Agenda of Council Meeting

Council Meeting item: 8.2

21 May 2019

TITLE:	Chief Executive’s Report to Council
ID:	A1189602
From:	Malcolm Nicolson, Chief Executive Officer

Recommendation

That the report ‘Chief Executive’s Report to Council’ by Malcolm Nicolson, Chief Executive Officer and dated 6 May 2019, be received.

8.2.1 Highlights

Predator Free Northland

Predator Free 2050 Ltd has shortlisted the Expression of Interest that was submitted for a Predator Free Northland project. A completed bid will need to be submitted by 31 May 2019.

The bid will focus on the four eradication zones identified in the Expression of Interest (EOI) (Whangarei Heads, Cape Brett, Russell, and Purerua) and the adjoining areas identified as suppression/buffer zones, and urban pest control areas. PF2050 Ltd has requested we focus the bid on the eradication of predators from the areas specified. We will need to provide:

· a detailed plan about how we plan to eradicate certain predators from the four eradication zones,

· a plan for how we will defend these from reinvasion,

· specific costings and operational details within the project plans on the eradication and defence of each location.

Predator Free 2050 Limited funding is restricted to a 2:1 ratio, i.e. for every $1 of Predator Free 2050 funds, $2 needs to be funded from other sources. We will need to clearly identify who the other funders are, and what their cash or in-kind contributions will be for the duration of the project.

Providing we can demonstrate the 2:1 funding from each area, we will progress with these and start developing a Predator Free Project Plan for each area / project. Developing the bid and project plans over the next few weeks will require a significant amount of collaboration and support from everyone involved.

ALGIM Award

Council’s GIS team has won the GIS Project of the Year award for the second year running with its “Northland Civil Defence Operational Overview” project.

This year’s entry showcased the work the GIS team has done in support of our Civil Defence team to revolutionise how the emergency operation centre (EOC) operated in all four stages of an event – reduction, readiness, response and recovery.

Leveraging tools from the ESRI ArcGIS suite, the operational overview gathers real time information for situation reports and action planning to publish. This approach has been designed with one purpose in mind – to provide help when help is needed.

Utilising this ArcGIS Suite delivers vast amounts of information through an Emergency Operations Centre at a rapid pace, which assists in all six functions of a CDEM response – Intelligence, Planning, Operations, Welfare, Public Information and Logistics. Communicating with easy to understand visuals and utilising one source of truth in a timely fashion, has a positive impact on a response; from accurate data collection, real time maps, effective communication to and from the public and well-organised deployment of staff and volunteers.

The expected outcome of the project was to transform CDEM workflows through providing a suite of templates built from the GIS tools already at our disposal, to deliver the benefits the use of GIS (as a service model) can provide in our moment of need.

By demonstrating our suite of GIS tools, which have been adopted, this outcome has been realised - GIS has become an integral part of CDEM operating procedures, transforming the EOC into a real time, single source of truth, operation.

8.2.2 CEO’s Office

COUNCIL PROPERTY UPDATE

· A Sale & Purchase Agreement to purchase a CBD property has gone unconditional.

· Redevelopment at 8 Kensington Avenue - Four companies, three from Northland and one based in Auckland, have been shortlisted for the head construction contractor. Argyle are lodging the building consent in May 2019. It is anticipated a decision to proceed or not will be made at the July 2019 council meeting.

· Purchase of a Waipapa property has been agreed between vendor and council and the Sale & Purchase Agreement is to be signed.

· Kaipara Service Centre - KDC councillors are considering the option of a lease agreement with council on 30 May 2019.

· The Mt Tiger Forest harvest and clean-up is expected to be complete by mid-May 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	A judicial telephone conference was held on 17 April 2019. A hearing of the appeal has been scheduled in July 2019.
Consent decision appeal	Seventeen groundwater takes for horticultural irrigation at Houhora, Motutangi, and Waiharara	All parties have provided comment on amended conditions. Awaiting the Court’s further decision on the applications.
Consent decision appeal	Replacement consents for, and new consents for an expansion of, Doug’s Opua Boat Yard in Walls Bay, Ōpua.	An Environment Court hearing in relation to the renewal of the existing consents for the boatyard was held on 9 and 10 April 2019. The hearing was adjourned pending the Court receipt of closing submissions of counsel for the appellant. Closing submissions were received 18 April 2019. Court decision awaited.

8.2.3 Corporate Excellence

FRAUD DECLARATION

There was one suspected instance of fraudulent behaviour investigated during the March 2019 quarter. This investigation focused on a Fly Buys card accumulating 243 loyalty points from purchases made on council’s Noel Leeming account - this equates to approximately $40.

The findings of the internal investigation were that the Fly Buys card was not being repeatedly presented by a council employee when placing an order or shopping in-store. It was discovered that the Fly Buys card was originally lodged onto council’s Noel Leeming account during a purchase made in April 2018. The council employee involved in the April 2018 purchase was interviewed and their personal Fly Buys card verified, which did not match the card number that was accumulating points.

It was concluded that no fraud had been committed by a NRC staff member.

Council has formally requested that Noel Leeming remove the unauthorised Fly Buys card from their system. Fly Buys NZ (who refused to release the card holder’s name on the basis that it contravened their privacy statement) have been informed of the investigation and its findings.

Internally, council’s code of conduct has been updated to be very clear that loyalty cards are not to be used in conjunction with any council purchases, and as part of our commitment to a zero-tolerance culture in respect to Fraud and Corruption, management has engaged Deloitte to develop an online Fraud and Corruption awareness training course. This training programme will be rolled out to all council employees during May.

Council can be assured that the fraud policy, detection and investigation are appropriate and worked in this instance.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

GIS Shared Services with Kaipara District Council

Through the shared strategic plan, Northland Forward Together, councils in Northland have committed to collaborating on opportunities where the Northland Region will benefit. A Memorandum of Understanding formalising the intention of the Kaipara District Council to leverage our council’s GIS environment and capabilities to store and consume geospatial data for their use was signed in January 2019.

Subsequently, both councils have signed an agreement formalising the provision of services to be delivered, with effect from 1 July 2019. The primary objective is to deliver efficient and effective GIS services to the councils, centralising data storage in a single environment and leveraging our council’s mature and growing GIS capability. Additional capacity, funded through the agreement, will support the provision of GIS services and projects and will be delivered through a common framework for both councils.

Enterprise System

The following provides an update on progress with this project following the most recent update to council in April.

• Auckland Council – a high level assessment of the Auckland Council System to determine suitability and fit has been completed. The match was close in most areas except for billing of Resource Consent activities.

• Waikato Regional Council – with the comprehensive business case now approved, our council has requested and received anonymous pricing from the supplier providing indicative costs, leveraging the syndicated procurement opportunities.

• Our council – a summary of the intended business benefits has been drafted.

All of these elements will assist with the preparation of the high-level business case and evaluation of options.

The next update to council is scheduled for 28 May.

Cyber Security

The Phriendly Phishing education programme continues and will be extended in July with an additional education programme - Keep Secure 5 awareness training series. This awareness training takes users on a tour across different historical events to allow them to gain a better understanding of current security threats.

8.2.4 Regulatory Services

CONSENTS IN PROCESS

During April 2019, a total of 121 decisions were issued. These decisions comprised:

• Moorings	1
• Coastal Permits	40
• Air Discharge Permits	1
• Land Discharge Permits	7
• Water Discharge Permits	1
• Land Use Consents	31
• Water Permits	32
• Bore Consents	8

The processing timeframes for the April 2019 consents ranged from:

• 1531 to 2 calendar days, with the median time being 39 days;

• 263 to 2 working days, with the median time being 24 days.

Thirty-nine applications were received in April 2019.

Of the 103 applications in progress at the end of April 2019:

• 35 were received more than 12 months ago (most awaiting further information);

• 22 were received between 6 and 12 months ago (most awaiting further information);

• 46 less than 6 months.

Appointment of Hearing Commissioners

No commissioners were appointed in April 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 April 2019 is (by number):

§ Applications Publicly/Limited Notified During Previous Month	0
§ Progress on Applications Previously Notified	6
§ Hearings and Decisions	1
§ Appeals/Objections	3

COMPLIANCE MONITORING

The results of compliance monitoring for the period 1 – 30 April 2019 (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	33	26	2	4	1
Coastal permit	222	103	68	36	15
Discharge permit	98	79	11	5	3
Land use consent	48	44	0	0	4
Water permit	117	77	20	0	20
Total	518	329	101	45	43
Percentage		63.5%	19.5%	8.7%	8.3%
YTD	7382	5910	840	299	333
Percentage		70%	11.4%	4.1%	4.5%

Coastal

The majority of consents monitored during the reporting period related to coastal discharges (treated municipal sewage, industrial and boat maintenance facilities) and coastal structures. Marina water quality sampling and the annual aerial inspection of all marine farms in the region were also undertaken.

Hazardous Substances

· Five incidents involving the discharge of hazardous substances and 20 enquiries regarding contaminated land were received and responded to.

· 92.9 kg of hazardous waste was disposed of.

Water, Waste, Air and Land Use Compliance Monitoring

During the month:

· Three staff attended the ‘Basic Investigative Skills’ course that is run by the Waikato Regional Council. This training provides staff with the necessary skills and tools to use when undertaking investigations to assess compliance and appropriate enforcement options when breaches are found.

· One staff member attended a ‘Water Meter Verification Workshop’ with Irrigation New Zealand.

· Two staff attended a ‘Confined Space’ course in Whangarei. This course is required for safe entry to our hazardous substances facility at the ReSort waste management site.

An app that manages the interface between our external incident response contractor (Armourguard) and our database IRIS was relaunched on 1 April. There were a number of implementation issues from the previous launch that compliance staff had worked through to successfully overcome.

Approximately 90% of water use records have been provided by, or obtained from water take consent holders for 2018, which is an improvement on previous years. There are some 30 consent holders that haven’t provided records but, based on previous information, this is believed to be because they didn’t take water in 2018.

Environmental incidents

There were no incidents recorded during the reporting period that resulted in a significant environmental impact.

ENFORCEMENT

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	1	1	1	2
Farm dairy effluent	0	0	1	1	1	1
Hazardous substances, spills and refuse	0	0	1	2	1	2
Illegal activity in coastal marine area	0	0	5	5	5	5
Illegal use of lake bed or river bed	0	0	1	1	1	1
Total	1	1	9	10	9	11

Other Enforcement

· 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 land owner 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. At the Court call-over on 18 April 2019 the judge dealt with administrative matters. The next call-over date is 23 May 2019.

· Enforcement Order – Paihia wastewater treatment plant

Following a pre-hearing conference/settlement conference held on 4 March 2019, the Environment Court issued Enforcement Orders against FNDC on 20 March 2019. The orders set out milestones to complete an upgraded WWTP. FNDC met the first milestone on 5 April 2019, by notifying NRC and the Court of its resolution approving funding for the upgrade.

· Farm dairy effluent – Waipū

Charges have been laid against a Waipū farmer for offending which occurred in July and December 2018 relating to discharges of untreated effluent from breakages in irrigation lines. The farm has a poor history of compliance with regional rules for animal effluent disposal. He pleaded guilty to all charges on 18 April 2019 and a sentencing hearing has been tentatively scheduled for 14 June 2019.

· Farm dairy effluent – Maungakaramea

Charges have been laid against a farm owner, his company and a farm manager for offences which occurred in September 2018. The farmer has a poor history of compliance with regional rules for animal effluent disposal. Disclosure for these charges hasn’t been done yet and no court dates have been set.

· Farm dairy effluent – Maromaku

HYDROLOGY

Rivers / Rain situation

· As for recent months, rainfall totals for the month were generally below that predicted by long term medians. The beginning of the month was quite wet, but subsequent rainfall was isolated and intermittent. The driest areas were inland Hokianga through to Kaitāia and up to Cape Rēinga, plus the eastern coastal fringe. In the south, it was slightly wetter than expected for April as well as in a few isolated spots (Tutāmoe, Inland Paihia and Ōruru/Taipā). The average rainfall from 48 sites region-wide was 77.1mm and the median rainfall 71.7mm when we would usually expect 98.8mm.

· River flows throughout most of the region remain a lot lower than expected for the month, with most stations in the region recording 20-40% of expected flow and some between 0-20% of expected flow, averaged through the whole month.

Hydrology Projects

· A dissolved oxygen sensor has been installed at the Opouteke River recorder. This is the third of five continuous DO sensors to be installed.

· The rain recorder at the Bay of Islands Golf Club has been shifted in order to conform with NEMS.

· The thresholds for flooding across SH1, Kaitāia are being updated due to the river works completed so far. The updated thresholds will be available shortly.

NATURAL RESOURCES DATA

· A new version of “Water Meter System” was received from Hilltop Software in mid-April, which includes the option for CSV Import.

· Survey123 – still testing the electronic data capture in the field (a coastal run was completed in April), with positive feedback being received from monitoring officers.

· A new option for the Field Monitoring Group Quality System has been drafted and will be presented at the next Monitoring Quality Meeting.

NATURAL RESOURCES SCIENCE

Coastal

· Samples were collected from the council’s estuary monitoring sites in Kerikeri Inlet following 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. This 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 fish Index of “Biotic Integrity” has been developed for Northland. This project was funded by an Envirolink grant and the draft report is now available for feedback. The advice given will enable data from the council’s fish monitoring programme to be used to assess the state of fish communities in the region and measure the effectiveness of current policies and practices in protecting/enhancing these.

· The fish monitoring programme is well underway and is expected to be fully completed for the first time since it was established in 2015.

· The NPS-FM implementation plan is being finalised by the Planning and Policy team.

Air quality

· Ambient PM₁₀ monitoring results for March 2019 for the Whangārei and Marsden Point airsheds and Kaikohe show 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 for summer 2018/19 is now completed, with all five sites monitored this summer recording elevated PM10 concentrations. The results will be sent to the relevant district councils/road controlling authorities.

· PM₁₀ monitoring in Kaikohe was completed at the end of April.

· The search for a suitable PM₁₀ monitoring site in the Kawakawa township has been challenging, but continues.

· A contract has been signed with Energy and Technical Services Limited (ETSL) to track the council’s carbon emissions.

· An Envirolink grant application has been prepared with NIWA for a project to:

o Rank Northland’s five airsheds from potentially highest to lowest concentrations of PM_2.5 and,

o List potential hotspots/representative locations suitable for National Environmental Standard for Air Quality monitoring.

Surface water

· Northland has experienced a prolonged period of dryness since July 2018 that still remains at moderate level in many parts of the region regardless of heavy rain at the beginning of the month. It is worth noting that the assessment is purely based on rainfall data.

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 monthly river water quality, priority catchment, and periphyton sampling programmes were undertaken in new combined sampling runs for the first time this month. The intent of combining these programmes is to improve health and safety with two officers at each site, increase efficiency and reduce costs.

8.2.5 Environmental Services

Land Management

Environment Fund Update

Land Management staff are currently signing off completed projects. To date $590,083 of completed projects have been paid out.

Farm Environment Plans (FEP) – 2018/19

This financial year 134 FEP’s have been commenced and 78 completed.

Nursery Expansion and Harvest Update

We are currently preparing for the upcoming harvest and the 2019 planting of expansion blocks 9, 10 and 11 at the Flyger Road nursery.

Kaipara Hill Country Erosion Project

With the poplar season coming up fast, we are collating orders to supply 2000 poplar/willow poles for erosion control purposes within the Kaipara catchment for the 2019 season. Original contracts were set to supply and deliver 3500 poles but due to the current nursery expansion to increase future capacity, pole numbers this season are limited.

Hātea catchment update

The final year of the MFE-funded project has started, with Milestone 3 reporting covering action completed between June 2018 and March 2019 with a total spend of $33,195 for:

· 3.6kms fencing

· 2,350+ plants

· 4 troughs

A plan to tackle the lack of uptake is in progress, including mailout of the third targeted landowner letter in March, employment of a short-term staff member to increase project promotion (beginning 29 April), an open day at Kamo Farmlands to discuss the project and initiate grant applications on 4 May.

Three signs are now out in the catchment attached to roadside fences, promoting projects already completed. Two new videos using catchment landowners who have completed projects with our funding are also to be released late April.

Hill Country Erosion Fund – Sustainable Hill Country and Regional Priorities

We are in the final stages of contract negotiations, looking to be finalised within May.

Hill Country Erosion Fund Boost Year Fund - Recent Work Activities

· Internal NRC Technical Advisory Group (TAG) has been established cross-departmentally regarding afforestation and forestry, to help align and understand the staff capacity and capability.

· Regional stakeholder expert workshop held 4 April. Held to get a regional perspective of regional priorities of multiple agencies and community within the reforestation and afforestation space. Workshop minutes were circulated to attendees for feedback. A follow up action plan was created and a proposed pilot in a priority catchment (Doubtless Bay) was proposed.

· Stakeholder engagement: Discussions with forest industry, plant nurseries, whenua Māori, private landowners, and related agencies being documented to inform Final Project Report.

· Iwi Engagement Plan in place and in action. Gathering feedback to understand the issues and opportunities for iwi, hapu, and whanau around afforestation and land management.

Northern Wairoa Project

· Priority areas within the Northern Wairoa catchment are being developed with the project partnership to target efforts where we can measure change. This will be used to rank projects for funding allocations.

· The first projects from this fund are being signed off by the project team. The new subsidies for troughs are proving successful and well received by landowners.

· Five community planting sites have been scoped across the catchment for planting this winter. Planting plans are currently being prepared for approval by the partnership and by Council delegated authority.

BIODIVERSITY

FIF Dune Lakes Project

Council is progressing a permission from EPA towards an exemption to the rule that Endothall herbicide must be deployed in quarter lake doses in favour of whole lake treatment. If successful, this will reduce deployment costs by three-quarters and will limit water restriction time from 35 to only 14 days.

Annual Lakes Ecological Survey

The annual lakes ecological survey in conjunction with NIWA was undertaken. A total of 19 waterbodies were surveyed over a five-day period plus bird counts and shore survey of wetlands. Four new lakes were dived and four lakes were visited/dived which have not been checked for over 10 years. Weed surveillance was done at two public access lakes and entry points. The water clarity in Lake Waiporohita on the Karikari Peninsula has declined, although submerged plant beds are still present. Lake Wahakari appears to have improved and will be put on the schedule for full Lakes Submerged Plant Index (SPI) monitoring in 2020. The water clarity in Lakes Morehurehu and Te Kaihka in the Far North has not improved after forestry harvest several years ago. A population of the critically Endangered plant Trithuria inconspicua was found in Lake Rotokawau (Awanui). It has not been seen in this lake since 1991 despite searches.

Iwi representatives accompanied the team on three of the days. A meeting was also held at Lake Omapere between NIWA, NRC and members of the Lake Omapere Trustee and iwi. Lake levels were extremely low and unfortunately fragments of the pest oxygen weed egeria were found on the shore. Up until now it had been assumed that it had been eradicated by grass carp which were introduced in the 1990’s. As the lake has not been dived for a number of year it is unknown how widespread egeria is and this will need to be ascertained before further options can be considered. Iwi expressed an interest in getting a delimitation survey done as soon as possible.

Check, Clean, Dry Advocacy
The 2018-19 Check Clean Dry summer programme is now complete and the end of season report has been submitted to MPI. Final payment from MPI for the summer advocacy work has been received.

CoastCare

Site visits have been held to plan, discuss and confirm work to be undertaken this planting season. The number of spinifex available for planting this year is down considerably from the original order, due to a very bad propagation season. Therefore, some planting projects will have to be cut back or delayed until next year. The first planting day dates have been set for 18 May at Tern Point, Mangawhai and 13 June at Waipū Cove. Weed control work is currently being done at a number of sites to maintain dune restoration areas and prepare for planting.

Biosecurity

Threats/Incursions

· Auckland Fruit Fly Incursions

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) led Queensland Fruit Fly Response is ongoing, with an additional single male fruit fly confirmed on the 25 April. This latest find was discovered in a surveillance trap in Northcote, and brings the total number of flies found in the immediate Northcote area to seven. As a result of the latest find, restrictions placed on the movement of fruit (which had been lifted on 12 April) were reinstated on 25 April. Staff have assisted with the initial response however are not involved further at this stage.

· Mycoplasma bovis

The MPI led M. bovis Response continues to target risk properties and animals within Northland. A number of Northland farms remain under Notices of Direction and Restricted Place Notices. Council biosecurity staff are no longer directly involved as MPI have their own officers on farm managing the incidents.

Partnerships

· Tutukaka High Value Area - activities included:

o Predator control: Summer/Spring fortnightly checks were carried out in both the Tutukaka Landcare (TLC) and Sandy Bay areas. A planned TLC trap line audit is underway. Historical trap data from the TLC has been reformatted and entered into the Trap.NZ website.

o Kauri Dieback: Liaison with Te Araroa Trail Trust with mitigation and signage measures have been put in place.

o Species work: Data analysis from the February pāteke (brown teal) count has been completed, showing increased numbers and distribution. Radio tracking of three adult kiwi continues. Trail cameras at the Oi (grey faced petrel) colony at Taurawhata has shown birds nest prospecting again following their successful fledging of chicks last spring. The gannet colony establishment continues to show promise with birds seen on the ground in response to calls and decoys. Both of these colonies are responding to intensive pest control initiatives by the Bowden family (and their contractor) at Tawāpou.

o Advocacy: Year seven students were initiated into the Environmental Education Group. Sessions included lessons on land use change, species protection, trapping, community involvement, and a field trip to Kukutauwhao Island to look and protect an Oi colony.

o Invasive weeds: Continued work on weed surveys and setting up priority species and sites.

o Community events: Have produced an average of 100 volunteer hours per month. Specialist Weed Assistance Team members have been inducted and trained to carry out events and meet health and safety requirements.

· Whangarei Heads High Value Area

The Weed Action Whangarei Heads community group continues to look for new ways to support the community to take action against weeds.

As well as their normal targeted road side signage and support for landowners through the community store, this month they have established a free moth plant pod drop off point to encourage people to remove the pods and reduce disposal costs.

This is located at the trial green waste facility the group negotiated with Whangarei District Council.

Moth Plant pod amnesty drum.

· Piroa-Brynderwyns High Value Area

The Piroa-Bryderwyns Weed Action group is building momentum with two more volunteer events held over the last month, one at Langs Beach, and one at Mangawhai. In planning these events the group was able to build good connections with Kaipara District Council Reserves team and the Department of Conservation respectively. The group also had a presence at the Easter markets, to raise awareness in the community of the advice and support available (through the new Weed Action Coordinator) to landowners and groups facing weed issues. Purchasing and set up is also underway for the community weed control resources store.

· Kiwi Coast Partnerships - highlights included:

o Tanekaha CPCA Kiwi Release: On 26 March four kiwi were released by the Tanekaha community into their predator controlled area. Over 270 people attended the event.

o Pukenui-Western Hills Kiwi Release: On 6 April, 12 more kiwi were released into the Pukenui-Western Hills Forest. The public event (at Hurupaki Primary School) was attended by 250 people. Kiwi Coast was on hand at both these releases to talk about the unique features of kiwi, the pest control required to help them thrive, assist with fundraising, and engage the public in kiwi recovery.

Kiwi Coast Predator Control flier

KAURI DIEBACK

Ground-Truthing

Staff are continuing to ground-truth potential kauri dieback sites identified through aerial surveillance and from landowner requests. Results are presented in the Table 1.

Table 1: Kauri Dieback Ground-Truthing Results 2018/2019

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	Pending
October	5	3	0	2	3	17	6	11	0
November	11	1	3	3	5	38	2	36	0
December	11	4	8	3	0	44	10	34	0
January	15	2	7	3	5	40	6	34	0
February	1		0	1	0	2	0	2	0
March	7		0	1	6	14			14
April	2		0	0	2	4			4
YTD Total	50	10	18	13	21	159	24	117	18

Management Plans

Kauri dieback management plans continue to be developed 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.

Kauri Dieback Contractor

BioSense (an Auckland based company) has contracted to ground-truth approximately 140 aerial surveillance sites located in Kaipara and Southern Whangārei Districts, funded via an MPI grant. BioSense began work on 23 April 2019 and will be utilising local kaitiaki to assist with ground-truthing.

Kauri Protection Fencing

Seven Kauri Protection Fencing Fund contracts have been approved involving $32,900 and 8.4 km of fencing to protect kauri on private land. Fencing for one of the contracts has already been completed awaiting inspection, and more applications to the fund are being processed.

Kauri Dieback Signage

The kauri dieback team attended a Kauri Dieback Behavioural Change meeting held in Auckland to finalise key messaging for standard Kauri Dieback signage to be used in kauri lands. Biosecurity Specialist Gavin Clapperton was complimented on his initiative develop signage that better portrayed key messages, and his signage has adopted as the standard.

Praised KDB signage developed by Gavin Clapperton

Pig Hunters

Twenty-five pig hunters engaged at Kiwi Aversion Training (hosted by Biosecurity staff) on 14 April were given a kauri dieback hygiene kit (boot bag, brush, and spray bottle) along with a Pig Hunters Hygiene Guide. Response from the hunters was positive, and further engagement with pig hunters is planned to raise awareness and compliance of kauri dieback and hygiene.

MARINE BIOSECURITY

2018/2019 Hull Surveillance Programme

The Programme has been running since October 2018 and is on track, with 89% of the annual target (2,000 vessels) completed as of 29 March 2019. In April, the diving contractors focused on other works as planned. They will resume hull surveillance in May and complete the rest of the target focussing on vessels within marinas (50 vessels at 5 marinas). A total of 103 vessels were checked by divers in the Bay of Islands between 25 and 29 March, bringing the total of number surveyed to date to 1,787 (refer Table 2). There were four incidents of Mediterranean fanworm, all found on hulls in Ōpua.

Table 2: Hull Surveillance Programme Results

The following results are for the period 25 March 2019 to 29 March 2019 with no further surveying undertaken for the month of March or in April.

2018/2019 Hull Surveillance Programme Results (25/3/19 – 29/3/19)
Number of vessels surveyed	103
Total year to date	1,787
Number of Vessels with Marine Pests Found in Surveillance
Vessels detected with fanworm (Sabella)	4
Vessels detected with Styela sea squirt	4
Vessels detected with Japanese kelp (Undaria)	0
Vessels detected with Australian droplet tunicate (Eudistoma)	19
Vessels detected with Pyura sea squirt	0
Pathways plan compliance*	57% of vessels

* If the vessels surveyed were to move to a new designated place then 57% would be compliant with the pathways plan rule.

Ōpua Mediterranean Fanworm Eradication

As of 23 April, divers have completed full search of structures of the commercial wharf, 4 of the piers, and the quarantine pier in Ōpua marina, and also the seafloor and all moorings and jetties within 15 grids in the channel, Pōmare Bay, and Kororāreka Bay. The divers removed 224 fanworms from structures and seafloor during the search. The specimens varied in size from small juveniles to large adults up to 40 cm in length.

The large Vessel Quarantine Facility (VQF – a Fab Dock used for the purpose of sealing in a vessel and using chlorine to kill fouling and any marine pests on the hull) was deployed by the marine biosecurity team for 10 days at Ōpua to treat a vessel that was heavily fouled and harboured Mediterranean fanworm, but could not be hauled out. The boat was treated on 9 and 10 April as part of the programme. The Ōpua marina kindly provided a berth for the VQF for this period.

A letter was sent to all mooring owners in the Bay of Islands on 16 April to update them on the situation and remind them to be vigilant, keep their hulls clean, and report any fanworms. A press release was also made available to media on 12 April. Several Situational Reports (SITREP) were also sent to all stakeholders to inform them of progress, outcomes, and the next steps to be taken.

Marine Pest Workshop for Boat Owners

The first Marine Pest Workshop targeted at boat owners in the Whangārei area was held on 30 March. The workshop was run by a marine biosecurity officer, and had ten participants. Very good feedback was received from participants.

The workshop aim was to raise awareness of the risk from marine pests, and explain how vessel owners can best manage their hulls, inspect them, and keep them clean and free of marine pests. The last component of the workshop aimed at training participants on the importance of appropriately handling of marine pests to minimise the risk of spreading them further, and (if they become authorised) how to remove marine pests safely from their own hulls. Two letters of exemption were issued as of 24 April, and a further three exemption letters are being processed pending further information from vessel owners. The exemption letters authorise the named person to remove Mediterranean fanworm if they find them during in-water inspection of their vessel hull.

FRESHWATER PESTS

Staff have been assisting the Department of Conservation (DOC) to plan and scope initial survey work as part of the Department’s renewed pest fish work stream. Four sites have been visited, to plan for survey and population assessment work and review potential control options for known sites. Netting work to assess unconfirmed pest fish reports, and to confirm the status of sites will take place at several key locations next month.

PEST PLANTS

Wild Ginger Biocontrol

The latest update from the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) has been received via Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research (MWLR). CABI has identified an unexpected issue with the fly biocontrol agent; detailed analysis of specimens determined that two genetically distinct species had been collected and only one of these species is host-specific, and will not feed on New Zealand wild ginger species. The other species will feed on New Zealand ginger, but requires host specificity test to be repeated. It has been agreed that there will be one more pure collection of the non-host-specific fly in July or October for re-evaluation. The Weevil biocontrol agent will be collected at the same time, and if the results are negative or inconclusive, the fly will be abandoned in favour of the weevil and hispine beetles. One hispine beetle has already been approved for export, while the second still requires further research before approval to export is granted.

Eradication Plants

Staff time has been focused on the next round of batwing control. This included a team of 6 people from Biosecurity searching and controlling batwing at the remote, boat-only access Waikare Inlet site. Numerous seedlings were found, but only one adult plant was located – an improvement on previous rounds of control.

Evergreen Buckthorn

Te Ngahere Native Forest Management was contracted to search and control evergreen buckthorn at a known management site on a steep cliff face at Sandy Bay, using a specialist trained ropes team. During search and control work they found and treated numerous scattered seedlings and smaller plants, but also identified and treated areas with higher densities and some mature plants. Additional ropes work will be required to completely search and treat the area.

Manchurian Wild Rice

Trial work is underway to look for ways to improve the efficacy of control methods for this difficult to control species. A burn trial has begun in Dargaville, with the objective being to establish if burning the dead material after spraying and die off will improve control and speed up the eradication process. The hypothesis is that burning will reduce the mass of dead material lying on top of regrowth, improving access to foliar contact with regrowth. A second trial, investigating the impacts of varying the frequency of application rates has also begun.

	Burning block 1: This site had two spray applications in quick succession and burned hotter and cleaner than block 2 which only had one spray application.

	Burning Block 2: This site had a single spray application prior to burning. It had more remaining greenery after die off, and as a consequence, burning was less effective.

Aerial survey work was also undertaken to delimit the extant of known infestations and to survey for new sites. Several new sites were found, but these were all within the current containment zone, and outside the areas identified for control based on the progressive containment approach and budget limitations.

RIVERS

River Contract Works

Priority Rivers	Work	Status	Comments
Awanui	OpEx	100% complete	Mid-Awanui stop-bank re-alignment.
Awanui	CapEx	100% complete	Te Ahu stopbank stabilization works and grade control.
Awanui	CapEx	100% complete	Bell’s Hill Benching
Kaihu	OpEx	95% complete	Second boat spraying is complete, just minor works outstanding. Helicopter spraying has been completed.
Kaeo	OpEx	80% complete	Follow up maintenance weed spraying remaining
Minor Rivers	OpEx	65% complete	Only high priority work is being progressed.

LTP Projects

Rivers	Comments
Awanui	Bell’s Hill Benching and the Te Ahu Rock Armouring have been completed. An event to acknowledge and celebrate this year’s achievement is scheduled for 19 June. The next phases of the works are progressing with the Preliminary Scheme design results expected early May, once this has been completed the team can start identifying properties that require easements or property acquisition.
Matangirau	A Kaeo Working Group meeting is scheduled for 5 June at the Matangirau Marae. We will present the flood mitigation options to the community, at which time we hope to advance flood mitigation options.
Kawakawa - Taumarere	A second consultation Hui was held on 6 April at the Otiria Marae and follow up sites visits with concerned locals. We have applied for Archology Authority to progress the works; however, work will not commence this season. We expect this work to start November 2019.
Whangarei	Resource Consent has been approved for the Woods Road floodwall works and the tender for the works closed on 1 May. Licence to occupy WDC land was granted on 30 April.
Panguru	Modelling has been completed and resource consenting work is underway.

NATURAL HAZARDS

Work Streams	Status	Comments
Priority Rivers Flood Hazard Maps for Waipu and Paparoa	95%	The review and final corrections of the flood maps have been completed. WDC and KDC have been notified of the maps release end of May. Letters to the landowners affected by the flood maps are due to be mailed by 17 May with the maps going on GIS. A press release will be issued by 24 May.
Awanui Flood Model	80%	DHI has completed two model calibration runs, with only one remaining. Both calibration runs are being peer reviewed. Second round of comments/suggestions from peer reviewer have been received and being incorporated in the model. This is the most complex part of the modelling work. Once the calibration is complete and reviewed, DHI will start design storm runs.

Northland LiDAR Capture

Regional LiDAR capture was at 72.3% as at 16 April 2019. Crews are now focussing on infill of missing sections i.e. where cloud cover prevented capture on previous missions. RPS has indicated batch processing of captured data has now commenced. We are liaising with LINZ to discuss QA/QC process and hosting of deliverables.

8.2.6 STRATEGY, Governance And Engagement

PROPOSED REGIONAL PLAN

The council’s decisions were notified on 4 May 2019. There is a 30-working day appeal period (Monday 17 June is the cut-off date for appeals.) An item will be presented to the July council meeting providing an overview of the appeals and proposing a process for how council will be involved in resolving appeals.

CORPORATE PLANNING

The process of developing the Annual Plan 2019/20 is progressing well and is running to an earlier than usual timeframe to accommodate local elections. Community consultation is complete, with deliberations held on 7 May and final adoption of the plan on 4 June.

Quarter three reporting on the performance measures set out in the Long Term Plan 2018-2028 is now complete. The third quarter covers the three-month period January – March 2019.

All targets reported on in quarter three are either achieved their targets or are tracking well to achieve their targets. There was only one exception, this being the percentage of official information requests that are responded to within 20 working days, with a target of 100% compliance. There was 91% compliance achieved. Details of the requests not responded to within the required 20 working days, are provided in the governance section of this report (below).

COUNCILMARK

Following meetings with Council and senior management, the CouncilMARK performance framework self-assessment has been completed and forwarded to our assessors. There will be a two-day site assessment visit on 14-15 May, including a function with external stakeholders. We anticipate on getting a preliminary report back from the assessors sometime in July.

DISTRICT PLANNING

On 3 April, Whangarei District Council (WDC) made decisions on Plan Change 129 – Notable and Public Trees. Council staff went to the WDC hearing and provided reasons why the plan change should be amended to allow emergency tree works (pruning, maintenance or removal of public trees) to be undertaken by regional council staff as a ‘permitted activity’ in emergency situations (such as the if the trees posed a significant natural hazard risk). WDC accepted these arguments and amended the plan change accordingly.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Investment and Growth Reserve – Projects Report

Project	April update	Future developments/ reporting
Extension 350	Quarter 3 report for 2018/19 received.	Continue receiving progress reporting and invoicing as per funding agreement.
Resources Enterprise Limited (REL)	Nothing new to report.	Continuing to wait for March interest payment and update on plans. June interest payment due next month.
Hundertwasser Art Centre (Whangārei)	Receipt of report for March 2019.	Second invoice due at 50% works complete.
Kawakawa Hundertwasser Park Centre (Te Hononga)	Construction underway – nothing new to report.	Awaiting receipt of second invoice (was due April 2019).
Extended Regional Promotion	Nothing new to report.	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	Drafted funding agreement between with the Te Hua o Te Kawariki Trust.	Finalise funding agreement with the Te Hua o Te Kawariki Trust.
Northland Water Storage and Use	Funding from PGF for project officially announced on 5 April 2019.	Finalise preparations including funding agreement and conditions precedent and progress the pre-feasibility stage of project.

Other Activties

· Letter to Northland Inc Board with council feedback on the Draft Statement of Intent 2019/21 – 2021/22.

ONLINE CHANNELS

Most popular post on Facebook – encouraging members of the public to keep an eye out for pest fish such as Koi Carp. As temperatures drop, pest fish surface to take advantage of the remaining warmth and are often spotted at this time of year as they are slower than usual: www.nrc.govt.nz/PestControlHub

Key Performance Indicators	Dec-18	Jan-19	Feb-19	Mar-19	Apl-19
WEB
# Visits to the NRC website	21,100	24,800	24,500	28,000	26,100
E-payments made	2	4	3	6	4
# subscription customers (cumulative)	1,159	1,167	1,173	1,179	1,191
SOCIAL MEDIA (cumulative)
# Twitter followers	1,418	1,416	1,428	1,430	1,439
# NRC Facebook fans	7,198	7,611	7,816	7,968	8,130
# NRC Overall Facebook Reach	70,275	87,800	168,100	219,300	189,900
# NRC Engaged Daily Users	8186	5889	11,700	27,000	8,314
# CDEM Facebook fans	16,400	16,500	16,500	16,600	16,700
# CDEM Overall Facebook Reach	59,299	14,800	43,800	31,900	45,400
# CDEM Engaged Daily Users	6,829	1,051	4,925	2,132	2,710
# Instagram followers	646	663	689	712	736

ENVIROSCHOOLS / EDUCATION

School communities facilitated

Despite the school holidays, 17 school communities were visited by Enviroschools facilitators during April.

PROJECT PEST CONTROL

On 3 April, the first Project Pest Control assessment day for 2019 was held at the Lake Waikare Event Centre. Feedback showed that 100% of students rated the course as excellent or above average.

MARKETING AND ENGAGEMENT

Northland Regional Council Environmental Awards update

Council received more than 90 nominations in the inaugural Environmental Awards. A month-long nomination period had closed 31 March and, in the several weeks that followed, a great deal of work was done by a four-strong panel of internal staff and external experts to decide on 39 finalists. The winners and highly commended will be announced on 23 May at an awards ceremony at Barge Showgrounds Events Centre.

A full list of finalists is available now on council’s website at www.nrc.govt.nz/environmentalawards

MĀORI ENGAGEMENT

Council has received the draft Deed of Settlement pertaining to the Kaipara Moana. Staff and council are currently considering the Deed, in conjunction with the Kaipara Working Party, and are working together through the document.

Funding of $5,000 was approved by council for Taitokerau Māori and Council Working Party to host a symposium exploring models of representation for Māori in local government - sharing experiences and successes from other regions.

In April, council hosted the regional hui, Te Pae Urungi o Te Taitokerau (Māori staff in local government) to strengthen a collective approach of engaging and building relationships with tāngata whenua.

In May, Te Ataarangi Te Reo Māori classes have begun at Regional Council with 20 staff attending the six-week course delivered by He Puna o te Ao Marama Trust. Ten staff have registered and are enrolled on the He Papa Reo Course (distance learning for basic te reo) with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa after 60 staff and councillors successfully completed this course in 2018.

Work is in progress related to building a relationship with Lake Ōmāpere Trust and new Chair, Woody Wihongi.

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	9
April	14	12
May	15
June	18
TOTAL LGOIMA REQUESTS RECEIVED	159	113
Total LGOIMA requests not responded to within 20 working days*	15	1*

* Correction from previous month’s reporting.

8.2.7 Customer Service – Community Resilience

CUSTOMER SERVICES

Telephone Inbound Call Statistics

	April 2019	Target
Call volume	2,209
Conversion rate	97.6%	>95%
Average wait time	6 sec
Calls answered in under 30 sec	95.7%	>90%

Call volumes were only slightly affected by the extended Easter break with generally between 100-150 calls per day coming into the organisation through customer services.

Satisfaction Monitoring

· Feedback Cards, Compliments and Complaints

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

Compliments received - April	Total
Overall Service	3
Service provided by a specific person · R Anderson & N Walker, FDE · Ritchie’s bus drivers x 3	4
Quality of Information	1
Total compliments recorded	8

Half the recorded compliments in April were about bus services. Two identified Ritchie’s drivers who provided service beyond their core role, including helping a customer reunite with their phone and aiding a person who wasn’t a customer but needed assistance. All four bus service compliments mention friendly staff with great attitudes.

Complaints received - April	Total
Standard of service provided	5
Lack of information or communication	1
Total complaints recorded	6

Four of the complaints related to bus services. One of the bus complaints was proven to be the customer’s error, and two others were due to road works. The other three complaints gave feedback on perceived potential areas of improvement. All complaints were resolved following conversation with the customers.

Regional Customer Service Centres (CSC)

Other Activity

Ten staff identified by the customer services team as providing gold standard service were recognised with a gold Easter bunny.

Surveys - external

The annual Residents’ Survey is still in progress and is being promoted on radio and social media. To date we have had 180 responses from the open invitation link on our website. These are in addition to the invited participants randomly selected from the electoral roll. The survey period closes on the 17 May.

CIVIL DEFENCE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Warnings and activations

No weather warnings or watches have been issued for the Northland region during April.

Emergency Management System Reform

As reported earlier the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM) continues to lead the various work streams 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.

Amongst the higher priority matters is the development of the “Fly in Teams,” (NZFIT) (surge capacity and capability to support groups at the local and regional level). Northland has had input into the design and development and two candidates for the team were recently interviewed. The first team is expected to be operational in early August.

MCDEM and the Northland CDEM Group representatives are to meet in May to work through a process to ensure that the ministry and group priorities align. There are many recommendations that require a multiyear programme to implement. The June meeting of the Northland CEM Group will review the work program and consider and reprioritisation of work programmes.

Coordinated Incident Management Systems Review

The national review of CIMS is on track with the national Steering Group expected to release a new draft of the third edition of CIMS for wider consultation in June/July 2019.

Northland Controllers’ Development

A full day training in May is scheduled for the Northland CDEM Controllers and support personnel to review the Awanui river management scheme and to hold a desk top exercise based upon the Kaitāia Evacuation plan.

Youth and Emergency Services

The 2019 Youth in Emergency Services programme got underway on 3 May in Whangarei. Seventeen young people have been selected for this year’s programme with the final multiagency exercise scheduled for 25 May. A short video of the programme overview is available at https://www.nrc.govt.nz/for-schools/education-news/watch-northland-youth-in-emergency-services-programme/

Northland CDEM Group forum

The annual Northland CDEM Group Forum was held on Wednesday 1 May at Forum North in Whangarei. Approximately 200 stakeholders from emergency services, industry, lifelines utilities and community attended. Speakers included Wally Mitchell, St Johns who lead the St John response to the recent Christchurch terror attacks, Michele Poole, who lead the Public Information during the recent Nelson Fires, Damian Southorn and Julian Young from NZ Refinery presented on the 2017 Pipe line rupture and Chris Nobel from Metservice who provided an overview of severe weather forecasting. Again, this forum was very well attended, and excellent feedback has been received about the quality of the event.

TRANSPORT

Regional Land Transport Planning

Following on from the 2015/2021 Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP), the national Transport Special Interest Group (reporting to the National Chief Executive Group), in partnership with the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) are undertaking a comprehensive review of the RLTP process.

This review is to find an easier and more streamlined method for the compilation of RLTP’s, business cases for projects and to reduce administrative churn.

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
March	1,451	$17,787	$25,000	-$7,213	$159,067	$225,000	-$65,933

Total Mobility Awareness Campaign

As part of the Total Mobility (TM) awareness campaign running from April 1 to 30 June, agencies will get paid $20 for every new TM client they sign up on the scheme. The agency that signs up the most clients, will receive a $100 morning tea shout. This incentive is to encourage agencies to more actively promote TM.

Operational Statistics

March 2019 (revenue ex GST)	Actual	Budget	Variance	Year/Date Actual	Year/Date Budgeted
City Link Passengers	32,042	31,233	809	238,255	232,968
CityLink Revenue	$49,967	$61,703	-$11,736	$435,831	$463,810
Mid North Link Passengers	159	420	-261	1,609	3,726
Mid North Link Revenue	$630	$2,699	-$2,069	$5,900	$23,694
Hokianga Link Passengers	52	48	4	286	324
Hokianga Link Revenue	$620	$704	-$84	$3,625	$4,146
Far North Link Passengers	543	621	-78	5,077	5,663
Far North Link Revenue	$1,390	1,552	-$162	$11,340	$14,156

CityLink Passenger Survey

Between 16 and 18 April 2019, staff undertook a three-yearly passenger satisfaction survey as required by NZTA. This survey included seeking feedback from passengers on a preferred location for a new bus terminus – Rose Street or Vine Street. The information collected is presently being collated.

The government has recently indicated that the Passenger Transport Operating Model (PTOM) designed to ensure greater collaboration and management between local authorities and bus operators for contracted services will be reviewed.

Mid North Link/Hokianga Link Services

The approved changes to the timetables for the Mid North Link and Hokianga Link came into effect on 2 May 2019.

Road Safety Update

The current year to date Northland road deaths stands at 10, and nationally at 138.

The Northland road safety partners actively promoted a ‘Crash Free Easter’ with significant road safety campaigns extending through the week including Anzac Day. There were no fatal crashes in the region during this period. Nationally there were four fatal crashes which resulted in 4 deaths – two drivers & two passengers.

Driver Reviver/Rest Stops were held leading into the Easter break in the southern (Uretiti) and northern (Waiomio) parts of the region. Due to two recent fatal incidents affecting road workers operating on the side of the road, Traffic Management Plans were amended for the Uretiti stop to ensure this event was undertaken under a reduced speed limit of 50kph. This in no way hindered the traffic flow and overall the events ran smoothly and were well received. Stuff News reporter Denise Piper did an informative on-line report - https://www.stuff.co.nz/northland/112148289/drivers-spend-frightening-amount-of-time-behind-the-wheel-without-stopping

In addition to the above, day time and evening checkpoints were also held in Northland throughout April 2019 targeting seat belt use, speed and impairment.

There is a large amount of road works happening across the region at the moment with several of the projects involving potential disruptions to motorists for periods of up to 18 months or more.

Key advertising themes by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for April 2019 were centred on ‘Alcohol & Motorcycling’.

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

Location	YTD 2019	YTD 2018
Far North	4	7
Whangarei	3	8
Kaipara	3	2
Northland	10	17
National	138	131

Road Safety Week 2019 (6-12 May 2019) - will coincide with the UN Global Road Safety Week and will have the theme 'Save Lives #SpeakUp'.

New Zealand has a poor road safety record compared to some other developed countries. In 2018, 382 people lost their lives on our roads*. Issues such as drink driving, drug driving, distractions, speed and people not wearing seat belts contribute to a high number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads. We have a transport system that needs significant improvement to help save lives and reduce injuries on our roads.

No death on the road is acceptable. Everyone should be entitled to safe and healthy mobility.

A Vision Zero approach to road safety recognises that people make mistakes, and that the road system can help to reduce the severity of the outcome of those mistakes to help reduce deaths and serious injuries. A combination of measures to improve roads and roadsides, implement safe speed limits, improve the safety of vehicles and of road users, along with ensuring post-crash response is effective when a crash happens, has been proven overseas to save lives. (http://www.roadsafetyweek.org.nz/belton)

MARITIME

The month of April saw four cruise ships and one super-yacht call to the Bay of Islands without incident. This more or less concludes the season, with the last ship booked for 11 May, the exception is to a handful of off-season bookings. It has been an exceptional season with no cancellations.

The Deputy Harbourmaster attended a presentation at Marsden Point in which dredging companies wishing to submit tenders for the Marsden Point Crude shipping project contract registered interest. A presentation was delivered to company representatives surrounding Piloting and Navigation Safety Criteria.

The Harbourmaster and Deputy Harbourmaster attended the Northern Island Harbour Masters SIG held in Auckland with the HM representing North Island HM’s at the South Island Harbour Masters SIG. These meetings coordinate navigational safety messages across the country.

The Whangārei Harbour Safety group meeting is scheduled for 8 May, and the Bay of Islands Harbour Safety Meeting is scheduled for 9 May in conclusion to the Cruise shipping season.

A consultation is currently underway in Hokianga Harbour proposing some safety initiatives at Opononi. The consultation has very been successful with around 80 written submissions. Strong feedback against some parts of the proposal has been received, and the proposal will be reviewed once the submission date closes on 10 May. Staff will consult with council before any decision is finalised.

Installation and commissioning of the Bay of Islands wave rider buoy is currently underway. This will provide live weather data including sea, swell and wind data. Whilst primarily aimed at the cruise ships visiting, the plan is to make this publicly available via our website, and local commercial vessels have shown a keen interest.

Recreational boating is slowing down with the change of season. Only ten Incidents were received during April - the most notable being a near miss between a speeding vessel and a commercial diver undertaking diving operations. The remainder of the incidents were minor in nature consisting of ATON light failures, illegal mooring occupations and abandoned boats.

A combined oil spill response meeting was held at Marsden Point, attended by Maritime NZ. Strong representation was given regarding the training schedules and validity periods designated by Maritime NZ, with recommendations for improvement. These joint stakeholder oil response meetings are now an effective working party.

Rolling maintenance of ATON is on-going. A social media complaint that the maintenance was not being carried out in accordance with plan conditions has been investigated, and all works found to be in compliance with the rules.

Attachments/Ngā tapirihanga

Nil

Name:	Chris Taylor
Title:	Governance Support Manager
Date:	15 May 2019

Name:	Dave Tams
Title:	Group Manager, Corporate Excellence
Date:	07 May 2019

Name:	Chris Taylor
Title:	Governance Support Manager
Date:	07 May 2019

Name:	Chris Taylor
Title:	Governance Support Manager
Date:	14 May 2019

Name:	Jonathan Gibbard
Title:	Group Manager - Strategy, Governance and Engagement
Date:	14 May 2019

TITLE:	Health and Safety Report
ID:	A1188984
From:	Beryl Steele, Human Resources Manager

TITLE:	Confirmation of Minutes - 16 April 2019 and 7 May 2019
ID:	A1188333
From:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager

TITLE:	Receipt of Action Sheet
ID:	A1190208
From:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager

TITLE:	Working Party Updates and Chairpersons' Briefings
ID:	A1190488

Name:	Bruce Howse
Title:	Group Manager - Environmental Services
Date:	08 May 2019

TITLE:	Financial Report to 30 April 2019
ID:	A1188711
From:	Vincent McColl, Financial Accountant

TITLE:	Regional Rates Collection - Update to 31 March 2019
ID:	A1190502
From:	Simon Crabb, Finance Manager

TITLE:	Appointment of Northland Inc. Directors
ID:	A1189405
From:	Dave Tams, Group Manager, Corporate Excellence

TITLE:	User Fees and Charges 2019/20 - Proposed alternative water take charge table
ID:	A1191107
From:	Tess Dacre, Compliance Monitoring Manager and Kyla Carlier, Corporate Planning Manager

No.	Option	Advantages	Disadvantages
1	Support new table 3.5.3 (Attachment 1 to this report)	More bands results in greater refinement (closer groupings of consents).	Reduced revenue of $13,000. Reduces water take consent holder/increases general rate contribution to the operation of the hydrometric network. Public not consulted on alternative table.
2	Support original table 3.5.3 (as consulted on, and included as Attachment 2 to this report)	Greater contribution to the hydrometric network from consent holders who benefit from the service. The original table with broader bands based on the volume of take is considered to be a fairer assessment of environmental impact and monitoring requirements. With narrower bands it is harder to argue the differences in benefit. This is what was consulted on and provided to consent holders.	Wider bands (less refinement). Potential for more disgruntled consent holders who fall at the bottom of the wide bands.
3	Do not support either table	No advantages.	Status quo, which means we continue with all the original problems which have been identified.

TITLE:	Presentation - Rates Videos
ID:	A1192432

Charge code	Fee scale based on abstraction amount (m³ per day)	Approx. number of consent holders in this band	Resource user charge $ including GST
	0 – 9	54	0
	10 – 29	88	29.00
	30 – 59	78	59.00
	60 – 99	52	99.00
	100 – 199	52	199.00
	200 – 299	17	299.00
	300 – 399	11	399.00
	400 – 499	9	499.00
	500 – 749	12	749.00
	750 – 999	6	999.00
	≥1000	39	1999.00

Charge code	Fee scale based on abstraction amount	Administration charge $ including GST	Resource user charge $ including GST	Total annual charge $ including GST
ADM001	0 – 9 m³ per day	110.50	0.00	110.50
ADM001 RUC001	10 – 29 m³ per day	110.50	29.50	140.00
ADM001 RUC002	30 – 69 m³ per day	110.50	70.50	181.00
ADM001 RUC003	70 – 199 m³ per day	110.50	203.50	314.00
ADM001 RUC004	200 – 499 m³ per day	110.50	510.00	620.50
ADM001 RUC005	500 – 999 m³ per day	110.50	1,021.00	1,131.50
ADM001 RUC006	≥ 1000 m³ per day	110.50	2,043.00	2,153.50

TITLE:	Chair's Report to Council
ID:	A1188198
From:	Bill Shepherd, Chairman

Name:	Colin Dall
Title:	Group Manager - Regulatory Services
Date:	15 May 2019

TITLE:	Te Taitokerau Māori and Council Working Party: Māori Technical Advisory Group - Additional Member
ID:	A1191154
From:	Rachel Ropiha, Kaiarahi - Kaupapa Māori

Date	Addressed To	Subject
01.04.19	Tim Langley Managing Director CarbonScape Ltd	Letter of support for establishing first commercial graphite plant in Northland
01.04.19	Alan Livingston Chairperson Waikato Regional Council	Crown funding of Treaty of Waitangi Settlement arrangements
03.04.19	Dave Taylor Aquaculture New Zealand	Letter of support for oyster hatchery system
17.04.19	Peter Ogle	Letter of support for Project POERT (Pataua Outdoor Educational and Recreation Trust)
24.04.19	Helen Whittaker Fundraising Co-ordinator Hundertwasser Non-Profit Foundation	Letter of support for the Kaurinui Project – Restoration of Hundertwasser’s home
30.04.19	Sarah Petersen Chair Northland Inc.	Northland Inc. Ltd Draft Statement of Intent 2019-2022

TITLE:	Receipt of Committee Minutes
ID:	A1188415
From:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager

Item No.	Item Issue	Reasons/Grounds
10.1	Confirmation of Confidential Minutes - 16 April 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 -.
10.2	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 -.
10.3	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).
10.4	Purchase of Whangārei CBD Properties	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).