Agenda of Council Meeting

Council Meeting item: 5.1

17 November 2020

Note that across council there is a $384K favourable salaries variance (YTD September 2020 $313K favourable variance) predominantly due to the time to complete recruitment of positions identified in the LTP and AP or restored via the Covid-19 Reinstatement Reserve. Some of these have associated external funding.

Transfers to reserves

For the year to date there has been a net transfer to reserves of $2.17M compared to a budgeted net transfer from reserves of $918K. This is predominantly due to:

Ÿ $2.15M more than budgeted transfers to externally managed fund reserves representing higher reinvestment of gains than budgeted.

Ÿ $554K lower than budgeted transfers from equalisation reserve for general funding. This funding was not taken as it was replaced by the additional dividend income.

Ÿ $233K lower than budgeted transfers from the Covid-19 reinstatement reserve.

Ÿ $88K higher than budgeted transfers to the transport reserves.

Covid-19 Reinstatement Reserve initiatives

Twenty one initiatives have a funding commitment from the Covid-19 Reinstatement Reserve totalling $1.36M. This leaves $337K unallocated at the end of October 2020. The committed initiatives are as follows:

*Projects removed from the 20/21 Annual Plan*
Tangata Whenua capability	$30,000
Modelling of aquifers	$100,000
Enviroschools staff and seminars	$86,565
Pest plant prevention work stream	$110,000
Biodiversity FIF dune lake position	$75,131
Biosecurity marine position	$60,092
Economic policy advisor	$85,701
Kaiarahi Mahere Māori technical advisor	$82,784
Northland Inc. business case assessment	$100,000
Campaigns & engagement coordinator role	$41,392
Building reconfiguration (capital works)	$106,000
Biodiversity contractors	$30,000
Planning & Policy BAU - for LTP contract work	$10,000
Offsite storage of consents files (building reconfiguration)	$17,000
Internal Audit BAU	$27,000
Total AP projects reinstated	$961,665

*New projects approved by council*
BOI harbour modelling	$58,000
ReCoCo obligations	$100,617
Otiria-Moerewa Flood Modelling and Pre-feasibility Study	$80,000
NRC Water Allocation Tool	$40,000
Climate change advisor	$57,511
Storage facility security fence (capital works)	$65,000
Total new projects	$401,128
Grand total	$1,362,793

Work Programmes, Salaries and Projects removed from, or reduced in, the 2020/21 Annual Plan to remedy the deficit arising from the impact of COVID‐19. Listed in no particular order.
Description of Programme Position or Project	Estimated Amount/Value	Approved/Removed/No decision
Tangata whenua capability and capacity	$30,000	Approved
Modelling highly allocated aquifers	$100,000	Approved
Enviroschools staff and seminars	$86,385	Approved
Off‐site storage of consent files	$17,000	Approved
Pest plant prevention	$110,000	Approved
Project costs associated with Northern Wairoa and lakes projects (Biodiversity contractors)	$41,854	Approved at $30,000.
~~Conferences and training~~	~~$25,000~~	~~Removed~~
S17a reviews	$20,890	No decision
Long Term Plan costs	$10,000	Approved
~~Communications – casual staff and promotions~~	~~$15,000~~	~~Removed~~
WNW Catchment Group	$35,352	No decision
Lab testing costs	$100,000	No decision
Citizen panels,	$10,000	No decision
~~Backup staff~~	~~$10,000~~	~~Removed~~
FIF Dune Lake Position	$75,131	Approved
Biosecurity Marine Position	$60,092	Approved
FIF Wairoa position	$80,897	No decision
Junior hydrology officer	$69,000 Operational Exp. $4,700 Capital Exp.	No decision
~~National wells database~~	~~$20,000~~	~~Removed~~
Freshwater accounting system	$100,000	No decision
Māori engagement, Environmental awards extension and Intern	$68,880	No decision
~~Coastal water quality consultants~~	~~$7,231~~	~~Removed~~
~~Reg Services lab testing costs~~	~~$7504~~	~~Removed~~
Reg Services mobile device purchases	$3,000	No decision
~~Maritime teams overtime budget~~	~~$15,000~~	~~Removed~~
NIWA Kingfish legal fees	$10,000	No decision
Economic Policy Advisor Position	$85,701	Approved
Environmental Science Reporting Officer Position	$81,894	No decision
Kaiarahi Mahere Māori ‐ Māori technical advisor position	$101,000 Operational Exp. $82,784 $4,700 Capital Exp.	Approved. Reduced to $82,784.
~~Northland Māori representation on national committee 'Te Maruata'~~	~~7000~~	~~Removed~~
~~Data asset management~~	~~75000~~	~~Removed~~
Campaigns and engagement coordinator position	$40,000 Operational Exp. $4,700 Capital Exp.	Approved
Technology upgrades	$200,000	No decision
Far north poplar and willow nursery manager position	$70,322	No decision
~~Eastern Bays Hill country staff~~	~~$82,206~~	~~Removed~~
Painting of Water Street building, vehicle costs	$104,004	Approved. Redirected this to Union East fencing @ $65,000
Internal Audit	$27,000	Approved
IT Consultants and other Corporate Excellent BAU	$15,000 $61,210.	Approved. $10,000 approved for LTP contract work.
Water Street Reception and Ground Floor Meeting Rooms Renovation and fit out:	$105,663 Capital Exp.	Approved
OTHER ADJUSTMENTS MADE TO 2020/21 Annual Plan to remedy the deficit arising from the impact of COVID‐19.
Utilisation of Community Investment Fund Capital in lieu of Investment income – as Economic Development funding	$1,700,000
Utilisation of Community Investment Fund Capital in lieu of Investment and general income – as General funding	$200,000
Utilisation of Infrastructure Investment Fund Capital in lieu of Investment and general income – as General funding	$250,000
Utilisation of Equalisation reserve as General funding	$150,000
Reduction in Economic Development Project Development budget	$300,000	Approved at $100,000

Attachments/Ngā tapirihanga

Nil

Authorised by Group Manager

Name:	Bruce Howse, Group Manager - Corporate Excellence,
Title:	Group Manager - Corporate Excellence
Date:	05 November 2020

Council Meeting ITEM: 6.1

17 November 2020Attachment 1

Treasury Management Policy

Effective from 19 February 2019

Document approval

The approval for distribution and use of this policy has been delegated as per the document information:

Document information:

	Information
Document ID:	A1054519
Document version:	1.0
Document name	Treasury Management Policy
Approved by:	Council
Date approved:	February 2019
Document Owner:	GM – Corporate Excellence
Document Author	Finance Manager
Group	Corporate Excellence
Date document published:	19 February 2019
Date document created:	January 2019
Review date:	As required

Document history:

Version	Issue date	Notes
1.0	02/2019	First edition
2.0	01/2020	Add document control and changes in sub-committee structure
3.0	11/2020	Updated to be consistent with changes to delegations of Investment & Property subcommittee Terms of Reference

Contents

Introduction

Introduction................................................................................................................................. 3

Legislation and compliance. 4

Objectives. 4

Roles and responsibilities. 5

Treasury Policies

Liquidity. 6

Interest rate. 7

Counterparty credit. 7

Foreign exchange. 8

Operational and legal 8

Schedule of Treasury Limits

Liquidity risk limits. 10

Interest rate limits. 10

Instruments held. 11

Counterparty risk limits. 12

Foreign exchange risk limits. 12

Operational risk limits. 13

Introduction

As a council, our treasury activities include management of liquidity, investment performance and financial liabilities.

The aim of council’s treasury management is prudent, effective and efficient financial management. This is achieved by adhering to principles contained in relevant policies and other documents, such as:

• Liability Management Policy

• Investment Policy

• Revenue and Financing Policy

• Delegations Manual (part D)

• Long Term Plan (LTP) including the council’s Financial Strategy

• Annual Plans

• Statements of Investment Policies and Objectives (SIPOs).

• Investment & Property and Audit & Risk subcommittee terms of reference.

This document outlines how we will manage treasury activities and the risks these activities expose council to.

This document is reviewed by the Audit and Risksubcommittee, approved by the Group Manager – Corporate Excellence (GM-CX), and applies to all treasury activity undertaken by the council. It will be reviewed at least every three years, as part of the council’s long term planning cycle.

Legislation and compliance

Except where the law stipulates that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has first line responsibility for compliance, it is the responsibility of the GM-CX to ensure the council’s treasury management framework and processes comply with all relevant legislation. It is the responsibility of the CEO to ensure the GM-CX is fulfilling these responsibilities. The Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) and its amendments define the operating environment for local authorities in relation to treasury activities and risk management.

Other legislation is also relevant:

• Local Government (Rating) Act 2002

• Local Government (Financial Reporting and Prudence) Regulations 2014, Schedule A

• Local Government Borrowing Act 2011

• Public Bodies Lease Act 1969 and Property Law Act 2007

• Trustee Act 1956, Part 2 (Investment).

Objectives

The key objectives of treasury activities are to:

• ensure the council always has sufficient funds available to meet both planned and reasonable but unforeseen expenditure

• prudently manage the borrowing costs and investment returns that impact the council’s operational budgets, the council’s reliance on rates and hence, fairness to current and future ratepayers

• safeguard the council’s assets

• ensure that all the council’s external borrowing, investments and incidental financial arrangements meet requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) and other relevant financial legislation

• reduce the volatility of the council’s reported financial performance

• implement mitigation strategies to reduce treasury risks

• provide timely reporting to the CEO and council, with appropriate and accurate reporting of treasury activities and risk management.

By doing this we will maintain confidence in the creditworthiness and integrity of the council through positive relationships with financial institutions, investors and investment counterparties.

Roles and responsibilities

A summary of treasury roles and responsibilities is below. All treasury activity will be in accordance with what council has approved, as per the relevant policies documents outlined in the introduction of this policy.

Council	Approve long term and annual plans (including associated policies, measures and limits), and delegations Approve acquisition or disposal of strategic assets, property or forestry Approve new lenders, new borrowing and changes to borrowing limits Confirm the current matrix of approved counterparties and limits, and approve new named counterparties and limits. Approve new fund managers, new externally managed funds and SIPOs. Authorise withdrawal from externally managed funds (except the Short Term Investment Fund (STIF)) Authorise bank signatories and ratify the opening and closing of bank accounts Review treasury performance.
Investment and Property Subcommittee	Contribute to review of financial policies Recommend SIPOs and fund managers Invest and withdraw between fund managers (in line with SIPOs) Manage the mix of investments in managed funds, and recommend action on forecast variances against budgets Determine the means of investment reporting Monitor and report on financial performance of funds. Delegated authority as per subcommittee terms of reference	Audit & Risk Subcommittee	Monitor and review financial policies (including this policy) Monitor and review financial performance, report to council Monitor and review the reporting framework for treasury activity and risk management Recommend new borrowing.
CEO	Manage investments (with Investment Sub-committee) Authorise withdrawal from, and investment in, the STIF Withdraw and invest fund held in Term Deposits being self-managed cash reserves Manage new borrowing and refinancing of existing debt Report on treasury performance
GM - CX	Approval of this policy, including the schedule of treasury limits Overall responsibility for treasury management, including compliance with legislation Establish appropriate structures, procedures and controls, and reporting requirements, to support all treasury activities Oversee cash requirements and day-to day treasury functions, banking and payments Recommend counterparties and limits Consider external advice and assistance required to manage treasury activity Monitor all investments, report on risk/return on portfolio components and the portfolio as a whole.
Finance Manager	Manage, monitor and review treasury activity and outcomes Report to GM-CX, CEO and council
Finance Team	Day-to-day treasury activities and transactions, including fixed and floating debt, internally managed funds, cash management, risk management & reporting

Treasury Policies

These treasury policies outline the council’s identification and management of risks, and provides specified limits for each. These risks are:

• Liquidity risk – the council not having sufficient available cash to meet its requirements

• Interest rate risk – loss arising from unforeseen changes to interest rates

• Foreign exchange risk – loss arising from unforeseen movements in relevant exchange rates

• Counterparty credit risk – borrowers or parties holding council’s deposited funds being unable to repay amounts owed when they fall due or are requested.

• Legal and operational risks – risk of losses arising from the council’s inability to legally enforce or fulfil an action, and loss from human error or fraud in relation to how we conduct our treasury activity.

Liquidity

Liquidity is a measure of the extent to which council has cash and other liquid assets to meet its immediate and short-term obligations, or access to funding sources (including borrowing) that can be quickly converted to do this. In accounting terms, it is the availability of current assets to meet current liabilities.

Liquidity risk is the potential inability of council to meet its financial obligations as they fall due, in normal or abnormal (but modelled) operating conditions.

Liquidity risk arises though:

• Short term receipts and payments timing being mismatched

• Assets and liabilities not maturing evenly over time

• Market disruption

• Significant deterioration of the quality of council assets

• Negligent management or fraudulent activities.

Liquidity risk management

The key outcome of effective liquidity management is to optimise the cash held by the council at all times. Liquidity management is therefore the management of liquid assets and funding sources (including borrowing) to meet both short and long-term commitments as and when they fall due.

We will manage any short term mismatches between operational receipts and payments to ensure that the inability to meet short term obligations does not occur. We achieve this by maintaining accurate cash flow forecasts to determine planned cash requirements and to assist our borrowing decisions. We will ensure a suitable contingency is always available for unforeseen reasonable cash requirements. We will ensure we maintain the liquidity ratio as per the long term plan.

Primarily, we will meet our need for cash at any time from the STIF, a managed fund of short duration investments. In most cases, surplus cash will be immediately invested in the STIF or directly with banks as cash or term deposits.

We manage council’s mix of liquid and illiquid investments, and the duration of our financial investments to meet future cash flow projections and forecast debt associated with future capital expenditure programs (as outlined in the long term plan).

Regarding borrowing, we will seek to smooth loan repayments over time to avoid concentrating cash outflows into short periods of time. Council will accumulate and hold funds to repay borrowings.

Liquidity risk limits

Treasury limits relating to interest rate risk management are detailed in liquidity risk limits in the schedule of treasury limits.

Interest rate

The council has interest costs related to its borrowings, and interest rate income related to its cash and cash equivalents (including term deposits and bonds).

The council’s Investment Policy outlines the approach we will take to actively manage underlying interest rates given council’s expectations of risk and returns on cash and cash equivalents, and seek to reduce volatility resulting from interest rate fluctuations.

The council’s Liability Management Policy outlines the approach we will take to manage liquidity and interest rate risk relating to external borrowings, given council’s expectations of risk and the cost of borrowing. Based on market conditions and approved forecasts, the council will target a mix of fixed and floating rates where appropriate.

The liquidity risk limits outline the approach we will take to address the cashflow impacts of drawing down and repaying borrowing, and how we will target the repayment and duration profile of our borrowings at any time.

Interest rate risk management

Interest rate risk refers to the impact that movements in interest rates can have on the council’s performance compared to what is budgeted in the long term and annual plans.

The council seeks to avoid the concentration of interest rate repricing at any time, so that financial performance is not adversely affected.

Interest rate risk is managed by entering fixed or floating arrangements for deposits and borrowings based on assessment of market conditions at the time. The performance of these arrangements is regularly monitored and reported on against appropriate benchmarks.

For any borrowings which are to be repaid by a specific targeted rate, council may put 100% of this debt into fixed rate arrangements. This provides certainty that the total cost of borrowing and the principal will be met by the funds recovered through these rates.

Interest rate risk limits

Treasury limits relating to interest rate risk management are detailed in interest rate risk limits in the schedule of treasury limits.

Counterparty credit

Counterparty credit management is spreading investments among as wide a range of approved counterparties as practicable to avoid concentrations of credit risk.

Counterparty risk management

Counterparty risk is the risk of financial losses (realised or unrealised) arising from a counterparty defaulting on a financial instrument where the council is a party. The risk to the council in a default event will be weighted differently depending on the type of instrument entered.

The GM-CX will recommend that council approve new counterparties and limits based on long-term credit ratings (Standard & Poor’s or Moody’s).

To manage this risk, the council will only invest and place deposits with creditworthy counterparties. Prior to approving new investments, the counterparty credit limits will be reviewed by those delegated to approve investments to ensure limits are not breached.

Counterparty risk is also managed through the externally managed fund SIPOs.

To avoid undue concentration of exposures, financial instruments will be used with as wide a range of counterparties as possible. Where possible, transaction notional sizes and maturities will also be well spread.

The GM-CX will report periodically on counterparties and their borrowings against the limits.

Council will seek independent advice periodically to ensure Council assets are safeguarded.

Counterparty risk limits

Treasury limits relating to counterparty risk management are detailed in counterparty risk limits in the schedule of treasury limits.

Foreign exchange

The council invests in Australian denominated assets through its externally managed funds. Each externally managed fund is governed and managed by the terms of a SIPO. As a portion of the council’s underlying investments will be invested in Australia, returns may be affected by movements between the Australian dollar (AUD) and New Zealand dollar (NZD).

The council is responsible for the funds’ foreign exchange risk exposure, which is the purchase and sale of Australian denominated assets, the portfolio requiring an associated foreign exchange transaction selling or buying NZDs.

The council also has minor foreign exchange exposure through the occasional purchase of foreign exchange denominated services and plant and equipment.

As per the liability management policy, the council will not enter any borrowings denominated in a foreign currency.

Foreign exchange risk management

Council will not attempt to manage foreign exchange risk, but rather allow through the SIPOs governing Council’s managed funds, individual fund managers the discretion to hedge NZD/AUD as they see fit.

Operational and legal

Operational risk is the risk of financial or reputational loss due to human error (or fraud), system failures and inadequate procedures and controls.

Legal risks relate to the unenforceability of a transaction due to the council not having the legal capacity or power to enter into the transaction, usually because of prohibitions contained in legislation. The council may be exposed to such risks if it is unable to enforce its rights due to deficient or inaccurate documentation.

Operational and legal risk management

The GM-CX ensures adequate internal structures, procedures and controls are in place to protect the council’s financial assets and prevent unauthorised transactions. This includes:

• written instructions for all standard treasury transactions and procedures

• using expert advice for any non-standardised transactions

• segregation of duties between staff that can enter transactions, and those that can control, check and confirm those transactions

• adequate segregation of duties among the core borrowing and investment functions of deal execution, confirmation, settling and accounting/reporting

• financial delegations as outlined in the delegations manual

• using standing dealing and settlement instructions (including bank accounts, authorised persons, standard deal confirmations, contacts for disputed transactions) to be sent to counterparties

• matching of third party confirmations and the immediate follow-up of anomalies

• ensuring legal agreements are entered prudently

• ensuring financial covenants are not breached

• ensuring all parties involved in treasury transactions and are aware of the policies and procedures that must be complied with.

Financial instruments are not entered into if the systems, operations and internal controls do not satisfactorily support the measurement management and reporting of the risks.

Operational and legal risk limits

Treasury limits relating to operational risk management are detailed in operational and legal risk limits in the schedule of treasury limits.

Schedule of Treasury Limits

Liquidity risk limits

Balance sheet

As per the financial strategy and liability management policy, we ensure the sum of external debt, liquid funds and committed bank facilities are at least 110% of external debt (liquidity ratio).

Future cashflow

Cash held for future cashflow may consist of:

· bank accounts

· maturing and redeemed term deposits and investments

· the Short Term Investment Fund (STIF).

Cash held for future cashflow (for the month being forecast) shall be the amount required to fund councils forecasted:

· operational expenses +20% contingency

· capital expenses +20% contingency

· Loan repayments related to council projects for which rates are or have been levied

The cash held requirement shall be forecasted monthly and monitored daily. Forecasted and actual cashflows will be reported to the GM-CX monthly.

Maturity/repayment profile of borrowing

The maturity profile of the total committed funding (for all loans and committed facilities) must be:

Maturity Period	Minimum	Maximum
0 to 3 years	15%	60%
3 to 5 years	15%	60%
5 years plus	10%	100%

For any borrowings which are to be repaid by a specific targeted rate, council may have a maximum maturity profile in any one year of 100%.

A maturity schedule outside these limits requires specific council approval at the time the new borrowing is approved.

Interest rate limits

Interest on external debt

As per the liability management policy, we will ensure that net interest on external debt will not exceed:

• 20% of total annual revenue, and

• 25% of annual rates income.

Fixed and floating mix

We will match the proportion of fixed deposits to floating borrowings e.g.:

View of future interest rates	Borrowings		Deposits
View of future interest rates	Fix %	Floating %	Fix %	Floating %
Decreasing	30	70	70	30
Neutral	50	50	50	50
Increasing	70	30	30	70

This is based on the concept that if we believe that interest rates are increasing, we should fix more borrowings and float more deposits (and vice versa).

We will monitor and report on interest rate risk management against appropriate benchmarks.

Instruments held

No more than $10 million will be held in interest rate risk management instruments, principally interest rate swaps, with each New Zealand registered bank.

Financial instruments

The following financial instruments are considered acceptable:

Category	Financial instrument
Cash management and borrowing	Bank overdraft Committed cash advance and bank accepted bill facilities (short term and long-term loan facilities) Loan stock / bond issuance Fixed rate note (MTN)
Investments <181 days	Short term bank deposits Bank registered certificates of deposit (RCDs)
Investments (other)	LGFA borrower notes Bank term deposits linked to pre-funding maturing debt
Interest rate risk management	Forward rate agreements (FRAs) on bank bills Interest rate options on: · Bank bills (purchased caps and one for one collars) · Interest rate swaptions (purchased swaptions and one for one collars only)

Any other financial instrument must be specifically approved by the council on a case-by-case basis and only be applied to the one singular transaction being approved. All investment securities must be senior in ranking.

The investment policy prohibits direct investment in:

• derivative instruments such as futures (except for hedging purposes)

• speculative products or use of structured products

• securitised products.

As per the liability management policy, the council will not enter any borrowings denominated in a foreign currency.

Counterparty risk limits

Counterparties and limits

The following guide summarises the acceptable counterparties and limits. It excludes externally managed funds, which are governed by the appropriate Statement of Policy Objectives (SIPO).

Counterparty/issuer	Minimum long term/short term credit rating – stated & possible	maximum investments per counterparty ($m)
NZ Government	N/A	Unlimited
Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA)	N/A	20.0
NZD registered Supranational [name]	AAA	20.0
State owned enterprise [name]	BBB / A2	5.0
NZ registered bank [name]	A- / A2	20.0
Corporate bonds/ commercial paper* [name]	A- / A2 BBB / A2	2.0 1.0
Local government stock/ bonds/ floating rate note/ commercial paper**[name]	A- / A2 (if rated) Unrated	20.0 5.0
Subject to a maximum exposure no greater than 40% of the net financial investment portfolio (NFIP) being invested in corporate debt securities at any one point in time. A maximum of 20% of the NFIP can be rated less than A- and no lower than BBB. * Subject to a maximum exposure no greater than 60% of the NFIP being invested in local government debt at any one point in time. The maximum portfolio exposure limit does not apply to the LGFA. This summary guide will be expanded on a counterparty named basis (denoted by [name] above), outlining the actual counterparties and limits in place. This will be authorised by the council.

Externally managed fund limits

Each SIPO outlines the limits for an externally managed fund. In addition to these limits, no more than 20% of the aggregated sum of externally managed funds will be held with any one fund manager.

Foreign exchange risk limits

NZD/AUD risk on portfolio returns

· Council will not hedge

Operational risk limits

Treasury procedures	Written procedures for the treasury management function must be maintained and complied with.
Delegations	· Staff must comply with the delegations manual at all times · All delegated financial authorities are reviewed at least every year to ensure they are still appropriate and current · a letter must be sent to all counterparties at least annually to confirm details of all relevant current delegated authorities empowered to bind council · whenever a person with delegated authority on any account or facility leaves the council, all relevant banks and other counterparties must be advised in writing in a timely manner to ensure that no unauthorised instructions are to be accepted from such persons.
Authorising signatures	The CEO must sign off on all documentation for new loan borrowings, re-financings and investment structures. GM-CX must sign off all documentation in respect of day-to-day treasury transactions.
Reporting	The council will comply with all obligations and reporting requirements under existing funding facilities and legislative requirements. There will be regular internal reporting on treasury activity. At a minimum, reports on treasury activity will be provided monthly to the GM-CX. Reports will be disseminated to the CEO and council.
Legal documentation	All legal documentation in respect to external borrowing and financial instruments will be approved by the council’s solicitors prior to the transaction being executed.
Legal agreements	Financial instruments will only be entered into with banks that have in place an executed ISDA Master Agreement with the council. In the absence of an ISDA document a “long form confirmation” is acceptable so long as a master ISDA is signed with the bank counterparty following the transaction.
Financial covenants	The council will not enter into any transactions where it would cause a breach of financial covenants under existing contractual arrangements. The council will comply with all obligations and reporting requirements under existing funding facilities and legislative requirements.

Council Meeting item: 7.3

17 November 2020

TITLE:	Chief Executive’s Report to Council
ID:	A1379390
From:	Malcolm Nicolson, Chief Executive Officer
Authorised by Group Manager:	Malcolm Nicolson, Chief Executive Officer, on date 11 November 2020

Recommendation

That the report ‘Chief Executive’s Report to Council’ by Malcolm Nicolson, Chief Executive Officer and dated 31 October 2020, be received.

7.3.1 Highlights

Kaipara Moana Memorandum of Understanding

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the government, councils and Kaipara Uri recognises an equal partnership between Kaipara Uri and councils to undertake the Kaipara Moana Remediation Programme, a $300 million, decade-long project that aims to remediate ongoing environmental degradation by halving sediment loss from land to sea.

The programme is predicted to create around 300 new jobs; 200 for direct farm work such as fencing streams and wetlands, establishing water reticulation systems, preparing and planting land, weeding, and hill country stabilisation, and another 100 in the rural sector for nurseries, fencing manufacture, and farm advisory services.

Minister for the Environment, David Parker, signed the agreement with council and Kaipara Uri programme partners at Waihaua marae in Arapaoa. Joining them at the signing were Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage, and guests representing numerous communities, conservation, hapū and marae groups, as well as the agricultural sector and philanthropic organisations.

The pōwhiri and event supported by our team was a proud and humbling moment in time for all that had contributed to the significance of the Kaipara MoU.

Underwater survey of the Ipipiri platform in the Bay of Islands

Final planning is underway for an underwater survey of the Ipipiri platform in the Bay of Islands, which is scheduled to be undertaken in November. The survey is a collaboration between local and national researchers, which council is supporting, and will involve a series of underwater video transects using a towed camera set up which will inform a more detailed drop camera survey. The Ipipiri platform has been identified as a Significant Ecological Area (SEA) in the PRP as it contains among the most biodiverse soft sediment biogenic habitat in New Zealand, including nationally rare (or seldom reported) red-algal turfs and subtidal seagrass. One of the outcomes of the survey will be a baseline assessment of this important SEA. The survey should also provide council with a useful template on how to survey ecologically important subtidal habitats.

Towed camera system incorporating a splash cam and a GoPro.w

7.3.2 CEO’s Office

Current Legal Proceedings

Department	Description	Status
Consent decision appeal	Replacement consents for, and new consents for an expansion of, Doug’s Opua Boat Yard in Walls Bay, Ōpua.	No further update.
Consent decision appeal	Replacement discharge consents for East Coast Bays Wastewater Treatment Plant (Taipā)	Awaiting further direction from the Court.
Economic	Discussed with lawyers the enforcement options open to council once the High Court judgement for REL is sealed.	Take appropriate steps to try and recover the money owed to council.

7.3.3 Corporate Excellence

COUNCIL PROPERTY UPDATE

Ÿ The Kensington Crossing base build is contracted to be completed mid-December 2020. This will be challenging, but it is in the interests of the contractor that the target be met. Various fit-outs will continue into the New Year.

Ÿ The Kaipara Service Centre foundations are now being poured. The project is currently 19 days ahead of schedule, which provides some cushion should unforeseen circumstances arise.

Ÿ The sale of three significant and adjacent Union East Street properties is currently being negotiated by the Chief Executive and will be subject to council approval.

Ÿ Planning for the demolition of a Hannah Street property is underway and will be subject to council approval.

Ÿ The NIWA Kingfish RAS facility Project Manager, Designer, Engineer and Electrical Engineer have been engaged by NIWA. The concept design, initial budget and program are being developed for Project Control Group approval.

CYBER SECURITY

Ÿ A high-level information security risk assessment has been completed across the council’s computer environment. The risk assessment followed the risk assessment process which is based on the ISO risk management standards.

Ÿ The assessment reviewed existing information security policies and related documents, meeting with managers to discuss the importance of information security and reporting on findings, observations and recommendations.

Ÿ A total of fifteen (15) high level risks were identified during the risk assessment process, and an action plan is being developed assessing the criticality of each risk, with all risks being addressed as resources and workloads permit.

FRAUD DECLARATION

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

7.3.4 Regulatory Services

Consents in Process

During October 2020, a total of 76 Decisions were issued. These decisions comprised:

Ÿ Moorings	8
Ÿ Coastal Permits	32
Ÿ Coastal Discharge Permits	0
Ÿ Air Discharge Permits	0
Ÿ Land Discharge Permits	2
Ÿ Water Discharge Permits	1
Ÿ Land Use Consents	14
Ÿ Water Permits	3
Ÿ Bore Consents	16

The processing timeframes for the October 2020 consents ranged from:

Ÿ 57 to 5 calendar days, with the median time being 30 days;

Ÿ 40 to 3 working days, with the median time being 20 days.

Thirty-nine applications were received in October 2020.

Of the 101 applications in progress at the end of October 2020:

Ÿ 54 were received more than 12 months ago (most awaiting further information from the applicant);

Ÿ 7 were received between 6 and 12 months ago (most awaiting further information from the applicant);

Ÿ 40 less than 6 months.

Appointment of Hearing Commissioners

No commissioners were appointed in October 2020.

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

The current level of notified application processing activities at the end of October 2020 is (by number):

Ÿ Applications Publicly/Limited Notified During Previous Month	1
Ÿ Progress on Applications Previously Notified	5
Ÿ Hearings and Decisions	4
Ÿ Appeals/Objections	2

COMPLIANCE MONITORING

The results of compliance monitoring for the period 1 – 31 October 2020 (and year-to-date figures) are summarised in the following table and discussed below.

Classification	Total	Full compliance	Low risk non-compliance	Moderate non-compliance	Significant non-compliance	Not exercised during period
Air Discharge	25	25	0	0	0	0
Bore Consent	10	5	5	0	0	0
Coastal Air Discharge	2	2	0	0	0	0
Coastal Discharge	33	30	2	0	0	1
Coastal Permit	33	28	4	0	0	1
FDE – Discharge permit	110	88	0	17	4	1
FDE – Permitted activity	35	30	0	4	0	1
Land Discharge	59	47	3	3	1	5
Land Use Consent	40	32	0	1	0	7
Water Discharge	37	29	4	3	1	0
Water Permit	24	23	0	0	1	0
Water Take	97	57	29	11	0	0
Total	505	396	47	39	7	16
Percentage		78.4%	9.3%	7.7%	1.4%	3.2%
Year to date	2,266	1,553	271	207	70	165
Percentage		68.5%	12.0%	9.1%	3.1%	7.3%

Coastal

The majority of consents monitored during the reporting period related to coastal discharges (treated municipal sewage, boat maintenance facilities and other industrial) and coastal structures.

Water, Waste, Air and Land Use (WWALU) Compliance Monitoring

Ÿ Water use

With another period of dry weather being experienced and rivers set around 30% lower than usual for this time of year, staff are preparing for potential periods of water shortage.

A group of water users taking from a stream in Whatitiri have been working closely with DOC, NRC, QEII Trust and hapū to resolve an issue where concrete was placed in a stream without authorisation from any party. All parties are keen to see the reinstatement of the stream with appropriate fish passage in place. Works to reinstate the stream are likely to be delayed until the tuna have stopped moving upstream and when flows are low to mitigate adverse effects. The water users will need to seek advice from the NRC consents team to ensure their water use is authorised and a stocktake of other water users will be undertaken in the catchment.

Ÿ Air Monitoring

A large number of fires with associated smoke complaints were coming through the hotline. An interim enforcement order was sought on a property owner who burnt forestry slash and debris causing a large number of complaints in Waipū. Bringing this issue to a successful resolution incurred a significant amount of staff resource, but was warranted given that the burner was not cooperative and continued to undertake burning despite previous enforcement action taken by the council.

Ÿ Waste and Contaminated Land Management

Twelve incidents involving the discharge of hazardous substances and 19 enquiries regarding contaminated land were received and responded to. Three sites were added to the Selected Land Use Register (SLR) and 543kg of hazardous waste was disposed of. Staff started a review of the Selected Land-use Register (SLR).

The first hazardous waste amnesty day will be held on Tuesday 17 November 2020.

Intergroup Limited was close to completing the set-up of the Sustainable Solvents site at Marsden Point/Ruakaka for the removal of hazardous waste from the site. The site was inspected by a council officer on 29 October, who did not identify any environmental matters of concern.

Farm Dairy Effluent (FDE) Monitoring

FDE inspections commenced on 27 July 2020. A total of 804 farms will be visited by the contractor or NRC staff before Christmas - 25 less farms than last year. To date 605 farms (~75%) have been visited and reported on. Comparisons of this season’s results so far with those for last season are given in the tables below.

CONSENTED FARMS
Full Compliance		Moderate Non-Compliance		Significant Non-Compliance
This Year	Last Year	This Year	Last Year	This Year	Last Year
312	322	100	117	43	74
69%	63%	22%	23%	9%	14%

Six hundred and nine consented farms will be visited this season.

NON-CONSENTED FARMS
Full Compliance		Moderate Non-Compliance		Significant Non-Compliance
This Year	Last Year	This Year	Last Year	This Year	Last Year
117	115	18	25	15	28
78%	68%	15%	15%	10%	17%

One hundred and ninety-five farms operating under the permitted activity criteria will be visited this season.

Drought Recovery Grant – partial reimbursement of transport costs

NRC has been administrating funding of $250,000 to help Northland livestock owners mitigate animal welfare issues – subject to set criteria.

The grant was live from 1 July to mid-October 2020. The funding was allocated to 72 Northland farmers and is now fully exhausted.

Environmental Incidents

There was one environmental incident reported on which resulted in a significant environmental impact.
A spray drift incident that has affected grape vines was reported in early October; investigations are continuing to try to identify the source of the spraying activity that may have caused the damage.

ENFORCEMENT

Abatement Notices, Infringement Notices and Formal Warnings

The following enforcement actions were taken during the period:

Nature of Offence	Infringement Notice		Abatement Notice		TOTAL *
Nature of Offence	No. Offences	No. Notices	No. Offences	No. Notices	No. Offences	No. Notices
Burning and smoke nuisance	0	0	4	5	4	5
Earthworks/land use	0	0	2	2	2	2
Farm dairy effluent	6	7	16	17	16	24
Hazardous substances, spills & refuse	0	0	1	1	1	1
Illegal take, dam or diversion of water	0	0	1	1	1	1
Other water discharge	0	0	4	4	4	4
TOTAL	6	7	26	30	26	37

*An infringement notice and an abatement notice may be issued for the same offence. This means that in the above table, Column 5 (Total No. Offences) is not necessarily the sum of Column 1 (Infringement Notice No. Offences) + Column 3 (Abatement Notice No. Offences).

Other Enforcement

Ÿ Sand dune removal – Tokerau Beach

Charges were laid against two parties – an individual and his company for offending which occurred in July 2019. The alleged offences include the removal of a sand dune at Tokerau Beach. Guilty pleas were entered by the individual on 22 May 2020, with the charges against the company withdrawn. The individual has requested to participate in the restorative justice process, this has been agreed and directed by the Judge, and we are awaiting a date to be set. The next court appearance was scheduled for 2 November 2020 to monitor the restorative justice process and to set a sentencing date.

Ÿ Timber treatment plant

Charges were filed in the Whangarei District Court on 12 March 2020 against a company and an individual for discharges from a timber treatment processing plant. An agreement has been reached between parties to withdraw the prosecution charges and apply for an enforcement order. Work is currently underway to lodge the application with the Court.

Ÿ Earthworks without erosion and sediment controls – Tōtara North

Charges were laid in the Kaitaia District Court on 20 July 2020 against an individual for earthworks undertaken without controls, and work within a watercourse and the riparian management zone. There are six charges against the individual. The summons was served on the defendant and the first court appearance has been adjourned until 16 November 2020 in the Whangarei District Court, to allow the defence lawyer to consider disclosure.

Ÿ Ongoing burning and smoke nuisance – Waipū

An application for an interim enforcement order was made to the Court against an individual and a company for causing ongoing offensive and dangerous smoke nuisance to neighbouring properties from the burning of scrub and slash property clearance at Waipū. A final enforcement order was granted on 20 October 2020.

Ÿ Solid waste disposal and burning – Kaitāia

An application for an enforcement order was made to the Court against an individual for the disposal of solid waste and the burning of the material on his property at Kaitāia. The enforcement order was granted on a final basis on 28 October 2020.

Ÿ Discharge of contaminants from Marina – Whangārei

An abatement notice issued in August 2020 requiring the consent holder to comply with conditions of their resource consent relating to the discharge of contaminants was appealed. Agreed mediation was scheduled and has now been adjourned as parties have agreed to an action plan with a joint memorandum to be filed to the Court on 16 December 2020.

Ÿ Burning and smoke nuisance – Pakaraka

An abatement notice issued in August 2020 for burning of vegetation causing a smoke nuisance beyond the property boundary was appealed. The notice was cancelled after subsequent discussions with the offender.

COASTAL AND WATER QUALITY

Ÿ All routine monthly water quality and ecological programmes were undertaken, including:

Ÿ four coastal water quality sampling runs.

Ÿ nine river water quality, priority catchment, and periphyton sampling runs.

Ÿ validation of six continuous water quality stations (five freshwater and one coastal).

Ÿ The quarterly coastal litter monitoring programme was undertaken at Hātea River adjacent to the Pohe Island BMX track. Representatives from Sustainable Coastlines, Ecosolutions and a councillor from both the NRC and WDC, attended to assist with the collection and audit of litter. As with previous audits, plastic pollution made up the majority of the litter collected.

Ÿ An annual shellfish survey at Taipā estuary was undertaken with the assistance of students from Taipā Area School. In total, 20 points along seven transects were sampled.

Ÿ Staff deployed continuous dissolved oxygen meters at 15 river water quality sites to collect data over the next six months. These meters will provide council with data on the life-supporting capacity of these sites, which is of particular concern should Northland enter another drought and meets the requirements of the NPS-FW.

NATURAL RESOURCES DATA

Ÿ LAWA: Bacterial - monitoring data for swimming sites-are being reviewed to ensure that they are complete and correct, so that they can be published in early November ready for the swimming season over the coming summer months.

Ÿ The ecological database (KiEco) is still under construction and the freshwater macroinvertebrate and periphyton programmes are expected operational by
December 2020.

Ÿ Work continues with the online services team to update the platform for displaying environmental data on the council’s website.

HYDROLOGY

Rainfall

Ÿ October 2020 was the second dry month in a row following a very dry September.

Ÿ Most of the region received lower than usual rainfall through October, with the exception of some storm rain in the Waitangi and Hātea catchments on 13 October 2020.

Ÿ The Northland region received on average 67mm of rain in October 2020 compared to the 94mm we would usually expect. The Waitangi at Wiroa Road gauge had the most rain with 125mm for October 2020 and Waimamaku at Weka Weka Road was just behind with 124mm. Whakapara at Puhipuhi and Waima at Tutāmoe were the only other gauges exceeding 100mm for the month, whereas Whangārei Harbour at Marsden Point and Cape Rēinga received only 29 and 31.8mm, respectively. The heavier falls were mostly around the higher country while the low rainfall areas were in the south, the far north and the eastern coastal fringe.

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River Flows

Ÿ River flows are below normal for most areas with flows between the 5th and 25th percentile, reflecting the lower than normal rainfall received over the month. Most notably, Bream Bay rivers flows are particularly low for this time of year.

Groundwater

Ÿ Groundwater levels in most aquifers were below normal through October, with Ruawai recording its lowest water level through October 2020 since records began in 2005. The area has had consistently low rainfall for the past three months.

Bore	October 2020 Status	Comments
Ruawai	30% below normal	Lowest October * 2007
Mangawhai	10% below normal
Whangārei	slightly below normal
Porotī	slightly below normal
Kaikohe	10% below normal
Russell	20% below normal
Aupouri	15% above normal

NATURAL RESOURCES SCIENCE

Air quality and carbon emission

Ÿ Ambient PM₁₀ monitoring results for September 2020 for the Robert Street, Mairtown (Whangārei) and Marsden Point stations show that compliance was met with the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality.

Ÿ Ambient PM_2.5 monitoring results for the Robert Street station for September 2020 were within the Ambient Air Quality Guideline value.

Ÿ Council’s CO₂-e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions in 2019 and 2020 to date are presented in the graph below. Since April 2020, council’s monthly CO₂-e emissions have been lower than 2019 emissions, indicating and attributed to the effect of COVID-19 restrictions. The graph is based on live data and therefore figures for the last few months are subject to change.

Freshwater Quality

· Monitoring networks review:

Ÿ The first draft of the reviewed river monitoring network is currently under process, which takes the representation of the Freshwater Management Units (FMUs) into consideration, together with other monitoring networks (such as coastal, groundwater and hydrometric) and national consistency around water quality measurements.

Ÿ The first draft of the reviewed lake monitoring network is also under process and currently options are being weighed for staged implementation of the reviewed network over the next two to three years.

· Water quality modelling work:

Ÿ The water quality steady state report by Land & Water Science (Rissmann and Pearson, September 2020) for Northland rivers and streams has been finalised.
Land & Water Science has used the physiographic approach to undertake this water quality steady state modelling. The Science Team will present the steady state model highlights to the Water Steering Group by the end of November 2020.

Ÿ The draft report on water quality loads for Northland rivers based on Land & Water Science steady state model has been received. The draft report together with the underlying GIS based model are currently being reviewed by the Science and Planning & Policy Teams.

Ÿ NIWA is close to completing the CLUES calibration process of nitrogen, phosphorous, and E.coli for Northland rivers.

Ÿ The Science Team is working closely with the Planning & Policy Team and the NRC Economist to develop some scenarios that can feed into the CLUES scenario model to assess the water quality loads under different land management interventions over time. Building these scenarios will consider the policies and standards in the new NPS-FM (August 2020).

· Water quality analysis for Whangārei Harbour Catchment investigation sites:

Ÿ A summary of the analysis of the last five years of water quality data (undertaken as part of the Whangārei Harbour Catchment investigation) was presented in front of the Whangārei Harbour Catchment Group in October 2020. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations (including nitrate/nitrite nitrogen and ammonia) were found to be low in harbour catchments except in the Raumanga and Otaika catchments, where the median concentrations were higher than the national bottom line (Figure 1. below).

We need to do more analysis to confirm the validity of the trend, then establish the critical part of the catchment and key drivers contributing to the elevated levels, this may require a catchment specific investigation. This information would feed into the NPSFM water quality plan change and action plan development work.

Figure 1: Distribution of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) concentrations over the last five years

Ÿ Overall stream invertebrate communities (MCI scores) were very poor in Otakaranga and Puwera catchments.

Ÿ Concentrations of dissolved phosphorous (DRP) and E.coli were high across the catchments, particularly in Otaika and Puwera (Figures 2 and 3 below).

Figure 2: Distribution of dissolved reactive phosphorous (DRP) concentrations over the last five years.

Figure 3: Distribution of E.coli concentrations over the last five years.

Ÿ Some improving trends were noticed in several sites for ammonia and suspended sediment attributes (e.g. visual clarity, turbidity). However, there were also some declining trends observed for E.coli at Waitaua Stream catchment upstream of Whangārei Falls and declining trends for dissolved phosphorous in Otaika catchment.

Groundwater

Ÿ Key recommendations from the Drought Risk Assessment Reports for Russell and Ruawai are being reviewed and prioritised for action.

Ÿ Recommendations for Ruawai aquifer include implementation of Kaipara District Council’s Management Plan for the operation of the water supply take, additional monitoring and assessment of the water resource and separate allocation limits for the confined and unconfined aquifer.

Ÿ Recommendations for the Russell aquifer include the surveying of existing bores, establishing a water user group and preparing a trigger level management plan, in consultation with water users for the monitoring and management of existing takes. The Environmental Monitoring Officer (Water Use) will be tasked with establishing the Water user group. It is hoped the group will be operational before the 2021/22 summer.

Ÿ Several of the recommendations relating to resource assessment and monitoring have been included in the LTP funding process.

Water Allocation

Ÿ Statements of evidence on the current state of water allocation and minimum flows/levels in Northland's water bodies were prepared and presented to the Environment Court hearing on the water quantity provisions in the PRP that commenced on 26 October 2020.

Coastal

Ÿ We have received the draft report on Hokianga contaminant loads from Land and Water Science. The investigation has involved modelling diffuse and point source discharges of nutrients, total suspended sediment and E. coli to the harbour. Staff are in the process of providing feedback on the report.

7.3.5 Environmental Services

land management

Sustainable Hill Country and Regional Priorities

Milestones	Status
Research
Coastal erosion buffers	A coastal erosion tool utilising remote sensing and LiDAR data is in development.
Mature poplar/ willow	Poplar has been milled into a range of products for treatment and mechanical testing.
Farm Environment Plans (FEPs)
	Land management is no longer preparing FEPs. NRC is in discussions with MPI about redistributing the funding under this milestone to other milestones.
Stakeholder engagement
	A project engagement strategy has been approved by MPI. Promotional material is in development including a ‘planting hub’ on the council website. A communications plan for the planting and fencing grants is about to be actioned.
Land treatments
Retirement fencing	$57,339 worth of retirement fencing has been approved this year. However, a significant amount of funding ($195k) is still to be allocated. The amount of efund dedicated to hill country retirement was increased by 2/3 compared to last year which partly explains the underspend to date. Farmers are also targeting riparian areas rather than hill country in preparation for stock exclusion rules. A promotional plan developed with the communication team is being actioned to drum up more fencing and planting projects.
Contractor capacity development	A training programme is in development for nurseries, forest managers and contractors. This will be implemented in early 2021.

biodiversity

FIF Dune Lakes Project

Objective	Status
Aquatic weed and pest fish control	One brief training exercise was taken to upskill staff for grass carp operation on Lake Kapoai. This was followed by a three-day field operation on Lake Swan / Roto-otuauru to trial experimental grass carp removal methods. Over 2.5 days of netting, 36 fish were captured. Methodology has been refined so higher catch rates are expected for the Lake Heather operation.
Sediment and nutrient mitigation	Awaiting contract finalisation from Far North District Council for earthworks at Lake Ngatu. If works cannot be completed in the next month works will be deferred to March 2021.
Māori Lakes Strategy	Awaiting Te Hiku Maruwai to finalise discussions with other iwi for dates and locations of next hui to progress this part of the project.
Fencing	Still progressing the movement of a small section of fence back from the edge of Lake Ngatu. Otherwise this work stream is completed.

Lakes

Further discussions between Kaipara District Council, NRC, DOC staff and iwi have taken place regarding Kai Iwi and how to best sample gambusia populations and monitor the status of the dune lake galaxiids (DLG) including a site visit to establish monitoring sites and planning to undertake sonar surveys to monitor DLG shoals within the lake.

The annual lake NIWA Ecological survey undertaken in the Far North recently covered final baseline submerged plant cover assessments of three lakes proposed for weed eradication with the herbicide Aquathol K. However, in two of the lakes it was found that another serious pest weed that cannot be eradicated with herbicide has increased in dominance and NIWA recommended that these lakes were not suitable for treatment. Iwi lake bed owners were consulted and agreed with the proposal to use the herbicide in lakes elsewhere where eradication could be achieved. Staff, MfE and DOC are currently in discussion over alternative lakes.

Wetlands

Biodiversity staff provided advice, as part of the expert group, on identifying sensitive wetland areas potentially affected by the consent application for Aupōuri Aquifer Ground Water takes (REQ.596300) under Commissioner’s Direction.

Staff have assessed 18 Northland wetlands for a National Wetland Trust project looking at all councils polices, rules and compliance around wetland loss. Overall, of the 18 areas checked, 6 clearances were assessed to be illegal and 3 were uncertain. Of the rest, several were cleared prior to 2003 and several were probably not dominated by indigenous vegetation. Biodiversity and planning staff are working with Regulatory Services on wetland loss compliance.

BioBlitz

Biodiversity staff spent a weekend at Ngati Manu BioBlitz with iwi recording plant species in the Karetu area in the estuary, shrublands, and along the margins of the Karetu River as part of a Ngati Manu initiative to improve local knowledge of their biodiversity and how best to look after it.

CoastCare

The planting season has drawn to a close with site preparation and planting days at Matapōuri, Te Ngaere, Langs Beach and Mitimiti. This planting season a total 17,755 plants have been provided and planted at over 20 dune sites around Te Taitokerau through the NRC CoastCare programme.

Partial funding has been approved to continue the Far North Kaitiaki ranger programme this summer with FNDC, DOC and local iwi. Funding has not been approved for a wider Te Taitokerau programme for this summer.

biosecurity INCURSIONS AND rESPONSE

Deer - Russell Sika Eradication

We are currently working with DOC’s most experienced animal control officer Norm MacDonald, who is internationally recognised for leading successful large animal eradications around the world. Norm is advising us on how to best approach a Northland wide deer eradication and more specifically, how to achieve a Russell Forest sika eradication. He is currently drafting up the framework for this sika eradication that we can share with our partners

We have started communications with hapū groups associated with the forest and will be holding a hui in December at Rawhiti marae to talk to with wider community about the sika deer, the impacts they have on our ecosystems, and to hear from experts who have experienced the devasting effects of deer on their ngahere. We are developing an agenda with the 3B2 Trust who have offered to host the hui and staff propose extending an invitation to Councillors to attend this hui to support the vision.

Landowners have not always been supportive of allowing staff access to eradicate deer. NRC and DOC staff therefore been working closely to utilize the Wild Animal Control Act (WACA) powers to gain access to these properties. The proposed approach involves DOC using the NRC, as DOC’s agent to carry out the deer control that is required on these properties.

Although we have the support from our local DOC staff and mana whenua to target the sika herd in Russell Forest, we are facing resourcing challenges and have drafted letters to the Te Hiku Conservation Board and the Northland Conservation board to seek their support in sika eradication.

KAURI DIEBACK

Hygiene Stations

The Kauri Dieback team have been working collaboratively with the Bay of Islands DOC staff to provide 3 barrel and grate hygiene stations out at Rakaumangamanga on DOC and private land. This is to add to the existing one in the area. The new stations will cover access to Kauri forest from every angle including those arriving by boat in the bays.

PGF Funding for Track Upgrades

Good progress has been made to finalise the agreement with PGF for $2M funding to upgrade walking trails in order to protect Kauri, create new jobs, boost local economies and improve trail walking experiences along the Te Araroa Trail in Northland.

Pig Hunting Competition

The Kauri Dieback Team recently attended the end of season pig hunting comp for a joint effort between two of Northlands pig hunting clubs. In attempt to take it to the next level the team offered a season ending main prize for all those hunters who could send in a video or photo of themselves cleaning boots and gear before during or after a hunt. For those who somehow were not paying attention to the comms leading up to the event gasped in amazement at hearing that the main prize was a $1300 GPS and dog tracker, which was drawn out of the hat on the day. A totally deserved winner was a 12-year who had made genuine attempts with kauri dieback hygiene in recent months and could well be the future of more hygienic pig hunters.

A group of people posing for the camera

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PARTNERSHIPS

Kiwi Link CPCA

Spring heralds the arrival of hatching kiwi chicks.

Kiwi chicks are hatching
throughout the Kiwi Coast

Predator free 2050

The team has been busy over the last four months working on actions to progress PF2050 in Whangārei Heads and elsewhere. This has involved ccontinuing to build lasting relationships for the project with project partners and building the foundation of key staff and operational planning. Progress has been very positive, however, the team still has plenty of work to do.

Specific actions have included:

Ÿ Communication Plan developed

Ÿ GIS/data management system developed - a bespoke system that interfaces with the existing Council platform has been developed and is operational. Landowner permissions capture via Survey 123 & Collector apps are ready to use, and field data collection forms are in progress

Ÿ Ongoing consultation and engagement with project partners, Iwi and Hapu, Community and Landowners to begin operational implementation of the project.

Ÿ Project team recruitment is ongoing (new staff to start December), (3x operational staff)

Ÿ Operational Advisory Group in place and meetings held, and separate liaison with individual community groups continues.

Ÿ Public information events held across the eradication area

Ÿ Manu whenua relationships - ongoing discussions including project delivery options

Ÿ Finalised Tiakina Whangārei Project plan

Looking ahead, staff plan to work through the following tasks:

Ÿ Develop specific operational plans for each eradication block in consultation with community, landcare groups and landowners

Ÿ Establish project steering group (December)

Ÿ Begin to obtain landowner permissions within operational areas

Ÿ Increase communications between partners and community and continually update the communication plan

Ÿ Undertake baseline possum monitoring throughout the project area

Ÿ Install required infrastructure in operational blocks 1 & 2 (Bream Head and Taurikura)

Ÿ Install and test detection / surveillance system in Block 1 & 2.

Ÿ Possum removal network to go “live” May 2021 (Laying of toxin)

Ÿ Development of project plans for landscape-scale mustelid and possum control.

marine biosecurity

Hull Surveillance Programme

Eighteen vessels were surveyed this month by council staff while in Mangonui Harbour on other business. Contract divers are due to begin shortly and will start in the inner Bay of Islands.

Hull Surveillance Programme Results: 30/09/20 20– 27/10/2020	Total this period	Total YTD
Pathways Plan Compliance
Number of vessels surveyed this period	18	38
% Pathways Plan Compliance*	59%	49.5%
Vessels found with Marine Pests
Ÿ Sabella spallanzanii (fanworm)	0	0
Ÿ Styela clava (clubbed tunicate)	0	0
Ÿ Undaria pinnatifida (Japanese kelp)	0	0
Ÿ Eudistoma elongatum (Australian droplet tunicate)	0	0
Ÿ Pyura doppelgangera (sea squirt)	0	0

* This is the percentage of vessels surveyed that complied with the acceptable level of ‘light fouling’ as defined in the Marine Pathway Plan. Note: actual compliance is higher given not all these vessels will move from one designated place to another.

Top of the North Marine Biosecurity Partnership

Ÿ As previously reported to council, the development of an inter-regional marine management plan (IRMPMP) is the preferred approach the TON partnership is taking to manage the threat and spread of marine pests in the upper north island.

Ÿ Key areas of the project that have been progressed this month include defining:

1) the objective and what success looks like;

2) potential rules;

3) how these would be implemented in practice (options and a preferred option);

4) early cost estimates; and

5) the process to decide how the plan will be funded, including guiding principles/criteria next steps and indicative timeline.

Ÿ Staff are now in a position to engage with Māori and key stakeholders to test relevant elements in more detail.

Mediterranean fanworm eradication in Ōpua

Ÿ The latest phase of diving in our eradication attempt for Sabella in Ōpua was completed in October. Divers systematically searched a subset of structures in the marina and wider area (including moorings), as well as a representative area of the seafloor and found a total of 20 live individuals.

Ÿ Significant rainfall events in June/July have led to the wholescale die-off of the majority of the fanworm population and staff have now analysed these data in collaboration with an expert working group of scientists from Cawthron and Biosecurity New Zealand to assess the feasibility of continuing with a step-wise eradication programme in light of the freshwater influence.

Ÿ Council will consider options to continue the response in November. In the meantime, we will continue working with stakeholders and encourage boaties in the area to be vigilant and limit any further spread.

Research and innovation

Ÿ NRC are collaborators on a Cawthron-led research programme that is developing a marine biosecurity ‘toolbox’ to effectively transform the way marine pests are managed in New Zealand.

Ÿ In October, staff participated in an environmental DNA (eDNA) survey to detect the presence of Mediterranean fanworm in the Ōpua Harbour Basin with scientists from the Cawthron Institute and members of Nga Tirairaka o Ngāti Hine and Patuharakeke.

Ÿ The goal of the Ōpua field study was to validate Cawthron’s eDNA dispersal model with the aim to better understand dispersal of eDNA and eRNA in marine environments, enhancing our ability to not only detect unwanted pests, such as fanworm, but also predict where their source population could be.

Pest Plants & Freshwater Pests

Batwing eradication program

Ÿ Additional funds have been utilised to repeat intensive contract grid search surveillance of the main bush block areas in the Kamo batwing passionflower infestation area (work delayed by the COVID-19 lockdown).

Ÿ The results indicate the necessity for this work to be undertaken more frequently and extended as both seedling and adult plants were found, which represent a significant threat to the efficacy of the eradication program if not addressed.

Rivers

Long Term Plan Projects

Rivers	Comments
Awanui	Work at JNL has progressed well. Two of the five planned work streams, i.e. the Southern Spillways and Allan Bell Park works have been awarded.
Kerikeri-Waipapa	Landowner engagement is nearing completion and resource consent progressing.
Matangirau	Design has been completed and landowner engagement is progressing.
Otiria/Moerewa	Progressing with hydraulic modelling options analysis and sensitivity testing.

Natural Hazards

Work Streams	Status	Comments
Coastal erosion hazard mapping	100% complete	New coastal erosion assessments and updates complete, final report and maps delivered.
Coastal erosion research	95% complete	Auckland University is mapping Northland’s historic shorelines and erosion risk. Final seminar and deliverables are expected in December with the aim of reporting to council in February 2021.
Rangaunu harbour coastal flood mapping	5% complete	Coastal hydrodynamic flood model for the Rangaunu harbour, due end November.
Region-wide coastal flood mapping	95% complete	Final maps and report delivered, undergoing internal review.
Region-wide river flood mapping	35% complete	Awanui, Kawakawa and Whangarei models complete and undergoing QA, all catchments prepared.
Whangarei river flood model	Initiation phase	Update of Whangarei model – quote accepted.
Public release of new coastal hazard maps	Planning phase	New coastal hazard zones (10 new coastal erosion zones plus coastal flood hazard zones for entire coastline) and communications plan to be presented to council Feb 2021.

Climate Change Response

Work Streams	Status	Comments
NRC Climate Change Strategy	Draft complete	No further progress. Strategy to be discussed and developed with the Maori Technical Advisory Group (a subgroup of the Te Taitokerau Maori and Council Working Party).
Climate Adaptation Te Taitokerau - Adaptation Strategy	In development	Climate Risk Assessment 1 - Risk descriptions – draft complete and under internal review Climate Risk Assessment 2 - Coastal risk spatial analysis - 90% complete Regional Adaptation Strategy due August 2021.
Joint Standing Committee on Climate Change Adaptation	Planning	All four councils have endorsed ToR. Inaugural meeting planned Feb-Mar 2021.

Northland Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)

Excellent feedback from the Northland community regarding the LiDAR data set.

MĀORI ENGAGEMENT

Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu “Referring to the tiniest piece of pounamu that still has significance”

Māori Representation

At the council meeting held in Whāngarei on Tuesday 20 October, council formally decided to establish Māori seats. Council will now need to work through a number of legislative requirements under the Local Electoral Act 2001 before releasing an Initial Proposal for public consultation in August next year.

Te Oneroa-ā-Tohe Board Draft Beach Management Plan

A public consultation programme has been successfully completed for the draft beach management plan with public hearings held for submissions. The draft plan broadly reflects aspirations for three priority matters;

· Protecting and preserving the beach from inappropriate use and development and ensuring resources are preserved and enhanced for present and future generations;

· Recognising the importance of the beach for Te Hiku o Te Ika iwi / hapū and ensuring continued access to mahinga kai; and

· Recognising and providing for spiritual, cultural and historic relationships with the beach.

The Board will be looking to adopt the final beach management plan in November 2020 after consideration of the feedback and submissions received. https://www.teoneroa-a-tohe.nz/. The official launch is scheduled for 11 December 2020.

The consultation programme was undertaken in partnership with support from Te Hiku media who hosted a livestream with iwi leaders resulting in over 5000 views and a significant reach that demonstrated the hard work of iwi (and past generations) and their ongoing commitment to Te Oneroa-ā-Tohe.

This has been a significant time for strengthening partnerships with tangata whenua.

Te Whāriki Core Cultural Competency Programme

Attendees to date total 103. There are a further two workshops booked before the end of the year, with a total of 57 staff scheduled to attend. Considering three workshops were cancelled due to COVID; three further workshops are scheduled for early 2021, by the end of which all staff should have completed Level 1.

Two Treaty of Waitangi workshops have been completed; one specifically for the incoming council and another for the environmental services team. Regular monthly workshops continue with councillors facilitated by the Kaiārahi Kaupapa Māori. Weekly speed te reo sessions continue to support staff with their level of competency in te reo Māori.

Working with Māori inductions continue for all new staff with a pōwhiri held for new staff member joining the online services team. A treaty workshop is planned with senior staff in February as part of the organisational wide training programme.

7.3.6 STRATEGY, Governance And Engagement

NATIONAL INITIATIVES

Te Mana o Te Wai – NPS-FM

Staff are updating project planning for freshwater management planning required under the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (NPS-FM). This includes strategies for engaging with tangata whenua and communities to meet the obligations council now has since the NPS-FM came into force on 3 September 2020.

A primary sector liaison group (Beef & Lamb NZ, Fonterra, Horticulture NZ, Federated Farmers, etc.) is being set up and will meet for the first time in late November/early December. A separate paper on tangata whenua engagement is provided to council (refer Item 6.2). A workshop to brief council on key aspects of the plan change process will be scheduled for the first week of December.

Central government guidance on what the NPS-FM and NES mean, and how councils are to implement these and Te Mana o Te Wai more generally is being developed over time, and the Ministry for the Environment have begun a series of online webinars on various aspects of the Te Mana o Te Wai freshwater package. More information is available here: https://www.mfe.govt.nz/fresh-water/freshwater-guidance-and-guidelines

PROPOSED REGIONAL PLAN

Since the last update provided to council, Environment Court hearings have been held on unresolved aspects of Topic 3 (allocation and use of water), Topic 4 (water quantity), Topic 7 (discharges to land and water), and Topic 9 (land use and disturbance activities). Decisions are anticipated early next year.

Several parties have withdrawn parts, or all, of their appeals, including Federated Farmers (regarding mapping of sites of significance to tāngata whenua), NZ Refining, Northland Fish & Game Council (Forest & Bird have taken over the latter appeal).

Hearing time is also scheduled for November and December for Topic 11 (biodiversity and outstanding natural features/landscapes). Topic 5 (water quality) and Topic 14 (marine protected areas) have yet to be scheduled for hearings that will likely be held next year. Other less contentious matters continue to be resolved without need for hearings. The Court has also set down a timetable for exchange of evidence by March 2021 for hearings on provisions relating to Aquaculture and Agrichemicals.

Council submitted a report to the Court on 30 October after consultation with parties, providing an update on all unresolved matters under appeal which the Court accepted. The Court has since directed council provide the next update on 26 February 2021.

Recent hearings have brought to light key questions as to the impact of both the NPS-FM and National Environmental Standards (NES) on the points under appeal. This includes legal questions as to the jurisdiction of the NES, and related definitions (particularly impacting wetlands and mangrove definitions). The Environment Court has set aside hearing dates in early December to consider these legal questions. Depending on the decision of the Court as to the legal question (anticipated to be made in 2021), this might impact various rules in the Proposed Regional Plan under appeal including coastal activities, land disturbance, and others.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Investment and Growth Reserve – Projects Report

Project	Update	Future developments/ reporting
Extension 350	Quarter One 2020/21 report received, and Quarter Two invoice paid.	Work with consultants undertaking evaluation of the programme to ensure that environmental outcomes are appropriately considered.
Te Hononga – Kawakawa Hundertwasser Memorial Park Centre	Final invoice received and paid.	Project completion report to be provided in November.
Manea Footprints of Kupe	Final invoice received and paid.	Project completion report to be provided in February. The formal opening of Manea Footprints of Kupe will take place on Wednesday 9 December.

Other Work Undertaken

Ÿ Joint economic development initative – KDC and FNDC both agreed to consult on a joint initiative without WDC involvement. Obtained legal confirmation of the steps required and updated plan accordingly.

ONLINE CHANNELS

Most popular content on Facebook: A post informing our communities of the free monthly amnesty days for household hazardous waste disposal in Whangārei. The post reached over 10,000 people and engaged with more than a 100.

*Measured by engagement – number of people who ‘reacted’, commented or shared the post

Key Performance Indicators	Jun-20	Jul-20	Aug-20	Sept 20	Oct-20
WEB
# Visits to the NRC website	33,800	48,900	36,100	29,396	29,500
E-payments made	5	31	12	11	12
# subscription customers (cumulative)	1,221	1,238	1,247	1,260	1,265
SOCIAL MEDIA (cumulative)
# Twitter followers	1,519	1,529	1,531	1,536	1,540
# NRC Facebook fans	9,713	9,767	9,843	9,880	9,920
# NRC Overall Facebook Reach	201,900	106,500	207,700	74,00	61,000
# NRC Engaged Daily Users	12,000	7,950	10,100	5,229	4,681
# CDEM Facebook fans	18,100	20,800	21,100	21,200	21,200
# CDEM Overall Facebook Reach	72,300	518,000	254,100	86,900	20,400
# CDEM Engaged Daily Users	5,817	92,200	30,600	5,764	4,681
# Instagram followers	1,193	1,203	1,220	1,241	1,256

NOTES:
July - increase in visits to the website was due to the flood event, 17 July 2020.
Sept – decrease in Facebook reach & engagement due mostly to being one FTE down in Online Services team this month.

ENVIROSCHOOLS / EDUCATION

Kindergarten Teachers’ Hui

On Tuesday 6 October, the Northland Kindergarten Association held an Enviroschools teachers’ hands-on hui at Hurupaki Kindergarten, in Kamo. Interactive activities included: plastic-free living, harakeke weaving, paper brick making, worm farming, bush skills and pest control.

Scott – Kerikeri Kindergarten teacher – passes on
bush skills to hui participants

Enviroschools Bronze Sharing and Decision-Making Sessions

During October, Onerahi Kindergarten and Renew School both achieved the Enviroschools Bronze stage. Cr Amy McDonald will celebrate with the kindergarten on 27 November and Renew School will celebrate in the new year when the whole school is together again.

Project Pest Control Assessment

On 15 October, the final Project Pest Control workshop for 2020 was held at Lonsdale Park, near Kaeo. Senior students carried out practical assessments and handed in their theory papers. Can Train NZ worked with the Biosecurity team to assess the students.

Right: Baiting and setting a DOC2000 mustelid trap

Below: Project Pest Control – Far North

Enviroschools Communities Facilitated

Despite the school holidays, Enviroschools Facilitators held 38 specific interactions with school and early childhood communities.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL INFORMATION (LGOIMA) REQUESTS

Month	LGOIMA requests received 2019/20	LGOIMA requests received 2020/21
July	15	25
August	22	17
September	16	12
October	29	14
November	11
December	12
January	14
February	21
March	13
April	12
May	13
June	15
TOTAL LGOIMA REQUESTS RECEIVED	193	68
LGOIMA requests not responded to within 20 working days*	18	5

* REQ.605339 – Request for difference in rates revenue from first draft annual plan for 2020/21 compared to final plan. The staff member allocated the LGOIMA request was unable to complete the request within 20 working days due to work load (Strategy, Governance and Engagement).

7.3.7 Customer Service – Community Resilience

CUSTOMER SERVICES

Telephone Inbound Call Statistics & Enquiries

	October 2020	Target
Call volume via Customer Services	2,394
Conversion rate	97.6%	> 95%
Average wait time	5 sec
Calls answered in under 30 sec	96.4%	> 90%

Call volumes continue to be higher than the corresponding month last year. For October, biosecurity, maritime and consents are 40% of all new enquiries received. Customer services are working with these teams to ensure these calls continue to be handled efficiently as we approach the busy summer period.

Satisfaction monitoring

Feedback cards, compliments and complaints

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

• Feedback Cards, Compliments and Complaints

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

Compliments received	Total
Service provided by a specific person / people · Maritime – P Dickson	1
Overall service · Biosecurity	1
Total compliments recorded	2

Complaints received	Total
Standard of service provided · Citylink · Biosecurity	2
Disagree with decision or process · Council	1
Total complaints recorded	3

Biosecurity were complimented on their support of the predator control workshop, and our maritime officer was complimented on their excellent phone manner and breadth of explanation given.

· The Citylink complaint related to a child being missed at a bus stop. It is uncertain if the child was at the stop, as the bus was a few minutes late due to traffic.

· The Biodiversity complaint was bringing a potential problem about pedestrian access to beaches to our notice and the Biodiversity team are working with our Russell Landcare Trust and Far North District Council to find a solution.

· The third complaint was a racially offensive phone call related to the decision to introduce Māori representation on council and was referred the Chief Executive for his attention.

CIVIL DEFENCE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

COVID19 Resurgence Planning

The Northland CDEM Group has been working collaboratively with a number of region-based agencies and the national planning team who are developing the national COVID Resurgence Plan. The purpose of the National Resurgence Response plan is to provide a framework for a nationally lead, regionally delivered response to incidents of COVID-19 in the community. The COVID response group within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has established a work programme to provide a more nuanced response to any future COVID-19 incidents. As part of the planning a local workshop has been held with a number of agencies and the Northland CDEM Group was represented at an Auckland workshop hosted by the All of Government (AOG) planning team.

Drought Planning

The Northland CDEM Group has developed a draft drought response plan that sets out the roles and responsibilities of agencies, organisations and stakeholders in relation to drinking water shortages and related emergency response mechanisms to reticulated water supplies, rainwater tank supplies and other natural water sources. The plan includes learnings from the response earlier in the year and has been circulated to various agencies for comments and feedback. The Department of Internal Affairs is in the early stages of coordinating a working party to facilitate sustainable water in rural communities. An initial meeting has yet to be held while membership is being finalised.

Matawii Dam – Emergency Action Plan

The Northland CDEM Group is working with the consultants designing the Matawii Dam near Kaikohe. The resource consent conditions require a Construction Emergency Action Plan (CEAP) which requires consultation with the Northland Emergency Management Group and other agencies.

CDEM Plan Review and Work Programme

The CDEM Group plan review project timeline has been amended to take into consideration the recent response events. Although some of the milestones have been shifted and timeline compressed in some areas the plan draft will still meet the original timeline and the plan is scheduled to be finalised in December 2021.

National Emergency Management Agency

The Deputy CEO of the National Emergency Management Agency, Sarah Stuart-Black has resigned and finishes with the agency in early December. Sarah has previously been the Director of MCDEM, for 5 years and been with the Ministry for 17 years in total.

In addition, a new National Controller, Roger Ball, has been appointed and will commence duties in December. NEMA is hosting a workshop in early November to consult on its “designing for the future” which includes CDEM Group Managers.

Professional Development

Coordinated Incident Management Systems courses and functional Emergency Operations courses continue to be hosted by the Northland CDEM Group. Strong demand from a number of partner agencies has seen good numbers at these courses recently.

REGIONAL TRANSPORT

Draft Regional Land Transport Plan 2021/2027 and Draft Regional Public Transport Plan

A progress report on the Draft Regional Land Transport Plan 2021/2027 (RLTP) and Draft Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP) was tabled at the 14 October 2020 Regional Transport Committee (RTC) meeting.

The RTC approved that staff and the Project Team continue with both plans as recommended and that draft copies of both the RLTP and RPTP be tabled at the December 2020 RTC meeting for consideration and following feedback from the members and at the February 2021 RTC meeting, approve the release both documents for consultation in March 2021.

Passenger Transport Administration

BusLink figures are reported one month in arrears, due to the required information being unavailable at the time of the agenda deadline.

Bus Link stats for Sept 2020 (revenue ex GST)	Actual	Budget	Variance	Year/Date Actual	Year/Date Budgeted
City Link Passengers	28,313	30,010	-1,697	85,552	91,371
CityLink Revenue	$35,657	$40,514	-$ 4,857	$108,318	$123,351
Mid North Link Passengers	129	144	-15	426	468
Mid North Link Revenue	$476	$720	-$244	$1,566	$2,340
Hokianga Link Passengers	110	78	32	293	234
Hokianga Link Revenue	$590	$1,017	-$427	$1,581	$3,051
Far North Link Passengers	377	685	-308	1185	2052
Far North Link Revenue	$976	$1,713	-$737	$2,909	$5,129
Bream Bay Link Passengers	43	24	19	139	78
Bream Bay Link Revenue	$285	$ 86	$199	$924	$281

The Trial Hikurangi Link and Trial Whangārei Heads Link services are scheduled to commence operation on Thursday 5 November 2020.

These services will initially offer a once a week shopper type service and will be monitored on a regular basis to ensure service meets demand.

Total Mobility

Total Mobility (TM) figures are reported one month in arrears, due to the required information being unavailable at the time of the agenda deadline.

	Total Clients	Monthly Actual Expend	Monthly Budgeted Expend	Monthly Variance	Year/Date Actual Expend	Year/Date Budgeted Expend	Annual Variance
Sept 2020	1583	$21,480	$25,000	-$3,520	$63,854	$70,000	-$6,146

ROAD SAFETY UPDATE

Road Trauma Update: 2020 Year to date road death statistics

National 261 deaths compared to 273 at the same time in 2019

Northland 23 deaths compared to 25 at the same time in 2019

Fatalities this year	Far North	Whangārei	Kaipara	Northland	National
Local roads	6	6	2	14
State highways	4	5	0	9
TOTAL	10	11	2	23	261

Two recent fatal crashes were as a result of the vehicle striking a power pole. Both Northpower and Top Energy have raised concerns about this increasing issue and are sharing information for both reported and unreported crashes involving their assets. Travel speed appears to be the main causative factor.

Ride Forever (R4E) Rider Training numbers are slowly picking up and with the recognised riding season from the start of Labour Weekend commenced now our numbers attending the rider courses will increase. This financial year to end of October we have seen the following numbers of riders trained.

A northbound Driver Reviver / Fatigue Stop was held on SH1, Uretiti on Friday 23 October 2020. Approximately 206 people stopped at the site.

Far North REAP also held a northbound Stop up at Waiomio on SH1.

The delayed Road Safety Week was rescheduled for 9 - 15 November 2020. Promotion work started in October and there are a number of activities planned, including a Truck Education & Health Stop at Uretiti and engagement with the public and students to participate and show how they would step up for safe streets.

Key messaging continues to target – Restraints, Impairment, Distractions, Speed (RIDS) along with Fatigue, Driver Behaviour and planning journeys. This regional messaging was supported by Waka Kotahi national road safety campaign messaging.

Advertising themes for September and October have been Motorcycles, Distractions, Alcohol and Young Drivers.

MARITIME

Eleven incidents were received over the month of October including two oil spills, one sinking, one capsize, one collision and two groundings. A new surveillance camera was installed at Port Nikau which has greatly enhanced our capacity to monitor traffic in the Hātea River. The latest addition means effective coverage from Onerahi to Kissing Point.

Two key entrance lights were upgraded with new models in Perengarenga and Houhora Harbours, and south head in Whangaroa received a battery replacement.

The Harbourmaster and Deputy Harbourmaster undertook two days of simulator training at the Northport facility, trialling emergency breakdown and severe weather procedures for the bay of islands pilotage.

Maritime staff and vessels were occupied for seven working days over the month supporting Coastal Monitoring and Marine Biosecurity. The monitoring work carried out was:

Ÿ grass carp removal on Lake Swan and Lake Pouto

Ÿ undaria checks in Houhora and Mangonui, and

Ÿ DNA sampling in the Bay of Islands.

The ongoing project to reorganise mooring areas for better use of the available space continued with the Kent Bay area in Whangaroa (adjacent to the Marina) – twenty-two moorings were relocated.

Ongoing multi beam survey work was carried out in the Bay of Islands.

Attachments/Ngā tapirihanga

Nil

[3] Desired criteria included: whakapapa to Te Taitokerau, freshwater kaitiaki knowledge/experience, understanding of Te Ao Maori, knowledge of the Treaty and He Whakaputanga, diverse representation by gender and age, balanced geographical affiliation/connections, mix of experience from whanau to national level, and expertise in: legal/policy, on the ground experience, Māori land management, project management, and competency in Te Reo me ona tikanga/kawa o Taitokerau.

[4] Council has budget available to provide legal advice if required.

No.	Option	Advantages	Disadvantages
1	Agree to cancel the annual general meeting for 2019/20	Frees up administration and budget resources of Northland Inc. to reallocate to hosting engagement sessions throughout the region.	Does not provide a forum for council to question the directors of Northland Inc. on matters relating to the performance of the company.
2	Require Northland Inc. to hold an annual meeting of shareholders	Council has the opportunity to raise issues around the performance of the company.	Reduces resources available to host engagement sessions.

Date	Addressed To	Subject
05.10.20	Lau’rell Pratt Project Manager Te Papa Paorooro	Letter of support for Te Papa Paorooro wetland restoration
14.10.20	Snow Tane Te Roroa Board of Trustees	Kauri dieback in Waipoua and Trounson
21.10.20	Marja Lubeck Member of Parliament Chris Penk Member of Parliament for Kaipara ki Mahurangi Willow-Jean Prime Member of Parliament Hon Peeni Henare Member of Parliament for Tamaki Makaurau Mark Cameron Member of Parliament Hon Kelvin Davis Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau Dr Shane Reti Member of Parliament	Congratulatory letters to successful candidates in the parliamentary elections
21.10.20	All members of the Te Taitokerau Māori and Council Working Party	Decision on Māori representation at council’s October council meeting
23.10.20	Doug Leeder Chairman Bay of Plenty Regional Council Andrew Judd Meng Foon Race Relations Commissioner Murray Reade CEO Northland Inc. Dame Naida Glavish Chair Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whatua Toa Faneva Iwi Chief Executives and Iwi Chairs John Cronin	Thank you letters for sharing expertise and time to assist council in understanding Māori representation

TITLE:	Confirmation of Minutes - 20 October 2020
ID:	A1381776
From:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager
Authorised by Group Manager:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager, on date 06 November 2020

TITLE:	Receipt of Action Sheet
ID:	A1381813
From:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager
Authorised by Group Manager:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager, on date 06 November 2020

TITLE:	Financial Report to 31 October 2020
ID:	A1382399
From:	Vincent McColl, Financial Accountant

TITLE:	Amendments to Subcommittee and Working Party Terms of Reference
ID:	A1379680
From:	Bruce Howse, Group Manager - Corporate Excellence and Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager
Authorised by Group Manager:	Ben Lee, GM - Strategy, Governance and Engagement, on date 11 November 2020

TITLE:	Freshwater Management/Te Mana o Te Wai - Tāngata Whenua Water Advisory Group appointment of members
ID:	A1380347
From:	Alison Newell, Policy Specialist
Authorised by Group Manager:	Ben Lee, GM - Strategy, Governance and Engagement, on date 11 November 2020

TITLE:	Request for approval of unbudgeted expenditure to be funded from the COVID-19 Reinstatement Reserve
ID:	A1380445
From:	Carol Cottam, Information Services and Technology Manager
Authorised by Group Manager:	Bruce Howse, Group Manager - Corporate Excellence, on date 11 November 2020

TITLE:	Northland Inc. Limited: Request to not hold an AGM for the 2019/20 financial year
ID:	A1382077
From:	Darryl Jones, Economist
Authorised by Group Manager:	Ben Lee, GM - Strategy, Governance and Engagement, on date 10 November 2020

TITLE:	Interim appointments to address extraordinary vacancies
ID:	A1382171
From:	Darryl Jones, Economist and Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager
Authorised by Group Manager:	Ben Lee, GM - Strategy, Governance and Engagement, on date 05 November 2020

TITLE:	Letter to Minister Mahuta - Māori representation
ID:	A1383313
From:	Malcolm Nicolson, Chief Executive Officer
Authorised by Group Manager:	Malcolm Nicolson, Chief Executive Officer, on date 11 November 2020

TITLE:	Health and Safety Report
ID:	A1381980
From:	Kelcie Mills, Health and Safety Advisor
Authorised by Group Manager:	Bruce Howse, Group Manager - Corporate Excellence, on date 04 November 2020

TITLE:	Chair's Report to Council
ID:	A1381278
From:	Penny Smart, Chair
Authorised by Group Manager:	Penny Smart, Chair, on date 10 November 2020

TITLE:	Receipt of Committee Minutes
ID:	A1382324
From:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager
Authorised by Group Manager:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager, on date 10 November 2020

TITLE:	Working Party Updates and Chairpersons' Briefing
ID:	A1380973
From:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager
Authorised by Group Manager:	Ben Lee, GM - Strategy, Governance and Engagement, on date 11 November 2020

TITLE:	Working Group Updates
ID:	A1382309
From:	Leah Porter, PA/Administrator Environmental Services
Authorised by Group Manager:	Jonathan Gibbard, Group Manager - Environmental Services, on date 11 November 2020

Item No.	Item Issue	Reasons/Grounds
9.1	Confirmation of Confidential Minutes - 20 October 2020	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	The Kensington Redevelopment Project - Progress Update and Next Steps	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).