50 Victoria Street
Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
T 64 4 894 5400
F 64 4 894 6100
www.nzta.govt.nz
23 June 2022
Tony Randle
[FYI request #19229 email]
REF: OIA-10040 #DoR
Dear Tony
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email of 29 April 2022 to Wel ington City Council (WCC) requesting the fol owing
information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
…1) Since July 2020, a copy of meeting documentation for all meetings between WCC
and LGWM where the predicted population and housing growth for Wel ington City was
discussed including copies of any agendas, reports and/or presentations at these
meetings.
2) Since July 2020, a copy of the correspondence between WCC and LGWM on the
predicted population and housing growth for Wel ington City including copies of any
reports and/or other information was attached to or linked from these emails.
3) A copy of meeting documentation for all meetings between WCC and LGWM where
the WCC Spatial Plan reports "Citywide Estimated Growth Distribution Figures
September 2021" and/or "Citywide Estimated Growth Distribution Figures 25/09/2020"
were discussed including copies of any agendas, reports and/or presentations at these
meetings.
4) A copy of the correspondence between WCC and LGWM where the WCC Spatial Plan
reports "Citywide Estimated Growth Distribution Figures September 2021" and/or
"Citywide Estimated Growth Distribution Figures 25/09/2020" were attached or discussed
including copies of any other reports and/or other information was attached to or linked
from these emails.
5) A copy of meeting documentation for all meetings between WCC and LGWM where
the LGWM "Urban Development Summary Report. October 2021" report was discussed
including copies of any agendas, reports and/or presentations at these meetings.
6) A copy of the correspondence between WCC and LGWM where the LGWM "Urban
Development Summary Report. October 2021" report was attached or discussed
including copies of any reports and/or other information was attached to or linked from
these emails…
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has responded to parts 2, 4 and 6 of your request on 1 June
2022. On the same day, you responded with the fol owing:
…I would like to better understand the nature of your efforts to identify some
correspondence related to my request items 2, 4 and 6. Can you please provide a list of
the email search terms used and the number of corresponding matching emails identified
for each search?...
The fol owing table sets out the search terms used and number of emails identified under the
email sweep conducted for your request. Please also note that only emails to/from WCC email
addresses are included in the email sweep results.
Question
Keywords
Email Sweep
Used
Results
2. Since July 2020, a copy of the correspondence between WCC
“Wellington” AND
1928 emails
and LGWM on the predicted population and housing growth for
‘population growth”
Wel ington City including copies of any reports and/or other
AND/OR “housing
information was attached to or linked from these emails.
growth”
4. A copy of the correspondence between WCC and LGWM
“Citywide Estimated
12 emails
where the WCC Spatial Plan reports "Citywide Estimated
Growth Distribution
Growth Distribution Figures September 2021" and/or
Figures”
"Citywide Estimated Growth Distribution Figures 25/09/2020"
were attached or discussed including copies of any other
reports and/or other information was attached to or linked
from these emails.
6. A copy of the correspondence between WCC and LGWM
“Urban Development
303 emails
where the LGWM "Urban Development Summary Report.
Summary Report”
October 2021" report was attached or discussed including
copies of any reports and/or other information was attached
to or linked from these emails
To provide further context, our initial email sweep found over 2200 emails for al three questions
and our system did not provide a breakdown for how many emails were found for each
questions. Upon receiving your response, Waka Kotahi then performed three separate email
sweeps, which are reflected in the table above.
In light of the above, Waka Kotahi wil be reviewing our decision on part 4 of your request, which was
refused under section 18(f) of the Act (information requested cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research). Due to the low number of emails found during the second email
sweep, we are working to recover these emails for further assessment to determine whether or not
they fal within scope of the request. A response on these wil be provided to you along with our
response to parts 1, 3 and 5 (see below).
The purpose of this letter is to also advise you that a decision has been made on the remainder
of your request (parts 1, 3 and 5) and this information wil be provided to you without undue
delay. Waka Kotahi anticipates being able to provide this to you on or before 11 July 2022.
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During this time, around 7 documents that are in scope of your request wil be finalised for release.
When releasing these documents to you, certain information wil be withheld under the provisions of
the Act, including – but not limited to –
• Section 9(2)(a) – to protect the privacy of natural persons.
• Section 9(2)(g)(i) – to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank
expression of opinions by or between or to Ministers of the Crown or members of an organisation
or officers and employees of any department or organisation in the course of their duty.
• 9(2)(j) – to enable a Minister of the Crown or any department or organisation holding the
information to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial
and industrial negotiations).
I do note that Waka Kotahi extended the timeframe for making a decision on your request on 1 June
2022 and appreciate your ongoing patience while Waka Kotahi finalises the response. Unfortunately, a
number of unforeseen circumstances, including key staff absences, has impacted our teams’
resourcing. Please accept my apologies for the resulting delay.
Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision. The
contact details for the Ombudsman can be located at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz. If you would like to discuss this reply with Waka Kotahi, please contact Ministerial Services by email to
[email address].
Yours sincerely
Josh Driscol
Principal Advisor - Ministerial Services
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