29 April 2026
26-OIAD-00798
Nick Kearney
[FYI request #34271 email]
Dear Nick Kearney
Thank you for your email of 27 March 2026 requesting the following under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act) of the Ministry for the Environment (the Ministry):
Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request the following information relating to
the fast-track consenting application submitted by Auckland Council's Healthy Waters
and Flood Resilience department for the Wairau Blue-Green Network Stage 1 flood
resilience works at AF Thomas Park, Wairau Valley, Auckland (also referred to as the
Ngā Wairau Flood Resilience Project):
A copy of the full referral application submitted to the Minister for Infrastructure,
including all supporting documents.
Any correspondence between the Ministry for the Environment and Auckland Council
/ Healthy Waters regarding the completeness assessment of the application.
Any correspondence between the Minister for Infrastructure's office and the Ministry
regarding the referral decision.
Any expert panel appointment or process documents relating to this project (if any).
If no fast-track application has yet been lodged, any documents confirming the
intended consenting pathway for this project.
I am refusing your request in full under section 18(d) of the Act, as information in-scope of
your request is publicly available on the Fast-track website, here:
https://www.fasttrack.govt.nz/projects/nga-wairau-stage-1 You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Office of the Ombudsman of
my decisions relating to this request, in accordance with section 28(3) of the Act. The
relevant details can be found a
t: www.ombudsman.parliament.nz. Please note that due to the public interest in our work, the Ministry publishes responses to
requests for official information shortly after the response has been sent on our website at:
https://environment.govt.nz/about-us/official-information-act-requests/. If you have any
queries about this, please feel free to contact our Ministerial Services team at:
[email address]. Yours sincerely
Ben Bunting Acting Manager – Investment Strategy and Operations
Ministry for the Environment | Manatū Mō Te Taiao
PO Box 10362, Wellington 6143 | Freephone 0800 499 700 | environment.govt.nz
1
