04 May 2021
File Ref: OIAP-7-19181
Tony Randle
By email:
[FYI request #15050 email] Dear Mr Randle,
Request for information 2021-072
I refer to your request for information dated 1 April 2021 which was received by Greater Wellington
Regional Council (Greater Wellington) on 1 April 2021. You have requested the following:
“A) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the detailed calculations that were used to
provide the General Rates information in the draft 2021/22 LTP?
B) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the calculations of the 2021/22 General Rate
allocation to ratepayers?
C) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the detailed costs for the cost amounts used in
the calculation of the 2021/22 General Rates ?
D) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the detailed revenue for the revenue amounts
used in the calculation of the 2021/22 General Rates?
E) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the detailed calculations that were used to
provide the Transport Rates information in the draft 2021/22 LTP?
F) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the calculations of the 2021/22 Transport Rate
allocation to ratepayers?
G) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the detailed costs for the cost amounts used in
the calculation of the 2021/22 Transport Rates?
H) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the detailed revenue for the revenue amounts
used in the calculation of the 2021/22 Transport Rates?
Wellington office
Upper Hutt
Masterton office
0800 496 734
PO Box 11646
PO Box 40847
PO Box 41
www.gw.govt.nz
Manners St, Wellington 6142
1056 Fergusson Drive
Masterton 5840
[Wellington Regional Council request email]
I) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of the changes (contributions and withdrawals) from the
Transport Reserve over the past three years including the source for the contributions and the target
for the withdrawals ?
J) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of any reports or presentations to GWRC councillors at Annual
Plan 2021/22 workshops?
The JCA also has an interest in the fare increases proposed in the GWRC LTP and some supporting
information is requested.
K) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of any reports, presentations or workshop material on the
public transport fares increase proposed in the GWRC LTP?
L) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of any reports, presentations or workshop material on the
impact of the public transport fares increases proposed in the GWRC LTP?
M) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of the detailed calculations of the Farebox Recovery Ratios
used to support the fare increases proposed in the 2021/22 LTP ?
The JCA notes the GWRC is specifically consulting on some significant projects and supporting
information on this proposals is also requested.
N) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for “Decarbonisation -Bus Fleet electrification including 169
growth buses and 272 renewals.” that has a LTP cost of $204M ?
O) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for “Wairarapa and Manawatu Carriage - Long Distance
Rolling Stock Design and build (15 4 carriage units)” that has a LTP cost of $653M (Option 1)?
P) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed costing
and the detailed funding report for “Wairarapa and Manawatu Carriage - Long Distance Rolling Stock
Design and build (15 4 carriage units)” that has a LTP cost of $353M (Option 2)?
Q) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for “Wairarapa and Manawatu Carriage - Associated
Operational costs” that has a LTP cost of $61M?
R) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed costing
and the detailed funding report for “Wairarapa and Manawatu Carriage - Maintenance Depot design
and build” that has a LTP cost of $23M?
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S) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed costing
and the detailed funding report for “Wellington Rail Development Plan - Additional Rolling Stock (15
2 carriage units) to increase capacity in electrified area in 2027-2030” that has a LTP cost of $134M
?
T) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed costing
and the detailed funding report for “Wellington Rail Development Plan- Associated Operational
costs” that has a LTP cost of $37M?
U) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for Option 1 “Sow the seeds now” that has a LTP cost of
$25.4M?
V) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed costing
and the detailed funding report for Option 1 “Beat about the bush” that has a LTP cost of $17.6M?
Greater Wellington’s response follows:
“A) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the detailed calculations that were used to
provide the General Rates information in the draft 2021/22 LTP?
B) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the calculations of the 2021/22 General Rate
allocation to ratepayers?
D) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the detailed revenue for the revenue amounts
used in the calculation of the 2021/22 General Rates?
The information requested in parts A, B and D of your request can be accessed in the excel document
below:
Attachment 1 – A, B, D – Copy of draft rates
C) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the detailed costs for the cost amounts used
in the calculation of the 2021/22 General Rates ?
Costs are built up across all Greater Wellington Activity Groups to support their strategic priorities.
The Activity Groups costs and overall Greater Wellington costs are accessible in the Long Term Plan
supporting documentation from page 150. You can access the supporting information PDF via the
following link:
https://haveyoursay.gw.govt.nz/long-term-plan?tool=news_feed
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E) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the detailed calculations that were used to
provide the Transport Rates information in the draft 2021/22 LTP?
F) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the calculations of the 2021/22 Transport Rate
allocation to ratepayers?
G) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the detailed costs for the cost amounts used
in the calculation of the 2021/22 Transport Rates?
H) Can the GWRC please provide a complete copy of the detailed revenue for the revenue amounts
used in the calculation of the 2021/22 Transport Rates?
The information requested in part E – H of your request can be sourced in the following excel
documents:
Attachment 2 – E - H Data
Attachment 3 - E – H Formula
Under the performance-based contracts, the payments to the operators are subject to an obligation
of confidence. This information has been withheld in accordance with section 7(2)(b)(ii) of the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the Act) on the ground that releasing this
information would be likely to unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of the operators or
suppliers in a competitive market. The information is redacted accordingly in the attachments.
We have considered whether the public interest in the requested information outweighs Greater
Wellington’s need to withhold certain aspects of the requested information. As a result, we do not
consider that the public interest outweighs Greater Wellington’s reason for withholding parts of the
document under the grounds identified above.
I) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of the changes (contributions and withdrawals) from the
Transport Reserve over the past three years including the source for the contributions and the
target for the withdrawals ?
The information requested can be found in the following excel document:
Attachment 4 - I
J) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of any reports or presentations to GWRC councillors at
Annual Plan 2021/22 workshops?
We received email clarification from you on 20 April clarifying this element of your request as below:
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-
We are interested in both the 3/10 year Long Term Plan view and the next year Annual Plan
view.
-
we are interested in the overview as well as a focus on the big ticket items (transport and flood
protection)
-
reports etc. done since July 2020 are fine for the purposes of this information request
The following information has been provided as attachments or via the associated links as indicated
in the brackets following each bullet pointed item:
200820_LTP Council Workshop_Economic and Financial_Council Briefing (Attachment 11)
200922_Climate Committee Meeting_Carbon Reduction Pathways and the Long Term Plan
(Se
e Climate Committee Order Paper for Meeting on 22 September 2020 – Report number
20.337 – Pages 21-31)
201029_Council Meeting_ Carbon Reduction Pathways and the Long Term Plan
(See Council
Order Paper for Council Meeting on 29 October 2020 – Report number 20.371 – Pages 18-
28)
201105_LTP Council Workshop_Budget Prioritasation_Appendix 1_LTP new initiatives
(Attachment 12)
201105_LTP Council Workshop_Budget Prioritisation_Presentation (Attachment 13)
201117_LTP Council Workshop_Financial Tools (Attachment 14)
201117_LTP Council Workshop_Presentation_Audit NZ (Attachment 15)
201124_LTP Council Workshop_Corporate Carbon Pathways (Attachment 16)
201124_LTP Council Workshop_Mana whenua capacity and capability (Attachment 17)
201210_LTP Council Workshop_Budget - FS - IS - Foundations - MOF – Consultation
(Attachment 18)
210225_LTP Council Workshop_Attachment 1- DRAFT LTP Consultation Document
(Attachment 19)
210225_LTP Council Workshop_Attachment 2 - Draft LTP 2021 Perf Measures_Env and Flood
(Attachment 20)
210225_LTP Council Workshop_Attachment 3 - LTP 2021 Perf Measures_Metlink
(Attachment 21)
210225_LTP Council Workshop_Attachment 4 - LTP 2021 Perf Measures_Reg Strat and Part
(Attachment 22)
210225_LTP Council Workshop_Attachment 5 - LTP 2021 Perf Measures_Water Supply
(Attachment 23)
210225_LTP Council Workshop_Budget - Performance Measures – Consultation (Attachment
24)
210401_Council Meeting_Report_Adoption of LTP CD and SI
(See Council Order Paper for
Council Meeting on 1 April 2021 – Report number 21.74 – Pages 59-305)
Page 5 of 10
Please note that in addition, significant transport decisions were made by Council through the
preparation of the Regional Land Transport Plan and the Regional Public Transport Plan. The
transport focus of the Long Term Plan has been on the decarbonisation of public transport.
K) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of any reports, presentations or workshop material on the
public transport fares increase proposed in the GWRC LTP?
On 29 October 2020, Council agreed to increase fares by inflation from 1 February 2021. The
Council decision on fares and the Annual Fares Review report are publicly available on GWRC’s
website at the following link:
http://www.gw.govt.nz/assets/council-
reports/Meeting_Documents/7651_Agenda_Council%2029%20October%202020%20Order%20pap
er.pdf
Attachments 5 and 6 are copies of the workshop materials presented to Council on 1 September
2020 and 8 October 2020 as part of the annual fares review process.
Please note that Council workshops do not have any formal agenda or minutes. Depending on the
subject, presentations may outline the topics for consideration by Council in the workshops. No
agenda or minutes have been recorded on the subject of fares review presented to the Council on 1
September 2020 and 8 October 2020.
L) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of any reports, presentations or workshop material on the
impact of the public transport fares increases proposed in the GWRC LTP?
The impacts of the fare increase are discussed in the Report 20.413 contained in the Agenda for the
Council meeting on 29 October 2020 at
https://www.gw.govt.nz/committee-meetings-
calendar/detail/7651 and the Attachment 5 (Council workshop on 1 September 2020).
M) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of the detailed calculations of the Farebox Recovery Ratios
used to support the fare increases proposed in the 2021/22 LTP ?
Attachments 7 and 8 are electronic copies of the calculations used for reporting on the actual and
projections of the “User Contribution” and “Farebox Recovery ratios”.
The outcome of the calculations are included in the Report 20.413 contained in the Agenda for the
Council meeting on 29 October 2020 at
https://www.gw.govt.nz/committee-meetings-
calendar/detail/7651.
Under the performance-based contracts, the payments to the operators are subject to an obligation
of confidence. This information has been withheld in accordance with section 7(2)(b)(ii) of the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the Act) on the ground that releasing this
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information would be likely to unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of the operators or
suppliers in a competitive market.
Accordingly, we have provided you with the requested information in two formats:
Attachment 7: is an electronic copy of the calculations (with the actual and projected cost
information relating to contracts deleted) in a format that gives the formulae
Attachment 8: is an electronic copy of the calculations (with the actual and projected cost
information relating to contracts deleted) in a format that gives the figures but does not give
the formulae behind the figures
Please note that with these formats the values in the 'Summary Report' are affected in Attachment
7. This has occurred because the formulas in that part of the document rely on the redacted values
in other worksheets. Where data has been deleted from a cell, the value of the cell becomes zero;
however any formula that uses the redacted cell will still be visible in the formula bar.
N) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for “Decarbonisation -Bus Fleet electrification including
169 growth buses and 272 renewals.” that has a LTP cost of $204M ?
Greater Wellington has undertaken some high level investigation, but the detailed investigation is
yet to occur. We are currently seeking business case funding from Waka Kotahi. The business case
will include a benefit cost assessment, detailed costings and a funding report. Accordingly I am
refusing this part of your request under section 17(e) of the Local Government Official Information
and Meetings Act as the information you have requested does not exist.
In January 2021 the Minister of Transport released a new policy stating that no new diesel buses are
to be purchased from 2025. This direction from central government is consistent with Greater
Wellington’s Draft Regional Public Transport Plan 2021 which sets out provisions for decarbonising
the bus fleet.
The figures incorporated in the draft LTP were calculated based on the high level investigation that
was undertaken.
O) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for “Wairarapa and Manawatu Carriage - Long Distance
Rolling Stock Design and build (15 4 carriage units)” that has a LTP cost of $653M (Option 1)?
P) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for “Wairarapa and Manawatu Carriage - Long Distance
Rolling Stock Design and build (15 4 carriage units)” that has a LTP cost of $353M (Option 2)?
Page 7 of 10
Q) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for “Wairarapa and Manawatu Carriage - Associated
Operational costs” that has a LTP cost of $61M?
R) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for “Wairarapa and Manawatu Carriage - Maintenance
Depot design and build” that has a LTP cost of $23M?
S) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for “Wellington Rail Development Plan - Additional Rolling
Stock (15 2 carriage units) to increase capacity in electrified area in 2027-2030” that has a LTP cost
of $134M ?
T) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for “Wellington Rail Development Plan- Associated
Operational costs” that has a LTP cost of $37M?
Parts O – T of your request are answered below.
An indicative business case in respect of the Wairarapa and Manawatu Carriages, and the Additional
Rolling Stock, was provided to Waka Kotahi in 2019 and is available on our website at the following
link
: http://www.gw.govt.nz/metlink-greater-wellington-s-public-transport-network/
Following the submission of the Business Case, Greater Wellington obtained $5 million of funding
from Waka Kotahi in May 2020 to undertake further detailed investigations and prepare a Detailed
Business Case and Procurement Strategy to support a funding application for new rolling stock.
Following a competitive tender process, Greater Wellington appointed a consortium headed by RPS
Group to lead the Detailed Business Case preparation. The Consortium includes RPS, LYNXX and IPEX.
The head contract was signed on 23 December 2020, with a contract starting date of 11 January
2021.
The key milestones for this phase of the project are as below:
Month (2021)
Phase of project
January
Project commencement
February
Passenger demand modelling
Rolling stock requirements specification
March
Secondary energy mode analysis
International rolling stock market sounding
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Month (2021)
Phase of project
April
Network requirements
Draft detailed business case
May
Funding options analysis
Contracting options analysis
June
Internal endorsement of funding application
July
Final detailed business case
Funding application
The proposed procurement of new rolling stock was included in the 2018-2028 Long Term Plan as
well including it in the draft 2021-31 Long Term Plan. This is because we need to signal where we
plan to invest over the next ten years, although the financial impact remains challenging to
accurately predict.
The figures incorporated in the draft LTP were calculated based on the indicative business case.
U) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for Option 1 “Sow the seeds now” that has a LTP cost of
$25.4M?
V) Can the GWRC please provide a copy of business case, benefit cost assessment, the detailed
costing and the detailed funding report for Option 1 “Beat about the bush” that has a LTP cost of
$17.6M?
Part U and V of your request are answered together. Please refer to the following attachments:
Attachment 9 LTP pathways for council 20 Nov 2020
Attachment 10 Parks Restoration Options
When Council declared a climate emergency in August 2019, it set ambitious goals for the
organisation for be climate positive by 2035. Potential scenarios for emissions reduction pathways
were identified, costs and emissions impacts estimated, and these were presented to Council on 24
November 2020. Each scenario was assessed against Council’s climate goals, as to whether they
would be achieved and by what margin. These costs are presented as estimates required for the ten
year period, should the total amount be funded from rates. Our financial strategy is, however, to
debt fund work in the first three years of the LTP. This means there will be some variance in the costs
provided in the attachments and those presented in the LTP consultation document.
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If you have any concerns with the decision(s) referred to in this letter, you have the right to request
an investigation and review by the Ombudsman under section 27(3) of the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987.
Yours sincerely
Samantha Gain
General Manager, Corporate Services
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