity to look at a range of short- and medium-term tactical interventions that would add parking stock into the city centre. Focused in areas that aren’t currently targeted for development, initiatives could include:

(a) Investigation of vacant sites (private and TCC-owned) for possible short-term, at-grade car parking (e.g. Cliff Road)

(b) Maximising availability and utilisation of current TCC parking assets

(d) Development of a website (phone friendly) with real-time parking information

(e) Roll out of the Parkable app (or similar)

(f) Investigation of park-n-ride options for trade vehicles, including end-of-trip facility provision (e.g. toilets, showers, lockers etc.)

(g) Funding for feasibility studies to support the development of new, privately developed car parking buildings.

26. Criteria for projects that could be considered for funding under this category are described in the City Centre Development Incentive Fund Framework (see Attachment 1).

Disruption caused by ongoing city centre construction

27. The ongoing redevelopment and construction in the city centre is having impacts on many businesses. This is likely to continue for the next couple of years, as more vertical construction projects begin and others move towards completion.

28. Whilst the provision of more car parking in the city centre is hoped will assist, we need to consider what else Council could be doing to support businesses through a period of significant disruption.

29. In addition to the other initiatives outlined in this report, in circumstances where a business will be severely impacted by construction for an extended period of time, Council could look to the following types of initiatives to provide short-term support:

(a) Increased signage to inform the public that businesses are still trading

(b) Marketing/advertising support

(d) Licence To Occupy relief

(e) In extreme cases, support to relocate to another part of the city centre.

30. Criteria for projects that could be considered for funding under this category are described in the City Centre Development Incentive Fund Framework (see Attachment 1).

City centre vibrancy

31. Improving the vibrancy of the city centre, especially during periods of significant construction, is integral to ensuring it remains a destination-of-choice for residents and visitors. Vibrancy through events, art installations and other pop-up activations and activities, increases foot traffic and also contributes to increased perceptions of safety.

32. During summer 22/23, Council financially supported a programme of activities and events that had a positive impact on vibrancy in the city centre. Events and activities included; a waterfront manu competition, dawn waterfront yoga, outdoor movies, live music on Wharf Street, a New Year’s Eve celebration, and an impressive installation of summer lights on the Strand.

33. These drawcards improved vibrancy and interest in the city centre, and had a positive impact on businesses, in particular, food and beverage businesses. There is the desire to continue a programme of this type of activity, to build on the early momentum developed, and to cement the city centre as a place worth visiting, even while it is going through a period of significant disruption, growth, and development.

34. There is a desire and anecdotal need to continue these activation initiatives through the winter period and not just to focus on the summer months when trading levels are naturally increased.

35. There is also an opportunity to use placemaking activities to not only support increased vibrancy, but also inform design for current and future city centre development projects. The current phase of many projects lend themselves perfectly to using placemaking techniques for this purpose.

36. Criteria for projects that could be considered for funding under this category are described in the City Centre Development Incentive Fund Framework (see Attachment 1).

Strategic / Statutory Context

37. An updated scope of the Fund would allow for increased alignment with Te Rapunga Ora ki Te Papa – City Centre Action and Investment Plan. This would be seen through an improved ability to streamline projects that could quickly contribute to the strategy’s vision of creating a great place to live, work, learn and play.

Options Analysis

OPTION 1 – re-purpose the City Centre Development Incentive Fund to enable a wider range of initiatives that will support the growth and development of the city centre – RECOMMENDED

Description
Re-purpose the City Centre Development Incentive Fund from the current (narrow) focus to enable a broader range of initiatives to be considered and funded.
Benefits	Disadvantages	Key risks
· Provides significantly broader scope to address a variety of issues that are currently impacting the city centre. · Acknowledges the interconnected nature of city centre issues and how they have an impact on increasing residential accommodation. · Enables initiatives that will support the delivery of aspirations identified in the City Centre Action and Investment Plan. · No additional cost or resourcing from council required.	· The Fund would not have a singular focus on residential accommodation.	· Reduces the ability of the Fund to directly address residential accommodation supply in the city centre. · Reputational risk that the Fund is spread too thin and not achieving anything specific. · Developers may not be able to sign HOA’s, which may limit the funds effectiveness.

OPTION 2 – do nothing – NOT RECOMMENDED

Description
Retain the focus and scope of the Fund: ‘to facilitate an increase in the supply of residential accommodation by supporting feasibility assessments of residential accommodation development in the Tauranga City Centre’.
Benefits	Disadvantages	Key risks
· The Fund remains in place with current criteria and singular focus on supporting residential accommodation growth.	· Missed opportunities for projects and interventions that would support the ongoing growth and development of the city centre. · Missed opportunities to support short- and medium-term parking interventions in the city centre. · Missed opportunities to support city centre businesses through the ongoing impacts of construction disruption.	· The Fund does not actually support increased residential accommodation in the city centre because the scope and focus is too narrow.

38. Staff recommend Option 1 as the most appropriate to address current issues and maximise current opportunities. Option 2 is not recommended.

Financial Considerations

39. Neither option requires additional funding and there is no intention to change the current budget allocated to the Fund.

40. Option 1 would not require additional revenue but would change the current focus of the Fund. Depending on the nature of interventions considered under Option 1, some expenditure may be capital rather than operating.

Significance

41. 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.

42. 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 decision; and

43. In accordance with the considerations above, criteria and thresholds in the policy, it is considered that the proposal is of low significance.

Click here to view the TCC Significance and Engagement Policy

ENGAGEMENT

44. Taking into consideration the above low significance assessment, and the fact that the Fund, albeit with a narrower focus has already been approved, it is recommended that no further engagement is required prior to Council making a decision.

Next Steps

45. Create a team from across council that will deliver on the objectives of the re-purposed City Centre Development Incentive Fund, with urgency.

46. Engage directly with city centre businesses to ensure planned initiatives will meet their needs, and incorporate their ideas as and where relevant.

47. Report back to Council in October 2023 (six months after adoption of this paper) on progress against the objectives of the Fund.

Attachments

Nil

Ordinary Council meeting Agenda

3 April 2023

11 Business

11.1 Council-Controlled Organisations' Half Yearly Reports to 31 December 2022

File Number: A14392057

Author: Sanjana France, CCO Specialist

Authoriser: Gareth Wallis, General Manager: City Development & Partnerships

Purpose of the Report

1. To present the half yearly reports to 31 December 2022 for five of Tauranga City Council’s council-controlled organisations.

Recommendations

That the Council:

(a) Receives the report "Council-Controlled Organisations' Half Yearly Reports to 31 December 2022".

(b) Receives Bay Venues Limited’s report on its performance for the six months to 31 December 2022, as required by the 2022-2023 Statement of Intent.

(c) Receives Bay of Plenty Local Authority Shared Services Limited’s report on its performance for the six months to 31 December 2022, as required by the 2022-2023 Statement of Intent.

(d) Receives Tauranga Art Gallery Trust’s report on its performance for the six months to 31 December 2022, as required by the 2022-2023 Statement of Intent.

(e) Receives Tourism Bay of Plenty’s report on its performance for the six months to 31 December 2022, as required by the 2022-2023 Statement of Intent.

(f) Receives the Local Government Funding Agency’s report on its performance for the six months to 31 December 2022, as required by the 2022-2023 Statement of Intent.

Executive Summary

2. Bay Venues Limited (Bay Venues) and Tauranga Art Gallery Trust (TAGT) are Tauranga City Council’s (TCC) council-controlled organisations. Tourism Bay of Plenty (TBOP) is a joint-shareholder council-controlled organisation between TCC and the Western Bay of Plenty District Council (WBOPDC).

3. Bay of Plenty Local Authority Shared Services Limited (BOPLASS) and the Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA) are also council-controlled organisations that provide opportunities for TCC and other local government agencies to become either members, shareholders or borrowers, seeking access to improved levels of services, reduced costs, joint procurement, and funding.

4. In accordance with the Statement of Intent and the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA), the five council-controlled organisations are required to report six monthly and annually to Council on their financial and non-financial performance. All the council-controlled organisations provided their reports to Council as required (by 28 February 2023), although two came in just after the deadline.

5. Each council-controlled organisation’s report for the six months to 31 December 2022 is provided as Attachments 1 to 5, with a brief summary in the main body of this report. The reports summarise the financial performance for the period ended 31 December 2022, and performance against objectives/targets.

Background

Bay Venues Limited (Bay Venues)

6. Bay Venues’ report for the six months to 31 December 2022 was received by Council on 1 March 2022 and is included as Attachment 1.

7. All venues have been kept busy throughout the six-month period, with visitation returning to near pre-COVID levels in most facilities, with a 39% increase in visitors from the same period the previous year. Bay Venues also officially re-opened the Greerton Aquatic and Leisure Centre, and Baypark experienced a run of significant events.

8. Bay Venues’ financial result saw an EBITDA loss of -$0.45 million ($0.1 million favourable to budget). This was primarily driven by stronger than expected volumes through their aquatic and sports facilities. Operating costs of $13.23 million were $0.95 million higher than budget, largely due to the increased activity. However, staff costs and operating overheads were also higher than expected.

9. Looking forward for the remainder of FY23, Bay Venues expect to finish the year in line with budget, with an EBITDA of -$1.75 million. They are expecting to incur some additional staff costs, which will bring them back in line overall and are currently working through funding options to enable the business to return to breakeven EBITDA in future years.

10. Bay Venues’ Funky Funday programme was awarded the Outstanding Community Recreation Programmes Award at the New Zealand Recreation Association Conference. Other key achievements over the reporting period include some excellent feedback from hosting World Squash tournaments and other significant events over the summer season, which ran well operationally.

11. Bay Venues also faced some challenges during the six-month period including:

(a) Detours on the road network around Baypark continue to cause frustrations with more traffic using Truman Lane, and the subsequent congestion creating access issues on a day-to-day basis, as well as for events.

(b) Dialogue is continuing with the Speedway stakeholder group to work through the next steps in the Baypark Masterplan to assess the long-term future of Speedway at Baypark.

(c) Closely monitoring staffing levels with COVID still affecting staff availability at times. There is also a significant programme of work to be completed across several workstreams in the year ahead and this is anticipated to put pressure on staff workloads.

(d) Planning for maintenance closures at Greerton and Baywave pools were a focus for the team to try and minimise disruption for customers.

12. Bay Venues has been working with TCC staff to progress the shared services work facilitated by KPMG, and they will continue to collaborate over opportunities and finding efficiencies.

13. Bay Venues commenced a user fees review that included benchmarking of comparable facilities across other major cities. An independent report reviewed 78 different user fee points across the Bay Venues network, of which 88% were below the national benchmark.

14. Customer satisfaction in the year to date was at 88% for overall satisfaction and satisfaction with staff. Overall satisfaction with service was 90% and 84% with facilities.

15. Bay Venues planning has commenced for the first stage of the Baypark Masterplan and also for the Memorial Park project. They are also planning for TCC’s upcoming Long-term Plan 2024-2034, to ensure planning and funding is in the plan for existing assets and new facilities needed to cater for growth.

Bay of Plenty Local Authority Shared Services Limited (BOPLASS)

16. BOPLASS’s report for the six months to 31 December 2022 was received by Council on 27 February 2023 and is included as Attachment 2.

17. Financial performance for the year to date shows an operational deficit of $6,036. Total operating revenue of $1,239,388 was higher than the budgeted $1,132,796. Total operating expenditure of $1,245,424 also higher than the budgeted amount of $1,134,996.

18. Despite the deficit, BOPLASS believe that the organisation is in a healthy position heading into the second half of the year, knowing that several of their core one-off expenditures are behind them while still having council contributions to supplement operational needs.

19. Variances on some areas include aerial photography revenue and expenditure being higher than budget, and December salaries including an end payroll accrual.

20. The BOPLASS board believe that all targets are being achieved or on-track to be achieved.

21. BOPLASS’ joint procurement estimated savings for Tauranga City Council 2021/2022 are in Attachment 3 of this report.

22. Of interest to TCC are the following initiatives and outcomes:

(a) Insurance Renewals have been completed for all councils under the BOPLASS collective programme with strong underwriter interest in the programme demonstrated from new and existing syndicates – resulting in improved pricing. With underwriters now very focussed on increasing climate change risks and the impact on councils’ risk profiles, it is anticipated that the recent significant NZ weather events will create challenges for the 2023 renewal.

(b) Due to increasing levels of cyber insurance claims, the global cyber market has become extremely challenging with most insurers now very cautious about providing cyber cover – particularly in local government accounts. Working closely with councils’ cyber staff, BOPLASS has been able to renew the collective agreement with a further increase in cover limits.

Tauranga Art Gallery Trust (TAGT)

23. TAGT’s report for the six months to 31 December 2022 was received by Council on 1 March 2023 and is included as Attachment 4.

24. TAGT have achieved a surplus of $62,818, which is higher than the $41,567 surplus over the same six-month period in 2021.

25. The Gallery received 14,795 visitors in the six-month period, which is 42% percent of their end of year target of 35,000. 2,616 tamariki came through their education programmes, which is 35% of their year-end target of 7,500. These results are lower than expected due to the impact of COVID at the beginning of the financial year.

26. The Gallery introduced a new Public Programmes calendar to engage with diverse audiences and it attracted 794 people.

27. Over the reporting period, the Gallery delivered eight exhibitions towards their 2022–2023 financial year target of twelve.

28. The Gallery hosted 214 school group visits from across the Western Bay of Plenty over the reporting period. The free ArtBus continues to be a success and was well used, with 81 out of 83 schools travelling via the ArtBus to participate in the Gallery’s education programmes. Education highlights are shown on pages 10–11 of TAGT’s report.

29. Of TAGT’s 23 performance measures (on pages 13–14), twelve are on track and remaining so, nine are likely to be on target at year end, and two are off track and require monitoring.

30. In line with their performance target, TAGT have been involved with, and collaborating on the development of the Civic Precinct, which the Gallery is a key part of.

Tourism Bay of Plenty (TBOP)

31. TBOP’s report for the six months to 31 December 2022 was received by Council on 28 February 2023 and is included as Attachment 5.

32. TBOP finishes the six-month period in a reasonable financial position, with an overall surplus of $408,079 from a total revenue of $2,625,247, compared to budgeted $2,542,043.

33. TBOP’s total equity is down from $1,752,247 in 2021 to $1,022,282 as at 31 December 2022. Total income decreased due to less funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

34. In line with their Statement of Intent 2023-2026, TBOP has maintained an equity ratio equal to or above 0.5:1.0 (actual 0.5).

35. TBOP’s progress to date shows three of five wellbeing KPIs are on track, with one a work in progress, and one at risk. Of their five activity KPIs, two have been achieved and the other three are on track.

36. TBOP delivered key outcomes, including preparation for and the successful return of cruise ships to Tauranga (and the wider region), reinstatement of the Tauranga Harbour Ferry, preparation for the second Flavours of Plenty Festival (March 2023), and supporting operators as they prepared for the reopening of the international trade border.

37. TBOP also supported Council community projects and action and investment plans relating to events, cycleways, wayfinding, climate change, city branding, and spatial planning, including the Te Manawataki o Te Papa project.

38. In the six-month period, visitor spend in the Coastal Bay of Plenty was up 14% compared to the same period in 2021, and up 16% compared to the same period in 2019 (pre-COVID).

39. The social wellbeing KPI shows some risk of not being met, with the percentage of residents agreeing that tourism has a positive impact on the community being 9% below target for Tauranga.

Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA)

40. The LGFA half year report to 31 December 2022 was received by Council on 24 February 2022 and is included as Attachment 6.

41. LGFA’s total interest income for the six-month period to December 2022 of $312.9 million was a 68.4% increase over the 2021 comparable period ($185.9 million), while net operating profit of $1.1 million for the six-month period decreased 81.3% on the 2021 comparable period ($5.9 million). Net operating profit was significantly lower than the comparable period a year ago due to the sharp rise in interest rates combined with increased holdings of liquid assets. This outcome was expected and forecast in their Statement of Intent last year.

42. LGFA issued $1.76 billion of bonds over the six-month period and outstandings totalled $17.84 billion (including $1.10 billion of treasury stock) across 11 maturities ranging between 2023 to 2037.

43. Highlights over the period included LGFA launching their new Climate Action Loan product for members and being awarded the KangaNews New Zealand Debt Issuer of the year.

44. LGFA’s total membership is now 77 out of the 78 councils in New Zealand plus three council-controlled organisations.

45. The financial strength of LGFA was affirmed by Fitch Ratings who maintained their domestic currency credit rating at AA+ in October 2022. Their AAA rating from S&P Global Ratings was affirmed in March 2022, the same as the New Zealand Government.

Strategic / Statutory Context

46. In accordance with the Statement of Intent and the LGA 2002, council-controlled organisations are required to report to Council on their financial and non-financial performance six monthly and annually.

47. Council’s partnerships with its council-controlled organisations help us successfully deliver our community outcomes, and be a city that attracts and supports business and education, is well planned with a variety of successful and thriving compact centres, values culture and diversity, and is well connected having a key role in making a significant contribution to the social, economic, cultural and environmental well-being of the region.

48. As Council continues to work with the community to develop its strategic priorities through Our Direction – Tauranga 2025, it will work with its council-controlled organisations on how they can help achieve these through the annual Letters of Expectation and Statements of Intent so they are aligned.

Options Analysis

49. As this report, and the half yearly reports received from the council-controlled organisations are for receipt only, an options analysis is not required.

Financial Considerations

50. The financial implications are outlined in the above report and attachments.

Legal Implications / Risks

51. There are no legal implications.

52. While this report outlines council-controlled organisation performance against Statement of Intent measures for the first half of the year, with the ongoing impact of COVID and environmental and weather-related events, along with dynamic funding environment at both local and central government levels, there is some risk that the council-controlled organisations may not meet all their Statement of Intent measures by the year end.

Consultation / Engagement

53. Staff have shared the six-monthly reports across the organisation, and they will become available here on TCC’s website following the meeting.

Significance

54. 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.

55. 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; and

56. In accordance with the considerations above, criteria and thresholds in the policy, it is considered that the matter is of low significance.

ENGAGEMENT

57. Taking into consideration the above assessment, that the matter is of low significance, officers are of the opinion that no further engagement is required prior to Council making a decision.

Click here to view the TCC Significance and Engagement Policy

Next Steps

58. A copy of this report and the resolutions will be sent to each of the five council-controlled organisations.

59. As required by the amendment to the LGA 2002, following receipt by Council, the half yearly reports to 31 December 2022 for Bay Venues, BOPLASS, TAGT and TBOP will be publicly available on the TCC website for the next seven years.

Attachments

1. Bay Venues - Half Yearly Report to 31 December 2022 - A14501943 ⇩

2. BOPLASS - Half Yearly Report to 31 December 2022 - A14501959 ⇩

3. BOPLASS - Joint Procurement Estimated Savings for TCC 2022 - A14508034 ⇩

4. Tauranga Art Gallery Trust - Half Yearly Report to 31 December 2022 - A14501972 ⇩

5. Tourism Bay of Plenty - Half Yearly Report to 31 December 2022 - A14447898 ⇩

6. LGFA Half Yearly Report to 31 December 2022 - A14501932 ⇩

Ordinary Council meeting Agenda

3 April 2023

11.2 Shareholder Feedback to the Draft Statements of Intent for Council Controlled Organisations 2023/24 to 2025/26

File Number: A14392070

Author: Sanjana France, CCO Specialist

Anne Blakeway, Manager: City Partnerships

Authoriser: Gareth Wallis, General Manager: City Development & Partnerships

Purpose of the Report

1. The purpose of this report is to provide shareholder feedback on the draft Statements of Intent for Tauranga City Council’s five council-controlled organisations by, 1 May 2023, as required by the Local Government Act (2002).

Recommendations

That the Council:

1. Receives the report "Shareholder Feedback to the Draft Statements of Intent for Council Controlled Organisations 2023/24 to 2025/26".

2. Receives the draft Statements of Intent for Bay Venues Limited, Tauranga Art Gallery Trust, Tourism Bay of Plenty, Bay of Plenty Local Authority Shared Services Limited, and Local Government Funding Agency for 2023/24 to 2025/26.

3. Notes that as joint shareholder of Tourism Bay of Plenty, Western Bay of Plenty District Council will be asked to approve their separate shareholder comments on the draft Statement of Intent for Tourism Bay of Plenty at their 27 April 2023 Council meeting.

Executive Summary

4. Bay Venues Limited (Bay Venues), Tauranga Art Gallery Trust (TAGT), Tourism Bay of Plenty (TBOP), Bay of Plenty Local Authority Shared Services Limited (BOPLASS), and Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA) are council-controlled organisations. As such, they are required by the Local Government Act (2002) to prepare a draft Statement of Intent to cover the next three financial years, and provide a copy to their shareholder, Tauranga City Council (TCC), by 1 March each year.

5. All five Statements of Intent have met the statutory requirements as outlined in Schedule 8, section 9 of the Local Government Act.

6. Council has an opportunity to comment on the draft Statements of Intent before they are finalised by the council-controlled organisations. Shareholder comments must be provided by 1 May 2023.

7. There have been several discussions and informal briefings in relation to the draft Statements of Intent with staff from across various teams at TCC, and with the Commissioners. This report includes their combined feedback and suggested amendments.

8. The draft Statements of Intent (Attachments 1 to 5) have been assessed against the Letters of Expectation for council-controlled organisations for 2023/24, available on our website.

9. As Council is one of several shareholder members of BOPLASS and the Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA), it is not expected that we provide them with Letters of Expectation, nor do we provide feedback to their draft Statements of Intent. These two council-controlled organisations provide opportunities for local authorities to access improved levels of service, reduced costs, joint procurement and funding.

Background

General comments

10. The chairs and executive of the respective council-controlled organisations have maintained regular communication with Council’s Commissioners, executive and staff. This regular engagement (formal and informal) has provided opportunities to embed the ethos of collaboration and partnership, along with the shareholder’s desire for improved community outcomes.

11. The three substantive council-controlled organisations (Bay Venues, TAGT and TBOP) have all referred to Council’s community outcomes in their Statements of Intent and have demonstrated how they intend to work with Council’s various departments to achieve those outcomes.

12. Board members, executive and staff of the council-controlled organisations have embraced the opportunity to participate in the training opportunities provided by Council, including Cultural Connections. This has provided a greater understanding of Tauranga Moana, iwi and hāpu connections, and the high value that Council places on its relationships.

13. The Managing Risk, Improving Trust and Confidence training provided by the Office of the Auditor General in February 2023 was similarly well attended. As outlined in the Letters of Expectation, the Commissioners are keen to see how each organisation will respond to applying a transparent approach through the board workings and the organisation as a whole.

14. Additionally, Pou Takawaenga continue to work with the council-controlled organisations across various work programmes including supporting Mana Whenua board representation, and will offer opportunities and training sessions to upskill internal capability and deepen the knowledge of tikanga within the organisations.

Bay Venues Limited (Bay Venues)

15. Overall, the Bay Venues’ Draft Statement of Intent (Attachment 1) shows alignment with our Letter of Expectation, with an emphasis on community, collaboration, and partnership. It also shows commitment to achieving Council’s outcomes for the wider community through its facilities.

16. The document provides explicit references to community benefit including:

· The organisation’s primary goal

· Support of diversity and inclusion initiatives

· Deliver customer feedback rating of >85%

· Being the Council’s strategic delivery partner for community facilities.

Suggested amendments:

17. Our Strategic Focus Areas (page 16-17) to read:

· Add into the Social Return on Investment comment that consistent measures will be developed, which can then be used for other reporting purposes.

· We would like to see more community awareness fostered around Bay Venues being a council-controlled organisation of Tauranga City Council. For example, simple additions of our logo to signage, such as at the Mount Hot Pools, would be a great start.

· In reference to the Sustainability Action Plan, we would like more information around the reporting and data collection that will be part of this Plan.

18. Section 1 – Foreword (page 3):

Bay Venues notes that it wishes to consolidate its position as TCC’s strategic partner in the provision of community facilities and looking ahead to new projects. However, we suggest deleting the reference to the proposed Regional Community Stadium as this project is subject to community consultation and has not yet been confirmed.

19. Bay Venues is a key link in the Tauranga Events Action and Investment Plan, so we suggest they specifically reference their actions in this plan.

20. Discussions are underway about Bay Venues’ facilities being used as emergency welfare centres and it would be great for this to be mentioned in their Statement of Intent.

21. Bay Venues might like to consider adding an ‘accessibility’ search function on their website, to enhance accessibility options and easier navigation for the community.

22. Accountability and Transparency:

We suggest Bay Venues considers moving towards publishing Board agendas and minutes online, following best practice of other CCOs around New Zealand. We acknowledge redacting commercially sensitive information is an option where necessary.

Tauranga Art Gallery Trust (TAGT)

23. Overall TAGT’s Statement of Intent (Attachment 2) is pragmatic, well presented, and aligned with our Letter of Expectation.

Suggested amendments:

24. Strategic priorities and alignment (page 4-5):

(a) TAGT plans to “deliver a diverse exhibition and events programme, partner with tangata whenua, and ensure strong engagement with Māori and deliver a range of education programmes and learning opportunities that meets the needs of their clients.” We request clarification around this initiative, including how inclusivity and wider community engagement will be achieved.

(b) We suggest TAGT includes references to the Accessible Tauranga Action and Investment Plan, and the Arts, Culture and Heritage Action and Investment Plan. More information can be found on TCC’s website here.

(c) To be more inclusive, we suggest TAGT looks at outreach with communities that aren’t able to traditonally participate in their service offerings. They could also add more information on their ‘plan our visit page’ to support the community accessing the Gallery. A connection between the Gallery’s offerings and Council’s Mobile Library initiatve might be investigated.

(d) It would be great to see TAGT investigate collaboration opportunities with the library and Baycourt again. For example, this could enable school groups to visit the three venues on the same day.

25. We suggest TAGT takes ownership and accountability for creating a Māori Strategic Plan and including this in their Statement of Intent. Proactive engagement and consideration of the Gallery’s partnership with mana whenua should be referred to and taken on board.

26. Accountability and Transparency:

We suggest TAGT considers moving towards publishing Board agendas and minutes online, following best practice of other CCOs around New Zealand. We acknowledge redacting commercially sensitive information is an option where necessary.

27. Performance framework – financial and non-financial (page 9)

The reference to the “City Events Strategy” needs to be updated to refer to the Tauranga Events Action and Investment Plan.

28. It would be great to see TAGT establish a forum to specially faciliate and create the partnership engagement with communities.

29. TAGT are an integral part of the Civic Precinct redevelopment. We would like to see this key role recognised in the Statement of Intent in stronger language, for example, they could note that they are committed to their role in the development of Te Manawataki o Te Papa. We would also like to see a reference added to the Museum and the intention for early and proactive collaboration between new directors.

30. We look forward to seeing the outcomes of the Social Return on Investment work and a commitment to reporting back on how this research will be incorporated into the Gallery’s community offerings.

31. It would be helpful if the Statement of Intent sections were numbered, as these are referred to in the shareholder comments and help with ease of reference and navigation.

Tourism Bay of Plenty (TBOP)

32. There is general agreement with the draft Statement of Intent content (Attachment 3), providing specific reference to matters outlined in this year’s Letter of Expectations.

33. Overall, the Statement of Intent demonstrates TBOP have been very responsive to feedback from Council about making their performance targets and measures more concise and definitive. They have also shown how they demonstrate value for the ratepayers of Tauranga.

34. Suggested amendments to TBOP’s Statement of Intent from Council staff include:

· The Flavours of Plenty festival is a fantastic initiative, but with significant staff resources required to run the festival, TBOP should consider how this aligns directly with their core purpose, and whether this might transition to become an independent entity.

· Please tidy up capitalisation in their Statement of Intent for Western Bay of Plenty versus the western bay region, to ensure they accurately describe Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s area versus the wider sub-region.

35. Destination Marketing and Management:

· Destination Marketing Activity

Tauranga City Activity (page 10). We would like to see inclusion of the goal that TBOP are leading from the Tauranga Events Action and Investment Plan outlined:

Goal 4c – TBOP to lead on the promotion of Tauranga as a premier event's destination nationally and internationally. TBOP could also add in this section that they will do media hosting, and create external stories and media content.

· Destination Management Activity

Business Events (page 11). We would like to see inclusion of the goal that TBOP are leading from the Tauranga Events Action and Investment Plan outlined:

Goal 1b – TBOP to lead the development of a business events framework to provide a clear and coordinated framework for investment to the city.

36. Suggested amendments to TBOP’s Statement of Intent from Council staff include:

· We suggest Accessible Tourism offers a notable opportunity. The 2013 New Zealand Disability Survey estimated that 1.1 million (24%) New Zealanders were disabled. An estimated 1.3 billion people – or 1 in 6 people – live with a disability worldwide. TBOP’s website could provide more details in this space, e.g. wayfinding and accessibility offerings around Mount Maunganui. TBOP could also encourage tourism operators to look at universal design options. To enhance inclusivity, we suggest TBOP look at outreach with communities that aren’t traditonally able to participate in their service offerings.

· Accountability and Transparency section:

We suggest TBOP considers moving towards publishing Board agendas and minutes online, following best practice of other CCOs around New Zealand. We acknowledge redacting commercially sensitive information is an option where necessary.

37. We note TBOP’s commitment to use our logo is vague, but there will be further conversations and guidance next year once the City Brand is ready to be implemented. This will be particularly relevant for branding major events.

38. Staff recommend that TBOP liaise with Council’s Events Team to enhance opportunities for showcasing Tauranga as a destination, and to support with major events promotion. This liaison should also be used as an opportunity to clarify responsibilities around leading media opportunities, pitches, and hosting familiarisation visits.

Bay of Plenty Local Authority Shared Services Limited (BOPLASS)

39. As Tauranga City Council is one of nine shareholding councils, there was no Letter of Expectation provided to BOPLASS.

40. There is general agreement with the draft Statement of Intent submitted (Attachment 4).

41. While not a lead agency in the government reforms and changes (e.g. Three Waters and Resource Management Act reforms), BOPLASS offer their expertise and assistance in managing collective regional outputs from these projects.

42. BOPLASS will explore opportunities for councils to develop ICT solutions using middleware and cloud technologies that allow for future sharing, and the development of Shared Services without the wholesale replacement of IT systems.

43. BOPLASS is working towards satisfying Environmental, Social and Governance criteria within social procurement through several initiatives.

44. BOPLASS plan to further develop and extend the Collaboration Portal, for access to and sharing of project information and opportunities from other councils and the great Local Government community to increase breadth of BOPLASS collaboration.

45. BOPLASS has six key performance targets in their Statement of Intent.

46. BOPLASS note that as at 30 June 2022 the consolidated shareholder funds comprised $52,070 and the total assets were $1,222,864. The resulting ratio is 4.26% (compared to 3.07% at 30 June 2021).

Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA)

47. LGFA’s draft Statement of Intent is provided as Attachment 5. Points noted from the letter to shareholders include:

· Profitability is forecast to rebound from the 2022/23 period with projections for Net Operating Gain of $9.5 million, $8.3 million and $7.6 million for the next three years.

· LGFA remain cautious in placing too much emphasis on the Year Two (2024/25) and Year Three (2025/26) forecasts given they have $6.6 billion of LGFA bonds and $5.8 billion of council and CCO loans maturing over the three-year Statement of Intent forecast period. Assumptions regarding the amount and timing of refinancing and interest rates have a meaningful impact on financial projections.

· LGFA’s draft Statement of Intent, including financial forecasts, assumes that there are no implications for LGFA from the Three Waters Reform Programme. LGFA is awaiting further information and the final Statement of Intent will be updated in June to incorporate any future announcements/legislation relating to the Three Waters Reform Programme, including any material changes to their forecast assumptions.

· LGFA have increased their forecast for council loans (short and long term) outstanding as at June 2024 to $16.41 billion and to $17.137 billion as at June 2025 (from $15.995 billion and $16.650 billion in the previous SOI). This reflects a higher starting position as at 30 June 2023 and councils undertaking further capex and a continued high utilisation of short-term borrowing from LGFA by councils.

· Compared to the previous Statement of Intent, issuance and operating expenses, excluding Approved Issuer Levy (“AIL”), are forecast to be approximately $500,000 higher in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years due to forecast higher IT, staffing and legal costs.

Strategic / Statutory Context

48. The Statement of Intent is one of the council-controlled organisation’s key governance and planning documents. Engaging with the council-controlled organisations throughout the development of the annual Statements of Intent is one of the main ways Council can influence its council-controlled organisations, while ensuring they are aligned with Council’s strategic outcomes.

Options Analysis

Option 1: Receive the draft Statements of Intent and approve the feedback to be provided to the council-controlled organisations – RECOMMENDED

49. Receive the draft Statements of Intent from Bay Venues, TAGT, TBOP, BOPLASS, and LGFA. Agree with the suggested shareholder comments outlined in this report, noting that Western Bay of Plenty District Council will confirm shareholder feedback to TBOP at their 27 April 2023 Council meeting.

Advantages

Disadvantages

· The council-controlled organisations will receive useful information to ensure their final Statements of Intent meet Council’s expectations.

· Council meets its legislative requirements under the Local Government Act by formally receiving the draft Statements of Intent and providing feedback within the required timeframe.

· Final Statements of Intent are aligned with Council’s strategic direction.

· None

Option 2: Receive the draft Statements of Intent and do not approve the feedback to be provided to the council-controlled organisations – NOT RECOMMENDED

50. Receive draft Statements of Intent from Bay Venues, TAGT, TBOP, BOPLASS and LGFA. Do not agree with the suggested shareholder comments outlined in this report, noting that Western Bay of Plenty District Council will confirm shareholder feedback to TBOP at their 27 April 2023 Council meeting.

Advantages

Disadvantages

· Council meets its legislative requirements under the Local Government Act by formally receiving the draft Statements of Intent and deciding not to provide feedback within the required timeframe.

· The council-controlled organisations do not receive any useful information on Council’s expectations about the content of their final Statements of Intent.

· The final Statements of Intent may contain inaccurate information or be misaligned with Council’s strategic direction.

Financial Considerations

51. Budgets for all council-controlled organisations, including Council’s contributions, are included in the draft Statements of Intent.

Legal Implications / Risks

52. If Council does not approve the provision of the suggested feedback to the council-controlled organisations, the final Statements of Intent may not be consistent with Council’s strategic direction and may contain inaccuracies (financial and governance risk)

Consultation / Engagement

53. It is not required or expected to consult on a Statement of Intent under the Local Government Act.

Significance

55. 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; and

56. In accordance with the considerations above, criteria and thresholds in the policy, it is considered that the matter is of medium significance.

ENGAGEMENT

57. Taking into consideration the above assessment, that the matter is of medium significance, officers are of the opinion that no further engagement is required prior to Council making a decision.

Click here to view the TCC Significance and Engagement Policy

Next Steps

58. A copy of this report and the resolutions will be provided to each council-controlled organisation by 30 April 2023. Western Bay of Plenty District Council will do the same following their meeting on 27 April 2023.

59. Any feedback provided in this report should be given consideration by the council-controlled organisation boards when producing their final Statements of Intent.

60. The final Statements of Intent are to be delivered to Council by 30 June 2023. Staff will review the final Statements of Intent and present a report to Council for approval in July 2023.

Attachments

1. Bay Venues - Draft Statement of Intent 2023-2026 - A14517489 ⇩

2. Tauranga Art Gallery Trust - Draft Statement of Intent 2023-2026 - A14517558 ⇩

3. Tourism Bay of Plenty - Draft Statement of Intent 2023-2026 - A14518097 ⇩

4. BOPLASS - Draft Statement of Intent 2023-2026 - A14515567 ⇩

5. LGFA - Draft Statement of Intent 2023-2026 - A14523671 ⇩

Ordinary Council meeting Agenda

3 April 2023

11.3 Executive Report

File Number: A14405451

Author: Nic Johansson, General Manager: Infrastructure

Barbara Dempsey, General Manager: Community Services

Paul Davidson, Chief Financial Officer

Christine Jones, General Manager: Strategy, Growth & Governance

Alastair McNeil, General Manager: Corporate Services

Sarah Omundsen, General Manager: Regulatory and Compliance

Gareth Wallis, General Manager: City Development & Partnerships

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

Corporate Sustainability Plan Progress

2. We have focused on corporate sustainability in a variety of ways over many years now. Largely, this has been about reducing our energy use, water use and waste in order to reduce our environmental footprint and carbon emissions, as required by regulations.

3. With Council’s sustainability commitment now in our new Strategic Framework, the organisation has a mandate to build on past work and embed sustainability at the heart of everything we do. The Corporate Sustainability Plan is our first tangible piece of work focusing on council as an organisation and our operations. It will develop goals, actions and targets that cover reducing carbon emissions, increasing our operational resilience to future threats from climate change, and how we do this in the fairest way possible for our staff and suppliers.

How we’ll create and deliver the Plan

4. The Project Team will work with external consultants to create the draft plan, in consultation with key staff and external stakeholders (including an expert in mātauranga Māori). We are aiming to have the first pieces of the plan completed by July this year, with good progress made on the three project workstreams over the past three months.

5. Carbon emissions: During March and April, we have been working to identify emission reduction initiatives across Council and supplier/contractor activities. These will be shortlisted and ranked in terms of cost per tonne of carbon reduced. Based on this work, emission reduction targets will be developed and incorporated into a final emissions reduction plan, which will be presented to Council for approval in June.

6. Risk resilience: Around 40 Council and Bay Venues Limited buildings are being included in a pilot to assess which facilities are exposed to natural hazards and climate change risks, and what their vulnerability is. The pilot will be completed in approximately two months and, if successful, extended to cover other assets such as parks and waste infrastructure. The workstream will provide phased deliverables until the end of the year, also including a review of non-spatial risks and policy/legal climate-related risks.

7. Just transition: staff, suppliers and community partners have had workshops and will be further engaged over the next two months to look into priority issues for Council’s transition to a sustainable future. The objective is to identify best-practice and gaps, and to develop appropriate goals and response actions. A draft of the just transition strategy will be circulated around mid-year.

8. Key Project Milestones

January – March 2023:

· Identification of existing work and future priorities

· Hold workshops and interviews with key staff

· Development of preliminary targets and actions.

April 2023:

· Filter preliminary actions/placeholders from plan into LTP process.

July 2023:

· Delivery of final greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan and just transition framework with targets and actions, after review and sign-off by ELT

· Initiate work to embed sustainability goals into plans, policies and processes.

August 2023 onwards:

· Delivery of operational risk and opportunity assessments

· Development of mitigation actions, targets and metrics for monitoring operational risk resilience [TBD].

July 2024:

· Reporting on first year of progress towards emissions reductions and just transition targets.

Sub-Regional Circular Economy Project

9. Progress has been made on the Circular economy project we are conducting in partnership with Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

10. Specialists will investigate three key sub-regional waste sectors (construction and demolition, healthcare, and food & beverage manufacturing).

11. The project will identify actions and deliverables that will support better resource recovery in the sub-region, across a long-term horizon, and support the transition to a circular economy.

Bee Cards

12. We have rolled out the scheme that provides our staff with a free work travel Bee Card, as a sustainable and convenient way to commute to work and get to meetings.

13. By choosing to take the bus, staff reduce their environmental impact by cutting down on emissions and traffic congestion. They also avoid the hassle of finding parking and navigating busy streets and have a more seamless and relaxing start to their workdays.

14. The project includes a guaranteed get-home scheme for any staff members who may need to get home urgently, ensuring there are fewer barriers to staff signing-up.

15.
At the time of writing, 366 staff had already signed-up for a free work travel Bee Card (which exceeded our expectations), with a very high percentage (67%) who weren’t regular users now encouraged to use the bus.

How often do you use the bus?	TCC staff getting Bee Cards	% of total staff uptake
I don’t currently use the bus	132	36%
Now and again	114	31%
Regularly	120	33%
Grand Total	366

Futurefit launch at Council

16. We are close to launching the FutureFit platform, in collaboration with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and other Bay of Plenty territorial authorities.

17. FutureFit is a simple yet powerful tool to empower Kiwis to engage with climate change and take-up low carbon behaviour. Developed by Auckland City Council, it is now being adopted by councils across New Zealand.

18. The platform provides users with an online carbon footprint calculator that offers a snapshot of one’s impact on the planet and helps users to set goals to reduce their personal carbon footprint.

19. The internal launch for us will take place at the beginning of May and the external launch for the community will occur in June/July 2023. Two flagship events will be held over the same period.

20. Overall, it is hoped this campaign will boost climate literacy at council; have a high level of staff engagement (9% at Auckland City Council); let our community know that we can all be part of the climate solution through our own actions; make it known that this tool is available and applies to everyone across a range of everyday actions and decisions; and improve engagement on climate-related issues and actions.

Kerbside bin options

21. Additional bin size options will be available to the community in early-April 2023, with a low-waste bundle (80L waste, 140L Recycle) and a large-waste bundle (240L waste, 240L recycle) becoming available.

22. These additional options will give community members the ability to move to smaller bins, and by doing so, save money if they produce less waste. Conversely, people would have the ability to move to the larger bundle, if the additional capacity provided better suits their needs.

Worm farm workshop

23. The behaviour change team has arranged a two-hour worm farm workshop for 25 March 2023.

24. This will provide interested community members with an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of worm farming, how to use bokashi bins correctly, and to discuss composting as an option. All options will teach attendees how to turn food scraps into “liquid gold and/or nutrient-rich compost”.

25. Upon completion of the workshop, attendees will receive a $100 voucher towards the cost of purchasing a bokashi bin, worm farm and worms, or compost bin. There will also be a lucky draw where attendees will have a chance to win one of the demo kits from the day.

Sustainability projects

26. Progress has been made on several other sustainability initiatives within Council.

Project Description	Status
Energy audit for the Papamoa, Greerton and Mount Library.	A site walk with the energy auditors has been completed. Three final reports for these sites are due by the end of April. Massive saving opportunities exist around heating and cooling for the Papamoa and Mount Libraries. All of the opportunities, along with energy and $ savings and implementation costs, will be set-out in the final report.
Energy and Water Audits for the Historic Village.	A site walk has been scheduled for 29 March. A final report will be submitted by mid-May.
Solar Panel capacity extension at Beachside Holiday Park.	Installation has been scheduled for 20 March.
Council transition to a low emission fleet.	Four new EV's have been added to the Waters team fleet.
LED replacements and new controller installation at Baycourt.	Electricians have installed approximately 75%, with the remainder to be completed within a month. Controller programming is underway.

Cameron Road Stage 2

27. The Shortlist Options have been identified through the Business Case process.

28. Community engagement on the shortlist has commenced (27 February) and will run until 2 April, with a number of public events planned in addition to a digital campaign.

Papamoa East Interchange

29. Construction of Stage 1 enabling works for the new interchange is 75% complete, with expected project completion in July.

30. Stage 2 – The Sands Avenue and Te Okura Drive intersection tender evaluation is underway. Contract award is anticipated in mid-April.

31. For Stage 3 - construction of the new SH2 grade-separated interchange intersection, detailed design is underway. Procurement planning is progressing, with construction anticipated to commence in September.

Maunganui Road Safety Improvements

32. Median construction between Golf Rd and Tui St is generally complete, with final surfacing and lighting completed prior to Easter. Tree planting will follow in late-April.

33. Works recommenced between Hinau St and Sutherland Ave from 13 March, following a pause over the busier summer trading period, with tree planting to follow in late-April.

34. Initial design works are commencing for the remaining section between Tui St and Hull Rd, which is being coordinated with the Destination Skate Park project.

Totara Street Safety Improvements

35. All work is complete, except for the signalised crossing on Hull Road. Wastewater works on Rata Street have been deferred to accommodate the high volumes of traffic associated with the kiwifruit and cruise ship seasons.

Wairoa Cycleway

36. The construction of the cycle connection between Wairoa Bridge and Bethlehem will commence towards the end of March. The anticipated eight-week construction period will be undertaken in conjunction with Waka Kotahi road repair work. Construction dates are weather-dependent.

37. An information session about the Wairoa Cycleway project was held at Waimarino Water and Adventure Park on 12 March. More than 60 people attended. Overall, a majority of people were supportive of the change.

Accessible Streets for the Ōtūmoetai Peninsula

38. Delays have been encountered with the update of the cycle model. This model is required to help inform mode shift and associated economic evaluations. Consultation on the concept plans for the preferred option is anticipated to be undertaken in May.

Safety Programme

· The Ngaio Rd/Marine Parade raised crossing is currently being constructed.

· The Vale St & Bureta Rd roundabout and crossing is currently being constructed.

· The first stage of the citywide bus shelter installation works has started.

· Papamoa Beach Rd shared path work is underway.

· 13th Ave, St. Mary’s School crossing - construction starts at the end of March.

· Realtime bus information is currently in construction and is planned to finish in April.

· The Windsor Rd and Princess Rd raised crossing has been completed.

Asset Management Team Report

39. Condition assessments will be undertaken across the network over the next few months. These are done regularly to ensure we can monitor asset condition deterioration over time.

Condition Assessments

· High Speed Survey: The road condition survey was undertaken from 15 March, to assess city roads. This will cover the entire Council network and will take more than a month to complete. The results will be used for dTIMS analysis to develop a 30-year plan.

· Road Strength Survey: Currently, the Multi-Speed Deflectometer (MSD) is on the Council road network to assess pavement strength and recent cyclone damage to our roads. The MSD is a new traffic speed structural pavement survey for screening roads at network level and consists of an instrumented tyre mounted on a short (2-to-3 axle) wheelbase truck, enabling access to constrained urban and winding rural roads.

· Visual Condition Survey: The traditional manual condition survey is underway, to capture road surface faults. The survey will be completed by the end of April and data will be used to produce the short-term reseal/rehabilitation programme.

· Footpath Survey: We have just completed the footpath condition survey using the scooter below. The survey covered 100% of Council-owned footpaths in the RAMM database. The scooter picked up the locations of every footpath with (Grade 3), poor (Grade 4), or very poor (Grade 5) conditions. This includes recording of a digital photographic image of every fault. The data provided has been used for footpath maintenance and renewal programme development.

· Seal Renewal Programme: The reseal programme for the 2023/24 season has been filed, validated and issued for physical delivery. Currently, the team is conducting the pre-seal inspection.

· Maintenance Programme: The footpath maintenance programme (grinding and replacement) for this season has been issued to the operations team and contractor. The road maintenance programme is under review and will be issued once completed.

40. The Waiāri Water Supply Scheme official launch was on World Water Day, 22 March. Over 100 people attended the opening ceremony.

41. Inspection of the marine section of the wastewater outfall will be undertaken this week using a remote-operated vehicle (see the photos below). This will provide detailed information on the internal condition of the pipe, to plan for the remediation of this section.

42. Wastewater Eastern Corridor - this is a major programme linking Te Tumu to Te Maunga WWTP. A comprehensive engagement strategy is almost ready for review. Current works comprising the rising main from Opal Drive are well underway and will be completed in April. Construction of the Opal Drive Pump Station will begin in late-July/August. Neighbours adjacent to the pump station site are aware of the work and further direct communications will be undertaken prior to work starting.

43. Award of the Clarifier 3 construction of ground Improvement works contract is imminent.

44. The recent lining of the outfall was unsuccessful, as part of the liner had hardened. We are preparing for a further attempt, when weather allows another outfall shutdown.

Community Services

Community Development

45. Homelessness Point-in-Time Count - On 7 March, the Kāinga Tupu Network partnered with Statistics NZ to undertake the first ever Homelessness Point-in-Time Count across the Western Bay of Plenty.

Tauranga City Council housed a base on the evening, from which 24 Census workers and 20 volunteers moved out across the city, Mount Maunganui and Papamoa, surveying people sleeping in cars, tents, buses and under bridges. Census staff and volunteers also attended community meals to survey attendees. In addition, Te Tuinga Whanau and Waiariki Whanau Mentoring surveyed their clients. Over 60 volunteers from organisations including the Salvation Army, Tauranga Community Housing Trust, St Peters Church and Under the Stars were involved in the count.

The results of the Point-in-Time Count are due at the end of April and will be added to the WBOP homelessness and housing dashboards. This will inform decision-making, advocacy and support services, media responses and public information on the extent of homelessness.

46. Inclusion and Accessibility at the forefront - In early-March, the first Disability Special Interest Group meeting of the year was held. These meetings connect staff with our disabled community, helping to break down barriers and ensuring everyone can fully-participate in city life. The Customer Service and Emergency Management teams presented to the group on two council projects – the digital payment kiosk and the creation of more accessible resources to improve emergency preparedness. The group provided invaluable input which will help shape these projects for the benefit of all.

47. Community Grants: Second Round – We received 27 community grants applications for a range of projects across a range of areas, including heritage and arts, water safety, child and youth development, and sports and recreation. The community grants assessment panel members are currently scoring the applications and met at the end of March to decide which applications would be funded.

Emergency Management

48. Cyclone Gabrielle Response - In the week following the severe weather event on the Auckland Anniversary Weekend, Cyclone Gabrielle began making its way down from the tropics on a direct path for the North Island. Given that this event was forecast to bring some destructive force, the Tauranga City Council Emergency Management team moved into an active monitoring state from 7 February. As the cyclone moved south-east, the team noted the impacts in the Far North and on Sunday 12 February, the decision was made to activate our Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at Spring Street.

Over the next three days, 39 Tauranga City Council staff were activated, while numerous Council departments worked overtime in their business-as-usual space, in response to the large number of support requests received via the Contact Centre (86 Customer Contact Modules in total). While there were no formal evacuation orders, 18 businesses and 60 residential properties were contacted and asked to remain vigilant. 322 properties lost power, 3 local roads were closed and 9 people self-evacuated to local marae.

Compared to many other areas, Tauranga City avoided the worst impacts, with the majority of clean-up and response managed by BAU processes. The EOC was deactivated on Tuesday 14 February and operations reverted to normal.

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49. Deployments: It has been evident from ongoing news coverage that other parts of the country are still reeling from the impacts of the cyclone. As a result, there have been numerous requests for support from these regions and we are proud to have been able to deploy six of our staff to Tairawhiti, Wairoa and Hawke’s Bay.

It is likely that there will be more requests for surge staff in the coming weeks. A report on Council’s readiness to activate in a full-scale emergency will be presented to the next Strategy, Finance & Risk Committee meeting.

50. Tsunami Hikoi Filming: After two postponements due to bad weather, the Tsunami Hikoi film project was finally delivered on 22 February. This short promotional video follows students and staff from Mount Maunganui Primary School as they discuss the importance of knowing your evacuation route, in the event of a tsunami warning. Being located in a vulnerable area by the sea, the school is well-practised in knowing what to do and how to make a plan. The footage is currently being edited and will be available on our intranet and public facing sites.

51. Japan Research Trip: Our Senior Advisor: Emergency Management has recently returned from a research trip to Japan. The opportunity was made available by Prof. Nomoto of the Tokyo Metropolitan University, with the University meeting all costs for our advisor for the duration of the trip. Our advisor was accompanied by an advisor from Western Bay of Plenty District Council and the trip involved guided visits to some of the hardest hit areas in the 2011 Tsunami, providing information on the actions taken since the event to build a prepared and resilient city, and how these learnings can be transferred to the New Zealand context. Our advisor will now run a series of information sessions with BOP CDEM group members on the learnings and opportunities which should be included in local planning, as well as providing internal briefings for the CE, Controllers and Recovery Managers.

Libraries

52. Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) recently commissioned a report on libraries as a vehicle for public service delivery and how they might provide a model for a more joined-up approach that enhances community wellbeing. Tauranga City Libraries’ work on the Waka Hourua model featured as a case study. The full research paper is available to read here: https://www.lgnz.co.nz/assets/FFLG/Frank-Advice-Libraries-as-a-vehicle-for-service-delivery.pdf. Other institutions, such as Rotorua Museum, are adopting this model.

53. The “Living Libraries” report found New Zealand’s public libraries contribute massively to people’s feelings of happiness and wellbeing, and help them feel connected to their community in many practical ways. The report featured a case study on the move to He Puna Manawa and plans for the new community hub at Te Manawataki o Te Papa. https://taituara.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=478

54. The Bay of Plenty Times recently donated a large number of negatives, prints and digital images dating from the mid-1980s to the early-2000s to the library archive.

55. Timed to coincide with Cultural Diversity Awareness Month activities, the library services brochure has been translated into seven languages. Programmes have been focused on new community co-designed initiatives. These include, Pēpi Play, a playgroup for under-1s at the Mount Maunganui Library, led by an ECE teacher and sleep consultant. Wergengezwitscher – Vorlese und Singspass (German Storytime) – Led by Dr Katrin Thoma, has proved more popular than we had expected and is now scheduled to run through to the end of the year. Te Wanānga Reo Māori – inspired by some keen adult Te Reo Māori learners coming along to share their language with others – has had some very enthusiastic and appreciative participants. Pride Tauranga Moana was supported with library events and received positive engagement and publicity.

Space and Places

12. Gordon Carmichael Reserve Connections: Work on the Eden Crescent bridge/boardwalk connection into Gordon Carmichael Reserve is now complete and is being well-used by residents. After some delay due to the recent bad weather, work is now progressing at the Gordon Carmichael Road Connection, with the retaining wall now complete and installation of the remaining shared walkway well-underway.

13. Destination Skatepark: Fencing has been erected around the site and arborists have commenced work to remove or relocate trees (some will be relocated onsite, with the rest going to Porotakataka and Blake Park). Enabling works are planned to start in early-April, with GT Civil undertaking earthworks, completing water and sewerage connections and installing soakage cells. They will be followed by AMC (Angus MacMillan Concrete) constructing the skate features.

56. Marine Parade Coastal Path: Work has commenced on the construction of the Coastal Path from the Cenotaph, with the project team working down Marine Parade. The intent is to be clear of this area prior to the ANZAC day commemorations.

57. The Kopurererua Stream Realignment project reach two major milestones recently.

· The ceremony for the livening of the new stream alignment was celebrated this month, with the project partners attending a morning blessing before the new stream alignment was “unplugged”. Commissioners, Regional Councillors, hapū members, contractors and staff all enjoyed this amazing milestone for the project.

· De-fishing of the old Kopurererua Stream alignment: Tonkin and Taylor, hapū members and Council staff have been working to remove aquatic life from the old stream before infill works commence.

o 1,200 individual native fish, including long and short finned eels, red bullies, giant bullies, common bullies, inanga, koura and shrimp, have been removed and relocated to the new stream.

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58. Cyclone Gabrielle was a significant event for the city, with extreme winds causing some damage to the urban forest.

The Avenues and Welcome Bay areas were the most affected and unfortunately, we did lose some significant trees. The largest tree lost was a huge poplar at Yatton Park, which fell during the night of the storm.

Since the event, contractors and staff have worked to clean-up the damage, inspect trees, identify hazards, and prioritise their importance. This has involved a huge effort, with the work involved done efficiently and safely by a number of contractors.

We still have a few large sites to attend to. These have been made safe and we are now planning the tidy-up work.

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59. Renovation works have been ongoing this month to repair damage caused by the One Love and Summer Haze/Lab concerts on Wharepai Domain. Work has been hampered by ongoing wet weather.

Updates are as follows:

· Tauranga Domain Cricket/Rugby blocks - Soil has been brought onsite and levelling has been completed to the damaged areas, to bring the Domain back to pre-concert conditions. The site has now been seeded and irrigation is in place to promote new turf growth;

· Tauranga Domain #1 – In between a busy athletics programme, the contractor has managed to truck and spread sand onto the damaged areas ready for planned seeding;

· Wharepai Domain - The event-affected areas have been levelled and seeded, new grass growth is well-established and daily watering is in place.

Both of these sites are being monitored by our contractor, to look-after seed strike rates and water usage.

60. Mt Beachside Holiday Park: As part of our sustainability focus, we are expanding our grid- connected solar electricity system at the Holiday Park. Currently we have a 3.8kWp system, which will be increased to a 13.04kWp system, providing an estimated output of 17,754kWh per year. The installation is planned for 20 March.

Venues and Events

61. Activating The Cargo Shed as a new hire venue is being managed by the Baycourt team and enquiries are already being received, with a strong interest for corporate meetings and functions. The building will soon have all necessary building compliance documentation, with the first events likely to take place in late-March. A blessing with the Otamataha Trust and Tauranga City Council representatives was held on 21 March.

62. On 27 February, Baycourt revealed its 40th anniversary programme. The week-long programme begins on Friday 21 April with a variety concert celebrating four decades of community creativity. The programme features art, exhibition and performance, culminating in a free Whānau Day event on the Baycourt lawn, with attendees invited to take a tour ‘behind the curtain’. Information on the festivities can be found here.

63. In early-2022, 20 secondary school students from across Tauranga joined the Tauranga Teen Techs programme, a unique theatre technician training initiative developed by Baycourt. On 14 February, an informal graduation was held at Baycourt to reflect on the learnings over the year and provide a final opportunity for the students to work with Baycourt’s extensive lighting and sound equipment. New Zealand has a significant shortage of theatre technicians, and this programme is designed to help address that skills gap, creating a pathway for students to enter the entertainment technology industry. In the photos below, Jordan Bailey, Baycourt’s Technical Operations Coordinator, is shown supporting two of the students as they navigate the lighting desk.

64. The multi-building renewal project at The Historic Village is tracking well, with completion due at the end of June. Building 32 (The Men’s Shed) asbestos removal and reclad is now complete and Building 22 (The School House) interior is near completion, with exterior remediation finished and a repaint underway. Building 6 (The Incubator Barn) is fully-scaffolded and wrapped, with exterior remediation well-underway. Building 36 A & B (The Nissan Huts) are also fully-scaffolded and wrapped, with anend-wall demolition and rebuild underway.

65. A new retail tenant has been secured for Complex 1 at The Historic Village. Kayla Holland of Ataahua Creations specialises in custom-made korowai (woven Māori cloaks) with a modern twist, jackets made from retro woollen blankets, and more. The store will contribute to the culture and vibrancy of the village and will showcase toi Māori. This tenant was secured through a marketing campaign run by the Venues and Events Marketing and Communications team.

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66. The 7th New Zealand Chinese Folk Culture Festival was successfully held at The Historic Village on Saturday 4 March, with over 1650 people attending. Festival hosting continues, with Tauranga Multi-Cultural Festival being held at The Village on Saturday 18 March.

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67. Facilitated event numbers across Council parks this financial year is tracking to be the highest on record, with 306 events booked in Q1 – Q3 this year, already well above the previous year’s total of 276. This demonstrates a community demand for shared experiences in our spaces and places, despite the weather having significantly impacted events throughout the summer season.

68. Tauranga hosted the GWA Wingfoiling World Cup and Waterborne Festival from Saturday 4 to Saturday 11 March. The weeklong event on Mount Main Beach showcased our ocean and beaches and received positive media coverage. It’s the first-time the Wingfoiling World Cup has been hosted in the Pacific, with athletes from around the world competing, many making their first visit to New Zealand. The events team worked closely with Te Pou Takawaenga, Ngāti Kuku and Ngāi Tukairangi hapū, and Tūtara Kauika to host a pōhiri at Whareroa Marae to welcome the international athletes. This is an important part of the Tauranga Events Action and Investment Plan, to enhance manaakitanga and authentic engagement with local hapū.

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69. As part of the City Centre Events and Activation Programme trial, the team hosted a Children’s Day event on the Tauranga Waterfront on Sunday 5 March. The event was a great success, attracting thousands to the waterfront, that popularity meaning there is a desire to make this an annual occurrence. Staff are working through how to include this in the suite of annual events Council delivers.

Customer Services

70. Customer Service facilities are provided in the Papamoa library for two days each week. Enquiry numbers have grown by 48% in the year to February 2023 (1692), compared to the corresponding period in 2021/22 (1144). This shows an increasing number of customers preferring to do business in their part of the city, rather than travelling into town for face-to-face services. The Customer Services team is currently recruiting additional staff to enable services to be expanded to five days a week in Papamoa and Greerton later this year.

Arts & Culture

71. Staff convened an arts funding workshop at the Historic Village, with guests from Creative New Zealand, Creative Bay of Plenty and TECT discussing the current funding landscape for arts and culture in Tauranga and the Western Bay. The workshop was well-attended by a diverse range of arts organisations and practitioners. The workshop included guidance on applying for the Creative Communities funding and other Council-managed funding programmes.

72. Creative Bay of Plenty delivered its six-monthly report, which outlines progress against the key performance indicators in its funding contract. The organisation is delivering well across all areas that we measure, with sector feedback indicating that Creative Bay of Plenty is delivering value to the local creative sector. The organisation has strong and stable governance, following a board refresh in 2022, which has enabled greater clarity on the strategic objectives of the organisation. The full report can be viewed here.

73. The Heritage Collection team is making excellent progress with the digitalisation programme, photographing and uploading images of artefacts in the collection to the public-facing website. There are currently 13,915 objects available to view online, with more than 3,000 objects documented in the past 12 months. The team is targeting having at least two-thirds of the collection (20,000 items) online by the end of July 2024.

74. The second of three Creative Communities funding rounds was held in February, with 15 projects being awarded a total of $43,151. Twenty-six applications were received for the fund, an increase on the previous round held in November. Three new assessors joined the community peer assessment panel - Toni Henderson (Musical Theatre Director), Ayesha Kee (Multi-disciplinary producer) and Reena Snook (Manager, Baycourt). Projects supported include:

· Opus Orchestra - towards a community concert and conducting workshop.

· Bookrapt Children’s literature association - towards a book celebrating 40 years of Bay of Plenty authors writing for children.

· MACA productions - towards a young people’s contemporary music performance and production initiative.

Chief Financial Officer

Tauranga Airport

75. There were 764 flights operated by Air New Zealand during March, carrying 37,907 passengers. This volume is about 20% lower than forecast due to the weather events experienced across the country. Bookings going forward are strong.

76. There were a significant number of missed approaches over the last three months. With this in mind, it is planned to upgrade the runway edge lighting to a high intensity system, as operated at Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown airports. This work with will be part of the purchase and replacement of lighting and navigation equipment currently operated by Airways NZ, which is already underway.

77. The Terminal precinct project progress has been affected by the weather events, but there were no operational impacts. Relocation of the Z fuel tank and pumps is now complete, as are the new taxiways, with the dry pound area for the new hangar development nearing completion.

78. Due to demand, the initial plan for six new hangars has grown to 16, which is the maximum for the space available. The 16 new lessees are in the final stages of agreeing their individual contracts with Letts construction.

Finance

Rates

79. The second instalment of the 2022/2023 rates, totalling $131 million, was sent to over 60,000 ratepayers in February.

80. On 10 March, the collections team sent out 3,686 penalty emails and letters for $608,000
($6 million overdue). This is higher than the penalties issued in the last eight years, as shown in the graph below.

81. A number of factors may be influencing this increase, including the new Bay of Plenty Regional Council rates collection, with residents still updating their payments to the separate entities. The revenue and arrangements teams remit penalties when they are paid within two weeks of the penalty being issued, or after a suitable arrangement has been agreed to clear overdue rates by 30 June. We continue to push for smaller, regular payments, directing customers to WINZ, rates rebates and other potential ways of paying rates. Ongoing debt positions will continue to be monitored.

82. The revaluation 2023 project has started, with staff and external experts meeting in late-February/early-March. Council planners, the building team and the property team met first, followed by ten external private valuers, property managers and real estate agents, who provided their view of the market leading up to the 1 May revaluation basis date. The consensus was that the market in general was dropping from the peak in late-2021/early-2022. The new rating valuations will be audited in October and released when approved.

Strategy, Growth & Governance

Democracy & Governance Services

83. The Government introduced the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill on 14 March 2023, which is an omnibus Bill designed to assist in the recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle. The Bill received Royal Assent on 20 March 2023 and came into effect on 21 March 2023. The legislation suspends the requirement for members to be physically present to count as ‘present’ for the purposes of quorum from 12 February 2023 to 30 September 2024. This is identical to the provision that was in place during the COVID-19 response. This provision is not limited to the affected areas, like other parts of the Severe Weather Emergency legislation.

Takawaenga

84. We were invited by Ngāti Ruahine to hold the joint standing committee at Waimapu Marae. To our knowledge this was the first time Council has ever been invited to that marae.

85. Waiata Wenerei had ceased when the person leading this initiative left Council, but has been reinstated as a vital part of our organisational cultural capacity, especially as need to participate in waiata has significantly increased. Although fun and low-pressure, the learnings are authentic and led by the talented Harmonic Resonators’ lead singer.

86. Ngāti He has been an inactive member of Rangapū for several years, but has indicated they are ready to return and participate. We have maintained our relationship obligations via our Kaiarahi, but this is a strong show of support.

Corporate Services

Community Relations

87. The Media Impact Score for February was 2.2. The focus on weather impacts resulted in a higher volume of neutral reporting, and also contributed to a rise in very positive reports and a sharp fall in negative coverage. Positive storm response reporting cited council sources conveying essential safety information to residents or emphasised the extent of our work to prepare for the event or clean-up after it. This included reports that noted we were behind on some maintenance services, such as lawnmowing, but had kept up with more urgent services, such as water treatment, road safety, management of fallen and at-risk trees, and kerbside waste collection.

88. Our dedicated webpage for Mount projects is now live at www.tauranga.govt.nz/mountprojects. The page includes a summary of the bigger Mount growth story, which acknowledges the current disruption and explains the longer-term benefits, followed by key projects grouped into themes so people can easily find the projects that interest them. The web team is also working on an interactive map for the page, which will make it easy to pinpoint exactly where work is happening. We’ve also created a `latest news’ feed on the page, so people can read all our Mount-related news in one place.

Digital Services

89. Mail Service Improvements

To create more time for the mail and print room team to support staff at Cameron Rd, inbound mail that comes into council is now processed by a third party and, where possible, digitised. This is then sent via email, resulting in a faster and more efficient inbound mail delivery service. While some services still require a physical document, it is more efficient to have these processed externally and sent as collated bulk mail to the respective Council departments.

90. Pay Card Industry Digital Security Standards

We are currently undertaking a programme of work to gain PCIDSS (Pay Card Industry Digital Security Standards) compliance. This work is being driven by ANZ on behalf of Visa and Mastercard, who now require us to be compliant. This is due to the higher number of digital payment transactions we now process. Gaining compliance is essential for the business to continue to transact electronic payments. This affects all electronics payments and methods, including non-credit card electronic payments, so it is quite wide-ranging. We have currently completed an internal discovery and our chosen independent PCIDSS Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) is now analysing the information and formulating the work programme required for us to become compliant. This report/plan is due in mid-April.

91. Digital Prioritisation

To ensure Digital is supporting the organisation and the community by delivering the highest value outcomes, we and the Executive team come together twice a year to review progress and discuss any new initiatives or focus areas for the organisation, which are then prioritised. Following our last session, we prioritised initiatives to focus on engagement with our community, our business partners and internal teams, so we can gather meaningful feedback and provide information for better decision-making. These initiatives included Digital engagements tools; support for Transport to provide digital visibility of parking in the city centre and increased data insights around housing.

92. Digital Capital Programme – Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Programme

The ERP programme is currently focused on data migration. Customer, Property, Human Resources and Environmental Planning information is currently being migrated from the legacy environments into our central data management platform SAP. This is an important milestone for the programme and the organisation, leading up to a number of ‘Go-Live’ opportunities in the final quarter of the financial year, including:

· HR Employee Central initiative (Phase 1) – Employee data and employee self-service

· Property Leasing processes in SAP, including Billing Revenue & Collections

· Resource Consents application pilot in SAP.

Legal, Risk and Procurement

93. Business Continuity Testing

We have begun rolling-out business continuity testing across the organisation. These are simulated business disruption drills that test the ability of the organisation to continue to deliver, even if access is lost to premises, systems and power, plus a number of other scenarios.

Human Resources and Health, Safety & Wellbeing

94. Our Human Resource system Success Factors is due to ‘go live’ at the end of May. This will automate tasks and become a single source of truth for employee and position data across Council. Once deployed, we will be able to report on our contractor exposure – an improvement will be understanding how much we are paying contractors, their tenure and related security risks.

95. We have completed surveying the entire organisation via MyTeamPulse during March 2023. This is a quarterly survey that all staff complete and provides a better understanding of how team members are feeling individually and as a whole. While results are being compiled, one of the likely areas of focus is wellbeing and ensuring staff ‘re-charge their batteries’. We plan to run the next MyTeamPulse survey in July/August.

96. The Health Safety and Wellbeing team is taking a practical approach in aligning with the international standard ISO-45001 (Occupational health & safety management system). This standard will provide clarity and consistency across all of council, on our minimum requirements to meet Health Safety and Wellbeing best practice.

Regulatory and Compliance

Building Services

97. We received 146 Building Consent and Amendment applications in February, which is significantly lower than in previous years. Conversations with our colleagues in other metro councils suggest this is consistent with the nationwide trend. We are expecting volumes to remain significantly down for the remainder of the financial year, based on information shared with us by our industry partners. The reduction in volume is most pronounced in the Residential 1 and 2 categories, whereas the number of Residential 3 and Commercial consents is comparatively strong. This is possibly a reflection of a move towards more townhouse-style developments by developers and ongoing commercial development by those who are perhaps less-reliant on the normal lending market.

98. We granted 152 consents and amendments in February. The tapering-off of volumes mirrors the reduced number of applications received and also our reduced use of external contractors, now that we are through our backlog of consents.

99. Compliance with statutory timeframes has plateaued at 73% of consents and amendments being issued within 20 working days in February. We are looking to increase our contractor use again in the short-term to help improve timeliness. We have also done some further analysis on what consents are going over time. It seems there are two main areas - those that are particularly complex and older consents. When we look at new consents issued in February, but received in the past 3 months, our timeframe compliance jumps to 90%.

100. Inspection wait times for standard (45 minute) inspections have remained low, generally around 1-2 days. The wait time for our most complex inspection types (for instance R3 Finals) remained at 10 days or below throughout February.

101. We have begun preparations for our next IANZ assessment in September. Our last assessment in September 2021 concluded that we were a low-risk BCA and noted significant improvements had been made. In preparation for this year’s assessment, we are undertaking a targeted audit of our systems and processes in March, in addition to our normal regular audits, with a particular focus on areas where we have received feedback from IANZ in previous assessments.

Building Compliance

102. The volume of complaints received about potentially illegal building work remained steady at 28 for February. We issued seven notices to fix (NTF) and one dangerous building notice (DBN). Six of those NTFs related to Building Warrants of Fitness, predominantly involving incomplete documentation.

103. We have continued to put extra effort into our pool inspection programme over the summer, with 122 properties inspected in February. Ninety-one properties passed with full compliance, 20 failed and we could not access 11. Most of the failed inspections related to pool gates not being sufficiently maintained.

Matters of Interest

104. We currently use the AlphaOne programme as our end-to-end building consent computer system. This is being progressively upgraded and replaced with a new product called Objective Build. The first change is a new customer portal, which is scheduled to go-live in late-April. Testing and customer workshops are underway at present to make sure the go-live goes without a hitch. An improved inspection module is being developed and should be live early in 2024. One significant benefit of Objective Build is that it will be a consistent across the majority of councils, once they have all gone live. We are working collaboratively with our colleagues at Western Bay of Plenty District Council, who are going live this month, as many of our customers work across both territorial areas.

Environmental Planning

105. Ninety-five resource consent applications have been received so far in this third quarter, including 56 applications for new activities and 9 applications for variations. This is a decline on last year, however a high number of those coming in are complex in nature. Application complexity is influenced by development opportunities provided by the National Policy Statement for Urban Design and Plan Change 33, and often include some challenging assessments around Urban Design outcomes. New developers to Tauranga in this space include Wolfbrook, which has five active Comprehensive Designed Development (CDD) applications in process. Kainga Ora continues to advance smaller scale CDDs.

106. We are now using 16 consultant planners to support the Environmental Planning activity. The use of consultants for resource consent processing has assisted with workflow and allocation. However, it does introduce additional management challenges. The newer consultants are becoming more efficient and are proving to be a valued source of support for the team.

107. Timeframe compliance for the second quarter was 60%. While we are yet to report on the third quarter, we have seen a significant improvement in the time taken to make decisions and expect that the next timeframe compliance report will reflect this.

108. The Development Engineering Team is also noticing a slowdown in applications. This has meant less reliance on consultant support, with no applications having to be allocated externally in February or March.

109. Our Urban Designer started at the end of February and is already beginning to process consent reviews for urban design, with three referrals received to date at various stages of the consent process. This will eventually mean we will no longer need to use external consultants for these reviews.

110. The first meeting of the Urban Design Panel is scheduled for 5 April and will focus on the Merivale Community Centre and an Urban Design Panel launch event scheduled for 18 May at the Waikato University Campus building.

Development Contributions

111. The Development Contribution Team has been working with Cooney Lees Morgan to develop a deferral template agreement and is in discussions with Finance around a debt management process. This will provide a consistent and equitable pathway to dealing with scenarios of non-payment of Citywide Development Contributions on issuing of the building consent.

112. The number of Development Contribution assessments completed on building and resource consents is starting to increase after a slow start to the year. There has been an increase in multi-developments projects and a reduction in the number of standard 3-bedroom new builds.

Environmental Monitoring

113. So far this year, 238 incidents have been responded to (to 16 March 2023), following complaints received from the community. These incidents generally require onsite assessment and are broken down by type below, with the most significant issues around sediment control and breaches of resource consents. One warning and four abatement notices were issued.

114. We continue to receive a large volume of noise complaints. Noise Control has received 2848 complaints to date this year, with 809 complaints received so far this quarter (January - 16 March). Most tend to be residential complaints about neighbour noise. Four abatement notices and three infringement notices were issued.

Matters of Interest

115. There were no appeals of decisions or hearings during the reporting period. Significant consents underway include the Sanderson Group for Pitau St, the Ballance Agri-Nutrients S139A Existing Use Rights application, and numerous high density housing developments, predominately across the Te Papa peninsula.

116. The Tauranga Northern Link construction is proceeding well. Although the site suffered significant inundation due to heavy rains during February, the construction and earthworks remained intact, with no significant effect on the environment.

Environmental Regulation

Alcohol Licensing

117. During this last period, the Alcohol Licensing Team forwarded 140 various alcohol licensing related applications to the District Licensing Committee (DLC) for consideration and determination. Of those applications, two New Managers Certificates have been opposed by the inspector and will proceed to a hearing in due course. Currently the team has eight DLC hearings scheduled through to May.

17. Below is a breakdown of the applications forwarded to the DLC:

Applications forward to the District Licensing Committee
Application type	Number
OFF Licence (New)	1
OFF Licence (Renewal)	3
ON Licence (New)	4
ON Licence (Renewal)	1
Club Licence (New)
Club Licence (Renewal)	1
Temporary Authorities (ON & OFF)	6
Manager (New)	28
Manager (Renewal)	44
Special Licence	52
Total:	140

118. Twenty-three alcohol licensing premises inspections were conducted during the period and the single large event (‘Beast Of A Feast’) that occurred was monitored, in conjunction with the Medical Officer of Health. At that event, the inspector noted a number of incidents of minor to moderate levels of intoxication and management issues that will be dealt with by the inspector.

Environmental Health

	1 Feb up to 10 March	YTD	Comments
Verifications of Food Businesses	42	250	Contractors are now undertaking verifications to help manage a backlog of work
NB: Of the 250 verifications completed YTD, 234 received ‘acceptable’ outcomes and 16 received ‘unacceptable’ outcomes. Unacceptable outcomes mean that the businesses’ verification frequency will increase until issues are resolved. Of the 16 businesses with unacceptable outcomes, we have: 2 on Step 4 (every 12 months); 13 on Step 3 (every 9 months); 1 on step 2 (every 6 months); and 1 on step 1 (every 3 months). When a food business receives an unacceptable outcome, they must gain two acceptable outcomes before their verification frequency can be decreased.
Food Registrations - New	16	100
Food Registrations - Renew	75	566
Health Registrations - New	0	0
Health Registrations - Renew	0	189	These are generally renewed in August, September and October.
Food complaints and investigations	3	20	20 total investigations - in most cases, education and advice have resolved the issues. In one case, enforcement action was taken.

Animal Services

119. As a result of the impact on displaced families and animals created by Cyclone Gabriel, Animal Services coordinated a collection of dog support across councils in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. As a result, we have been able to supply two pallets of dog food, animal cages, pet blankets and worm and flea treatment. The focus of this collection was to assist more remote properties of Tairawhiti which weren’t being supported by mainstream support groups.

120. The number of registered dogs continues to increase, as shown in the table below. The total for the current year expected to reach close to 15000 by year-end.

Year	Registered Dogs	% Increase
2018/2019	12962	2.03
2019/2020	13594	4.88
2020/2021	14215	4.57
2021/2022	14554	2.38
2022/2023*	14678	0.85

*to 28 February,

121. Compliance and enforcement for the month of February 2023.

Warnings / Notices

Abatement notices

Dangerous/Menacing classifications

Infringements issued

Prosecutions commenced

Barking 41

Roaming 5

Aggression 5

Nil

Menacing 3

Dangerous 1

Section 62 Muzzle 2

Nil

Parking and Bylaws

122. Paid parking was reintroduced on 1 December. Over a 3-month period, 1627 warning notices have been issued for failing to pay for parking and in March, the LPR vehicle will be used to enforce paid parking. It is expected that the efficiencies of this system will drive better compliance levels.

123. There are currently three defended hearings set down for Judge alone trials in relation to bus lane infringement notices. This month there have been a further two similar matters set down for a first plea hearing.

124. The Bylaws team has successfully facilitated moving two vehicle sleepers from Memorial Park. These two vehicles and individuals have generated a number of complaints and have been living in the reserve for almost 12 months. Although these individuals are homeless, they have refused to engage with any social support agencies and have made no attempt to move to legal accommodation. A section 3 trespass notice was issued, giving two weeks’ notice to vacate the reserve. A section 4 trespass notice was served on one individual, who eventually relocated out of Tauranga.

Events & Communications

125. The Animal Services Facebook page (Tauranga Animal Services) has been running for over eight months, after launching in July 2022, and has gained a following of 2,585 Facebook users. This is close to double the expected number of users for an entire year. We are hosting the Twilight Trails dog walk events and Tessa’s Treasure Hunt in March and April 2023 and the team’s involvement in these these events and their promotion on Facebook is expected to bring a further increase in page followers.

126. Our most popular post for February was the adoption of a ‘rottie’ named Boss. His adoption post was the third most popular post since launching in July (not including paid posts). Boss was adopted within days and is now living a happy life in Wellington.

127. Building Services hosted two successful industry events over the last few weeks, including the Group Home Builders Forum and a ‘meet the team’ luncheon, as well as a Plumbing and Drainage Industry Forum. These events generated extremely positive feedback and we intend to host them again in the near future.

City Development & Partnerships

City Partnerships 

128. We have a funding strategy underway for Te Manawataki o Te Papa that takes into account the recent changes in central government direction, post-cyclone and pre-election. Distinct funding workstreams include partnerships with regional and local funding agencies and central government (where possible); divestment and asset utilisation; community and gaming trusts; corporate sponsorships; and individual and family gifting programmes.

129. Staff recently presented several community projects to our local Gaming Trusts, with a view to potential partnerships over the next five years. These projects included Te Manawataki o Te Papa and the Destination Skatepark.

130. An application for $550,000 has been submitted to the Lottery Environment and Heritage Fund for the Omanawa Falls Safe Access Project. If successful, this will enable us to carry out landscaping of the carpark area, as well as Mahi Toi – including the carving of four poupou, a pouwhenua, tomokanga, palisade fencing and seating.

131. The Chair and first Director have been appointed to the Board of Te Manawataki o Te Papa Limited, the new council-controlled organisation (CCO) that will govern and lead the delivery of Te Manawataki o Te Papa projects.  Appointments will be for three-year terms, effective 31 March 2023. The appointment process for the remaining director vacancies is continuing. The Board will look to appoint a Chief Executive of the new CCO who is experienced in delivering similar large-scale projects. A transition from the current Governance Group of Te Manawataki o Te Papa will take place over the coming months.

132. A recruitment process is currently underway for a trustee for Tauranga Art Gallery Trust and two trustees for Tourism Bay of Plenty.

133. We continue to support the Aspiring Directors programme, which concludes on 30 April, and are working on a storytelling campaign to attract diverse applicants in future.

134. Our City Partnerships Specialist has been supporting Greerton Mainstreet through its change in management, with meetings held with the Chair and new Manager to discuss Council requirements and timeframes, as well as the Council support available to them.

135. AGM documentation, including audited accounts for each of the four Mainstreets, is now available on the Council website.

136. A survey has been completed of members of the four Mainstreets and key themes are being reviewed, with a view to providing feedback that supports ongoing improvements.

137. The draft Mainstreet Policy will go to the Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee in May, following review by relevant staff and the Mainstreets. It will support greater accountability and higher levels of performance for Mainstreets.

138. The Impact Lab at the University of Waikato has commenced, with five students working on a transport-related problem. This work is led by both Priority One and the Work Integrated Learning Team at the university and is supported through our Employment Pathways and Transport teams within Council. Student feedback on choices for travel to the University will be reported in June and will assist our transport planners.

139. The Tauranga Māori Business Association has reported its half-yearly progress and has achieved its growth in membership target already. The Association is working with our Procurement team through Amotai.

Te Manawataki o Te Papa – Civic Precinct 

140. Powerco is completing detailed design work in preparation for relocation of the existing transformer in the Civic Precinct to a temporary site, to allow construction activity to begin. The work is scheduled to commence in June this year.

141. A work programme for the next six-months is being developed by project managers RCP. The work programme will include potholing around the site, to provide surety over the location of third-party utility services.

142. The architect, Studio Pacific, has held several workshops with staff during March to gain their input into aspects of the developed design for the Library and Community Hub. The developed design is due for completion in June.

Tauranga Moana Waterfront

The Strand Reserve 

143. The developed design and cost estimates for the north, central and south areas of The Strand Reserve are progressing and are expected to be presented to Council in May. 

144. A strong response was received to the ROI process for the new Strand Playground. Three specialist consultants were shortlisted to proceed to Stage 2 of the evaluation. Final presentations have been held and contracts are expected to be awarded by mid-April. Community engagement will take place as part of the upcoming design process.

145. Concept designs for the new Wharewaka and public conveniences are currently being developed. Discussions with Otamataha Trust on the location of the Wharewaka are underway and are expected to be finalised by April. 

146. Detailed design of the seawall renewal is due in April. Construction will be coordinated with the uplift of the carpark and landscaping of The Strand North area. 

The Strand South – Te Hononga ki Te Awanui  

147. The rail underpass has been rescheduled for installation in early-April, with the preparation of the necessary preliminary works currently underway.  

148. The boardwalk 50% developed design has been delivered, with a preferred option for timber supporting piles. Following on from the ROI, the project team has invited three companies to participate in the RFP process closing in April. 

149. In-person landowner engagement is underway in relation to the Memorial Link between Tunks Reserve and Memorial Park, prior to the development of a concept design. Concepts are scheduled for delivery in late-April.  

Masonic Park

150. The landscape architect is currently finalising the detailed design, with construction scheduled to commence by mid-2023.

151. The project team is working with the Tauranga Art Gallery Executive and Board to coordinate construction of the new Art Gallery entrance onto Masonic Park. Engagement with adjoining food and beverage operators is also in progress.   

Dive Crescent Carpark

152. The project commenced in mid-January and is progressing well. The focus of this first phase is the development of the northern section of the carpark. It is expected this phase will be completed at the end of April, with over 100 carparks provided for public use.

153. The second phase involving the conversion of the southern car park will commence in October this year.

154. Pricing is in progress for the upgrade of the KiwiRail boundary fence from The Strand level crossing along Dive Crescent to Marsh Street.

Beacon Services Wharf

155. Stakeholder engagement concluded in late-February. The engagement reinforced that the original concepts for the wharf are on track and was useful in providing the project team with insights into recreational water users’ use patterns.

156. The concept design prepared by Tonkin & Taylor will now move into the developed design phase over the coming months. Geotechnical assessment of the harbour floor substrate has been moved to June, when a suitable barge is available. Results from this study will be used to validate the engineering considerations reflected in the detail design.

157. Interest in the project will be solicited from potential construction contractors with the necessary marine experience through a “Registration of Interest” process. This process will lead to the procurement of an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) contractor to support the design work, and early procurement of necessary materials.

158. Construction of the new facility is not expected to commence until October this year.

Initial concept design for Beacon Wharf

Spring Street Carpark Seismic Strengthening

159. The project team is managing the strengthening design and revising the drilling schedule and bracket design at various strengthening locations.

160. Due to the complexities of this work, the contractor has issued a new construction programme, including a three-month extension to the original completion date.

161. Strengthening work to the public toilets in the building has begun, which includes an upgrading of the women’s WC. The toilets will be closed for the next 2-4 weeks and temporary portaloos have been provided while the upgrade is in progress.

90 Devonport Road (Civic Administration Building Fitout) 

162. The new civic administration building marked another key milestone on 3 March with a sod turning to acknowledge the start of construction. LT McGuinness carried out a blessing of the site and mana whenua joined with a karakia to make it an extra special ceremony.  

Members of the project team at an official sod turning ceremony at 90 Devonport Road last month.

163. Specialist workshops and design reference group meetings have recommenced, and work is underway on the ‘look and feel design’ of the of the building.

164. A site visit to Red Stag Timber Mill in Rotorua was held on 15 March.  The visit provided Commissioners and the project teams from Council, Willis Bond and LT McGuinness with an opportunity to view the production process involved in creating the cross-laminated timber that will be used for the future civic administration building. The timber is sourced from New Zealand-grown pine and exemplifies sustainability, in that this innovative process uses timber that would otherwise have been exported and processed overseas and then returned to New Zealand as a building product.

The Commission on-site at the Red Stag factory in Rotorua

Memorial Park

165. The project scope, as defined within the completed feasibility study, includes development of new aquatic facilities and an extension to the existing indoor court facilities. A procurement and delivery plan for the design and construction phases of work has been established.

166. Procurement of the Architectural-led, multidisciplinary team is underway. The RFP was released in March and tender submissions are due in late-April. The concept design is programmed to commence around July. The concept phase will look at an option to replace the courts as significant seismic strengthening of the existing building is necessary.

167. A parallel workstream is also being formed, so that the overall master-planning of Memorial Park is mapped at the same time the concept design is developed for the aquatic facilities and courts project.  

168. It is intended to procure an ECI contractor over the next period, so that they are available to provide specialist construction and pools knowledge from the outset of the design.

Communications and Engagement 

169. We commenced the first of our staff walking tours around the city centre last month, which was well-received by those involved. Feedback is being collated and will be applied to future tours. While the focus is currently on staff, we will look to roll these tours out with our partners and potentially the wider community in the future.

170. We are working alongside Willis Bond and Lt McGuinness to implement ongoing communications and engagement around the construction at 90 Devonport Road, in particular highlighting its sustainable credentials. Willis Bond has created a live blog to keep neighbours (and other interested parties) updated on progress.

171. Temporary signage will soon be going up along the hoardings at 90 Devonport Road, until permanent signage can be erected after a second, larger crane arrives onsite next month (which will require separating a section of the hoardings for it to enter the site).

172. As part of our goal to raise awareness and inform and engage with our community, we are developing a suite of collateral showing high-level plans for the city centre, which will be used at various community events across the city. This includes having an onsite presence at Baycourt’s 40th birthday celebrations.

173. We are currently developing signage and hoarding creative collateral to be placed at Masonic Park and Dive Crescent. These will have a similar look and feel to what is at Te Manawataki o Te Papa.

174. We continue to roll-out communications and engagement plans for all of the city centre projects currently, or soon to be, underway.

Attachments

Nil


AGENDA Ordinary Council meeting Monday, 3 April 2023
I hereby give notice that an Ordinary meeting of Council will be held on:
Date:	Monday, 3 April 2023
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.

Advantages	Disadvantages
· An annual plan is adopted for the 2023/24 financial year.	· None