Agenda of Council Meeting

Council Meeting item: 7.2

19 March 2019

d-north

TITLE:	Chief Executive’s Report to Council
ID:	A1169144
From:	Malcolm Nicolson, Chief Executive Officer

Recommendation

That the report ‘Chief Executive’s Report to Council’ by Malcolm Nicolson, Chief Executive Officer and dated 28 February 2019, be received.

7.2.1 Highlights

Procedures for National Environmental Standard – Plantation Forestry

Compliance and IT staff have done an outstanding job implementing procedures and systems to handle the new requirements under the National Environmental Standard – Plantation Forestry. A presentation was made at the National Environmental Compliance Conference on how NRC has implemented and are managing forestry activities under the Standard. Other regional councils are now requesting copies of the work that NRC has done (including the Ministry for Primary Industries review team).

Best trade exhibit at 2019 Kaitāia A & P show

Kaitāia office staff attended the A & P show with information on land management, pest animals, weeds and flood infrastructure. Staff answered customer queries and were awarded the ‘Best Trade Exhibit’ for 2019. The event had a lower attendance than normal but this could be due to the wet weather conditions. The Marketing and Engagement team will review future attendance at this event based on feedback from this year.

7.2.2 CEO’s Office

Regional Software Holdings Limited

Hawkes Bay Regional Council (HBRC)

HBRC went live with the first phase of their IRIS implementation in November 2018 and involved the Consents and Compliance functionality. The second phase involved Incidents and Enforcements functionality and went live in February 2019. No significant issues were experienced during either phase.

RSHL has provided Project Management support, subject matter expertise and guidance from across the RSHL councils.

The Water Information System component has been deferred to Phase 2 of the IRIS implementation, alongside Land Management and Biosecurity. Planning for this phase is scheduled for March.

RSHL General Manager Recruitment

Applications and expressions of interest for the General Manager position have been sought through Seek and LG Jobs. A total of 18 applications have been received. These were reviewed to create a shortlist with interviews held later in February. Further interviews were to be held with the preferred candidates (two) early in March.

Council property update

A Sale and Purchase Agreement to sell a CBD property is currently undergoing due diligence by the vendor.

A draft Sale and Purchase Agreement to purchase a CBD property is currently before the vendor.

Redevelopment at 8 Kensington Avenue: Resource Consenting, tenant signup and detailed design is progressing within projected timeframes. No significant issues arose at the pre-application meeting with WDC regarding Building Consent. A Registration of Interest for the head construction contractor is to be released on GETS in March, 2019.

Kaipara Service Centre: Consultant engagement is almost complete. A Geotech Report and Topographical Survey have been received for the site and have confirmed that a two-storey building is appropriate. KDC councillors consider the broad terms of a lease agreement on 28 March, 2019.

The Mt Tiger Forest harvest has begun and will be complete in April 2019.

Current Legal Proceedings

*Department*	*Description*	*Status*
Consent decision appeal	To construct a boardwalk as part of a coastal walkway in Back Bay, Mangawhai Estuary	No further progress to report. Mediation adjourned until 30 June 2019.
Consent decision appeal	Seventeen groundwater takes for horticultural irrigation at Houhora, Motutangi, and Waiharara	The Court issued a decision on 19 February 2019. The decision states that “the grant of consent is generally appropriate dependent of conditions” and then asks for the applicant to provide amended conditions to the Court by 29 March 2019. The other parties then have until 12 April 2019 to provide comments to applicant on conditions. The amendments to conditions relate to wetland water trigger levels and saline intrusion triggers for the initial abstraction phase during the first year.
Consent decision appeal	Replacement consents for, and new consents for an expansion of, Doug’s Opua Boat Yard in Walls Bay, Ōpua.	No further progress to report. An Environment Court hearing has been set down for the weeks of 8 or 15 April 2019.
Consents and notification decisions judicial review	Peat/kauri gum and resin extraction operation	The judicial review proceedings were withdrawn following surrender of the consents by the Consent Holder. One of the plaintiffs (Forest and Bird) has applied for costs from the council, which the council is opposing. The application is currently before the High Court for determination.

7.2.3 Corporate Excellence

Fraud Declaration

I am not aware of any fraud nor am I investigating any incidence or suspected incidence of fraud at this time.

7.2.4 Regulatory Services

Consents in Process

During February 2019, a total of 50 Decisions were issued. These decisions comprised:

2	Moorings
6	Coastal Permits
0	Air Discharge Permits
12	Land Discharge Permits
6	Water Discharge Permits
16	Land Use Consents
3	Water Permits
5	Bore Consents

The processing timeframes for the February 2019 consents ranged from:

441 to 1 calendar days, with the median time being 50 days;

277 to 1 working days, with the median time being 25 days.

46	Applications were received in February 2019.

Of the 121 applications in progress at the end of February 2019:

35	were received more than 12 months ago (most awaiting further information);
26	were received between 6 and 12 months ago (most awaiting further information);
60	less than 6 months.

Appointment of Hearing Commissioners

No commissioners were appointed in February 2019.

Consents Decisions and Progress on Notified Applications in Process, Objections and Appeals

The current level of notified application processing activities at the end of February 2019 is (by number):

Applications Publicly/Limited Notified During Previous Month	1
Progress on Applications Previously Notified	5
Hearings and Decisions	0
Appeals/Objections	3

Hydrology

Some reprieve from the dry conditions occurred with the rain events on the 3 (mostly isolated to the Bay of Islands area), 9 (isolated to Whangārei/eastern hills) and 22/23 February (throughout the region, but mainly in the Kaipara). Overall, February rainfall in the region was below that expected for the month, except in parts of the Bay of Islands and Kaipara. A more detailed report can be found on the Northland Regional Council website (https://www.nrc.govt.nz/environment/river-and-rainfall-data/hydrology-climate-report/).w

Low flow gaugings have been carried out at 28 sites in the Waitangi catchment. Gaugings will be carried out multiple times over low flows, with the aim of using the data to calibrate a MALF (“Mean Annual Low Flow”) model. If the dry weather persists, another low flow gauging run on the Waitangi will be required.

Low flow gauging project work has also been carried out at 28 Whangārei Harbour tributaries for MALF model calibration. This is the second run of gaugings at these sites completed this summer.

IRIS270 dataloggers and new depth/conductivity sensors have been installed at the Aupōuri Sweetwater Bore and Russell at Foreshore Bore recorder sites. These are the 3^rd and 4^th IRIS270 dataloggers installed and are running well now after some teething issues. It is noted that the Russell depth/conductivity sensor has been removed for maintenance following this install.

Natural Resources Science

Coastal

Samples have been collected from the council’s estuary monitoring sites in Whangaroa and Ruakākā. The monitoring programme follows the National Estuary Monitoring Protocol, which was developed by Cawthron for use by regional councils. It involves sampling the physical and chemical (metals and nutrients) properties of the sediment, and the ecological communities of representative intertidal habitats. The programme enables the council to assess the health of representative intertidal sites in our estuaries and can be used to track changes in the health of these sites over time.

Freshwater quality/Freshwater ecology

A presentation on Northland groundwater quality has been prepared for the Four Waters Group. The presentation outlines existing information available on groundwater quality in Northland, non-compliance with Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand at specific sites and future projects proposed.

Air quality

Ambient PM₁₀ monitoring results for January 2019 for the Whangārei and Marsden Point airsheds and Kaikohe showed that compliance was met with the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NESAQ). PM_2.5 monitoring results for Whangārei were within the Ambient Air Quality Guideline value.

Unsealed Road PM₁₀ monitoring started in early December 2018. Currently the monitor is at the fourth site for this summer.

Natural Resources Data

The Data Management Team processed a large information request for Opus on behalf of Te Rūnanga o Ngaitakoto. Opus has been engaged to scope the feasibility of small scale dams to improve the water security of the communities in the Far North.

Water use online system: The online submission system was tested by 10 consent holders in February 2019. We are currently obtaining feedback. Mark Rodgers (Hilltop Software) will be visiting on 20 and 21 March to alter the online system accordingly.

We are currently considering options to review the Field Monitoring Group Quality System to better reflect the responsibilities/tasks of the Natural Resources Monitoring teams.

Coastal/Water Quality Field Operations

Coastal water quality sampling of the Whangārei, Bay of Islands and Kaipara harbours and southern estuaries (Mangawhai, Waipū and Ruakākā) was carried out.

The river water quality runs, including the priority catchments, were undertaken as was monthly periphyton sampling. Monthly cyanobacteria samples were collected at four lakes.

Recreational bathing site bacteriological monitoring was undertaken each Monday with results reported to LAWA, and exceedances of the relevant guidelines reported to the Northland District Health Board and relevant district councils for follow up action. The monitoring programme has now been completed for the summer.

Compliance monitoring

The results of compliance monitoring for the period 1 – 28 February 2019, comparison with the previous year’s data (in brackets) and year-to-date figures are summarised in the following table and discussed below.

Classification	Total	Full compliance	Non-compliance	Significant non-compliance	Not exercised during period
Air discharges	39 (20)	33 (15)	2 (2)	3 (0)	1 (3)
Coastal permit	72 (50)	63 (38)	8 (9)	1 (1)	0 (2)
Discharge permit	67 (68)	48 (51)	13 (12)	4 (1)	2 (4)
Land use consent	38 (18)	35 (16)	2 (2)	0 (0)	1 (0)
Water permit	228 (49)	169 (17)	49 (30)	1 (0)	9 (2)
Total	494 (205)	298 (137)	74 (55)	9 (2)	13 (11)
Percentage		78.4%	16.7%	2.0%	2.9%
YTD	5648	4516	660	228	244
Percentage		80.0%	11.7%	4.0%	4.3%

Coastal

The majority of consents monitored during the reporting period related to coastal discharges (treated municipal sewage, industrial and boat ramp cleaning) and coastal structures. Water quality in marinas was also sampled.

Hazardous substances

Twelve incidents involving the discharge of hazardous substances and 17 enquiries regarding contaminated land were received and responded to. There was 487.1kg of hazardous wastes disposed of.

Discharge and land use monitoring

During the month compliance staff attended:

· A co-design workshop with the EPA enforcement unit.

· A meeting with the three district councils to discuss working together on the NES - Plantation Forestry.

Since 1 May 2018 (when the Forestry NES came into effect), NRC has received 326 notices of activities. The majority (about 55%) of these have been in relation to harvesting.

Notices of Activities NES–PF
Subpart 1	Afforestation	7
Subpart 3	Earthworks	105
Subpart 4	River crossings	32
Subpart 5	Forestry quarrying	3
Subpart 6	Harvesting	179
	Total	326

Environmental incidents

Notification and response to smoke nuisance complaints has been minimal during the reporting period due to the continued total fire ban. The dry weather has predictably resulted in an upsurge of incidents relating to nuisance dust from unsealed roads.

One incident was reported during the period which resulted in a significant environmental impact. This was in relation to excavation / drainage works in a significant wetland to create pasture. Council’s Biodiversity Team will be working with the landowner with the intent to re-establish the area. A decision on formal enforcement action has been temporarily deferred.

Abatement notices, infringement notices and formal warnings

The following enforcement actions were taken during the period:

	Infringement Notice		Abatement Notice		Total
Nature of Offence	No. Offences	No. Notices	No. Offences	No. Notices	No. Offences	No. Notices
Burning & smoke nuisance	1	1	0	0	1	1
Discharge to land	2	2	1	1	3	3
Illegal activity in CMA	2	2	1	1	3	3
Illegal take, dam or diversion of water	2	2	0	0	2	2
Other air discharge	3	3	0	0	3	3
Total	10	10	2	2	12	12

Dumping and burning of demolition waste, Kaikohe

Charges have been laid against two companies and one individual (associated with one of the companies) and a landowner for the dumping and burning of demolition waste near Kaikohe. One of the companies entered guilty pleas on 14 November 2018. The other company and the land owner have elected jury trial. The landowner requested a sentence indication hearing which was commenced on 28 February 2019. There was a dispute about the Summary of Facts which the presiding judge considered was too significant for him to give a sentence indication. The next court date is likely to be in April when it is expected that there will be an Agreed Summary of Facts.

Enforcement Order – Paihia Wastewater Treatment Plant

The matter came before Judge Smith on 4 March 2019. An agreement was reached in principle on the form and content of the enforcement orders, but the specific wording of the orders needed some further work. The final draft orders were provided to the Court of approval on 8 March.

Farm dairy effluent – Waipū

Charges have been laid against a Waipū farmer for offending which occurred in July and December 2018. The offences related to discharges of untreated effluent from breakages in irrigation lines. The farmer has a poor history of compliance with regional rules for animal effluent disposal. The first court appearance is scheduled for 25 March 2019.

7.2.5 Environmental Services

LAND MANAGEMENT

Environment Fund Update

On 21 February 2019 eight Hill Country Erosion Fund (planting) projects were approved totalling $49,900, one Northern Wairoa Freshwater Improvement Fund project and two catchment group projects. There is still $50k available to spend on planting projects under the boost fund. This will be aligned with the landowners over the next four weeks.

Farm Environment Plans (FEP) – 2018/19

This financial year 106 FEP’s have been commenced and 69 completed.

One Billion Trees

The 2019-2023 Hill Country Erosion Fund (HCEF) contract is still being negotiated with MPI and will aim to be completed by the end of March. Once complete we will start developing the communications and implementation planning for the project.

Northern Wairoa Project

A total of $193K of subsidies for fencing and stockwater reticulation has been allocated to landowners, we are currently in the process of developing planting projects for this season.

Kaipara Hill Country Erosion Fund (KHCEF)

This quarter, between 21^st November 2018 and 21 February 2019, six farm plans with areas of high erosion risk covering 1,525 hectares were completed meeting MPI targets. A total of $245,800 co-funding for KHCEF allocated from the NRC Environment Fund has been distributed across 48 projects within the Kaipara catchment involving fencing of waterways, land for retirement and planting riparian margins in the 2018/19 financial year.

Mature Tree Management Research

Willow clearance and chipping has recently been completed with focus now aimed at marketing and distribution of the chip. The main market this chip product will be aimed at is stock bedding on farm, and its biofuel potential; other options could be used to cover bare earthwork sites.

We have filmed this whole process and are currently developing a short educational documentary with landowner, consulting experts and operational contractors discussing issues, challenges and possible solutions.

Poplar timber trials

A portion of our milled poplar timber has been treated (H3) and we are now looking at ways to utilise this timber on farms. The timber seems to have held treatment well, but this will be monitored over time.

A portion of non-treated timber was supplied to a local Waka Ama club who have utilised the timber in building waka and waka paddles. Examples of these products were on display at the Northland Field Days to promote the use of poplar timber.

BIODIVERSITY

Wetlands

Biodiversity staff assisted Landcare Research with wetland and tradescantia biocontrol monitoring at in Hikurangi Swamp. This work is part of the Living Water programme and is in its third and final monitoring cycle. One of the biocontrol beetle agents is now widespread in the area and is showing a knockdown of the tradescantia which should benefit regeneration of the wetland forest understorey.

Poutō Catchment Group

On 21 February 2019, $8,500 of the Poutō Catchment Stakeholder Advisory Group’s annual $10,000 funding was approved, towards planting at Lake Kanono (up to $4,000) and fencing at Lakes Humuhumu and Rotopouua (up to $4,500). The balance of funds will be allocated in March. The Poutō Catchment Stakeholder Advisory Group is considering a draft Terms of Reference for a catchment working group. The purpose of the working group will be to implement the existing catchment plan objectives.

CoastCare

A kaitiaki ambassador programme has been running over the summer in the Karikari Peninsula area in response to a number of incidents and concern from the community related to issues such as damage caused by vehicles in the dunes and non-responsible freedom camping. Ngāti Kahu in conjunction with the four local marae chose two ‘Kaitiaki Rangers’ from each marae to ensure a Mana Whenua presence. Feedback from the community has been extremely positive and incidents reports to all agencies for the area have been significantly lower than in previous summers. The programme is a collaboration between Far North District Council, Department of Conservation, Ngāti Kahu and Northland Regional Council with funding from MBIE.

A CoastCare Social media campaign was run over January and February to encourage beachgoers to know how to care for our coast, lead by example and learn about the dune protection work being undertaken around our coast by volunteers. The posts were very popular with a total of 90,747 impressions and 2,240 engagements. 54 entries to the photo competition were received.

Check Clean Dry advocacy

Waitangi Day, Kai Iwi Lakes triathlon and Pacific Fusion festival were attended to promote the Check Clean Dry (CCD) message. In addition, visits were made to Lakes Waikere and Taharoa (Kai Iwi Lakes), Piroa Falls, Puketi forest falls and Wilson’s Dam to engage with visitors and complete CCD surveys.

Dune Lakes FIF

The five fencing and water reticulation projects are underway with one of these now complete at Lake Wahakari. One further fencing job is progressing, working with Ngai Takoto and FNDC on an Occupation Plan which will allow riparian planting to mitigate farm runoff over the Road Reserve, once the fence is shifted. This work represents the bulk of project funding this financial year.

The project has formed a partnership with MPI, DOC, Fish and Game, the Eel Enhancement Company and iwi to better communicate and seek behaviour change in lake-use sectors who are at highest risk of moving aquatic weeds and pest fish further around the region. A strategy is being drafted and roll-out of this campaign is anticipated to be 1 July.

The Maruwai Kaiwhakahaere (contracted iwi community coordinators) are emerging into dynamic champions of the project among their people and wider community.

BIOSECURITY

Predator Free 2050

Predator Free 2050 ltd (PF2050) recently announced they are seeking expressions of interest from parties located in the Provincial Growth Fund “surge regions” wishing to undertake ambitious, large landscape predator control to eradication projects. Council will coordinate and develop an expression of interest for Northland communities which aims to control predators over large areas and eradicate possums from selected areas within Northland. The project will bring together key agencies, organisations and community groups such as Reconnecting Northland, Kiwi Coast Trust, the Integrated Kaipara Harbour Management Group, District Councils, Iwi, Department of Conservation and many more.

Biosecurity Threats/Incursions

Auckland Fruit Fly

Three single male Queensland fruit flies have been found in separate surveillance traps in the Auckland North Shore suburbs of Devonport (x1) and Northcote (x2). Council’s Biosecurity Incursion Management Officer was deployed to Auckland to assist with managing one of the response workstreams and will continue to provide assistance if required. Council’s participation in these events help to ensure staff gain response experience and will better prepare Northland for future responses.

Water lettuce, Pistia stratiotes – Notifiable organism

A site of this highly invasive aquatic weed was identified by one of our officers at a property in Tamaterau. This notifiable organism was thought to be largely eradicated from New Zealand. A specimen was provided to MPI to confirm the identification, and the incident handed over to MPI for follow up. As it was a small amount of material held in pots, containment of this site should be easily achieved, but MPI will complete a wider search and attempt to track back the original source.

Biosecurity Partnerships

Kiwi Coast – NRC Partnership

Kiwi Coast was a finalist in the New Zealander of the Year Awards, Community category. Council’s ongoing support of the Kiwi Coast was acknowledged at the awards ceremony which was broadcast to tens of thousands of New Zealanders.

An article was published on the herald website: www.nzherald.co.nz

Photo: Kiwi Coast Coordinator Andy Mentor receiving award

Whangārei Heads High Value Area

Four hundred and ninety people attended the Backyard Kiwi release to see four more kiwi released into the fringes of the Whangārei Heads peninsula, with the hope that some may move into the Kiwi Link CPCA and contribute to its small but growing kiwi population (http://www.backyardkiwi.org.nz/4-new-kiwi). Staff also supported the Weed Action coordinator to run their community weed control resources stall at the release, to continue to raise awareness and remove barriers to action for weed issues.

Piroa – Brynderwyn (Mangawhai – Waipū) High Value Area

One hundred and twenty DOC200 double set traps have been added to the predator control network within the Piroa-Brynderwyns high value area. The trap boxes continue to be built locally by the Waipū Men’s shed. The trapping network is extending westward from the coast towards State highway 1. Currently there are over 700 predator traps deployed within the High Value area with more being installed every week.

Mid North – Bay of Islands High Value Area

The Kiwi Coast - Mid North Coordinator and Council biosecurity officers have continued to work together to get over 500 new predator traps out to landowners and community groups throughout the Mid North – Bay of Islands High Value Area over summer. The traps have continued to be built locally by inmates through a partnership with the Northland Regional Corrections Facility at Ngawha.

Tutukaka High Value Area

Staff are continuing to work with the Tutukaka High Value Area (HVA) working group to develop their community weed control plan similar to the Weed Action Whangārei Heads. This will help to support landowners and local community groups manage invasive weeds on private land throughout the HVA.

Kai iwi Lakes High Value Area

Staff and Te Roroa contractors have recently supported neighbouring landowners to carry out their annual possum control programme on land bordering the lakes. Staff are continuing to support the development of a community pest control programme surrounding the lakes however this will require more work and coordination to bring together.

Western Northland Pest Control

Staff and the western Northland pest control contractor have continued to support and develop CPCAs in western Northland. Pupu Rangi Nature Sanctuary CPCA has almost finished installing 800ha of mustelid control. This links with the Whatoro CPCA and Trounson Kauri Park. In total over 3000ha of forest and farmland will be trapped for mustelids providing protection for kiwi and native birds within the core pest control areas of Pupu Rangi Nature Sanctuary, Whatoro and Trounson Kauri Park.

Staff and contractors have been working with Te Roroa to help implement possum control within their restoration project Te Toa Whenua. The Te Toa Whenua is an initiative to restore the lower Waipoua River catchment creating an entirely native forested catchment. A possum control plan has been developed with possum control scheduled to occur over 1450ha of private and public conservation land with co-founding from the Department of Conservation.

Staff and contractors have been working with Kaitiaki Kiwi to help support the work being done in the Waipoua for kiwi protection. The NRC will help fund mustelid control on the private land through partly funding trapping contractors and by establishing new predator control lines within the core area and also at the Waipoua River mouth for Dotterel protection. With the council’s support over 4500ha of mustelid control will be functioning by 2020. Through aerial pest control and trapping the kiwi population has doubled in the last eight years in the Waipoua.

Staff and contractors have developed a new CPCA with Wekaweka Landcare and the Native Forest Restoration Trust which will establish 920ha of predator control for kiwi, kokako and forest protection. Funding will also help fund a toxin pulse in bait stations in two core areas totalling 266ha. This CPCA project adjoins the DOC managed Mataraua Kokako Block where 900ha of ground pest control in the form of bait stations and trapping is occurring to protect kokako. This CPCA will achieve over 1800ha of landscape scale predator control protecting kiwi, kokako, kereru and locally endemic plants such as Coprosma waima and Olearia waima. In the past 25years the Mataraua Kokako block has increased form 4 pairs to 60+ pairs. The proposed pest control will help protect the kokako population as it expands towards privately owned land.

Kauri Dieback

Staff have secured additional funding of approximately $160,000 from the Kauri Dieback programme to ground truth priority sites and fence of kauri in Northland. Approximately $95,000 will be allocated from the programme to fast track ground truthing of priority one and two sites identified through aerial surveillance. The remaining funding will be used to support landowners to fence off high risk sites and to protect privately owned forests from Kauri Dieback. The contractor engaged will be required to check and confirm the disease status of 140 aerial survey sites which have been earmarked as a priority for follow up.

A regional kauri dieback stakeholder meeting held in January was successful with over 25 agency and partner groups attending. A follow up meeting is scheduled for June. Staff have continued to work with Enviroschools coordinators to raise awareness of kauri dieback in schools.

Kauri dieback management plans are being finalised for all positive sites as well as those that are identified as medium – high risk sites. All site occupiers receive advice and a basic management plan about how to best protect their kauri and forest from kauri dieback and other diseases. Latest laboratory results in February indicate three new positive sites on private land and nine sites from which Kauri dieback was undetected. Table 1 has a sample result summary.

Table 1: Kauri Dieback Ground Truthing Results 2018/19

Kauri Dieback Sampling Results 2018 - 2019
Month	No. Sites / properties inspected					No. Samples Taken	Sample Results
Month	Surveyed	Positive	Priority 1	Priority 2	Landowner Requests	No. Samples Taken	Positive	Negative	Surveyed
October	5	1	0	2	3	17	6	11
November	11	2	3	3	5	38	2	36
December	11	3	8	3	0	44	9	26	9
January	15		7	3	5	40			40
February	2			1	1	4			4
YTD Total	44	6	18	13	13	143	17	73	53

Marine Biosecurity

2018/2019 Hull Surveillance Programme

The hull survey Programme has been running since October 2018 and is on track for the current year with 66% of the annual target (2,000 vessels) completed as of 25 February 2019. In February, a total of 253 vessels were checked by divers for marine pests in the harbours of Mangonui, Whangārei, Mangawhai, Tutukaka, Ngunguru and Kaipara. There were 11 incidents of Mediterranean fanworm (Sabella spallanzanii) found on hulls, all in Whangārei Harbour.

Table 2: 2018/2019 Hull Surveillance Programme Results

Results of the 2018/2019 Hull Surveillance Programme 24 January to 25 February 2019
Number of vessels surveyed	253
Total year to date	1314
Vessels detected with fanworm (Sabella)	11
Vessels detected with Styela sea squirt	0
Vessels detected with Japanese kelp (Undaria)	0
Vessels detected with Australian droplet tunicate (Eudistoma)	1
Vessels detected with Pyura sea squirt	0
Pathways plan compliance	62% of vessels

Kaipara Harbour Tunicates

Hull surveillance in the Kaipara Harbour revealed a dense presence of Australian droplet tunicates (Eudistoma elongatum) on a mussel farm and on an oyster barge nearby. This level of infestation has not been reported in the Kaipara Harbour previously to our knowledge, however E. elongatum has been known from many sites within the harbour for several years. The marine pest is only present in large numbers in summer months and dies down during rain events and winter months. Therefore, its detection and impacts to the ecosystems are limited, although at very high density the impacts of this species remain unknown.

The Marine Biosecurity Team is compiling a summary of previous reports of this marine pest in the Kaipara Harbour from our hull surveillance, confirmed public reports and previous NIWA surveys. There will also be a marine pest survey of the Kaipara conducted in collaboration with Auckland Council in the next four months. This survey will provide a better understanding of the extent and abundance of E. elongatum and its potential impacts in the Kaipara Harbour.

Ōpua Fanworm Eradication

The Ōpua Fanworm Eradication Programme is still on hold until the visibility improves. The divers have been monitoring visibility at Ōpua marina and it is still below what is necessary to dive and survey successfully (<35 cm). The divers have reported cooler water temperature in the last week, and we expect that visibility will improve once the temperature drops enough. They will keep monitoring and resume the dive surveys as soon as visibility improves.

Pahi Regatta

The Marine Biosecurity Team provided a stand at the Pahi Regatta on 26 January 2019. This gave the team the opportunity to meet and connect with some of the Kaipara boating community. Thirty people called in at the stand and spent time looking at the education material provided and asking questions to the biosecurity officers. Some children were especially enthusiastic and spent a lot of time talking about what they have seen in the water and learning about marine pests.

Auckland Fanworm Reaching Bay of Islands

In January, at least six boats that came to Northland’s Bay of Islands from Auckland were found to have fanworm on their keels by our hull surveillance programme. These boats had all been recently hauled out and cleaned at a facility in Auckland prior to travelling to Northland.

Staff contacted the facility manager who was concerned to learn of the issue and is very motivated to improve their operations. The facility manager also asked for the details of each of the known boats to apologise to the owners. The Team will be following up with this facility to provide them with support in improving their operations and remedy the issue.

MBIE Endeavour Fund Application

The Cawthron Institute will submit a large proposal to the MBIE Endeavour Fund Application during March called “A toolbox for tomorrow’s marine biosecurity system“. The principal investigator travelled to Whangārei to meet with the Marine Biosecurity Team in January and presented the proposal, the research questions and expected outcomes to staff and a representative of the Patukarakeke Trust Board. This proposal aligns with the Council’s objectives, in particular in regard to the Marine Pathway Plan. The Marine Biosecurity Team provided a letter of support for the proposal and confirmed that the Council will be a research partner with in-kind contributions to the research in the form of access to data, staff time, storage space and vehicles if the proposal is successful.

Pest Plants

Manchurian Wild Rice

After the delayed start due to unsuitable weather conditions, the Manchurian wild rice contract work has been progressing very well, though the recent fruit fly response impacted the availability of one of the contractors, delaying work by a week.

Other Pest Plants

Work continues to focus on Mickey Mouse plant, and spartina in the Kaipara and Hokianga Harbours. Good progress has been made in the Hokianga, with sites showing significant reductions and local eradications. In the Kaipara several large, relatively high density sites that were identified last year have been the focus for treatment.

Mickey Mouse Plant Media Campaign

A media campaign is also underway to increase self-reporting for Mickey Mouse plant. This plant is most commonly found in residential gardens and is easily recognised with very bright red flowers and black berries which when viewed together resemble the face of mickey mouse. The weed is well suited for this type of passive surveillance and reports will assist in defining the extent of this very invasive species.

RIVERS

River Contract Works

Priority Rivers	Work	Status	Comments
Awanui	OpEx	95% complete	Mid-Awanui stop-bank re-alignment completed some remaining spraying, mulching and minor maintenance.
Awanui	CapEx	75% complete	Te Ahu stopbank stabilization works and grade control.
Awanui	CapEx	85% complete	Bell’s Hill Benching.
Kaihu	OpEx	75% complete	70% long-reach digger work and 50% of the Spraying.
Minor Rivers	OpEx	32% complete	Only high priority work is being progressed.

LTP Projects

Rivers	Comments
Awanui	Good summer weather has allowed good progress with Bell’s Hill Benching and the Te Ahu Rock Armouring. Modelling work is progressing and we expect the Preliminary Scheme design results to be delivered in March, with property acquisition starting in April.
Matangirau	Modelling to refine the design has been completed and is under review. Next step is to share the results with FNDC and the community to agree on a preferred option.
Kawakawa - Taumarere	The Resource Consent has been lodged for the Turntable Hill river benching works to allow FNDC and NRC to process. An Archaeology Authority will be required before the Resource Consent can be granted.
Whangārei	Resource Consent has been lodged, tender for the works close on 15 March.
Panguru	Two options were presented to the community Hui on 27 February. Option 1-Raising the roads rough order costs ~ $1.0 million ~ 10 year AEP, Option 2 Raising the roads & river work ~$1.5 million 50 year 10 year AEP. Option 2 requires NZTA money. FNDC are negotiating with NZTA on low cost low risk project basis.

NATURAL HAZARDS

Work Streams	Status	Comments
Priority Rivers Flood Hazard Maps	95%	We expect the maps for Waipū and Paparoa to be released in April due to the reviews taking longer than what we expected.
Awanui Flood Model	75%	DHI has completed two model calibration runs, with only one remaining. Both calibration runs are being peer reviewed. This is the most complex part of the modelling work. Once the remaining calibration run is complete, DHI will start design storm runs.
Regional LiDAR	44%	LiDAR Capture is at 44% as of 21 Feb. No significant capture has been completed since that date due to a required 100 hour maintenance service which has now been completed on the plane.

Northland LiDAR Capture

Northland LiDAR Capture as of 21 February 2019

Northland LiDAR Capture as of 7 February 2019

7.2.6 STRATEGY, Governance And Engagement

POLICY AND PLANNING

Proposed Regional Plan

The Hearing Panel is preparing its recommendations with the aim of presenting them to the April 2019 council meeting for approval. The aim is also for council to make its decisions on the provisions for managing genetically modified organisms at the same council meeting.

The council decisions version of the Proposed Regional Plan will have legal effect.

Once council has released its decisions, submitters will then have the ability to appeal provisions to the Environment Court.

National Initiatives

The one year review of the National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry will commence on 1 May 2019.

District Planning – Whangārei District Plan

All outstanding appeals on Whangārei District plan changes (the rural plan change ‘package’) have now been resolved by consent order agreed by all parties, meaning no Environment Court hearings are required. The consent order documents were signed on behalf of council under authority delegated to the Strategy, Policy and Planning Manager. The new district plan provisions align well with the Regional Policy Statement and are now operative.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Investment and Growth Reserve – Projects report

Project	February update	Future developments/ reporting
Extension 350	Nothing new to report.	Continue receiving progress reporting and invoicing as per funding agreement.
Resources Enterprise Limited (REL)	Met with REL directors to discuss plans to reopen mill. December interest payment has now been paid.	Expecting March interest payment and update on plans.
Hundertwasser Art Centre (Whangārei)	Nothing new to report.	Second invoice due at 50% works complete.
Kawakawa Hundertwasser Park Centre (Te Hononga)	Stone laying ceremony 1 February 2019 and construction underway.	Second invoice expected in April 2019.
Extended Regional Promotion	Report for first six months 2018/19 received.	Next report due August 2019 for second sixth months 2018/19.
Twin Coast Cycle Trail (TCCT)	Nothing new to report	Awaiting further progress report on remaining four easements to complete funding commitment. Maybe Q4.
Manea Footprints of Kupe	Letter sent to Te Hua O Te Kawariki Trust confirming Council funding awarded.	Finalise funding agreement between Trust, Manea operating company and FNHL.

Other activties

· Hosted a workshop on 15 February, led by University of Auckland researchers, on the availability and performance of aggregate resources. The workshop was attended by around 20 interested parties including council staff, quarry owners and operators and roading contractors.

· Third and final meeting held with NZTA, consultants, NInc and district council on developing walking and cycling business cases using funding awarded through the PGF. A report is expected from the consultants responsible for developing the business cases in due course.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Online Channels Highlights

· New online engagement portal launched
This new online platform was utilized successfully for the first time as part of the CoastCare “Northland Coast & Us” campaign. https://sharespace.nrc.govt.nz/
(Refer to the CoastCare section of this report for a summary of the campaign).

· Most popular post on Facebook – a short story about the Mitimiti CoastCare group and the mahi they are doing to restore Mitimiti’s dunes and protect native wildlife. The story outlines the cultural significance and beliefs of the dune systems connection with toheroa spat. This was part of a wider ‘Northland’s Coast and Us’ social media campaign aimed at promoting actions every can take to protect our coast and highlight mahi being done on the ground by local champions. Mitimiti’s story reached over 17,000 people and was shared 160 times.

Key Performance Indicators	Oct-18	Nov-18	Dec-18	Jan-19	Feb-19
WEB
# Visits to the NRC website	22,200	21,600	21,100	24,800	24,500
E-payments made	11	6	2	4	3
# subscription customers (cumulative)	1,154	1,153	1,159	1,167	1,173
SOCIAL MEDIA (cumulative)
# Twitter followers	1,415	1,413	1,418	1,416	1,428
# Instagram followers	596	615	646	663	689
# NRC Facebook fans	6,910	7,132	7,198	7,611	7,816
# NRC Overall Monthly Facebook Reach	137,800	137,200	70,275	87,800	168,100
# NRC Overall Monthly Engaged users	10,800	8,816	5,950	5889	11,700
# CDEM Facebook fans	No data	16,200	16,400	16,500	16,500
# CDEM Overall Monthly Facebook Reach	No data	47,200	59,299	14,800	43,800
# CDEM Overall Monthly Engaged Users	No data	3,644	6,829	1,051	4,925

* November data is for a 25 day period due to early reporting deadlines.

Enviroschools / Education

First Project Pest Control for 2019
On 20 and 21 February, the first Project Pest Control skills course for 2019 was held at the lake Waikare Event Centre. 31 students and teachers from Dargaville High, Otamatea High and Te Kura Taumata o Panguru took part. The Biosecurity team and Can Train NZ provided tutors.

Enviroschools Reflections

Date

School / Kindergarten

Enviroschools Stage

25 February

Celebration with Cr Joce Yeoman

Kerikeri Kindergarten

Silver

28 February

Celebration with Chairman Bill Shepherd

Hikurangi School

Bronze

School communities facilitated
25 school communities were visited by Enviroschools facilitators during February.

Marketing and Engagement

Northland Regional Council Environmental Awards

Entries opened for council’s inaugural environmental awards. We are busy promoting the opening of the awards and encouraging people to enter the eight categories. The award categories cover environmental action in: the community, pest management, education, water quality improvement, industry, leadership, innovation, kaitiakitanga.

Entrants can include individuals, community groups, schools, tangata whenua, businesses and leaders and projects/activities/contributions must be located within Northland and demonstrate significant benefit to the region’s environment. For more information www.nrc.govt.nz/environmentalwards

Events

Waitangi Day Celebrations (Wednesday 6 February)

Council provided an information display at Waitangi Day Celebrations for the first time this year. We had information on CoastCare, Check, Clean, Dry (protecting our freshwater from pests and weeds), Where’s your Wai and Maritime. Council’s site was located on the Sports Ground opposite the food vendors, which meant a lot of foot traffic but less engagement than other areas due to the volume of people. The audience staff engaged with was different to other events we attend, so we believe it is worth attending; however, we will be reviewing future attendance in terms of location, topics and staff.

Northland Field Days (Thursday 28 February – 2 March)

Our focus for the 2019 Northland Field Days was partnerships, Our Northland – together we thrive.

The pest control display – covering animals, weeds, freshwater weeds and pests, kauri dieback, and check, clean, dry, was kept very busy over the three days.

Kiwi Coast valued the opportunity to partner for the event which linked into the overall theme of working together to collectively lift pest management and biodiversity outcomes in Northland. Jenny Dymock supported the weed team with her biocontrol knowledge and opportunities for the community to use these methods. Representatives from MPI spoke about the KDB consultation. The weeds team were excited with the Mickey Mouse, Salvinia and other reportable weeds sightings that were obtained and will be followed up. A number of signs up were also received for the Weed Workshops.

In the land management section, information and advice was available on Farm Plans, soils, poplars and willows and Efund. With the work being done by the Afforestation team, a partnership with MPI incorporated advice on the One Billion Trees programme with representatives from Wellington attending. Representatives from the Million Metres programme, IKHMG and Nga Uri O Hau Native Nursery were on site talking about the Northern Waiora Project. Information about the Dune Lakes Project and wetlands was also available.

It was another successful field days with the Thursday surprisingly the busiest with farmers and landowners visiting. In addition to the large number of enquires received over the three days, an additional 100 query forms were taken with enquires that couldn’t be answered on the day.

We received positive feedback from the community on our display with 61 attendees completing our feedback survey. A summary of the key feedback:

· 80% of people think the field days display is a good use of ratepayer funds

· 85% of people found the information provided was useful (agree or strongly agree)

· 91% of people found staff competent and knowledgeable (agree or strongly agree)

· 93% of people found staff friendly and helpful (agree or strongly agree)

Māori Engagement

· During February, Te Taitokerau Māori and Council Working Party (TTMAC) member Te Huranga Hohaia sadly passed away. Mr Hohaia had been a member of TTMAC since its inception, representing Ngāti Rehia and wider Māori community.

Te Huranga will be sorely missed by TTMAC as he was an active member of the working party as well as Ngāti Rehia having hosted two regional marae based hui and co-hosted one other.

CouncIl extends its deepest sympathies to his family and Ngāti Rehia.

· Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē Board met during February where support staff presented a project charter, aimed at assiting the Board in its development of a beach management plan. The Board next meets in March to further progress development of the beach plan and to review a draft request for proposal.

· Staff from Auckland and Northland Regional Councils met to progress the development of a draft business case which would support discussions between central government, Kaipara Uri and councils seeking financial support for mitigation measures for the Kaipara Harbour. Once completed the draft document will be workshopped with council prior to going to the working party of councils and Kaipara Uri for their consideration.

· During February, staff form Ministry for the Environment (MfE) met with regional and Whangārei District Coucnil staff to discuss options for engaging Māori in RMA resource management processes. MfE discussed their current programme of work, seeking feedback as to its value, and input into future options. They also looked to see how they could add value to council processes.

Governance Support

Local government official information (LGOIMA) requests

Month	LGOIMA requests received 2017/18	LGOIMA requests received 2018/19
July	7	15
August	10	20
September	16	7
October	15	5
November	12	10
December	14	9
January	12	11
February	14	15
March	12
April	14
May	15
June	18

Total LGOIMA requests received	159	92
Total LGOIMA requests not responded to ≤ 20 working days*	15	0

In February 2019 there were no LGOIMA requests that exceeded 20 working days’ response.

7.2.7 Customer Service – Community Resilience

Telephone Inbound Call Statistics

	February 2019	Target
Call volume	2350
Conversion rate	97.8%	>95%
Average wait time	6 sec
Calls answered in under 30sec	96.1%	>90%

Call volumes for February were back up to normal levels after the January lull. With the exception of Monday 4 February, when the complete network went down and 36 calls were missed. The ability to answer phones from the regional offices has increased our ability to respond efficiently to customer enquiries including no disruption to service during a trial emergency evacuation in Water Street.

Satisfaction Monitoring

Feedback Cards, Compliments and Complaints

Feedback cards have been included with compliments and complaints, as appropriate.

Compliments received February

Total

Overall Service

Consents

Maritime

Monitoring

Service provided by a specific person

B Edwards & Z Pauling, Monitoring

D Watson Lawrence, Consents

P Munn, Customer Services

S Le Gars, Natural Resources Data

Common themes are that staff are responsive and easy to deal with.

Complaints received February

Total

Standard of service provided

Public transport related

Water quality at Ngunguru

Disagree with decision or process

Responses and not changing system

The bus contractor has been notified of all complaints regarding bus services and the individual customers have been contacted with a response. The two other complaints arrived late in the month and are still open.

Regional Customer Service Centres (CSC)

Waipapa Office

The Long Term Plan has increased council activity in mid-north with more staff working out of our Waipapa office. The demand for workspace has resulted in the Waipapa office being over capacity, which may affect the range of face-to-face services we can offer on some days.

Surveys - Internal

The post-implementation staff survey of the new phone system highlighted a poor overall satisfaction rating. A number of problems were identified, with most of the frustration around the three main areas for improvement – uneven call quality, phones not ringing, and headset issues. Our system providers are working on resolving these issues, and the implementation team are addressing individual set up problems. Additional user training will be offered when the system is fully stabilised and performing satisfactorily.

CIVIL DEFENCE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Warnings and Activations

A weather warning was issued for the Northland region in mid-February, however the forecast rain, did not reach the warning criteria and no issues arose.

The Nelson Tasman Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group declared a state of emergency in response to the Pigeon Valley Fire, Nelson which started on 5 February 2019. Multiple agencies were involved in the response including the Nelson Tasman CDEM Group who led the response, supported by Fire and Emergency New Zealand who led the fire management activities, Police, MPI and a number of Non-Governmental Organisations.

Three members of the Northland CDEM professional team, Graeme MacDonald, Claire Nyberg and Shona Morgan were deployed to support the response.

University of Auckland Research

The University of Auckland, together with the Global Network for Disaster Reduction are conducting research in the Onerahi area from 1 to7 March 2019. The research conducted is aiming to explore the challenges and opportunities to make emergency response and disaster resilience inclusive to all people, especially the most vulnerable groups in the community.

Several Onerahi community groups and members of the public will be involved in interviews as part of the research. This research is part of a multi-national international research programme.

Youth and Emergency Services

This year the Youth in Emergency Services Programme will be held in Whangārei. The initial meeting was held with stakeholders on 13 February. Agencies involved include, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Rural and urban fire), NZ Police Search and Rescue (SAR), Surf Lifesaving, St John and NZ Red Cross.

Emergency Management System Reform

The Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM) is continuing to work to implement many of the recommendations made in the Governments response to the Technical Advisory Group Report on the Ministerial Review on better responses to natural disasters and other emergencies.

Work on the design and development of the “Fly in Teams,” (NZFIT) which is effectively surge capacity and capability to support groups at the local and regional level during an emergency is progressing. MCDEM have released a Concept of Operations document which addressed some of the concerns that were raised by in the initial stages of the design of the group.

Nominations for membership close on 11 March and it is anticipated that Northland will make several nominations.

Progress is also being made on the new Response & Recovery Leadership Capability Development Programme with a workshop being held in mid-March in Auckland to review and provide feedback on the initial programme content.

A presentation was also made to the CDEM and CDEG Group meeting on 6 March by a representative from DPMC, who is working on legislative changes to the CDEM Act 2002 that have been recommend out of the review findings.

Northland Controllers

The Northland controller’s development programme for the 2019 year has been developed. A gap analysis to identify professional development opportunities and needs was carried out. A half day training day is scheduled in late March that focuses on the role of the controller during an emergency event. Planning is also underway for a full days training in May to review the Awanui river management scheme and to hold a desk top exercise based upon the Kaitāia Evacuation plan. The day also includes the opportunity to meet with local key stakeholders.

TRANSPORT

Regional Land Transport Planning

Government Policy Statement 2018/19 – 2027/28 Review

As previously indicated, a second stage of GPS 2018 was considered for release in 2019. Early indications are that any second stage of the 2018 GPS will be limited to matters that need immediate action outside of the regular three-year GPS cycle, such as investment in rail. The Minister of Transport will consider whether this second stage is required in early 2019.

National Road Safety Strategy 2020-2030

The Government has stated that they will be commencing work on the new National Road Safety Strategy 2020-2030. The development of the strategy will be led by the Ministry of Transport and will outline the steps New Zealand will take to meaningfully reduce deaths and serious injuries over the coming decade.

The development will take until September 2019 and will incorporate multiple opportunities for collaboration and engagement with stakeholders and the broader public.

Passenger Transport Administration

Total Mobility

Total Mobility (TM) figures are reported on one month in arrears, as the required information is unavailable at the time of the agenda deadline.

Total clients

Monthly

Actual

Expend

Monthly Budget Expend

Variance

Year/Date

Actual Expend

Year/Date

Budgeted Expend

Variance

January

1440

$19,572

$25,000

-$5,428

$125,630

$175,000

-$49,370

On 12 February 2019, staff attended the Disability Action Group (DAG ) meeting in Kerikeri to get a better understanding of their transport needs, and to discuss the content of the report titled “Investigation into the Needs and Availability of Total Mobility/Disability Services in Northland” to be tabled at the 13 February 2019 Regional Transport Committee (RTC) meeting. The RTC approved the recommendation of work commencing in the next financial year.

Contracted Bus Services

Due to information for this report being required prior to the receipt of the monthly statistics from the operators, complete statistics are not available. Therefore, the information included below is one month in arrears.

Operational Statistics

January 2019 (revenue ex GST)	Actual	Budget	Variance	Year/Date Actual	Year/Date Budgeted
City Link Passengers	21404	17689	3715	178012	176494
City Link Revenue	*$30,349*	$37,090	*- $6,741	$288,537	$352,362
Mid North Link Passengers	162	426	-264	1315	2922
Mid North Link Revenue	$586	$2,778	-$2,191	$4,808	$18,491
Hokianga Link Passengers	34	54	-20	192	228
Hokianga Link Revenue	$458	$625	-$167	$2426	$2,894
Far North Link Passengers	580	639	-59	4066	4467
Far North Link Revenue	$1,176	$1,299	-$123	$9,093	$10,672

February 2019

(revenue ex GST)

Actual

Budget

Variance

Year/Date

Actual

Year/Date

Budgeted

City Link Passengers

28414

25241

3172

132783

136452

CityLink Revenue

$37,430

$49,745

-$12,314

$330,519

$402,107

Southern Express Route promotion

On 21 February 2019, staff visited the local businesses on this route to deliver timetables, and free bus tickets to encourage more workers to use the service. This was also a good opportunity to speak to some staff and their management regarding what would work best for their industry’s and to possibly develop a bus timetable that would better suit start and finish times for the workers in this area.

Road Safety Update

The current Northland road deaths stands at 6, and nationally at 54 deaths.

Failure to wearing seat belts, speed and impairment are again issues involved in the Northland deaths despite high profile campaigns by Police and road safety promotion messaging across all the social media platforms including radio and print.

Key advertising themes by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for January & February 2019 centred on ‘Speed & Motorcycling, Alcohol and Drugs’.

Regional Road Deaths Statistics – 2019 & 2018 Comparison Year To Date:

Location	YTD 2019	YTD 2018
Far North	3	2
Whangārei	3	6
Kaipara	0	1
Northland	6	9
National	54	63

Road safety partners are currently developing a Northland wide ‘Speed Management’ response.

Four successful Fatigue Stops have been held in the last two months during the peak holiday periods. Three were held northbound on SH1 at Uretiti and one further north at Waiomio.

32 motorcycle riders from throughout Northland attend the subsidised ACC “Ride Forever” training programmes in January 2019.

The AutoSense Mobile Truck Simulator for evaluating driver competency was in Northland for three days during in February 2019. This Simulator will be returning again in late June 2019 with more trucking companies booking this resource to evaluate their drivers.

MARITIME

The month of February saw 18 cruise ships call to the Bay of Islands without incident. There have been no cancellations due to weather so far this season. Staff have been trialling a new LINZ electronic chart service with promising results so far, the service is looking to go live to the public mid this year.

Over the month of February, 16 incidents were received. Most of the incidents comprised of offences and accidents. The rest of the incidents were made up of mooring incidents and damage or failure of aids to navigation - most notably, the destruction of the newly replaced K1 beacon in the Whangarei Harbour. This was likely knocked over by a passing vessel, however no specific vessel has been positively identified. Damage to Aids to Navigation in Whangarei harbour is a fairly regular occurrence. No Major Oil spill or environmental incidents were reported.

Signs have been placed at the Waipū Boat club in response to complaints received about jet skis and speeding vessels in the Waipū River. Further discussions are to be had and a plan established regarding continued complaints surrounding dangerous behaviour in Mangawhai Harbour.

At the beginning of the month a possibility was raised that the cement vessel “Buffalo” might visit Portland. Risk assessments were carried out, and pilots, crew and the deputy harbourmaster attended simulator exercises which defined careful environmental parameters for the ship to berth and unberth. Despite being ideal calm conditions unfortunately the vessel did cause some damage to the cement wharf on departure. The harbourmaster and pilot’s operations manager are investigating to ensure all lessons learnt are captured. The wharf can still be used but will require some repairs.

The harbourmaster and marine manager met with key stakeholders in Hokianga to explore options to improve safety with the growth in jetski operations. A new ski lane and a dedicated swimming area are planned for at Opononi and will be consulted on.

Work has been ongoing improving communications between stakeholders of the Marsden point incident response plan. A tier 2 oil spill exercise is scheduled for 13^th of March and a national response exercise in the first week of April. Both exercises will be held at Marsden point.

The first Harbour Safety Meeting of the year was held on the 4^th of February. The annual hydrographic survey of the harbour is currently underway – This follows maintenance dredging work conducted over January at Northport and the refinery.

The Kai Iwi Lakes Navigation Safety Bylaw Infringement Regulation has been drafted to be finally put before the Cabinet Legislation Committee.

The harbourmaster attended a National on scene commander meeting in Auckland and a managing marine emergencies course in Wellington funded by Marine Pollution Response services.

Attachments/Ngā tapirihanga

Nil

[1] Prepared under the Resource Management Act 1991

Name:	Dave Tams
Title:	Group Manager, Corporate Excellence
Date:	08 March 2019

Name:	Chris Taylor
Title:	Governance Support Manager
Date:	12 March 2019

Name:	Jonathan Gibbard
Title:	Group Manager - Strategy, Governance and Engagement
Date:	12 March 2019

Name:	Jonathan Gibbard
Title:	Group Manager - Strategy, Governance and Engagement
Date:	12 March 2019

Name:	Bruce Howse
Title:	Group Manager - Environmental Services
Date:	07 March 2019

TITLE:	Health and Safety Report
ID:	A1170730
From:	Beryl Steele, Human Resources Manager

TITLE:	Confirmation of Minutes - 19 February 2019
ID:	A1169753
From:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager

TITLE:	Receipt of Action Sheet
ID:	A1171230
From:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager

TITLE:	Working Party Updates and Chairpersons' Briefings
ID:	A1167741

TITLE:	Financial Report to 28 February 2019
ID:	A1170951
From:	Vincent McColl, Financial Accountant

TITLE:	2018 Service Delivery Reviews
ID:	A1166427
From:	Linda Harrison, Organisational Project Manager

No.	Option	Advantages	Disadvantages
1.	Maintain status quo delivery models for all services reviewed in 2018	This option is the most cost effective as analysis conducted to date indicates that the cost of any further reviews is likely to outweigh the benefits.	Council does not get to see the full range of alternative delivery options available.
2	Undertake more detailed reviews	Provide additional details to council.	This represents unbudgeted expenditure unlikely to yield additional benefits to the work already undertaken.

TITLE:	Planning Working Party - Terms of Reference
ID:	A1169484
From:	Michael Day, Natural Resources Policy Manager

TITLE:	Appointment of Trustee to the Northland Events Centre Trust
ID:	A1170997
From:	Dave Tams, Group Manager, Corporate Excellence

TITLE:	2019 Local Government New Zealand Conference
ID:	A1171590
From:	Bill Shepherd, Chairman

Name:	Bill Shepherd
Title:	Chairman
Date:	12 March 2019

TITLE:	Regional Software Holdings Limited - Six Month Report to 31 December 2018 and Statement of Intent for 2020-2022
ID:	A1172869
From:	Carol Cottam, Information Services and Technology Manager and Simon Crabb, Finance Manager

TITLE:	Chair's Report to Council
ID:	A1169638
From:	Bill Shepherd, Chairman

TITLE:	Northland Inc. Ltd Report Against SOI 2018-21 for Period July to December 2018
ID:	A1169973
From:	Jon Trewin, Economic Policy Advisor

Work program area	How we will measure	2017/18 result	2018/19 target	2018/19 Actual as at 31 December	% to target	Comment (by Northland Inc.)	Tracking (by NRC staff)
Investment and infrastructure	Percentage of IGR business case decisions (by the Board) made within 90 days of receiving application	New measure	100%	100%	100%	Applications being processed under new criteria are within timeframes.	On track
	Number of inward delegations hosted	New measure	4	2	50%	Two hosted in this quarter ‐ Plastic Recycling Technology from Germany and a Natural Resources Investment firm from the UK.	On track
	Investment recommendations are accompanied by a robust business case	New measure	100%	0		Not required to date.	On track
	Number and value of high impact projects that are implemented	New measure	2	0		None implemented to date but several projects are progressing.	On track
Business innovation and growth	Number of unique businesses assisted (by TA and industry)	225	230	89	38%	Source RBP Dashboard. Slightly behind schedule (target to 31 Dec was 97).	Slightly behind
	Value of NZTE and Callaghan Innovation grant funding facilitated	$1.5M	$1.5M	$567,726	38%	Source RBP Dashboard and Callaghan. We are confident applications in the pipeline will support achievement of the KPI.	Slightly behind
	Client satisfaction (as measured by Net Promoter Score)	New measure	75% (NPS 50)	100 %		Numbers have not changed since the Sept quarter as central govt reporting has not updated.	On track
	Orchard occupancy rate	45%	60%	87.5%		Orchard occupancy remains strong despite the challenges of construction.	On track
Regional promotion and tourism	Visitor spend from target markets	New measure	$1,052M	$1,119m	106%	This is a rolling 12‐month figure to 30 December 2018. Source MBIE research.	On track
	Value of industry investment in regional promotion activity	$340,408	$350,000	$251,676	71.9%		On track
	Equivalent advertising value achieved from destination marketing	$15M	$16.5M	$3.04m	20.3%	Tourism New Zealand reports on a quarterly basis and results are sometimes delayed and often reported retrospectively. Year to March 2019 EAV is $15.4 million. We are well on track to achieve $16.5 million by June 2019.	On track
	RTO Net Promoter Score: 6 or less are detractors, 7-8 neutral, 9,10 are promoters. NPS subtracts % detractors from % promoters.	New measure	40	43	108%	Source is AA traveller national visitor monitor. So this is a regional score that reflects travellers’ assessment of Northland as a visitor destination against other regions. We are in the top 1/3. There are no regions scoring 75 or above.	On track
Action Plan	Percentage of milestones completed	New measure	100%	61	100%		On track
Māori economic development	Number of unique Māori businesses assisted	New measure	30	16	53%	Source Northland Inc. CRM.	On track
	Number and value of high impact projects that are implemented	New measure	1	0	0	None implemented to date but several projects are progressing.	On track
	Value of NZTE and Callaghan Innovation grant funding facilitated for Māori businesses	New measure	$50,000	$18,778	37%		Slightly behind
	Client satisfaction (Net Promoter Score for Māori businesses)	New measure	75% (NPS 50)		TBA	Insufficient data to measure	Unknown at this stage

TITLE:	Receipt of Committee Minutes
ID:	A1167594
From:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager

Item No.	Item Issue	Reasons/Grounds
9.1	Confirmation of Confidential Minutes - 19 February 2019	The public conduct of the proceedings would be likely to result in disclosure of information, as stated in the open section of the meeting -.
9.2	Receipt of Confidential Committee Minutes	The public conduct of the proceedings would be likely to result in disclosure of information, as stated in the open section of the meeting -.
9.3	Human Resources Report	The public conduct of the proceedings would be likely to result in disclosure of information, the withholding of which is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of deceased natural persons s7(2)(a).
9.4	Purchase of a Whangārei CBD Property	The public conduct of the proceedings would be likely to result in disclosure of information, the withholding of which is necessary to enable council to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities s7(2)(h) and the withholding of which is necessary to enable council to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations) s7(2)(i).
9.5	Whangārei CBD Property Demolition	The public conduct of the proceedings would be likely to result in disclosure of information, the withholding of which is necessary to enable council to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities s7(2)(h).