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Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
Ph. 09 401 5200 | Fax. 09 401 2137 | Email. [2][Far North District Council request email]
Address. Memorial Avenue, Private Bag 752, Kaikohe 0440, New Zealand

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References

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1. http://www.fndc.govt.nz/
2. mailto:[Far North District Council request email]

Good afternoon

Thank you for contacting us at the Far North District Council.

I have forwarded your query to our Legal Department for a response.

Kind Regards
Julie
Ask Us Customer Services Team
Community and Customer Services
Ph. 09 401 5200 or 0800 920 029

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Dear Sir,

 

RFS 3670051

 

Thank you for your email of 9 December 2014 requesting information in
respect of whether Council has any records pertaining to whether Maree or
Kevin Levien have accessed the LIM report/property file relating to 500
Pupuke Mangapa Road, Kaeo.

 

Council deals with requests for official information under the rules set
out in the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987
(“the LGOIMA”) and accordingly has 20 working days to respond, although
full replies are provided as soon as reasonably practicable within that
time. Please be advised that taking into account the Christmas holiday
period and in accordance with sections 2 and 13 of the LGOIMA, the
timeframe for a response to requests received on 9 December 2014 (such as
your request) expires on 28 January 2015.

 

Following discussions with the relevant department staff I am advised that
according to the information held by Council there is no record of these
documents having been accessed by the above-named individuals.

 

I trust this information satisfies your request.

 

In relation to your other request for information made by email on 15
December 2015 (RFS 3670614), I can advise the 20 working day time period
expires on 3 February 2015. A key member of staff from the relevant
department is currently on annual leave however I shall be liaising with
him upon his return to facilitate a response to your request. I am obliged
to mention that if your request is considered likely to take a significant
amount of time to collate or photocopy, Council is entitled under the
LGOIMA to make reasonable charges to provide this information. Council’s
current schedule of fees and charges allows for 0.20 cents per photocopy
(the first 20 copies are free) and staff time is charged at $30.00 (incl
GST) per ½ hour (the first ½ hour is free). Should this be necessary you
will be provided with an estimate of the cost before your request is
processed and asked to confirm that you wish to proceed. Also, under s14
of the LGOIMA Council may exercise its right to extend the time allowed to
respond if the request necessitates a search through a large quantity of
information and meeting the original time limit would unreasonably
interfere with Council’s operations (again should this be necessary you
will be informed of the length and reason for the extension and your
rights under s27(3) of the LGOIMA to complain about the extension).

 

In any event I shall contact you in relation to your 15 December request
before 3 February.

 

Regards,

 

Alice Astell

Legal Services Officer

Corporate Services 
Far North District Council
Ph. 09 401 5200 or 0800 920 029

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

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www.fndc.govt.nz

show quoted sections

Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
Ph. 09 401 5200 | Fax. 09 401 2137 | Email. [Far North District Council request email]
Address. Memorial Avenue, Private Bag 752, Kaikohe 0440, New Zealand

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Dear Sir,

 

RFS 3670051

 

Thank you for your email of 9 December 2014 requesting information in
respect of whether Council has any records pertaining to whether Maree or
Kevin Levien have accessed the LIM report/property file relating to 500
Pupuke Mangapa Road, Kaeo.

 

Council deals with requests for official information under the rules set
out in the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987
(“the LGOIMA”) and accordingly has 20 working days to respond, although
full replies are provided as soon as reasonably practicable within that
time. Please be advised that taking into account the Christmas holiday
period and in accordance with sections 2 and 13 of the LGOIMA, the
timeframe for a response to requests received on 9 December 2014 (such as
your request) expires on 28 January 2015.

 

Following discussions with the relevant department staff I am advised that
according to the information held by Council there is no record of these
documents having been accessed by the above-named individuals.

 

I trust this information satisfies your request.

 

In relation to your other request for information made by email on 15
December 2015 (RFS 3670614), I can advise the 20 working day time period
expires on 3 February 2015. A key member of staff from the relevant
department is currently on annual leave however I shall be liaising with
him upon his return to facilitate a response to your request. I am obliged
to mention that if your request is considered likely to take a significant
amount of time to collate or photocopy, Council is entitled under the
LGOIMA to make reasonable charges to provide this information. Council’s
current schedule of fees and charges allows for 0.20 cents per photocopy
(the first 20 copies are free) and staff time is charged at $30.00 (incl
GST) per ½ hour (the first ½ hour is free). Should this be necessary you
will be provided with an estimate of the cost before your request is
processed and asked to confirm that you wish to proceed. Also, under s14
of the LGOIMA Council may exercise its right to extend the time allowed to
respond if the request necessitates a search through a large quantity of
information and meeting the original time limit would unreasonably
interfere with Council’s operations (again should this be necessary you
will be informed of the length and reason for the extension and your
rights under s27(3) of the LGOIMA to complain about the extension).

 

In any event I shall contact you in relation to your 15 December request
before 3 February.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alice Astell

Legal Services Officer

Corporate Services 
Far North District Council
Ph. 09 401 5200 or 0800 920 029

 

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get it done online at your convenience, visit our website -
www.fndc.govt.nz

show quoted sections

Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
Ph. 09 401 5200 | Fax. 09 401 2137 | Email. [Far North District Council request email]
Address. Memorial Avenue, Private Bag 752, Kaikohe 0440, New Zealand

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Dear Sir,

 

RFS 3670614

 

I write further to my email of 7 January 2015 and in response to the
request for information you made on 16 December 2014 for:

 

“all relevant information regarding the Section 124 (Building Act)
insanitary building notice issued in 2007 for the property 500 Pupuke
Mangapa Road, Kaeo. This information to include all notices and warnings
for failure to comply within the stated time limit, Licenced Contractors
that carried out the remedial work and documentation of all inspections”.

 

As advised previously, Council deals with requests for official
information in accordance with the provisions contained in the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (“the LGOIMA”).

 

Following consultations with the relevant department staff, please find
attached copies of the following information held by Council pertaining to
your request:-

 

o Original s124 Notice dated 26 July 2007 and Inspection Sheet dated 13
July 2007
o Letter dated 13 May 2010 confirming the removal of the s124 Notice
o Internal email communications between FNDC Building Compliance staff
confirming the s124 Notice had been lifted. As you can see from this
correspondence, details relating to the remedial work carried out was
in the possession of Ms Levien’s father-in-law (these would have been
made available to building compliance staff at the time a decision was
made to lift the s124 Notice).

 

Please note Council has a general obligation under the LGOIMA to make the
information which it holds available to any person who requests it,
subject to a number of exceptions, one of which is the right under section
7(2)(a) of the LGOIMA to withhold information to protect the privacy of
natural persons, including that of deceased natural persons (provided it
is not outweighed by other considerations which render it desirable in the
public interest to make that information available). In this instance some
details pertaining to address/mobile phone numbers has been withheld to
protect the privacy of natural persons. If you consider this unreasonable
you have the right to complain to the Ombudsman. The address should you
require it is : The Office of the Ombudsman PO Box 1960 Auckland tel. (09)
379 6102.  

 

However, I trust the information provided satisfies your request.

 

Please do let me know if I can be of any further assistance in relation to
your request.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Alice Astell

Legal Services Officer

Corporate Services 
Far North District Council
Ph. 09 401 5200 or 0800 920 029

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get it done online at your convenience, visit our website -
www.fndc.govt.nz

show quoted sections

Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
Ph. 09 401 5200 | Fax. 09 401 2137 | Email. [Far North District Council request email]
Address. Memorial Avenue, Private Bag 752, Kaikohe 0440, New Zealand

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Dear Sir,

 

I am re-sending as I note this morning that the attachment has not
appeared in my sent items. I apologise for this omission if in fact you
did not receive the attachments on Friday.

 

Kind regards

 

Alice Astell

Legal Services Officer

Corporate Services 
Far North District Council
Ph. 09 401 5200 or 0800 920 029

 

 

 

From: Alice Astell
Sent: Friday, 16 January 2015 4:21 p.m.
To: '[FOI #2315 email]'
Subject: Your request for official information - 500 Pupuke Mangapa Road,
Kaeo

 

Dear Sir,

 

RFS 3670614

 

I write further to my email of 7 January 2015 and in response to the
request for information you made on 16 December 2014 for:

 

“all relevant information regarding the Section 124 (Building Act)
insanitary building notice issued in 2007 for the property 500 Pupuke
Mangapa Road, Kaeo. This information to include all notices and warnings
for failure to comply within the stated time limit, Licenced Contractors
that carried out the remedial work and documentation of all inspections”.

 

As advised previously, Council deals with requests for official
information in accordance with the provisions contained in the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (“the LGOIMA”).

 

Following consultations with the relevant department staff, please find
attached copies of the following information held by Council pertaining to
your request:-

 

o Original s124 Notice dated 26 July 2007 and Inspection Sheet dated 13
July 2007
o Letter dated 13 May 2010 confirming the removal of the s124 Notice
o Internal email communications between FNDC Building Compliance staff
confirming the s124 Notice had been lifted. As you can see from this
correspondence, details relating to the remedial work carried out was
in the possession of Ms Levien’s father-in-law (these would have been
made available to building compliance staff at the time a decision was
made to lift the s124 Notice).

 

Please note Council has a general obligation under the LGOIMA to make the
information which it holds available to any person who requests it,
subject to a number of exceptions, one of which is the right under section
7(2)(a) of the LGOIMA to withhold information to protect the privacy of
natural persons, including that of deceased natural persons (provided it
is not outweighed by other considerations which render it desirable in the
public interest to make that information available). In this instance some
details pertaining to address/mobile phone numbers has been withheld to
protect the privacy of natural persons. If you consider this unreasonable
you have the right to complain to the Ombudsman. The address should you
require it is : The Office of the Ombudsman PO Box 1960 Auckland tel. (09)
379 6102.  

 

However, I trust the information provided satisfies your request.

 

Please do let me know if I can be of any further assistance in relation to
your request.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Alice Astell

Legal Services Officer

Corporate Services 
Far North District Council
Ph. 09 401 5200 or 0800 920 029

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get it done online at your convenience, visit our website -
www.fndc.govt.nz

show quoted sections

Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
Ph. 09 401 5200 | Fax. 09 401 2137 | Email. [Far North District Council request email]
Address. Memorial Avenue, Private Bag 752, Kaikohe 0440, New Zealand

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your recent replies today to my email.

I have referred your queries to the relevant department staff and shall revert to you with a response as soon as possible.

Regards,

Alice Astell
Legal Services Officer
Corporate Services
Far North District Council
Ph. 09 401 5200 or 0800 920 029

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Whitehead,

By way of update, unfortunately the key staff member is on sick leave, I shall revert to you with a response when he returns.

In relation to your below query however, the attachments included an inspection sheet dated 13 July 2007.

Regards,

Alice Astell

Legal Services Officer

Corporate Services
Far North District Council
Ph. 09 401 5200 or 0800 920 029

show quoted sections

Good morning Mr Whitehead,

 

I refer to my below email and write in response to your recent series of
emails in which you raised several further queries. I have reproduced
these questions for ease of reference together with the corresponding
responses from Council's building department, as follows:

 

1. Can you confirm that neither a building consent was applied for and
that the required complete report of repairs was received by council.

There are no applications held on file or in Pathways (Council's
electronic database), therefore a Building Consent has not been obtained
following the issue of the section 124 Notice.  The property file does not
contain any reports relating to remedial works prior to the lifting of the
s124 Notice however it is standard procedure that Council would have been
provided with this information prior to any decision being made to lift
the s124 notice or by undertaking an inspection to verify that the
situation was no longer insanitary.

2. The Attachments do not include any inspection sheet at all with any
date.

Yes, as indicated previously it does for the initial assessment (dated
13/07/07), albeit this is quite a brief inspection sheet due the 100's of
homes having to be inspected following the extreme weather event and the
significant pressure that was placed on Council officers tasked with
undertaking inspections of all those properties affected as a result.

3. All building consents and codes of compliance are required to be on the
property report, obviously this is not the case as they would have been
previously attached can you please confirm this.

All applicable applications are on the property file including the s124
Notice and the removal letter. No Building Consent was applied for the
sanitizing of the building and therefore is not on file.

4. There seems to be no re-inspection made by the council in regard to the
section 124 notice, only a request made that this be lifted by the owners,
could you confirm this please.

Unfortunately there does not appear to be copies held on file of the
information referred to in the internal staff emails previously provided
to you regarding the material relating to the remedial work carried out
and held by Ms Levien's father-in-law,  supporting Council’s decision to
remove the 124 Notice. This is clearly regrettable. This administrative
oversight likely occurred as a result of the considerable pressure on
staff dealing with the district-wide consequences of a serious weather
event such as occurred in 2007.

 

I understand that your solicitors attended Council offices in Kerikeri
last week and have viewed the property file, which I hope proved helpful.

 

Regards,

 

 

Alice Astell

Legal Services Officer

Corporate Services 
Far North District Council
Ph. 09 401 5200 or 0800 920 029

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

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www.fndc.govt.nz

show quoted sections

Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
Ph. 09 401 5200 | Fax. 09 401 2137 | Email. [Far North District Council request email]
Address. Memorial Avenue, Private Bag 752, Kaikohe 0440, New Zealand

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Dear Sir,

 

Thank you for your request of 23 January 2015 requesting “information of
all persons who have accessed the property file or purchased a LIM report
for the property 500 Pupuke Mangapa Road, Kaeo between 2013-2014, this
information is to include council staff, agents and individuals ”.

 

Your request has been passed to me to consider under the rules set out in
the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (“the
LGOIMA”) and Council accordingly has 20 working days to respond, although
full replies are provided as soon as reasonably practicable within that
time. The 20 day period in terms of this request expires on 24 February
2015.

 

Your request for information for all persons who have accessed the
property file or purchased a LIM report is declined to protect the privacy
of natural persons, including that of deceased natural persons,  pursuant
to section 7(2)(a) of the LGOIMA.  In the circumstances of this particular
case, it is not considered that the withholding of the information is
outweighed by other considerations which render it desirable, in the
public interest, to make the information available.

 

In relation to that part of your request which specifies access by council
staff, staff across the organisation in departments such as Records, Legal
Services, Water, Wastewater and Refuse, Roading, Building, and Planning
etc regularly need access to property files to fulfil their daily duties
and functions within council and council does not hold a formal record of
this. Your request in relation to council staff is therefore declined for
the reason set out in section 17(e) of the LGOIMA that the document
alleged to contain the information requested does not exist.

 

As your request has been refused on this occasion, I am obliged to inform
you that you have the right to seek a review of this refusal to the Office
of the Ombudsman. The address should you require it, is PO Box 1960
Auckland or tel (09) 379 6102.

 

 

Regards

 

 

Alice Astell

Legal Services Officer

Corporate Services 
Far North District Council
Ph. 09 401 5200 or 0800 920 029

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get it done online at your convenience, visit our website -
www.fndc.govt.nz

show quoted sections

Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
Ph. 09 401 5200 | Fax. 09 401 2137 | Email. [Far North District Council request email]
Address. Memorial Avenue, Private Bag 752, Kaikohe 0440, New Zealand

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Good afternoon Mr Whitehead,

 

I refer to your email of 29 January (in response to my email of 29
January) regarding the  inspection sheet and thank you for your patience.

 

The inspection sheet was included in the information first provided to you
back on 19 January 2015 and I attach it again for ease of reference.
 However, having re-examined this I can understand  the cause of the
misunderstanding  as where it states on page 1 ‘Prepared by (name and
contact details)’ it states ‘Levien’ whereas it should have stated the
name of the Council officer who prepared the inspection sheet. I have
discussed this question with key staff from Council’s building team who
confirm that this appears to have been an administrative error on the part
of the officer who completed this inspection sheet and that after the
sheet was completed by the officer it would have been faxed and/or
forwarded to building support staff who would then enter the information
on Council’s systems (as indicated by the stamps on the sheet).

 

You have my sincere apologies for any confusion/inconvenience caused.

 

Regards,

 

 

Alice Astell

Legal Services Officer

Corporate Services 
Far North District Council
Ph. 09 401 5200 or 0800 920 029

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get it done online at your convenience, visit our website -
www.fndc.govt.nz

show quoted sections

Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
Ph. 09 401 5200 | Fax. 09 401 2137 | Email. [Far North District Council request email]
Address. Memorial Avenue, Private Bag 752, Kaikohe 0440, New Zealand

Please consider the environment before printing this email.