Tēnā koe,

Thank you for contacting us. Your request has been logged under the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

Council is ordinarily required to respond to requests under the Act no
later than 20 working days after receipt of a request. However, under
section 2(1) of the Act, the period from 20 December 2022 to 10 January
2023 is not counted for the purposes of calculating working days. While we
will make every effort to respond to your request as soon as possible,
there may potentially be a delay in responding to your request over the
Christmas period.

You can also call us freephone 0800 932 463. Please quote Request No.
OIA230629 if you require any further information.

If you would like to notify us about anything further regarding this
matter, you can reply to this email.

Ngā mihi,

Whangarei District Council

--EmailIdentifier---eyJJSWQiOiJhZWYzMWMxNS04MmRlLTQ5NmMtYWRjNC1hZmFkNTdlNjU0YzUiLCJIIjoiISFIQUowNlFib2srQUtMMCtZNU0zMTcxIn0=---EmailIdentifier--

Tçnâ koe Ms Shayeb 

I refer to your request of 8 January 2023 asking for a copy of the
finalised report on an investigation into a 2021 Mill Rd spraying incident
or to be informed when the report is finalised. Under the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 we are required to make a
decision regarding your request within 20 days of receipt.  Unfortunately
as at this date the report requested is not available; your request was
referred to the Northland Transportation Alliance for consideration and
they have advised that at this stage the report has not been finalised. 

I note that you have also requested that you be informed when the report
is finalised – I will be referring this request to the Northland
Transportation Alliance and asking them to contact you in due course.

I hope this information is of some assistance in responding to your
request. If you believe we have not responded appropriately to your
request, you have the right by way of complaint, under section 27(3) of
the Act, to apply to the Ombudsman to seek an investigation and review of
the decision.

Regards

Jacqui Crompton

Official Information Requests Team  

Whangarei District Council | Forum North | Private Bag 9023, Whangarei
0148 | [1]www.wdc.govt.nz

WDC Call Centre 09 430 4200

 

[2]WDC - Final email sig

 

 

 

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Kia ora Ms Shayeb

Thank you for your follow up email regarding your request for the Investigative Report from the Mill Road Spraying Incident.

I have contacted Calvin Thomas from the Northland Transportation Alliance for an update. He has advised that a draft report has been prepared but there are amendments to be made to ensure accuracy of the report. Calvin has advised that the report should be finalised within the next few weeks. Please feel free to contact me for an update around the beginning of May, say 4 weeks' time.

I hope this information is of some assistance in responding to your request. If you believe we have not responded appropriately to your request, you have the right by way of complaint, under section 27(3) of the Act, to apply to the Ombudsman to seek an investigation and review of the decision.

Have a safe and happy Easter break.

Regards,

Jacqui Crompton
Official Information Requests Team
Whangarei District Council | Forum North | Private Bag 9023, Whangarei 0148 | http://www.wdc.govt.nz/
WDC Call Centre 09 430 4200

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Tēnā koe,

Thank you for contacting us. Your request has been logged under the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

We will respond to your request as soon as possible and in any case no
later than within 20 working days.  

You can also call us freephone 0800 932 463. Please quote Request No.
OIA230764 if you require any further information.

If you would like to notify us about anything further regarding this
matter, you can reply to this email.

Ngā mihi,

Whangarei District Council

--EmailIdentifier---eyJJSWQiOiI5MTM4NzQ5Zi0xMDYzLTQ4YmYtOTFiOS04YjJiNWFmZDU1ZTEiLCJIIjoiISFIQU1HR1NtbnJCcWdQU3RSa1dHdjJoIn0=---EmailIdentifier--

Tēnā koe Ms Shayeb,

I refer to your request of 7 April 2023 for information regarding the
Terms of reference for the IPG report.  Your request was referred to
council’s Roading Department, Northland Transportation Alliance, for
consideration.  They have provided the following:

“This engagement includes attending to preparation of an incident
investigation in the issue related to complaint from a member of the
public regarding an alleged event where a contractor has sprayed the feet
of a group of children.

IPG is to make recommendations on actions that could be undertaken to
avoid a reoccurrence. This may include, review of information related to
the events/s, development of a SnapChart®, determining causal factors,
determining root causes. If required; development of suggested
recommendations. Development of a full report in to the event presented in
a locked PDF.”

I hope this information is of some assistance in responding to your
request. If you believe we have not responded appropriately to your
request, you have the right by way of complaint, under section 27(3) of
the Act, to apply to the Ombudsman to seek an investigation and review of
the decision.

 

Jacqui Crompton

Business Integrity Administrator | Democracy & Assurance Department

Whangarei District Council | Forum North | Private Bag 9023, Whangarei
0148 | [1]www.wdc.govt.nz

P 09 430 4200 | DDI 09 470 3042 | M 021 792 127 | E
[2][email address]

[3]Like us on Facebook

 

 

 

 

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Tçnâ koe Ms Shayeb, 

 

I refer to your request of 7 October 2023 for an update on the status of
the IPG report (Mill Road Spraying Incident), I am currently following up
on the status of the IPG report and am waiting for the Department Manager
to advise.

 

Regarding your additional questions, I note that your request as currently
worded is very broad and, in that sense, raises issues for us in terms of
significant staff time and resources that would be required to retrieve
and collate the information. The information is unlikely to be held in a
single electronic file.

 

1.Copies of all WDC contractors herbicide spraying records, for the
roadside maintenance programme for the greater Tutukaka Coast area from
2015 to present day.

 

2.Copies of WDCs and Contractors Policy and Procedures, Health & Safety
plans, or similar guidelines, for mitigation of  incidences of public
exposure to herbicide/pesticide spray while carrying out Councils
maintenance operations.

 

3.Copies of correspondence, incident reports, and actions taken with
contractors in response to reports from members of the public who have had
exposure to spray during Council's roadside maintenance operations from
2015 to present day.

 

 

In these circumstances, I invite you to consider refining what you are
asking for to avoid a charge being imposed under our fees and charges
schedule: [1]Official information fees and charges - Whangarei District
Council (wdc.govt.nz) under “Official Information”)  or potentially a
refusal of your request on administrative grounds. 

 

In order to refine your request we suggest you consider narrowing the time
period covered by your request (e.g. within the last 12 - 24 months), and
narrowing down the types of documents covered by your request.

 

Regards,

 

 

Jacqui Crompton

Business Integrity Administrator | Democracy and Assurance Department

Whangarei District Council | Te Iwitahi, 9 Rust Avenue | Private Bag 9023,
Te Mai, Whangârei 0143

P 09 430 4200 | DDI 09 470 3042 | M 021 792 127 | [2]www.wdc.govt.nz

[3]Whangarei District Council logo

 

 

 

 

 

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Dear Norah

 

Thank you for your email.  We will continue to work on your request and
will reply in due course.

 

Regards,

 

Jacqui Crompton

Official Information Requests Team  

Whangarei District Council | Te Iwitahi, 9 Rust Avenue | Private Bag
9023, Whangarei 0148 | [1]www.wdc.govt.nz

WDC Call Centre 09 430 4200

 

[2]WDC - Final email sig

 

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Tēnā koe Ms Shayeb, 

 

I refer to your request of 9 October 2023, and subsequent refinement,
received 24 October 2023, for information regarding WDC’s Roadside
Spraying Contract details, and a record of complaints from any members of
the public who have had exposure to spray during Council’s roadside
maintenance operations. 

 

Your request was referred to council’s Roading Department, Northland
Transportation Alliance for consideration.

 

Regarding the status of the IPG investigation and the report prepared, the
report is currently being finalised by the independent investigator and
Council is waiting to receive his final report.

 

You have also asked for the following information:

 

 1. Copies of all WDC contractors herbicide spraying  records, for the
roadside maintenance programme for the greater Tutukaka Coast area
from 2015 to present day

 

Please see attached:

 

OIA230977 – Contract 17085 Cyclic Spraying Wider Tutukaka Area 2018 – 2023

OIA230977 – Spraying Wider Tutukaka Area 2015 – 2018

 

 2. Question withdrawn

 

 3. Copies of correspondence, incident reports, and actions taken with 
contractors in response to reports from members of the public who have
had  exposure to spray during Council's roadside maintenance
operations from 2015 to present day

 

Please see attached:

 

OIA230977 – Spraying Incidents (Redacted)

 

The documentation attached represents our best efforts to locate material
relevant to your request. However, the search process is by no means an
exact science it is possible that there may be other items of relevance
that have been unintentionally missed in the search. 

 

I note that some information has been withheld under section 7(2)(a) of
the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 to protect
the privacy of individuals (this does not include Whangarei District
Council Staff).

 

I hope this information is of some assistance in responding to your
request. If you believe we have not responded appropriately to your
request, you have the right by way of complaint, under section 27(3) of
the Act, to apply to the Ombudsman to seek an investigation and review of
the decision. 

 

 

 

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Tēnā koe Ms Shayeb, 

 

I refer to your request of 7 October 2023 for information regarding the
status of the Incident Prevention Group, (IPG) investigation report into
the complaint regarding a spraying incident on Mill Rd, Whangarei during
October 2021.

A copy of the IPG investigators report is attached for your information.

 

The documentation attached represents our best efforts to locate material
relevant to your request. However, the search process is by no means an
exact science it is possible that there may be other items of relevance
that have been unintentionally missed in the search. 

 

I note that some information has been withheld under section 7(2)(a) of
the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 to protect
the privacy of individuals (this does not include Whangarei District
Council Staff).

 

I hope this information is of some assistance in responding to your
request. If you believe we have not responded appropriately to your
request, you have the right by way of complaint, under section 27(3) of
the Act, to apply to the Ombudsman to seek an investigation and review of
the decision. 

 

 

Jeff Devine

Transportation Manager

Whangarei District Council | Te Iwitahi, 9 Rust Avenue | Private Bag 9023,
Te Mai, Whangārei 0143

P 09 430 4200 | DDI 09 4304226 | M 0274543292 | E
[1][email address]

[2]Whangarei District Council logo

 

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

 

Tēnā koe Ms Shayeb, 

 

I refer to your request of 25 August 2024 for information regarding the
Mill Road spraying incident.  Your request was referred to council’s
Roading Department for consideration.  You have asked the following
questions:

 

I have now received the report of the investigation by IPG. I would like
to know if name suppression was the only amendment made by WDC of this
report? 

 

Names of people were withheld, as well as the image of the children.

 

On the 7.Oct 2023 I had asked for copies of correspondence, incident
reports, and actions taken with contractors in response to reports from
members of the public who have had exposure to spray during Council's
roadside maintenance operations from 2015 to present day. This went
unanswered.

 

Please see the attached response for OIA230977, which was emailed to you
on 20 November 2023.

 

I asked again, on the 5.May 2024: Further, in our meeting with WDC and NTA
on the 11st of May 2023 you were informed, by independent consultant Jodie
Bruning of the ‘Physician and Scientists for Global Responsibility’, about
the possible adverse health effects of herbicides on children. Since this
meeting, has council issued any directives to their spraying contractors,
to prevent further unlawful spraying practices and monitored their
performances? If so, can we please have a copy of the directives and
monitoring reports?

 

The Contractors are required to undertake the roadside spraying activity
with qualified staff in accordance with the specifications as detailed in
the maintenance contract.  Please see the attached document:

 

o Council Contract Specification ROADSIDE VEGETATION SPRAYING

 

My questions in regards to any directives issued by WDC to their
contractors,  following the reported incidences, and whether WDC has been
monitoring the performances of the contractors since the incidences, has
not been answered. Can you please clarify?

 

Answered above.

 

I hope this information is of some assistance in responding to your
request. If you believe we have not responded appropriately to your
request, you have the right by way of complaint, under section 27(3) of
the Act, to apply to the Ombudsman to seek an investigation and review of
the decision. 

 

 

Jeff Devine

Transportation Manager

Whangarei District Council | Te Iwitahi, 9 Rust Avenue | Private Bag 9023,
Te Mai, Whangārei 0143

P 09 430 4200 | DDI 09 4304226 | M 0274543292 | E
[1][email address]

[2]Whangarei District Council logo

 

 

 

 

 

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