LGOIMA Requests

I refer to your official information request dated 24 April 2023.  

The information you have requested is below. 

• How many members of staff working for your organisation were suspended in the 2022/23 financial year?  
  We have not suspended any staff in the 2022/23 financial year. 
• How many members of staff are currently suspended for any reason?  N/A 

• How many members of staff are currently suspended and are still receiving their salary?  N/A 
• For those suspended and still receiving their salaries, please indicate the reason for their suspension and the duration of their suspension so far.  N/A 

The information you have requested is below. 

Question: How many in-house graphic designers does your organisation employ? 
Response: One 

Question: What is the budget for in-house/employed graphic designers? 
Response: We do not have a full time Graphic Designer; this is done as part of a wider role within our Communications Team.  The salary information is being withheld under Section 7(2)(a) to protect the privacy of the individual. 

Question: How much has been spent on contracting external graphic designers? 
Response: In the past 12 months we have spent a total of $7924.80 (ex GST) on outsourcing graphic design during a period where we did not have an inhouse graphic design resource. 

Question: If employed/in house or external contractors have been used to design a report in the last 12 months, was the report made public? 
Response: The following list details the reports that have been designed in the last 12 months and if they were internal/externally facing 

If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact the LGOIMA Response Team on 06 323 0000 or by replying to this email.  

Warm regards,  

The information you have requested is below. 
 
1. Do you know what breed they are? 

One dog is a Bull Mastiff cross, the other two dogs are Mastiffs. 

2. What complaints have been made to the council about these dogs, if any, and particularly in the last few months? 

Council has received 19 complaints regarding these dogs since March 2016, which includes one complaint since 01 January 2023 for a roaming dog. 

The nature of these complaints included Barking Dog, Roaming Dog, A Person Attacked, and A Person Rushed at.   

3. Was any action taken by the council against the victim about his dogs? 

Animal Control Officers have given advice to the owner on several occasions as well as verbal warnings. 

Two of the dogs were classified as menacing under Section 33A(1)(b)(i) of the Dog Control Act 1996 and one infringement notice was also issued for failing to Control/Confine Section 52A dog Control Act 1996.  

The information you have requested is below. 

• Does your organisation hold a music license for its various offices and buildings? Yes 
• Does your organisation require multiple music licenses for different buildings? MDC has an all of organisation licence. 
• How much does your organisation pay for each of its music licenses? All of organisation - $4542.63 incl GST  
• Who provides your music license(s)? APRA – One Music 
• Why do you have the licenses? Is music played in general staff areas, to staff at their desks, in staff training sessions, at conferences or to callers on hold? 

Some of the information you have requested is below, the rest is contained in this link - LG_2171_Documents_for_release.zip.  The link will expire after 7 days so remember to save any documents you wish to have continued access to.  We recommend that this link is opened on a PC.

•  Does your council provide office space to a Union?  No

o If yes, which Union is it and do they pay for the office space?  N/A

§     If yes, how much does the Union pay for the office space? If no, what is the rental value of the office space given to Union?  N/A

•  Please provide us with your council’s current working from home policy. – Please see link

•  How much does the council pay to rent its offices?  Offices are owned by Council, no rent payable.

•     What is the current staffing occupancy level of your offices? This relates to working from home versus staff in the office. We only have a handful of staff who regularly work from home so 98% occupancy.

•     How much has the council spent on stationary in the last 12 months?  Please see link

•  How much does the council spend on newspaper and magazine subscriptions?  Please see link

The information you have requested is below. 

1          What security-related services do you provide?     

MDC has CCTV on some of its council sites and within some of its buildings.  

MDC supports the Feilding Community patrol and the Himatangi Beach Community Patrol, a group of volunteers that patrols the areas they monitor and liaise with Police. 

MDC engages an external security company to lock and unlock a number of its carparks, parks and public conveniences on a daily basis.  

MDC engages a company to provide service within the CBD on foot patrol of all the businesses monitoring through the night. The patroller will look at all windows and doors to ensure that the             building is secure.  

2          When did you first start providing security-related services?    

Unknown 

3          How do you provide these services today?    

            Through subcontracted private security companies? If so, how many?  

The foot patrol security service of the CBD is funded by a targeted rate for the CBD business owners. Businesses can opt in or out of this service.  

            Through CCTV cameras? If so, how many?  There are 16 CCTV camera monitoring public spaces.  

            Other? If so, what exactly and how many?  

Community patrols are carried out by volunteers, MDC fund to support this where possible, covering cost for fuel and uniform and the likes.    

4          How do you liaise with the police?   

MDC has regular scheduled meetings with Police every second month, to discuss any issues within the community, or staff are having.   

Hello Amy 

Official information request - Information about sovereign citizen claims in MDC 

The information you have requested is below. 

1.         All correspondence received by your council staff and elected members from "sovereign citizens" since January 2020. This is including but not limited to LGOIMAs, emails, letters.
            Please see link – LG_2169_Documents_to_release.zip

2.         How many ratepayers have refused to pay rates or abide by other council processes based on sovereign citizen ideals?  One. 

3.         What action have you taken regarding this?   All correspondence received is         referred to our lawyers for response if required.  Rates arrears will be referred to Debt Management for collection.  

4.         Please include any threats to your staff or elected members from sovereign citizens. How many of these have been referred to police? None that we are aware of. 

Please note - some information has been withheld under Section 7(2)(a), to protect the privacy of individuals. 

Also, we have not included any of the responses by our lawyers, these are being withheld under Section 7(2)(g), to maintain legal privilege. 

Official information request – Information on Water Distribution Zones 

Please find attached shape files of three Water supply Schemes Waituna West -(WAI022WA), Halcombe-Stanway (HAL001HA) and Ohakea (OHA020).  The Ohakea RWS started production in August 2022. 

The Water Supply Boundaries are made up of the property boundaries of the land parcels that are rated as being supplied with water from each water scheme. 

Tangimoana is not supplied by the Manawatu District Council, this area is supplied by water tanks and wastewater is disposed of via septic tanks. 

Extra water distribution zones -  

Kiwitea No. 1 Water Supply Scheme is NOT operated by the Manawatu District Council it is operated by the Kiwitea Water Supply Scheme Committee.  Administrators for this scheme are Greer and Wong Accountants, Palmerston North. Phone (06) 356 2214 

Oroua No. 1 Water Supply Scheme is NOT operated by the Manawatu District Council it is operated by the Oroua No. 1 Rural Water Supply Scheme Committee 

Mt Taylor should be added to the Feilding Water Supply (this does not have a separate supply code). 

If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact the LGOIMA Response Team on 06 323 0000 or by replying to this email. 

Some of the information you have requested is below. The balance of the information is contained in the attached spreadsheet.

A breakdown of the $250k   See spreadsheet 

How often does the council take odometer readings?  If yes, a list of odometer readings for the last 12 months See spreadsheet 

Justification of high fuel usage   Refused under section 17(g)(i) information not held - no obligation to form an opinion 

Are the mayor and council executive team able to use the car for personal use outside of work? Yes – this is a salary sacrifice, which only the CE, Infrastructure GM and the Mayor have as part of their salary package. 

If yes, Are the council executive or the mayor expected to pay for fuel used on personal out of work journeys? When personal travel is out of the Manawatu District, they are to pay for their own fuel