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Good Morning

Thank you for contacting Whangarei District Council.
Your correspondence has been received and referred to the Democracy and Assurance department for a response.
Please quote CRM No. COP002145 if you require any further information.

Regards, Meredith

Whangarei District Council Contact Centre
Private Bag 9023 | Whangarei 0148 | www.wdc.govt.nz
Ph: 094304200 | E: [email address]

Tēnā koutou,

I am interested in the use of dowsing techniques by employees and contractors used by your council when working with water, e.g. pipe leaks, water sources, etc.

Please release the following information:

1. If any Council or Council Controlled Organisations staff use dowsing as part of their job

2. If any contractors employed by Council use dowsing as part of their work when engaged by the Council

3. If any dowsing companies explicitly offering dowsing services have been engaged by the Council.

4. For any of the above, what costs were incurred by the Council.

Please give me this information for as long as records are available.

If any part of my request is unclear, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Ngā mihi,

B. White

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Dear B. White

 

Thank you for your request received by us on 22 December 2017 seeking
information on whether dowsing techniques are used by council employees or
contractors.

 

Your request has been logged by us as a request under the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (reference COP002145).  You can
use this reference number in any follow-up queries you may have.

 

Council is ordinarily required to respond to requests under the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act no later than 20 working
days after receipt of a request.  I note that under section 2(1) of the
Act, the period from 25 December 2017 to 15 January 2018 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.     

 

Kind regards

 

Rebecca Rowsell

Legal Adviser | Whangarei District Council

Private Bag 9023 | Whangarei 0148 | [1]www.wdc.govt.nz

P: 09 430 4200 | DDI: 09 470 3182 | [mobile number]

E: [2][email address]

 

[3]Description: cid:[email address]

 

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Dear B. White

 

I refer to your request received by us on 22 December 2017 seeking
information on whether water dowsing techniques are used by council
employees or contractors.  Your request was referred to council’s Water
Services Department for consideration.  That Department has advised that
council staff do not use water dowsing techniques in the context of their
employment by council, nor does water dowsing form a part of the
contractual requirements under any of council’s water contracts.  While
the Manager of Water Services is informally aware that some contractors
may have used water dowsing techniques in the past as a means of finding
water pipes, this technique would never be relied upon as conclusive
evidence of location and would always be followed up by more conventional
means.  It is therefore not an activity that Council would pay for
directly.

 

I hope this information is of some assistance in responding to your
questions.   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.

 

Kind regards

 

Rebecca Rowsell

Legal Adviser | Whangarei District Council

Private Bag 9023 | Whangarei 0148 | [1]www.wdc.govt.nz

P: 09 430 4200 | DDI: 09 470 3182 | [mobile number]

E: [2][email address]

 

[3]Description: cid:[email address]

 

[4]email-sig-1---harbour

 

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