Teenaa Koe,

Thank you for your email.

Your email will be looked at during business hours and responded to within
24 business hours

If you believe your request is urgent, please phone it through to 0800 492
452 for afterhours assistance.

Kind Regards,

Waikato District Council

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Email: [1][FOI #20280 email]

 

 

Dear Mr Sean Marshall,

 

 

 

RE:  REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UNDER THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL
INFORMATION AND MEETINGS ACT 1987

 

We acknowledge receipt of your information request dated 18th August
2022. 

 

In accordance with the Local Government Official Information and Meetings
Act 1987 (“the Act”), Council will, as soon as reasonably practicable, and
in no case later than 20 working days after the day on which the request
is received: -

(a)   decide whether the request is to be granted and, if it is to be
granted, in what manner and for what charge (if any); and

(b)  email to you notice of the decision on the request.

Please be aware that sometimes for large requests or those requiring
consultation, we will seek an extension which the Act allows.  If so, we
will let you know and give you a specific due date; or

we may seek further information from you if we feel your request is not
clear, or we may seek to refine your request if the scope is very broad.

 

If you require any further information regarding your request please
contact Myra Williamson, Official Information and Delegations Advisor,
telephone 027-2580709 or email [2][email address]

 

Yours faithfully,

Records and Information Officer

Waikato District Council

Te Kaunihera aa Takiwaa o Waikato

■ Waea puukoro: 0275098907 ■ Nama waea: 0800 492 452 
Pouaka Poutaapeta: Private Bag 544, Ngaruawahia 3742 
Waahi Mahi: 15 Galileo Street, Ngaruawahia

 

 

 

Loretta Elkington

Records and Information Officer

Waikato District Council

Te Kaunihera aa Takiwaa o Waikato

■ Waea puukoro: 0275098907 ■ Nama waea: 0800 492 452 
Pouaka Poutaapeta: Private Bag 544, Ngaruawahia 3742 
Waahi Mahi: 15 Galileo Street, Ngaruawahia

 

 

 

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Kia ora Mr Marshall

 

I refer to your request for official information which the Waikato
District Council (Council) received on 19 August 2022 (Request).

 

Council has considered your Request in accordance with the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).

 

The Request was as follows:

 

“Please provide a copy of the resolution of Council (or any person acting
under the delegated authority of Council) authorising the extension of the
20 August 2022 statutory deadline to notify your Intensification Planning
Instrument.

Please provide a copy of any records of any correspondence in which the
legality of such an extension was discussed”

 

Council’s decision is to decline the Request on the following basis:

 

 1. The first part of the request is declined pursuant to s 17(e) of the
LGOIMA because the information requested does not exist.

 

There is no ‘resolution of Council authorising the extension of the 20
August 2022 statutory deadline to notify [our] Intensification Planning
Instrument’.

 

By way of explanation - there is no statutory process to apply for or be
granted an extension by the Minister for the Environment.  However, the
decision to delay notification was an operational decision made by Council
staff and was confirmed by the Chief Executive.

 

For additional context, we can advise that a response from the Minister
for the Environment has now been received by Council (on 29 August 20222)
and the letter is now available for viewing on Council’s website here:
[1]https://www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/docs...

 

 

 2. The second part of your request is declined pursuant to s 7(2)(g) of
the LGOIMA in that any correspondence exchanged as to the legality of
the extension is protected by legal professional privilege.

 

That concludes our response to your request. If you have any questions or
concerns about this response, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

 

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.

 

Ngā mihi nui

Myra

He kai kei aku ringa – “There is food at the end of my hands”

This whakatauki signifies resilience, empowerment and hope. It refers to
one’s ability to use the skills and resources they have to create success.
It’s about being responsible for the resources and capabilities one needs
to grow and develop – Inpiringcommunities.org.nz

Myra Williamson
Official Information and Delegations Advisor
Waikato District Council
Te Kaunihera aa Takiwaa o Waikato

■ Nama waea 07 824 8633 ■ Waea puukoro: 0800 492 452
Poutaapeta Mahi: Private Bag 544, Ngaruawahia 3742
Waahi Mahi: 15 Galileo Street, Ngaruawahia

[3]Logo, company name Description automatically generated

From: Waikato DC <[4][email address]>
Sent: Friday, 19 August 2022 9:09 am
To: Records 4U <[5][email address]>
Subject: FW: Official Information request - Resolution extending deadline
to notify IPI [#3CD96H]

show quoted sections

Kia ora Sean

I acknowledge receipt of your email. I will take your comments under consideration and come back to you on this matter shortly.

Kind regards
Myra

show quoted sections

Kia ora Sean,

Further to my email of 8 September 2022, I advise that we have considered your comments carefully. We have reassessed the second part of our LGOIMA response. We maintain that our decision to withhold communications that are covered by legal professional privilege, pursuant to s 7(2)(g) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA), was the correct one.

To reach that conclusion we have reassessed the information and we have consulted the Office of the Ombudsman's Guide on applying s 7(2)(g), which is available at this link: https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/reso....

We believe that we have applied s 7(2)(g) of the LGOIMA correctly. The information we withheld involved correspondence that was created to either seek or receive confidential legal advice, and it is necessary to withhold it to maintain legal professional privilege. In addition, we consider that there is no countervailing public interest in knowing what that legal advice was. The action that Council took is not unlawful, as you assert, which is best evidenced by the fact that Minister acknowledged the extension. Had Council's action been unlawful, as you assert, the Minister would likely have mentioned that in his letter of response to Council. We advise that both the letter from Council notifying the extension and the letter from the Minister of the Environment acknowledging it, are available on the Council's website at the following link under the heading, "Letters to Ministry of the Environment": https://www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/your...

It should also be noted that Variation 3 to the Proposed District Plan has now been notified and it is accessible, along with other information about Variation 3, from this link: https://www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/your...

We respect your right to question our decision and we acknowledge your right to complain to the Office of the Ombudsman if you are dissatisfied with our response. Information about that process was included with our original response.

Kind regards

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