Death by Drowning on Queens wharf, report and correspondence
Roger Calkin made this Official Information request to Wellington City Council
The request was successful.
From: Roger Calkin
Dear Wellington City Council,
I am a New Zealand Citizen seeking information about steps taken in relation to the death of my son Sandy Calkin at Queens Wharf on or about 10 July 2021 and safety on Queens Wharf.
I understand the coroner has requested a report from the Wellington City Council in respect of this fatality. It has now been nearly 14 months since my son died in an area where the responsibility for pedestrian safety lies with the Wellington City council.
On 2 August 2022 the Coroner's office advised by email "Wellington City Council has not yet provided the report sought by Coroner Greig".
My son's death appears to have occurred in very similar circumstances and in the same area to that of Finbar Clabby in 2015. My wife knew Mr Clabby personally, so we also followed this case closely when it occurred.
I formally request the following;
1. Copies of all correspondence/reports/emails/text messages relating to the death of Sandy Calkin held by the Wellington City Council, and it's staff.
2. All reports, recommendations, and upgrades to safety made to Queens Wharf and its surrounding areas made in response to the death of my son, Sandy Calkin on 10 July 2021.
3. All reports, recommendations, and upgrades to safety made to Queens Wharf and its surrounding areas made in response to the death of Finbar Clabby in 2015. This should include all camera system upgrades and increases in coverage.
4. All incident reports held by the Wellington City Council in respect of all accidents, near misses, fatalities and injuries where people have fallen into the water, or come close to falling into the water on or about Queens Wharf and the surrounding waterfront area since the death of Finbar Clabby in 2015.
I look forward to your prompt reply
Yours faithfully,
Roger Calkin
From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council
Kia ora Roger
Thank you for your email dated 7 September 2022 requesting information about Queens Wharf drowning.
FYI website publishes responses online. Due to the sensitive nature of this request, can you please confirm if you want your son's information to be publicly available or would rather have this redacted. We can also send the information to you directly if you wish. If you would rather we send you the information directly you can send us your email address directly to [email address].
Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to provide a decision as soon as possible, but no later than 5 October 2022, being 20 working days of receipt.
The reference number for your request is IRC-3882.
Please contact us if you have any further questions.
Kind regards
The Assurance Team
Email: [email address]
Wellington City Council | W Wellington.govt.nz | |
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
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From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council
Kia ora Roger
Please see attached decision letter.
Kind Regards
Asha Harry
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team | Wellington City Council
W Wellington.govt.nz | |
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
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From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council
Kia ora Roger
Thank you for making contact with our team directly. We will ensure that you received the un-redacted copies directly (noting still that information related to other individuals will still be redacted) and that anything sent to the FYI website will be redacted according to the Act.
I would like to reassure you that our Waterfront team is working closely with the Coroner's Office to provide them with the information they require and our teams will continue to work closely with them until they have finished their investigations.
Just to provide you with an update on our progress. The Waterfront team has provided me with the information. On reviewing that information, there are some documents that are still missing and some information requires clarity. I will require additional time to be able to gather the remaining information for you. I hope to provide you with the information by 2 November 2022.
Please accept my apologies for the delay in providing you with the information you are seeking. I am working closely with our Waterfront team to get the information you have requested.
If you are not satisfied with the Council's response, you may request the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the Council's decision. Further information is available on the Ombudsman website, www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Kind Regards
Asha Harry
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team | Wellington City Council
W Wellington.govt.nz | |
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
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Roger Calkin left an annotation ()
Response to the latest excuse for a delay. Sent directly by email.
Hi Asha
To be honest I am not satisfied at all with the response (lack of) from WCC over any of this. It has now been 15 months since my son died on the waterfront which is the responsibility of WCC. This area clearly represents a significant hazard which has led to a number of deaths from similar circumstances. For my wife and I to have lost a son, and to have personally known someone else who died in similar circumstances in the same area earlier, only for WCC to have done nothing about it is quite frankly appalling.
From my interactions with the Coroner I am aware that they have expressed frustrations over the delays and lack of urgency shown by WCC in preparing this report. Hence my decision to instigate the OIA process. It should not take this long to provide the information I have requested and I will consider complaining to the Ombudsman over the next few days.
From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council
Kia ora Roger
Please see attached response to your request for information.
Due to the volume of documents I have had to use the below link to send
you the documents.
[1]IRC-3882 Password IRC-3882
If you have problems accessing the link please let me know and I can find
another way to send you the information.
Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your request for
information, I hope this information helps you. I would like to reassure
you that the Council is working with the Coroner’s Office and will
continue to help them through their investigation.
Should you require any other information please let me know.
Kind Regards
Asha Harry
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team | Wellington City Council
W Wellington.govt.nz | |
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and
intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that
confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the
sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
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Roger Calkin left an annotation ()
I am still awaiting a response. They have twice now requested that I provide them with an answer to a question, which I have tried to do through this site. They have not provided any contact details or email address for me to respond to their question. They are now overdue having left this response to the last minute. I will be complaining to the Ombudsman.
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