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Kia ora Sen  

Thank you for contacting the Far North District Council.

Your request has been referred to our planning Department to action and
respond.

Should you need to contact us regarding this particular issue, please use
reference number RFS- 4151283

Nga mihi,

Phil 

Ask Us Team
District Services
Far North District Council  |  24-hour Contact Centre 0800 920 029
DDI 09 401 5200  |  [1][Far North District Council request email]
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Robert Mark ('Sen') McGlinn

By email only: [1][FOI #22203 email]

 

 

Tçnâ koe  Mr McGlinn

Official information request: RFS 4151283

 

Thank you for your official information request to the Far North District
Council (‘Council’). Your request has been referred to the relevant
Council department for consideration in accordance with the provisions of
the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the
‘LGOIMA’). A response will be provided to you as soon as reasonably
practicable, and no later than 20 working days (as defined in the LGOIMA)
after the day on which the request is received.

 

Please quote our reference RFS 4151283 for any further enquiries in
relation to this request.

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

Nâku noa, nâ

 

Erica Cooney

 

[2][IMG] Erica Cooney
Solicitor
Corporate Services, Far North District Council   |  24-hour
Contact Centre 0800 920 029
DDI +6494015306  |  [email address]
  [3]Website  |   [4]Facebook   |  [5]LinkedIn   |  [6]Careers

 

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Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
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Robert Mark ('Sen') McGlinn

By email only: [1][FOI #22203 email]

 

 

Tēnā koe Mr McGlinn

Official information request: RFS 4151283

 

Thank you for your official information request to the Far North District
Council (‘Council’) received on 22 March 2023. Your request has been
considered in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the ‘LGOIMA’).

 

Your request

“1.   I seek a copy of the Earthworks Permit Application Form For Control
of Earthworks, or the online equivalent, on which the permit was based. As
the owner of one of the neighbouring properties to which the earthworks
extend, I should have been sent this together with the notification for
affected parties (which I did not receive). The applicant’s banking
details should be redacted out: what is important to me is the Volume of
Excavation/Fill, and the depth of cut or fill.

 

2.    I note that the abbreviated description of the earthworks in
Schedule B of the permit does not match what had actually been done on the
site at that time. I request the “description of Proposed [ie
retrospective] Earthworks” earthworks” as actually stated in the
application.

 

3.    I would like to know what the relevant District Plan zone thresholds
are, which would trigger a land use consent application.

 

4.    I would like to know whether a Chartered Professional Engineer
Report was required by the nature of the works, and whether it was
included with the application.

My request includes all of the other supporting documentation for this
application.

 

5.    I would like all of the Far North District Council’s internal
documentation on which Engineer Rawiri based her decision to stamp the
permit. The notes of her site visit, or the site visit of another engineer
or consultant working for the Council would be relevant. In particular, I
am interested in cross-sections and elevations, in words or sketches, that
would be relevant to the claimed volume of cut and fill, in any
calculations that summed up that volume, in any indication of whether the
claimed volumes and the stipulated maximum of 200m3 in Schedule B of the
permit were for applicant’s property only, or took account of the fill
that had already been dumped on neighbouring properties, and I am
requesting any evidence that Engineer Rawiri had been informed that part
of the earthworks were on properties that did not belong to the applicant,
and whose owners had not been asked for consent, when she approved this
application. A statement from her, that she had or had not been informed,
would suffice in the absence of internal documents from the time. This
internal documentation should include the emails and reports of the
Council’s monitoring staff, from site visits and communications with the
applicant and affected neighbours.

 

6.    I would like to know the origin of the “quarry scrapings” of soft
rock and yellow-orange clay which make up the majority of the fill.

a) I would like to know whether this fill came from Council earthworks,
road works, slip removal or the like.

b)  If it came from private land, does any present or past Council staff
or consultant have an interest in that land? Can the Council confirm that
no-one involved in the consenting process had a financial interest or
other conflict of interest in relation to the earthworks and the permit?”

 

Council’s response

Council has decided to provide the information it holds relating to your
request - excepting for a small amount of information that has been
withheld under the following provisions of the LGOIMA:

“7 Other reasons for withholding official information

(2)   […] this section applies if, and only if, the withholding of the
information is necessary to—

(a)   protect the privacy of natural persons, 

(c)   protect information which is subject to an obligation of
confidence […]where the making available of the information—

(ii)   would be likely otherwise to damage the public interest.

The decision to withhold information under section 7 of the LGOIMA is
subject to a ‘public interest test’. In addressing this point, Council
believes that in the circumstances, there is no public interest in
releasing this information that would outweigh the need to withhold it.

 

1          Land disturbing activities taking place near or on the boundary
require approval from neighbours. It’s the permit holder responsibility,
not the Council, to seek such approvals. Please refer to Condition 1 of
Permit 3002062-LGAEWK attached.

2          Copy of application, approved plan and permit attached.

3          Thresholds for earthworks can be found in our [2]Control of
Earthworks Bylaw (2019). Under the Operative District plan the relevant
rule re. Earthworks for residential area is 12.3.6.1.3. Land owners
undertaking land disturbing activities nearby water bodies also are
required to seek consent for the Regional authority.

4          A Chartered Professional Engineer Report was not required for
this application.

5          D Rawiri is not an engineer, but rather a support officer who
signed the documents on behalf of the Haigh Workman engineer approving the
retrospective permit application. Further to your request. Council has
realised the confusion which administration signing this permit and plan
has caused and apologises for this.  Council has consequently made the
required process improvements to ensure that this is no longer an issue
going forward. Haigh Workman have provided a copy of the information
considered and the relevant email thread of communication. This is
attached. It is further noted that the Haigh Workman engineer who assessed
the application undertook a site visit.

6          a)   Council does not hold this information and therefore this
particular query must be refused in reliance on section 17(g) of the
LGOIMA – that is, that the information requested is not held by the local
authority.

 b. To the best of Council’s knowledge, no Council staff member or
consultant who has been a part of this retrospective application
process has had any financial or other conflict of interest in
relation to “the earthworks and the permit” .

 

Council notes that it is currently investigating, and seeking the redress
of, various non-compliance issues relating to the retrospective earthworks
permit. These include spillage of fill onto neighbouring properties and
affecting a stormwater overflow path nearby, inadequate stormwater
management, insufficient erosion and sediment controls, and height and
instability of retaining walls.

 

You have the right to seek a review by the Ombudsman of this decision,
should you wish to do so. Information about how to make a complaint is
available at [3]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or Freephone 0800 802 602.

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

Nāku noa, nā

 

Erica Cooney

 

[4][IMG] Erica Cooney
Legal Services Officer
Corporate Services, Far North District Council   |  24-hour
Contact Centre 0800 920 029
DDI +6494015306  |  [email address]
  [5]Website  |   [6]Facebook   |  [7]LinkedIn   |  [8]Careers

 

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

Get it done online at your convenience, visit our website -
www.fndc.govt.nz
-----------------------------------------------------------
Attention: The information contained in this email (including any
attachments) is intended solely for the addressee(s). It is confidential
and may be legally privileged. If you have received this email in error
you must not use, copy, disclose or distribute it or any information in
it. Please simply notify the sender and delete or destroy all copies of
the email immediately. Unless formally stated, this e-mail and any
attachments do not necessarily reflect the views of the Far North District
Council. The Far North District Council accepts no responsibility for any
interception of, or changes to, our email after it leaves us. We do not
accept responsibility for any viruses or similar carried with our email,
or any effects our email may have on the recipients computer system or
network.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
Ph. 09 401 5200 | Fax. 09 401 2137 | Email. [Far North District Council request email]
Address. Memorial Avenue, Private Bag 752, Kaikohe 0440, New Zealand

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