Position history of Watercare resource consent and initial request date of first request

Alexander James Clark Neilson made this Official Information request to Waikato Regional Council

The request was partially successful.

From: Alexander James Clark Neilson

Dear Waikato Regional Council,

It has been reported that a request from Watercare to the Waikato Regional Council for a resource consent to take water from Waikato to supply to Auckland and that this request was filed in 2013 and in 2020 it still sits at position 106 in the queue.

Please provide answers for the following questions:

1: Can you please provide the date the first request currently in that queue was originally received in any form by the Waikato Regional Council and the date the Waikato Regional Council holds as its entry date into the processing queue (assuming a request may initially be incomplete and may require adjustment before it is considered complete and entered into the queue to establish its priority to be processed).

2: Please provide the same (two if applicable) dates for the Watercare application as requested for the request in (1) above.

3: As at July 1st for the years 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 what position in the queue did the Watercare request sit

4: When the Watercare application was accepted as complete (second or only date in 2 above) what position in the queue did it start at

Yours faithfully,

Alexander James Clark Neilson

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Waikato Regional Council

Thank you for contacting us. Your reference for this matter is
REF200647898.

As a country, we're all going through a big step change right now, as we
do everything we can to slow down COVID-19.

Right now, all our staff are working remotely and are trying their best to
reply to your request within our normal 2 working day timeframes during
this time.

If you have any questions, or want to provide an update please call
[1]0800 800 401 and provide your reference number.

Please note that our office hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm.

If life or property is at risk, please call [2]111.

Your submitted request:

It has been reported that a request from Watercare to the Waikato Regional
Council for a resource consent to take water from Waikato to supply to
Auckland and that this request was filed in 2013 and in 2020 it still sits
at position 106 in the queue. Please provide answers for the following
questions: See attached. Please use this email address for all replies to
this request: [FOI #13135 email]

Thank you

Waikato Regional Council

References

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1. file:///tmp/tel:0800800401
2. file:///tmp/tel:111

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From: Jennie Cox


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Good afternoon Alexander

 

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your official information request
dated 24 June 2020 for information regarding Watercare and its position in
the allocation queue.

We received your request on 24 June 2020. We will endeavour to respond to
your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than 22 July
2020, being 20 working days after the day your request was received. If we
are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an
extension of that timeframe.

 

If any additional factors come to light which are relevant to your
request, please do not hesitate to contact us so that these can be taken
into account.

 

Kind regards

 

Jennie

 

Jennie Cox​  |  STATUTORY PROCESSES ADVISOR  |  Democracy, Community and Services
WAIKATO REGIONAL COUNCIL | Te Kaunihera ā Rohe o Waikato
P: [1]+6478590897
F: [2]facebook.com/waikatoregion
Private Bag 3038, Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton, 3240

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References

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1. file:///tmp/tel:+6478590897
2. https://www.facebook.com/waikatoregion

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From: Jennie Cox


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Morena Alexander

 

I refer to your official information request dated 24 June 2020 for
information regarding the resource consent application for Watercare.

 

The Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act requires that
we advise you of our decision on your request no later than 20 working
days after the day we received your request. Unfortunately, it will not be
possible to meet that time limit and we are therefore writing to notify
you of an extension of the time to make our decision, to 18 August 2020.

 

This extension is necessary because your request necessitates a search
through a large quantity of information and meeting the original time
limit would unreasonably interfere with our operations.  

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

 

If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, including this
decision, please feel free to contact me.

 

Nga mihi

 

Jennie

Jennie Cox​  |  STATUTORY PROCESSES ADVISOR  |  Democracy, Community and Services
WAIKATO REGIONAL COUNCIL | Te Kaunihera ā Rohe o Waikato
P: [1]+6478590897
F: [2]facebook.com/waikatoregion
Private Bag 3038, Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton, 3240

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References

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1. file:///tmp/tel:+6478590897
2. https://www.facebook.com/waikatoregion

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From: Alexander James Clark Neilson

Dear Jennie Cox,

This extension of time seems substantially unusual to me as it has been widely reported in comments from Waikato Regional Council that requests are processed strictly in the order they were received and therefore should be a very simply process to undertake (as it appears is undertaken as part of the last two annual reports) and as such at least a partial response should be able to be made to me with the details that do not require a substantial search through a large amount of information.

I am surprised to hear (as could be surmised from your reply) that Waikato Regional Council doesn't have an information system that allows information like this to be looked up in an easy way to at least answer some of the questions in short order (for example the annual position of the request would be its current position plus and requests resolved - as they must have come from the top of the list - and any withdrawn requests where the date they were accepted predates the Watercare request - again due to the strict processing order)

Yours sincerely,

Alexander James Clark Neilson

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From: Jennie Cox


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Attachment Response letter REQ162703 Watercare documents.docx
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Regards

 

Jennie

Jennie Cox​  |  STATUTORY PROCESSES ADVISOR  |  Democracy, Community and Services
WAIKATO REGIONAL COUNCIL | Te Kaunihera ā Rohe o Waikato
P: [1]+6478590897
F: [2]facebook.com/waikatoregion
Private Bag 3038, Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton, 3240

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References

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1. file:///tmp/tel:+6478590897
2. https://www.facebook.com/waikatoregion

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From: Customer Services Team | Waikato Regional Council


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