29 March 2018
Official Information Request No. 8140002601
(Please quote this in any correspondence)
James Lochead
By email -
[FYI request #7334 email]
Dear James
Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987
Re: Consultation over fireworks ban
I refer to your email, which we received on 26 February 2018, requesting information about a
ban on the use of fireworks in the Auckland region using a bylaw.
I note that responses to several of your questions have been provided to you by Auckland
Council via email on 27 February 2018. Responses to your remaining questions are
provided below.
•
Funding provided by Auckland Council for events with fireworks for the last 10
years
We have identified in our event grants software, SmartyGrants, grants which have included
reference to fireworks. Please see attached a document which provides details of these
events.
For a number of events in the attached document, the fireworks component is only a small
part of the overall activity being supported by the council. Council grants contributed to the
full range of event costs, along with funding from other sources. Accordingly, the total
amount listed here of money provided by the council in these grants is not the total amount
spent on fireworks. We are not able to identify the specific amount spent on fireworks for
each event.
In addition, these events have been identified as relevant based on disclosure by the
organiser that fireworks would be a component of the event and notifying the council if they
had been added or withdrawn subsequent to their grant application.
Please note that the SmartyGrants software was brought in on 1 July 2013. Prior to this, all
grants were submitted on paper form and captured on software systems which have now
been decommissioned. To provide you with information from prior to 2013 would require
substantial collation and research. In addition, we are not readily able to identify any further
events which included fireworks and received funding from Auckland Council. Accordingly,
these aspects are refused under section 17(f) of the Local Government Official Information
and Meetings Act 1987.
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
•
Governing Body decision on 22 February 2018 about fireworks
The decision of the Governing Body on 22 February 2018 was the result of a Notice of
Motion proposed by Councillor Cathy Casey. The Governing Body resolved to seek public
feedback from Aucklanders on whether the New Zealand Government should introduce
legislation to ban the sale of fireworks to the general public and end their private use. You
can read the
Notice of Motion and Minutes on the council’s website.
The council cannot make a bylaw to ban the sale of fireworks, however it can advocate for
the Government to do so.
Public feedback on this will be undertaken at the same time as the public is consulted on any
proposed changes to the Public Safety and Nuisance Bylaw 2013 (see below).
It will allow those who use fireworks in cultural celebrations, the pyrotechnics industry,
compliance certifiers under Worksafe NZ and the importers and retailers of fireworks to
share their views on the council’s advocacy to Government to ban the sale of fireworks.
•
Review of Auckland Council Public Safety and Nuisance Bylaw 2013
You have asked about fireworks in relation to the council’s bylaws. The council is in the
process of reviewing its approach to issues associated with the letting off of fireworks
through its statutory review of the Public Safety and Nuisance Bylaw 2013.
The Bylaw includes clause 6(3) that prohibits the letting off of fireworks in public places
except with prior written approval from the council. The Bylaw also prohibits nuisance or
endangerment of any person, property, dog or other animal in a public place from fireworks
let off in any other place.
On 8 March 2018, the Regulatory Committee considered whether any changes should be
proposed to clause 6(3) in relation to fireworks. The Regulatory Committee agreed
(REG/2018/15) that a bylaw:
• is not the most appropriate way to address fireworks in other places under clause 6(3)(b)
• is the most appropriate way to address fireworks in public places clause 6(3)(a)
These recommendations will be included in a proposal to be notified for public consultation
after August 2018.
This decision does not relate to banning the sale of fireworks.
It is a legal requirement for any proposed changes to a bylaw to consider any implications
under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
•
Public input at Auckland Council meetings
Agendas for Governing Body meetings are made available to the public in advance. The
public (including organisations) can request to provide input at meetings of the Governing
Body. The SPCA made a request to provide input on the Notice of Motion on fireworks at
the Governing Body Meeting on the 22 February 2018. This request was approved.
You can find out more about the public consultation process on the council’s website after
August 2018.
www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
Should you believe Auckland Council has not responded appropriately to your request, you
have the right by way of complaint, under section 27(3) of the LGOIMA, to apply to the
Ombudsman to seek an investigation and review of the decision.
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
If you have any further queries please contact me on 09 301 0101 quoting Official
Information Request No. 8140002601.
Yours sincerely
Sarah Parry-Crooke
Privacy & LGOIMA Business Partner
Democracy Services
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
