LGOIMA Requests

I refer to your Local Government Official Information Request dated 26 November 2025, in which you requested various information regarding cooling towers. 

Unfortunately, we do not hold the information you requested, and we cannot think of any other agency that would hold it, or whose functions would be more closely connected to it. 

To confirm this, I made enquiries with the Regulatory team and undertook a search of our document management system. These checks did not identify any records relating to the information requested. For this reason, we must advise that the information is not held by Council. 

I am therefore refusing your request under section 17(g) of the LGOIMA because the information is not held. 

Thank you for your email and for taking the time to get in touch with us regarding changing and shower facilities at the Makino Aquatic Centre. 

Below is an outline of the facilities we provide and how they are currently managed:  

1. Do we provide single-sex changing rooms and showers? 
Yes. We have male and female changing rooms with shower facilities in the main pool hall off the 25m pool, as well as male and female changing rooms in the Learn to Swim pool area. 

2. Do we provide mixed-sex changing rooms? 
We do not have mixed-sex changing rooms in the traditional sense. However, we do provide three family/accessible change rooms, which are private, self-contained spaces available to all users regardless of sex or gender. 

3. Which facilities do you allow trans-identifying males to use? 
At the Makino Aquatic Centre we do not have a specific policy that restricts access to changing rooms based on gender identity. As with many public facilities, we expect all visitors to use the changing space they feel most comfortable in. We also provide private family/accessible change rooms for anyone who prefers a more private option. 

4. What does the changing room signage say? 
Our signage designates the main changing rooms as Male and Female, and the additional rooms as Family/Accessible. These rooms are not sex-segregated and can be used by anyone who requires additional privacy. 

5. What options exist for people who do not wish to use the facility that matches their sex? 
The family/accessible change rooms provide private, individual spaces that can be used by anyone — whether for privacy, personal preference, or other reasons. These serve as an alternative to the main single-sex change rooms. 

UPDATED REQUEST

The Manawatū District Council (MDC) does not have any arrangement with The Factory and does not provide direct funding. 

MDC is a shareholder in the Central Economic Development Agency (CEDA), which is a council-controlled organisation as defined under section 6 of the Local Government Act 2002. 
The CEDA Statement of Expectations 2024/25 to 2026/27 is available on our website - Final-CEDA-SOE-24-to-27.pdf 
We note that CEDA’s annual report indicated that it provides funding to The Factory, this information would be best requested directly from CEDA. 

We note that you have also sent this request to CEDA and Palmerston North City Council. For this reason, we have not transferred your request, they will be able to provide a more complete response. 

The information you have requested is below; 

The total number of ratepayers within the Manawatu District Council and the date that this is relevant for. 

There are 20,395 active contacts in our database that own a property . i.e. “ratepayers” 

We set rates on 1 July 2025 on 15816 rating units.  
Additionally a quick note on how your council defines a “rating unit,” just so I’m consistent across all councils. 
The rating units are determined by a combination of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 and the Rating Valuations Act 1998   

Our valuers drive the use of the Rating Valuations Act as per Valuer General directive.  

A rating unit may be made up of multiple valuations where they are owned by the same person and used jointly as a single unit, and are contiguous or separated only by a road, river etc. 

I refer to your official information request 08 November 2025. 

We have transferred your request to HORIZONS REGIONAL COUNCIL  

• The information to which your request relates, namely details about your Horizons rates, is not held by us but is held by them.  

In these circumstances, we are required by section 12 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act to transfer your request.   

You will hear further from HORIZONS REGIONAL COUNCIL concerning your request.   

The requested information, including the officer’s report, barking surveys, barking dog diaries/logs, and related correspondence, is in this link – Withheld due to privacy concerns
 

The photos provided by the complainant were included in the response to your first information request, except one that was overlooked.  This has been included in the above link.

 You will note that some information has been redacted under section 7(2)(a) of the Local Government Official Information and Meeting Act to protect individuals’ privacy. 

I refer to you information request which we received on 05 November 2025. 

The information you have requested is attached. 

Please find the two Contact Centre Requests that we have received in this link – withheld due to privacy

These include the actions taken by our Animal Control Officers. 

The kennel facility has been operating continuously since 1989, and Council has determined that it holds existing use rights for this activity. As a result, a resource consent is not required for the ongoing kennel operation.