Printed from https://fyi.org.nz/request/26544-noncompliant-earthworks-into-neighbour-s-land-trees-and-water-kawakawa-since-2022 on June 29, 2024 21:58

noncompliant earthworks into neighbour's land, trees and water, Kawakawa since 2022

Sonja van Kerkhoff made this Official Information request to Far North District Council

The request was partially successful.

From: Sonja van Kerkhoff

Dear Far North District Council / Tēnā koutou,

We request, under the Official Information Act, that the FNDC supply us with a copy of all documents, both paper and electronic (digital and including recordings), in possession of the Council relating to earthworks on 26 and 28 Derrick Road, Kawakawa, which commenced in September 2022, up to the date on which the Council responds to this request sent today. This includes Council’s communications with the Environment Protection Agency and any reports that Council or the EPA has produced.

We also have 5 specific questions, and ask the Council to bear in mind that the Ombudsman’s Office has determined that while Council is not required to produce new information to answer requests for information, it is required to record and provide information that is known to Council staff but has not been recorded as documents or communications. (see Ombudsman’s Office, “Information not held, a guide…”)

1) What is the most recent action that the District Council has taken to require Jeff May, owner of 26 Derrick Road, Kawakawa, to remediate the noncompliant earthworks he has performed on his property? These works affect our property see the Chesters geotech report and the Soil&Rock reports or see the FNDC 20 Dec 2022 letter instructing remediation as it affects the gully which crosses our boundary filled in up to about 3 metres in height, without any retainment by Mr May. Your own bylaw (Control-of-Earthworks-Bylaw 7.1 (a)) means that we have a right to an answer to this question.

2) Is there a holdup that prevents the District Council furthering the process of remediating the noncompliant earthworks on 26 and 28 Derrick Road? For example, is there anything that the Council requires from the owners of 22 or 28 Derrick Road, or from the Regional Council, or from Mr. May, before the District Council can take action?

3) Does the Council currently have a particular officer (or officers) responsible for furthering the process of remediating the noncompliant earthworks on 26 and 28 Derrick Road? I note that 13 Dec 2023 [RFS 4180786], in response an earlier LGOIMA request, Council declined to answer a question regarding the reasons for Council’s non-communication with us, on the grounds that it would require the creation of new information, and said that “The matter has therefore been referred on to the Monitoring Team to respond directly to you.” But the monitoring team has not responded since November 2023 when they cancelled a proposed site visit. We point out that the reason why the monitoring team does not communicate with us must be known to the monitoring team, even if that information is not in written form. We request that the monitoring team provide an explanation.

Our Official Information Act request for all forms of communication, including digital and recorded is an attempt to see why the monitoring team have repeatedly ignored our requests for remediation of the trespass and pollution on our land and why our November 2022 photographic evidence showing My May continually adding more rubble and fill was rewarded with giving him a retrospective earthworks permit within 5 working days instead of an abatement notice for continuing with unpermitted earthworks.

4) Has the issue of Mr. May’s earthworks been notified to the Mayor and Councillors? Are there relevant Council minutes or other documents or communications produced by the political arm of the District Council? If the Mayor or any individual Councilor has communicated in any way regarding these earthworks as well earthworks involving Mr May since September 2022, we would like copies of that communication and the name/s of the Councillor involved. For example if council staff of councillors have communicated with Mr May regarding earthworks on his property at 280 Hautapu Rd, that would be relevant to our situation because the rubble he dumped on our property came from somewhere.

5) The Environmental Protection Agency informed us in October 2023, that the District Council has begun action. What action was it that the District Council told the EPA it had initiated? What action has the District Council taken in regards to remediaton before it was contacted by the EPA October 2023 and afterwards?

Yours faithfully,

Sonja van Kerkhoff

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From: Ask Us Team
Far North District Council

Thank you for contacting the Far North District Council. We have received
your message and a member of our customer service team will issue a
reference number for your enquiry within 5 working days.

Urgent enquiries: If you feel your enquiry requires urgent attention,
please contact us on our service number 0800 920 029 or 09 401 5200 –
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

You may also find what you are looking for by visiting our website
[1]www.fndc.govt.nz

Kind regards
Ask Us Customer Services Team

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From: Ask Us Team
Far North District Council

Kia ora Sonja van,

Thank you for contacting the Far North District Council.

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

Should you need to contact us regarding this particular issue, please use
reference number RFS-4202272.

Nga mihi,

Evie

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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From: Erica Cooney
Far North District Council

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By email only: [1][FOI #26544 email]

 

Tēnā koe Requester

Official information request: RFS 4202272

 

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 4202272 for any further enquiries in
relation to this request.

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

Nāku noa, nā
   

   
Te Kaunihera o Te Hiku o te Ika  |  Far
North District Council
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From: Erica Cooney
Far North District Council

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Tēnā koe Requester

Official information request: RFS 4202272

 

Thank you for your official information request to the Far North District
Council (‘Council’) received on 26 April 2024. Your request has been
considered in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the ‘LGOIMA’).

 

Council considers that your request as currently worded is broad and
appears to cover a sizeable amount of information. Unfortunately, as the
request stands, given its large scope, there are administrative concerns
as processing it would likely require significant time and resources.

 

Factors Council is considering include:

·                    the amount of documentation to be looked at;

·                    the work time involved;

·                    the nature of the resources and the personnel
available to process the request; and

·                    the effect on other operations of the diversion of
resources to meet the request.

 

Council is looking at whether imposing a charge (under Council’s fees and
charges schedule
([2]https://www.fndc.govt.nz/__data/assets/p...
“Official Information” at page 16) and or extending the statutory time
limit would enable the request to be granted – or, potentially whether the
request should be refused under section 17(f) of the LGOIMA as the
information sought cannot be made available without substantial collation
or research.

 

The LGOIMA requires agencies to consult with a requester in these
circumstances to give them the opportunity to reconsider / refine the
scope of the request. Accordingly, you are invited to amend your request
so that while it still meets your needs, it allows for a reasonably
manageable response. Please let us know if you require any assistance in
this.

 

Please note, an amended request is treated as a new request for the
purpose of calculating the maximum statutory timeframe for response
(section 13(7) of the LGOIMA). 

 

We look forward to hearing from you on how you wish to proceed.

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

Nāku noa, nā

 
 
Te Kaunihera o Te Hiku o te Ika  |  Far
North District Council
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10. https://www.instagram.com/farnorth_dc/
11. https://campaigns.signature365.com/au-HF...

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From: Erica Cooney
Far North District Council

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By email only: [1][FOI #26544 email]

 

Tēnā koe Requester

Official information request: RFS 4202272

 

Thank you for your official information request to the Far North District
Council (‘Council’) received on 26 April 2024. Your request has been
considered in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the ‘LGOIMA’).

 

Council refers you to its email dated 7 May 2024. This noted that given
the large scope of the request, as it stood, processing it would likely
require significant Council time and resources. Therefore you were invited
to reconsider the scope of your request so as to enable Council to provide
a reasonably manageable response. We note that we have not heard from you
to date.

 

Rather than refusing your request under section 17(f) of the LGOIMA (that
is, that the information sought cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research) - Council has considered section 17A
and whether the request could be granted by imposing a charge and or
extending the time limit. Council has decided not to impose a charge,
however an extension of time will be required.

 

The LGOIMA requires that we advise the requester of our decision on the
request as soon as reasonably practicable, and no later than 20 working
days after the day we received it.

As noted above, in this case, it will not be possible to meet that time
limit, and we are therefore writing to notify you of an extension of the
time to make our decision, to Monday 24 June 2024 at the latest. 

 

The extension is required because your request necessitates a search
through a large quantity of information and meeting the original time
limit would unreasonably interfere with Council’s operations.

 

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
[2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

 

Thank you for your enquiry, and  we will be in touch in due course.

 

Nāku noa, nā

 
 
Te Kaunihera o Te Hiku o te Ika  |  Far
North District Council
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Pokapū Kōrero 24-hāora  |  24-hour
Contact Centre  0800 920 029
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References

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10. https://www.instagram.com/farnorth_dc/

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From: Sonja van Kerkhoff

Dear / Tēnā koe Erica Cooney,

Re: RFS-4202272.

Thank you for your response of May 24, to the request for all documents in possession of the Council relating to earthworks on 26 and 28 Derrick Road, Kawakawa, which commenced in September 2022, including Council’s communications with the Environment Protection Agency and any reports that Council or the EPA has produced. I asked five specific questions, regarding (1) Council’s most recent action to require Jeff May, owner of 26 Derrick Road, Kawakawa, to remediate the noncompliant earthworks that also affect our property, (2) whether there is a holdup that prevents Council furthering the process of remediating the noncompliant earthworks on 26 and 28 Derrick Road, (3) whether Council has an officer responsible, and what explains the Monitoring Team’s non-communication; (4) whether the issue of Mr. May’s earthworks been notified to the Mayor and Councillors? And (5) What action the District Council told the EPA it had initiated?

All five specific questions are necessary, if we are to be informed and treated as an affected party in this matter. Some might require Council action, such as instructing a member of monitoring staff to communicate with us and visit the site with us. This is what Council should be doing so I would argue it cannot be considered an additional burden resulting from our LGOIMA request.

As for the broad request for all documents, we are not in a position to narrow the scope of this request, since we do not know what processes have been occurring within Council during the long delay in acting on the earthworks remediation. All we know is (1) that the EPA has said that the Council has taken unspecified action, and (2) that you have said there is a large amount of information. That may be the case, but we are not able to narrow our request to this or that, since from our observation absolutely nothing is happening to get this problem fixed, so we do not know what kinds of information you are referring to.
On 23 January 2023, Mr Ken Ward, team leader of compliance, wrote to us that “Mr. May has been directed to obtain your consent in respect of any such work / access on your property …” The fact that Mr. May has not done so, and does not reply to any of our communications, suggests to us that Council has taken no action for the past 15 months. If Council was pushing the remediation forward, Mr. May would be coming to us with work plans and a time line. From this perspective, it seems unlikely that there really is a large amount of information relating to 26 and 28 Derrick Road since November 2022.

I suggest an extension to answering this request for documents until July 1, 2024.

I also urge council to take action - again - because the materials brought in by Mr May continue to flow into the wetland. We do our best with trying to reduce the flow but the problem is that a gully has been filled and the springs push this into the wetland 24/7. I have already sent council numerous photos and the geotech report you have in your records show dramatically the problem of dumping such a large amount of clay-rubble with zero retainment, into a gully that has springs flowing through it.

I point out that we have been seeking action and communication from the District Council on this matter since November 2022, when Council head of Compliance Ken Ward inexplicably withdrew an abatement notice (abate 2023-56) that would have frozen the unpermitted earthworks Mr May continued to engage in after the 17 Nov site visit by the FNDC compliance officer, and then granted our neighbour, Mr May, a retrospective earthworks permit, based on an application that contained fictional elements and did not include the 100s of tonnes of earthworks dumped on our property. Council did nothing when work continued and I continued to send council photos, involving trucking in more material, into January 2023, on a site that was already far above the permitted volume. Mr. Ward’s statement that this is “in the public interest” (2 December 2022) is the only explanation we have had of Council’s action and inaction, and it does not merit the word “explanation.”

Yours sincerely / nāku noa, nā

Sonja van Kerkhoff

Link to this

From: Erica Cooney
Far North District Council

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By email only: [1][FOI #26544 email]

 

Tēnā koe Requester

Official information request: RFS 4202272

 

Thank you for your official information request to the Far North District
Council (‘Council’) received on 26 April 2024 and for your email dated 30
May 2024. Your request has been considered in accordance with the
provisions of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act
1987 (the ‘LGOIMA’).

 

In respect of the five questions you have asked – these are set out in
blue with Council’s responses below.

 1. Council’s most recent action to require the owner of your neighbouring
property to remediate the noncompliant earthworks that also affect
your property.

Council issued an abatement notice to your neighbour on the 11^th December
2023. Council’s latest contact was today, 24June 2024.

 

 2. whether there is a holdup that prevents Council furthering the process
of remediating the noncompliant earthworks.

Your neighbour has confirmed on the 24^th June 2024 that he has engaged
with his Engineers, Chester Consultants Limited, to lodge the required
retrospective Resource Consent application.

 

 3. whether Council has an officer responsible, and what explains the
Monitoring Team’s non-communication.

Yes, Ken Ward as the Team Leader of Monitoring. Council have communicated
with you regularly.

 4. whether the issue of your neighbour’s earthworks been notified to the
Mayor and Councillors?

No, not aware of any specific notification. However Council understands
that you raised concerns with elected officials and as you are aware
former CEO Blair King personally investigated your concerns.

 

 5. What action the District Council told the EPA it had initiated?

The Councils advice to the EPA included the following:

o That multiple site visits had been undertaken to inspect works.
o That Northland Regional Council (NRC)had received application for
retrospective consent for works nearby a Wetland. (NRC is the agency
responsible for Consenting works near Freshwater bodies/wetlands.)
o Letters of Direction issued to your neighbour including that he obtain
Engineers Assessment/Report.
o Abatement Notice issued to obtain Retrospective Resource Consent to
install erosion and sediment controls.

 

In relation to your official information request, Council has decided to
provide most of the requested information that it holds. It will take time
to prepare this information for release, and we are hoping to have this to
you by Tuesday 23 July 2024 at the latest. Some of the information sought
will not be made available however, and in this, Council relies upon the
following provisions of the LGOIMA:

 

“6 Conclusive reasons for withholding official information

Good reason for withholding official information exists, […] if the making
available of that information would be likely—

(c)                to prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the
prevention, investigation, and detection of offences […]”.

 

“7 Other reasons for withholding official information

Section 7(1) “Where this section applies, good reason for withholding
official information exists […]

7(2) […] if, and only if, the withholding of the information is necessary
to—

·                    Section 7(2)(a) - protect the privacy of
natural persons”.

·                    Section 7(2)(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”. 

·                    Section 7(2)(f)(i) - maintain the effective
conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of
opinions by or between or to members or officers or employees of any
local authority in the course of their duty”.

The decision to withhold information under section 7 of the LGOIMA
is subject to a ‘public interest test’. In considering 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.

 

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
[2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

Nāku noa, nā

 
 
Te Kaunihera o Te Hiku o te Ika  |  Far
North District Council
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