Kia ora William,

Notification of Transfer of your Official Information Act request

On behalf of Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport, thank you for your official information request of 17 December 2021

The information to which your request relates is not held by us but is believed to be held by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency

In these circumstances, we are required by section 14 of the Official Information Act 1982 to transfer your request.

Accordingly, your request is being transferred to Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency today.

You will hear further from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency in due course.

Ngā mihi,

Emma
Kaitohutohu - Tuhinga Ōkawa | Advisor, Official Correspondence
Te Kāhui Tangata | Corporate Services
Te Manatū Waka | Ministry of Transport  
www.transport.govt.nz

-----Original Message-----
From: William Oosterman <[FOI #17979 email]>
Sent: Friday, 17 December 2021 5:34 am
To: OCU <[MOT request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Reports on Findings from Auckland Light Rail's Public Engagement Process

Dear Ministry of Transport,

A decision has been made by Cabinet, so therefore it is time to release the report(s) prepared by Auckland Light Rail regarding the feedback they received. As their website states under the "Your Views" tab "The team used all feedback received to create an engagement summary" so at least one report exists. Though, I concede, you may not have it. In which case, who does?

Yours faithfully,

William Oosterman

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #17979 email]

Is [MOT request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to Ministry of Transport? If so, please contact us using this form:
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If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

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Dear William

 

This email acknowledges your below request for information made under the
Official Information Act 1982, which has been transferred from Te Manatû
Waka Ministry of Transport on 20 December 2021.

 

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate section of Waka Kotahi
NZ Transport Agency for response. They will contact you if they require
clarification of your request, more time to respond, or if your request
has been transferred to another organisation to respond to. Unless more
time is required, Waka Kotahi will send a response to you within 20
working days of receiving your request – in this instance on or before 8
February 2022. As per the Ombudsman’s calendar, the Summer holidays (25
December to 15 January) and the Day after New Year's Day (2 January 2022)
are taken into account in calculating this.

 

The information you have requested may contain the names and contact
details of our staff. Please let us know whether you require these names
and contact details. We may need to consult our staff before deciding
whether we can release this information, and this may take a bit more
time. If we do not hear from you we will assume that you do not require
staff names and contact details.

 

If you would like to discuss your request with Waka Kotahi, please contact
us by email at [1][email address].

 

Regards  

 

Ministerial Services
Te Waka Kôtuia | Engagement & Partnerships
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency

[2]twitter | [3]youtube | [4]facebook

 

[5][IMG]

 

-----Original Message-----

From: William Oosterman
<[6][FOI #17979 email]>

Sent: Friday, 17 December 2021 5:34 am

To: OCU <[7][MOT request email]>

Subject: Official Information request - Reports on Findings from Auckland
Light Rail's Public Engagement Process

 

Dear Ministry of Transport,

 

A decision has been made by Cabinet, so therefore it is time to release
the report(s) prepared by Auckland Light Rail regarding the feedback they
received. As their website states under the "Your Views" tab "The team
used all feedback received to create an engagement summary" so at least
one report exists. Though, I concede, you may not have it. In which case,
who does?

 

Yours faithfully,

 

William Oosterman

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

 

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[8][FOI #17979 email]

 

Is [9][MOT request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to Ministry of Transport? If so, please contact us using this
form:

[10]https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[11]https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

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Dear William

 

Please find attached the response to your request of 17 December 2021 for
information under the Official Information Act 1982.

 

Regards

 

Ministerial Services
Te Waka Kōtuia | Engagement & Partnerships
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency

[1]twitter | [2]youtube | [3]facebook

 

[4][IMG]

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: William Oosterman <[FOI #17979 email]>
Sent: Friday, 17 December 2021 5:34 AM
To: OCU <[MOT request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Reports on Findings from Auckland
Light Rail's Public Engagement Process

 

Dear Ministry of Transport,

 

A decision has been made by Cabinet, so therefore it is time to release
the report(s) prepared by Auckland Light Rail regarding the feedback they
received. As their website states under the "Your Views" tab "The team
used all feedback received to create an engagement summary" so at least
one report exists. Though, I concede, you may not have it. In which case,
who does?

 

Yours faithfully,

 

William Oosterman

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

 

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[5][FOI #17979 email]

 

Is [6][MOT request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to Ministry of Transport? If so, please contact us using this
form:

[7]https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[8]https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

This message, together with any attachments, may contain information that
is classified and/or subject to legal privilege. Any classification
markings must be adhered to. If you are not the intended recipient, you
must not peruse, disclose, disseminate, copy or use the message in any
way. If you have received this message in error, please notify us
immediately by return email and then destroy the original message. This
communication may be accessed or retained by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport
Agency for information assurance purposes.

References

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5. mailto:[FOI #17979 email]
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hide quoted sections

Dear William

 

Thank you for your email of 16 February 2022 regarding the response you
have received to OIA-9256 regarding the release of the Auckland Light Rail
engagement documents. Your request was refused under section 18(d) of the
Act, as these reports will soon be published online.

 

Waka Kotahi uses the guidance published by the Ombudsman when refusing
Official Information Act requests under section 18(d). This guidance
states that ‘soon’ is considered to be any time up to 8 weeks after the
refusal and generally no more than 12 weeks, depending on the
circumstance. Further information on these timelines can be found from
page 5 in the following document:
[1]https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/reso....

 

Given this guidance, we believe that refusal under section 18(d) when
responding to your original request was appropriate.

 

The appendices are to be released in the next few weeks and will be
available for you to view on the Auckland Light Rail website.

 

Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to
review the decision to refuse your original request under section 18(d).
The contact details for the Ombudsman can be located at
[2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.

 

Regards,

 

Ministerial Services
Te Waka Kôtuia | Engagement & Partnerships
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency

[3]twitter | [4]youtube | [5]facebook

 

[6][IMG]

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: William Oosterman
<[7][FOI #17979 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 16 February 2022 4:08 pm
To: Official Correspondence <[8][email address]>
Subject: Re: OIA-9256 RESPONSE

 

Dear Official Correspondence,

 

In the original response to which I refer, I was advised to email
Ministerial Services. The site I have used to conduct this OIA request,
i.e. fyi.org.nz, has suppressed the email (or hidden it from my inexpert
eyes) that was mentioned. As a result, I have just selected the "reply"
option.

 

On 17 December 2021, I made a request for "the report(s) prepared by
Auckland Light Rail regarding the feedback they received". In particular,
I appealed to the following line on the ALR website "The team used all
feedback received to create an engagement summary" as evidence for the
existence of what I was requesting.

 

On 21 December I received a reply refusing this request, the key bits
being contained in the following paragraph:

 

"I am refusing your request under section 18(d) of the Act as the
information wil [sic] soon be made publicly available. The engagement
summary of public feedback is part of the Indicative Business Case, which
is set to be publicly released once an announcement is made on next steps
for the Light Rail project in early 2022. In the meantime, I refer you to
the summary report on the Auckland Light Rail website which contains an
engagement summary. This can be found at [link]"

 

I would note at this stage that this Indicative Business Case (IBC) was
not made public within a time frame that any reasonable person would
consider "soon", ultimately being released on or around 1 February 2022,
well over a month later. It might be argued that "soon" was with reference
to the Ombudsman's Calendar, which said that I would get a reply before 8
February 2022. It is now later than that. Which is important because I
didn't want to see the IBC itself; I wanted to see any and all report/s
made as a result of the public engagement process.

 

Setting aside the question of "soon", when the IBC was eventually released
the Resources page on the ALR website said "The IBC appendices will
shortly be available and posted online". This is directly relevant to my
OIA because the IBC itself contains a reference to "Appendix 34 Public
engagement summary", i.e. (at least some of) what I asked for. You can
view the page as I refer to it via the Wayback Machine:

 

[9]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

The pdf IBC still contains a reference to Appendix 34 (and more than
thirty other appendices too, of course), for completeness.

 

I would additionally note that "shortly" implies an even shorter time
period than "soon" so I do not think waiting "only" a fortnight is
impatient.

 

In any case, today I decided to check in on the Resources Page to see if
the Appendices had been posted online, as promised both in the initial OIA
and on the Resources Page itself. To my horror, not only was the appendix
not there but nor was the promise! You can see this in the below image:

 

[10]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

And possibly by visiting the Resources page yourself:

 

[11]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

But it may have been updated (again) by the time you get around to this
(let us hope such an update was to publish all the appendices).

 

So, it stands thus... nearly two months since the original request was
answered with a statement saying the material I wanted would be published
in a timely fashion anyway, the material is still not in the public eye.
This is not "soon". This is not "shortly". Therefore, I ask three things:

 

(1) Where is Appendix 34?

 

(2) Why has it not been publicly posted as indicated?

 

(3) Is Appendix 34 the only non public report on the Auckland Light Rail
engagement process?

 

I like to think that I am a patient person, but it has been nearly two
months and I am growing frustrated. And, honestly, I don't think I am
alone in this (wrt the appendices) as, for example, Greater Auckland
recently wrote:

 

"Following the release of the government’s decision on Light Rail two
weeks ago, the Auckland Light Rail team (ALR) released the Indicative
Business Case (IBC) used to make the decision and although some of what
are probably the most interesting parts of it are redacted, and they still
haven’t published the appendices, there is some useful information in it."

 

[12]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

Obviously, ALR should have posted all of the Appendices by now but my
driving concern is for the Public Engagement Summary.

 

Regards,

 

William Oosterman

 

-----Original Message-----

 

Dear William

 

 

 

Please find attached the response to your request of 17 December 2021 for 
information under the Official Information Act 1982.

 

 

 

Regards

 

 

 

Ministerial Services

Te Waka Kôtuia | Engagement & Partnerships  Waka Kotahi NZ Transport
Agency

 

[1]twitter | [2]youtube | [3]facebook

 

 

 

[4][IMG]

 

 

 

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[13][FOI #17979 email]

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[14]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This message, together with any attachments, may contain information that
is classified and/or subject to legal privilege. Any classification
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must not peruse, disclose, disseminate, copy or use the message in any
way. If you have received this message in error, please notify us
immediately by return email and then destroy the original message. This
communication may be accessed or retained by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport
Agency for information assurance purposes.

References

Visible links
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hide quoted sections

Dear William,

Thank you for your email. Appendix 34 is the report based on the public engagement process. A summary of this report can be found in the Indicative Business Case which has been released online.

Regards

Ministerial Services
Te Waka Kōtuia | Engagement & Partnerships
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
twitter | youtube | facebook

-----Original Message-----
From: William Oosterman <[FOI #17979 email]>
Sent: Friday, 18 February 2022 12:48 PM
To: Official Correspondence <[email address]>
Subject: RE: OIA-9256 RESPONSE

Dear Official Correspondence,

Thank you for your prompt reply, however there are still two unresolved matters.

Firstly, what does "next few weeks" mean in this context? Clearly, this could have a quite different meaning in the context of an OIA request to its mundane one.

Secondly, is Appendix 34 the only report based on the public engagement process?

Yours gratefully,

William Oosterman

-----Original Message-----

Dear William

Thank you for your email of 16 February 2022 regarding the response you have received to OIA-9256 regarding the release of the Auckland Light Rail engagement documents. Your request was refused under section 18(d) of the Act, as these reports will soon be published online.

Waka Kotahi uses the guidance published by the Ombudsman when refusing Official Information Act requests under section 18(d). This guidance states that ‘soon’ is considered to be any time up to 8 weeks after the refusal and generally no more than 12 weeks, depending on the circumstance. Further information on these timelines can be found from page 5 in the following document:
[1]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo....

Given this guidance, we believe that refusal under section 18(d) when responding to your original request was appropriate.

The appendices are to be released in the next few weeks and will be available for you to view on the Auckland Light Rail website.

Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review the decision to refuse your original request under section 18(d).
The contact details for the Ombudsman can be located at [2]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo....

Regards,

Ministerial Services
Te Waka Kôtuia | Engagement & Partnerships Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency

[3]twitter | [4]youtube | [5]facebook

[6][IMG]

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #17979 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This message, together with any attachments, may contain information that is classified and/or subject to legal privilege. Any classification markings must be adhered to. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not peruse, disclose, disseminate, copy or use the message in any way. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by return email and then destroy the original message. This communication may be accessed or retained by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency for information assurance purposes.

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