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By local democracy reporter:
The Government has paused work on the rollout of health localities, but the West Coast pilot Takiwā Poutini will continue for now.
Takiwā Poutini chairperson Kevin Hague said the move was "not surprising" as Health Minister Shane Reti had indicated he … View moreBy local democracy reporter:
The Government has paused work on the rollout of health localities, but the West Coast pilot Takiwā Poutini will continue for now.
Takiwā Poutini chairperson Kevin Hague said the move was "not surprising" as Health Minister Shane Reti had indicated he "wasn't convinced by localities" during the election campaign.
"But on the other hand, he talked up the need for community involvement in planning and decision making - which is exactly what localities provide," Hague said.
"What he has done ... is pushed out the deadlines for locality plans and establishment of geographic boundaries. Clearly that is to allow the development of an alternative."
A Cabinet paper presented by the health minister on the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority also called a stop to further work on the rollout of up to 80 health localities across the country by June.
Introduced as part of the health reforms in 2022, it was to support localism and promote work between sectors as the local decision making of district health boards were scrapped.
However, Reti said their implementation had been slow "and there is a lack of clarity for communities and the health workforce", the NZ Herald reported.
The West Coast was in the initial rollout of 12 pilot areas in May 2022.
The locality Takiwā Poutini has engaged with local government, iwi, community groups and the education sector to gauge priorities to determine future health services across the region.
Hague said he did not see the locality rollout pause as the end but an opportunity to build on the model.
"Clearly, that is to allow the development of an alternative. In the meantime we've been told to keep working."
The West Coast locality would continue to be supported by Health New Zealand-Te Whatu Ora as it continued its work, Hague said.
Hague said he foresaw their work already being tapped into in the formulation of a new structure rather than "throwing the baby out with the bathwater".
Two key aspects were important to continue, he said:
* The evolving partnership to plan services between local government, central government and iwi via Takiwā Poutini.
* Incorporating the key focus of wellbeing "in a broader sense".
"It's encouraging that [Reti] hasn't said stop work on this - he's kind of slowing down the process," Hague said.
The Takiwā locality formalised its charter in March 2023, partnering with the region's councils and two rūnanga.
Greymouth mayor Tania Gibson, who is on the Takiwa Poutini governance board, said they had been left questioning its future.
"The last couple of meetings have been the uncertainty about what the Government will be doing … we'll see where that goes."
Gibson said the locality's purpose had seemed "very confusing" at times, including local government being pulled into its mandate but there had been some positive gains for the region.
This included the provision of new mobile health units in the region and the gathering of "good information" through consultation on community wellbeing, Gibson said.
Those wellbeing aims were to be incorporated through her council's long-term plan, as one example of an integrated approach.
Tony Kokshoorn, the former West Coast DHB deputy chairperson until 2022, said while he had agreed with the health reforms, there still needed to be "a go-between" so a small region like the West Coast could be heard in the new centralised system.
He said he understood the locality idea was supposed to do that in lieu of the former boards.
"We still need a link. We need some type of link into the central system -- we need some way there to make sure we're not overlooked here on the West Coast."
Reti said: "During the process which moved through Parliament this week, I consistently reiterated this Government’s commitment to delivering healthcare close to home and to hapu – and that includes on the West Coast."
He said the pausing of localities gave time to consider how to ensure health agencies deliver this commitment on the ground.
"There will be more to say and more thinking to be done. The legislation provides for a pause while we work out how to ensure genuine local influence on local service design and delivery happens."
Reti said he agreed that ways of working that identify and support local solutions to local health challenges are needed.
"That means using data, measuring progress, and working with people who know their communities best.
"When we get this right, we'll be supporting New Zealanders to stay in good health for longer wherever they are, whoever they are, and whatever their health needs are."
He said primary and community healthcare is the gateway to the health system for most people, particularly on the West Coast. In this space, Iwi Māori Partnership Boards would be "an increased local voice for all", as will the existing Primary Health Organisations.
"I thank the teams such as West Coast Takiwā Poutini as we take the time to pause, and consider the way ahead," Reti said.
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By local democracy reporter Brendon McMajon
An investigation by an environmental watchdog has carried out interviews and gathered evidence from a controversial private landfill near Greymouth.
The West Coast Regional Council announced on January 12 it had asked the Environmental Protection … View moreBy local democracy reporter Brendon McMajon
An investigation by an environmental watchdog has carried out interviews and gathered evidence from a controversial private landfill near Greymouth.
The West Coast Regional Council announced on January 12 it had asked the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to take over the compliance investigation of TaylorvilLe Resource Park at Coal Creek, 5km east of Greymouth.
A team of up to six people from the EPA in Wellington had visited the landfill site to gather evidence by the end of January.
EPA investigations manager Jackie Adams said they were reviewing and considering all the information and consents they had gathered "to inform our next steps".
"Since the EPA started the investigation, we have visited the site, conducted interviews, and have been gathering other evidence to inform the investigation," he said.
"As part of this process, we have also collected multiple water samples during different weather conditions and had these analysed."
Adams did not say what the next steps would be, but EPA would make a statement in due course.
West Coast Regional Council chief executive Darryl Lew told councillors on January 29 it would be for the EPA to determine a final resolution, pending the investigation.
He said the EPA's investigation on the site's compliance was "the most complex" under council's watch.
The council called in the organisation after a string of environmental complaints about the site in 2023.
Allegations included water from landfill pits leaching into a roadside drain, dust allegedly containing asbestos, and an obnoxious pong emanating from the site. The later forced nearby residents to stay indoors and keep their windows closed.
The Grey District Council and local residents also raised concerns with the regional council not considering them affected parties to the original non-notified consents process in 2021-22.
The district council was primarily worried by a potential risk of the landfill compromising the adjoining Greymouth water treatment plant.
WorkSafe is also investigating the landfill after two workers were injured at the site.
On August 3, two landfill workers were also overcome by noxious gas within one of the dump cells.
One man was airlifted to Christchurch Hospital in a serious condition.
The site was cleared by WorkSafe later in August to allow work to resume on the site, pending its ongoing investigation.
On February 27, WorkSafe said its investigation remained ongoing and could take up to 12 months to complete.
WorkSafe said its own investigation did not cross over with that of the EPA.
Lew on January 29 also noted council's own reassessment of the consents for the site is ongoing.
In mid-2023 independent reviewer Enviser slammed council's approach to resource consenting as reliant on "a tick box exercise".
LDR has approached Taylorville Resource Park several times offering it the opportunity to respond.
The site was consented amid a genuine call in the area for landfill space to take demolition material after new seismic requirements anticipated increased demolitions.
By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
A short-term fix to protect Franz Josef's vulnerable poo ponds has been finished.
But there is no plan yet to shift the tourist hotspot's wastewater infrastructure away from the Waiho (Waiau) River.
The nearby river previously … View moreBy local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
A short-term fix to protect Franz Josef's vulnerable poo ponds has been finished.
But there is no plan yet to shift the tourist hotspot's wastewater infrastructure away from the Waiho (Waiau) River.
The nearby river previously destroyed the ponds eight years ago, and local council authorities are again worried by its changing course.
Westland District Council announced Tuesday the completion of "unbudgeted" emergency work to extend and shore-up stopbanks at the Franz Josef sewerage treatment site, as the Waiho River begins to encroach.
The council authorised the new protection banks after a storm on January 20 saw the river radically change course, with 95% of its main flow running into the Tatare Stream northwest of the ponds.
Since then the main Waiho channel has been running hard against the Havill Wall stopbank immediately in front of the ponds.
The council has now lengthened its stopbank off the end of the Havill Wall and curved it around the end of the sewerage ponds site amid West Coast Regional Council concerns about the rapid avulsion in the area.
Chief executive Simon Bastion said the council's contractor Westroads and South Westland's Campbell Agriculture and Contracting "shored up" protection to the west of the ponds site.
It gave "breathing space" and responded to the Regional Council's immediate concern about the rate of the riverbed avulsion in that area, he said.
The $370,000 cost was "unbudgeted" at this stage.
"Getting that work in place has obviously given us a lot of surety short-term … we will be seeking external funding to alleviate the costs to ratepayers," he said.
At this stage there was no guarantee about reducing the cost to ratepayers, he said.
The Franz Josef poo ponds site has been a known weak point for council for years.
The wastewater ponds and treatment site has rebuilt once after the Waiho River swept through in the April 2016 flood, which also destroyed the nearby Scenic Group Mueller Wing hotel complex.
In the aftermath the district council decided against shifting its wastewater infrastructure and controversially commissioned what is now known as the Havill Wall to protect the area.
Asked by LDR if council has done anything at all to explore a new site, Bastion replied: "not yet".
"There's critical components to line up here in terms of where to next," he said.
"It really comes down to any funding or for council to approve in the next annual plan."
However, at this stage council did not even have a scope to present to ratepayers within the 2024-34 long-term plan but "the actual reality" would be a replacement timeframe of up to four years.
Bastion said council could not immediately rely on central Government plans to speed up the Resource Management Act process for critical infrastructure.
Regional council chief executive Darryl Lew this week warned the river has now "cut back" about 50m towards the ponds area.
In the meantime, council was continuing its north bank protection scheme to extend, widen and raise stopbanks from Franz Josef township to the ponds.
This included improving and linking in the Havill Wall - to eventually pass into regional council ownership from the district council.
Lew said his council was aware of water now filtering through the Havill Wall from the river including into the ponds area but it was not unprecedented.
"The Havill Wall is below standard but we've investigated what we need to do there, and the (improvement) work is programmed," he said.
"We're aware of the seepage through parts of the bank. Our banks in terms of design are not like North Island (protection) banks. They're largely gravel with tow rock … you inevitably get seep.
"We're monitoring it and we've got no immediate concerns."
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By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
Westport flood resilience money is trickling in to the West Coast Regional Council almost three years after the town was ravaged by flooding.
But replenishment by $1 million of a 'catastrophe' fund spent by council on emergency flood … View moreBy local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
Westport flood resilience money is trickling in to the West Coast Regional Council almost three years after the town was ravaged by flooding.
But replenishment by $1 million of a 'catastrophe' fund spent by council on emergency flood works in the aftermath of the July 2021 flood has yet to be finalised.
The council hopes to soon use some of the $16.6m allocated under the co-funded $22.9million package announced in the May 2023 Budget as it works to progress some of the 'quick win' aspects of the broader stopbank scheme for the town.
Hundreds of homes were evacuated when heavy rain caused extensive flooding in Westport in July 2021. Some 400 houses were initially red-stickered with 23% of the town's housing stock needing repair. The town was then hit again by flooding in 2022.
In the May deal, the Government agreed to top up council's catastrophe funds, which were used to make urgent fixes to Westport's historic flood defences, inland from the town, in 2022.
The emergency protection repairs were needed as the town was still as vulnerable to the events which led to the July 2021 event.
An investments and borrowing report to council's Risk and Assurance Committee this week noted council was still awaiting a Department of Internal Affairs evaluation and "subsequent payment".
Councillor Peter Haddock said he was concerned council "still haven't got that money".
Chief executive Darryl Lew said he was meeting DIA officials in Westport this week "in an effort to release that catastrophe money".
He said he did not foresee any barriers to the money coming back.
Committee chairperson Frank Dooley said he looked forward to an update and receipt of the funds.
Councillor Brett Cummings said he raised the repayment with DIA officials at the Westport Resilience Governance meeting, last week.
"They said they had the invoice and they were looking into it."
Dooley said he accepted Lew's optimism, "there are no barriers".
Acting corporate services manager Aaron Prendergast said the context needed to be clarified.
The council had only rendered the necessary invoices to DIA last month for the emergency spend and payment was barely due, he said.
"At the moment I would have no reason to expect money in our account yet."
Cummings asked why the invoices had not been rendered earlier.
Dooley noted it would reflect council having been "completely under resourced" until recently.
Lew said his upcoming discussion with the DIA was principally about the drawdown of the main funds to start the main stopbank work.
The 2023 general election and the transition to a new administration have previously cited as a as a reason for the delayed $1m repayment.
The report details the special investment fund has built up again from $484,759 at the end of the June 2023 quarter to $495,817 at December 31.
By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The lack of a lighting plan in a West Coast mine application near the breeding colony of the critically endangered Westland petrel "is a big omission", the Department of Conservation (DOC) says.
However, a DOC expert told a Grey District … View moreBy local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The lack of a lighting plan in a West Coast mine application near the breeding colony of the critically endangered Westland petrel "is a big omission", the Department of Conservation (DOC) says.
However, a DOC expert told a Grey District and West Coast Regional councils hearing on Monday that not every potentially fatal grounding of the nocturnal Westland petrel (tāiko) can be attributed to light attraction.
Mining company TiGa has reapplied for a resource consent for an open-cast mine at Barrytown, north of Greymouth.
During the hearing, DOC legal counsel Ceri Warnock said tāiko groundings are known to result in death "in half of all cases" and TiGa needed to engage an independent lighting expert to understand the risk posed by the mine.
The lack of a lighting plan in the TiGa application was "a big omission" and should be provided before any decision was made, she said.
However, DOC's Kate Simister told the hearing other factors can contribute to the death of the diving seabird including age, eyesight, nutrition, and the risk of commercial fishing by-catch.
But Simister said mitigating all the environment risk factors - including light interference - are critical to ensuring the tāiko does not become extinct.
The bird's survival rate is also threatened by increasing climate-driven erosion or landslips along the Punakaiki Coast, which can collapse onto breeding colonies, and the impact of marine heat waves in the past few years, she said.
TiGa proposes to extract heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) through sand mining 63 hectares of a Barrytown Flats farm.
HMC is in demand in the technology sector and for industrial use.
A previous application from the mining company was rejected two years ago.
Warnock said the department was "surprised" that TiGa had still not come forward with evidence from a lighting expert after four years.
This was fundamental to assess the impacts any light impact from the mine will have on the nocturnal tāiko as it flies to and from its breeding colonies in the Barrytown area.
TiGa's proposed mitigation measures did nothing to remove the "real risk" of the petrel groundings in and around the proposed mine site, Warnock said.
"I can't make any concessions until we see the lighting plan," she said.
While TiGa has already conceded it will only operate in daylight hours, how a lighting plan would operate during shift changeovers needed to be more specific, she said.
The department also noted 29 at-risk bird species within 10km of the proposed mine site including tāiko, Pacific reef heron, grey duck, and bittern.
The tiko was first identified as a distinct species in the 1940s and predominantly breeds in bush-clad colonies along the Punakaiki Coast including the Barrytown Flats.
Simister said grounded adult birds reported to the department by the public could be found as far north as Westport and as far south as Hokitika - although grounded juveniles were primarily found in the Barrytown area.
--------------------------
Since submissions opened TiGa has undertaken to:
* Restrict truck movements and mining to daylight hours.
* Enhanced penguin surveys and conservation efforts to avoid effects on korora.
* Investigate a fence to protect penguins from site.
* No dogs on site except conservation dogs.
* The processing plant to be fully housed in a building with strict exterior light restrictions.
* An updated avian management plan to address tāiko (Westland petrel) interactions on site, including shutting down the processing plant if two interactions are recorded in a four-week period.
* Bird surveys of areas surrounding the site for duration of the mine to inform any management plan for threatened and at risk bird species at the adjacent lagoon.
* Installing wildlife cameras to detect Korora and tāiko.
The proposal also involves reinstatement of planting along the adjoining Collins Creek, and the edge of its lagoon.
In addition, a fenced off 1.9ha wetland will be established in the northwest corner of the site when mining is finished.
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By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
A memorial area at the Pike River Mine on the West Coast is expected to be built in about a year, the Department of Conservation (DOC) says.
However, funding is yet to be confirmed for a planned visitor centre as part of the four-stage project … View moreBy local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
A memorial area at the Pike River Mine on the West Coast is expected to be built in about a year, the Department of Conservation (DOC) says.
However, funding is yet to be confirmed for a planned visitor centre as part of the four-stage project marking the Pike River Mine disaster.
The Pike 29 Memorial Track formally opened on February 16, in conjunction with the Pike River families group, Te Rūnunga o Ngati Waewae, and DOC.
DOC Western South Island operations director Mark Davies briefed the West Coast Conservation Board on February 21, a few days after the track was formally opened.
Davies said a pavilion and memorial at the mine portal, the third stage, is funded and expected to be completed in about 12 months.
This included 1km of sealed pedestrian access along the existing road edge to the portal.
The track was the second stage of four, which are part of plans agreed with representatives of the victims' families and the Government in 2015.
It aimed to provide a permanent memorial to the 29 men who died, as well as providing local economic benefit to the community.
The fourth stage of the plans, to turn part of the former mine administration area into a visitor centre, was at the planning stage, with funding yet to be confirmed, Davies said.
"The families understand that, the ministers understand that. We will support the families through the process."
He did not specify the original budget, but said timing and inflation had impacted the original concept.
The Paparoa Track opened in late 2019, representing the first new 'great walk' built in decades.
The Pike 29 Memorial Track is an 11km side route off the Paparoa Track, providing a loop for walkers and mountain bikers. It begins and ends near Blackball which has reinvented itself as as a base for the track.
Davies said the original agreement was for the Pike 29 track to be where "the story is told" of the 2011 tragedy.
The track has a view of the mine shaft, but at this stage the portal area remains off-limits.
Significantly, he said the recent opening marked the formal return of some of the Pike River Valley to public access for the first time since 2006.
The valley had been added to the Paparoa National Park in 2016, but DOC had to pause opening it due to the 2017 decision to reenter the drift of the Pike Mine.
The department resumed its work after June 2022, including a significant upgrade of the access road and its bridges, Davies said.
Davies said keeping public vehicles out of the area was respectful to those who died - although the department will continue to use the road for gas monitoring purposes
"The road is quite steep and we don't want the public to take vehicles up to the portal."
Davies said it was an "absolute privilege to be leading" the second aspect of the project.
He paid tribute to the board for helping facilitate a quick review of the Paparoa National Park management plan in conjunction with Ngāti Waewae in 2017.
This enabled the concept including the great walk and memorial track.
The process at the time had become "an exemplar" around what can be done to adapt national park plans including "breathing life" into Te Tiriti partnerships, he said.
* LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The West Coast Regional Council is being warned it is not collecting enough money from rates, and will need to consider using its investments again to subsidise rates.
The council's financial manager raised the matter as it received a report … View moreBy local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The West Coast Regional Council is being warned it is not collecting enough money from rates, and will need to consider using its investments again to subsidise rates.
The council's financial manager raised the matter as it received a report on its investment portfolio at a Risk and Assurance Committee meeting on February 20.
Committee chairperson Frank Dooley said fund manager JB Were had advised "a cautious stance" over divesting its portfolio.
Acting corporate services manager Aaron Prendergast said the draft long-term plan suggested using funds generated from this portfolio to reduce rates.
The council was "under rating".
"It is timely for some of those decisions around how the portfolio operates," he said.
Dooley said the council's rates income should generate debate again this year.
He repeated his previous stance that council could not afford to keep rates down if it were to meet its statutory responsibilities.
"This council has under rated for a number of years, and as a result we have accumulated a number of deficits," he said.
"As we go through the LTP consultation phase I think this is something that will be … debated quite rigorously."
That included the role of the investment portfolio and rates income, Dooley said.
The ouncil's investment fund closed for the six months to December 31 at just over $13 million, $431,484 higher from July 1 ($12.57m).
Its catastrophe fund sat at $495,817 while awaiting the $1m previously spent in Westport in 2022.
According to the investment report, the council owes $11.4m via the Local Government Funding Agency, and nearly $2m under a 'multi-option credit loan' with Westpac.
Prendergast said the council needed to weigh up its investment and its capacity to use that to subsidise rates increases.
"I think the quantum if we were to reinvest as opposed to subsidise rates is about $1 million a year," he said.
Councillor Brett Cummings said council had previously used investment income to subsidise rates income, but this saw the investment fund growth rate slowly decrease.
Subsequently, the council chose to build up the main fund again, with the last withdrawal in 2021.
Dooley was the sole dissenter against the 2023-24 increase of 16.4%, saying it needed to be much higher.
Meantime, some ratepayers are still unclear what their total 2023-24 rates bills will be.
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By adding a little more colour to your life you can also help those in need.
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