Dear Rachel,

 

I refer to your email of 4 December:

 

As a Christchurch resident that has chosen not to receive a Covid-19
vaccine, due to past vaccine injury, I am being denied access to all of my
local council amenities such as gyms, pools, libraries art galleries and
museums.

Can you please provide the following:

(1) A full list of council funded public amenities in Christchurch City
that will require proof of vaccination as a condition of entry with the
Traffic Light System

(2) The proportion of my council rates attributed to those amenities.

If I am to be denied access to such amenities that my rates pay for, I
would like a rates rebate for that portion of my rates.

 

Council Response

 

A list of Council facilities and entry conditions can be found on the
Council’s website -
[1]https://ccc.govt.nz/the-council/covid-19...

 

The Council’s general rate covers the net cost of providing services,
including facilities such as Libraries and Pools. It has a small fixed
component with the remainder based on capital value.

This means the amount of rates paid by each ratepayer for running any
facility will vary dependent on property value and the net cost of that
particular facility.  It should also be noted that there are a number of
Library resources (see below) and Fitness classes available to residents
online.  We are continuing to update these virtual services by adding more
content to them and making it easier to access.

 

It is therefore not feasible or possible  to provide an accurate figure
for the rates that are paid for use of a facility for all ratepayers
taking into what is available and what is not. In addition, Rates are a
property tax set annually, Council has no legal ability to set or alter
rates based on the vaccination status of any ratepayer at any point in
time.

 

As previously advised the Council is conscious that given the proportion
of the Canterbury population that is vaccinated, (98% fully vaccinated,
and 96% partially vaccinated) best community use and lowest overall
financial cost to ratepayers is achieved by requiring vaccination
certificates to access those facilities.

 

Conversely, allowing un-vaccinated people to use facilities would require
limiting numbers or closing certain facilities (ie gyms), which would
incur higher costs to all ratepayers. As an organisation with the best
interests of our communities at our core we have an obligation to keep
everyone in our facilities safe, as we continue to deliver services to the
majority of the community while protecting staff and visitors from the
virus.

The Council published its risk analysis on 6 January -

 

[2]https://newsline.ccc.govt.nz/assets/Gene...

 

[3]https://newsline.ccc.govt.nz/assets/Gene...

 

Please note that the Council follows Ministry of Health guidelines in its
approach to Covid-19 management. This remains a fluid situation and the
risk assessment is subject to change as the national Covid-19 situation
develops.

 

Kind regards,

Sean

 

 

Sean Rainey
Manager Official Information and Privacy Officer
Official Information Team

 

 

 

 

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References

Visible links
1. https://ccc.govt.nz/the-council/covid-19...
2. https://newsline.ccc.govt.nz/assets/Gene...
3. https://newsline.ccc.govt.nz/assets/Gene...