Thank you for your e-mail.  Your request will be forwarded to the
appropriate staff member or contractor to action. 

Should your enquiry be urgent, please feel free to phone Queenstown 03
441-0499 or Wanaka 03 443-0024.

 Kind regards,

 

The QLDC Customer Services Team

Dear John

Your request for information will be processed under the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and you will receive a decision
on your request within 20 working days.

Regards

Barbara

 

 

From: QLDC Services [mailto:[email address]]
Sent: Tuesday, 19 August 2014 8:30 AM
Subject: FW: Official Information Act request - Spending on lawyers
[#1054CJ]

 

-----Original Message-----
From: "John Jacobson" <[1][OIA #1916 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 19 August 2014 12:13 AM
To: "OIA requests at Queenstown-Lakes District Council"
<[2][Queenstown-Lakes District Council request email]>
Subject: Official Information Act request - Spending on lawyers

Dear Queenstown-Lakes District Council,

This is a request under section 10 of the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987.

Please provide the names of the law firms (or sole practitioners) and the
total amount of money the Council has spent with each law firm (or sole
practitioner) it has procured services or advice from, and the town or
city where that firm (or practitioner) is located:

(a) for the most recent financial year of the Council, and
(b) for the 2011-2012 financial year.

If you consider that one of the reasons in section 7(2) of the Act may
provide a reason for refusing this request, I urge you consider the strong
public interest in the Council being accountable for the spending of
public money, and the accountability purpose of the Act, as described in
section 4(a)(ii).

If anything about this request is unclear, or you consider the request may
be refused under section 17(f) of the Act, please contact me via the
address from which this request was sent.

Yours faithfully,

John Jacobson

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2. mailto:[Queenstown-Lakes District Council request email]
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Dear John

Please find below the table detailing the law firms Council has procured
services or advice from for the 2011/2012 year and the most recent
financial year.

The reference to “Other” refers to multiple smaller payments that have
been made to other lawyers. 

 

For clarification purposes, it needs to be explained that in the 2011/2012
year, Council was operating under a different structure to the 2013/2014
year.  At that time, Council had 2 Council Controlled Organisations but
these were integrated with Council as of 1 July 2013.  As the CCOs
operated independently, the  figures under the 2011/2012 year column below
do not include any legal expenses incurred by these companies.

 

 

QLDC Legal Expenses 2011/2012 Year 2013/2014 Year
BY Law Firm    
MacTodd (Queenstown) 805,160.74 510,521.25
Simpson Grierson (Auckland) 154,531.00 128,551.00
Heaney & Co (Auckland) 145,048.00 385,240.00
Other 41,689.53 68,395.40
Meredith Connell (Auckland)   83,517.00
Quigg Partners (Wellington)   42,657.00
  $1,146,429.27 $1,218,881.65
     
By Main Type    
Planning Advice 715,722.52 560,617.00
Weather Tightness 155,186.43 385,240.00
Human Resources 1,580.00 47,157.00
Regulatory 108,854.09 32,368.58
Other (Property, Regulatory etc) 165,086.23 193,499.07
  $1,146,429.27 $1,218,881.65

 

 

Regards

Barbara

 

Barbara East  |  Records Advisor

Queenstown Lakes District Council
[2][IMG]
DD: +64 3 450 0314 | P: +64 3 441 0499 |  M: +64 27 355 2431

E: [1][email address]

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: "John Jacobson" <[3][OIA #1916 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 19 August 2014 12:13 AM
To: "OIA requests at Queenstown-Lakes District Council"
<[4][Queenstown-Lakes District Council request email]>
Subject: Official Information Act request - Spending on lawyers

Dear Queenstown-Lakes District Council,

This is a request under section 10 of the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987.

Please provide the names of the law firms (or sole practitioners) and the
total amount of money the Council has spent with each law firm (or sole
practitioner) it has procured services or advice from, and the town or
city where that firm (or practitioner) is located:

(a) for the most recent financial year of the Council, and
(b) for the 2011-2012 financial year.

If you consider that one of the reasons in section 7(2) of the Act may
provide a reason for refusing this request, I urge you consider the strong
public interest in the Council being accountable for the spending of
public money, and the accountability purpose of the Act, as described in
section 4(a)(ii).

If anything about this request is unclear, or you consider the request may
be refused under section 17(f) of the Act, please contact me via the
address from which this request was sent.

Yours faithfully,

John Jacobson

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

This is an OIA request done via the FYI website.

Please do not send progress updates as PDF files.

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[5]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

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

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.qldc.govt.nz/
3. mailto:[OIA #1916 email]
4. mailto:[Queenstown-Lakes District Council request email]
5. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

hide quoted sections

Hi John

Can you see the snippet below clearly?

I will ask our Finance team if the further information you have requested
is available.

 

Regards

Barbara

 

-----Original Message-----
From: John Jacobson [mailto:[OIA #1916 email]]
Sent: Thursday, 11 September 2014 4:07 PM
To: Barbara East
Subject: Re: Official Information Act request - Spending on lawyers.

 

Dear Barbara,

 

Thank you for your response to my request - especially for getting it to
me sooner than the maximum permitted time.

 

I am also grateful for the Council providing its response in the text of
the email, rather than by attached PDF document.  Unfortunately, the
formatting has got slightly mixed up, and so I am not clear whether the
spending indicated for Meredith Connell and Quigg Partners refers to the
2011/12 year or the 2013/14 year.  If you could clarify this for me I
would be grateful.

 

Finally, if it is possible to easily provide me with the figures for legal
spending by the two Council Controlled Organisations for 2011/12 (broken
down in the same manner as the information already provided), please could
you do so. Alternatively, I will make a separate request for that
information. 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

John Jacobson

 

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

 

Dear John

 

Please find below the table detailing the law firms Council has procured 
services or advice from for the 2011/2012 year and the most recent 
financial year.

 

The reference to “Other” refers to multiple smaller payments that have 
been made to other lawyers. 

 

 

 

For clarification purposes, it needs to be explained that in the
2011/2012  year, Council was operating under a different structure to the
2013/2014  year.  At that time, Council had 2 Council Controlled
Organisations but  these were integrated with Council as of 1 July 2013.
 As the CCOs  operated independently, the  figures under the 2011/2012
year column below  do not include any legal expenses incurred by these
companies.

 

 

 

 

 

QLDC Legal Expenses 2011/2012 Year 2013/2014 Year  BY Law Firm  MacTodd
(Queenstown) 805,160.74 510,521.25  Simpson Grierson (Auckland) 154,531.00
128,551.00  Heaney & Co (Auckland) 145,048.00 385,240.00  Other 41,689.53
68,395.40  Meredith Connell (Auckland)   83,517.00  Quigg Partners
(Wellington)   42,657.00

  $1,146,429.27 $1,218,881.65

     

By Main Type

Planning Advice 715,722.52 560,617.00

Weather Tightness 155,186.43 385,240.00  Human Resources 1,580.00
47,157.00  Regulatory 108,854.09 32,368.58  Other (Property, Regulatory
etc) 165,086.23 193,499.07

  $1,146,429.27 $1,218,881.65

 

 

 

 

 

Regards

 

Barbara

 

 

 

Barbara East  |  Records Advisor

 

Queenstown Lakes District Council

[2][IMG]

DD: +64 3 450 0314 | P: +64 3 441 0499 |  M: +64 27 355 2431

 

E: [1][email address]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[1][OIA #1916 email]

 

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Hi John
Third time lucky! Do let me know if there are any issues with the attached information.

Regards
Barbara

-----Original Message-----
From: John Jacobson [mailto:[OIA #1916 email]]
Sent: Friday, 12 September 2014 11:26 AM
To: Barbara East
Subject: RE: Official Information Act request - Spending on lawyers.

Hi Barbara,

I'm afraid I could not. If you visit the web page where I'm reading the Council's response, you'll be able to see the problems with the formatting that mean I'm unable to work out when the Meredith Connell and Quigg Partners spending occurred:

https://fyi.org.nz/request/1916-spending...

Maybe in this instance it would be easier if you included all the information sought about the spending in the two (financial) years in a Word or Excel document attached to your email reply?

Many thanks for your help with this,

John Jacobson

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

Hi John

Can you see the snippet below clearly?

I will ask our Finance team if the further information you have requested is available.

 

Regards

Barbara

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------
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[OIA #1916 email]

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