15 May 2023
Craig Innes
[FYI request #22559 email]
Tēnā koe Craig
Request for Information pursuant to the Local Government Official Information and
Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA)
Thank you for your correspondence of 25 April 2023 in which you have requested the
following official information:
… provide all details of payments made from the Indigenous Biodiversity Support
Fund, the $265,000 allocated for the protection of indigenous biodiversity on private
land as referred to in the following:
•
Extraordinary Hutt City Council 29 Nov 2018
http://infocouncil.huttcity.govt.nz/Open/2018/11/HCC_29112018_MIN_2656_AT
_EXTRA_WEB.htm
•
Hutt City Council 11 December 2018
http://infocouncil.huttcity.govt.nz/Open/2018/12/HCC_11122018_MIN_2529_AT
_WEB.htm
•
HUTT CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY PLAN COMMITTEE Tuesday 12
February 2019 Report No. CPC2019/1/7 Appendix Non-Regulatory Support
Measures for Indigenous Biodiversity on Private Land
http://infocouncil.huttcity.govt.nz/Open/2019/02/CPC_12022019_MIN_2614_AT
_WEB.htm
Please include the details of all payments and all internal communications and
decisions made with regard to this fund.
In 2018 Hutt City Council agreed to support indigenous biodiversity on privately-owned land
within the Hutt City Council Territorial Authority boundary. Council agreed that the indicative
amount for this provision would be $265,000 annually, commencing in the 2019/2000 financial
year. When the Long Term Plan and 2022/23 Annual Plans were approved, this amount
reduced to $200,000 for years 1 and 2, and $205,000 for year 3, over a total period of three
financial years. The number of applications for funding and expenditure from the fund are
given below.
APPROVED
EXPENDITURE
NUMBER OF
FUNDING
APPLICATIONS
2020/21
$200,000
$174,000
121
2012/22
$200,000
$98,000
45
2022/23
$205,000
$66,000
21
Recipients of the Indigenous Biodiversity Support Fund are predominantly individuals.
Accordingly, details of the recipients of the payments, and how much each received from the
fund, are withheld under section 7(2)(a) of the LGOIMA, to protect the privacy of individuals.
In making this decision, we have considered whether it is in the public interest to disclose this
information and we have concluded that this threshold has not been met in this instance.
Your request to be provided with
“all internal communications and decisions made with regard
to this fund” is refused under section 17(f) of the LGOIMA, on the grounds that the information
requested is extensive and cannot be made available without substantial collation.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this response.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Please note that this letter may be published on the Council’s website.
Nāku noa, nā
Susan Sales
Senior Advisor, Official Information and Privacy