Agenda of Community and Environment Committee

8 04 March 2020

Community and Environment Committee

13 January 2020

File: (20/17)

Report no: CEC2020/2/50

Indigenous Biodiversity Fund

Purpose of Report

1. The purpose of this report is to recommend a framework for distributing a fund for landowners that have indigenous biodiversity on their properties and the criteria that should be met in order to receive support from Council. It also summarises consultation responses and proposes a range of actions to support indigenous biodiversity on landowners’ properties.

Recommendations

That the Committee recommends that Council:

(i) approves a process for landowners to be able to apply for support grants for indigenous biodiversity on their properties using the fund that was established for this purpose in June 2019;

(ii) agrees to a two-tier grant model in which the fund is divided into these tiers based on demand and potential positive impacts of the applications received for each tier. Tier 1 grants should take the form of supply of materials or work and Tier 2 should take the form of a contestable fund for projects that have a suitable management plan;

(iii) agrees that Tier 1 grants should have a maximum Council contribution of $1,000. This would primarily be used for the supply of materials or work and could also include the development of a “project management plan” or a “property management plan” which would enable the landowner to apply for Tier 2 grants at the next opportunity;

(iv) agrees that Tier 2 grants should have a maximum Council contribution of $20,000 – with exceptions to be approved by the Head of Parks and Recreation. Tier 2 applications should be weighted and prioritised by their outcomes so that the projects with the greatest impact are funded;

(v) agrees that properties which are eligible for landowner grants (Tier 1 and Tier 2) must meet one or more of the following criteria:

(a) contain or adjoin areas of indigenous vegetation greater than 1 hectare;

(b) contain or adjoin wetlands, waterways or waterbodies; and/or

(c) contain or provide habitats for organisms that are Threatened, At Risk, or Data Deficient in the New Zealand Threat Classification System by Te Papa Atawhai, Department of Conservation;

With an additional requirement of a suitable “project management plan” or “property management plan” for the Tier 2 grants. All management plans must have measurable targets or progress indicators; and

(vi) requests a review of the operation and performance of supported projects for July 2021, following a full year of operation. The review should also contain recommendations to increase effectiveness of the programme in increasing indigenous biodiversity.

For the reasons that:- The support will demonstrate Council’s commitment to indigenous biodiversity and that landowners may need assistance to maintain or promote indigenous biodiversity on their properties.

- The two-tier distribution of grants allows smaller projects to be supported without disproportional administrative overheads and larger projects can also be supported with accountability and measures of success.

- Most of the activities such as pest control, weed control or the supply of materials can be most efficiently supported by coordinating across properties. In some cases this work will be supported by existing work streams that can be expanded into landowner’s properties.

- Larger projects may have superior outcomes for indigenous biodiversity. Suitable management plans will have measureable targets which can be reported on.

- Areas that have indigenous biodiversity values matching the criteria above should have the highest priority for protection and restoration and will be likely to have the most positive effects on its surroundings. In some cases they are protected by national and regional acts and strategies.

Background

2. Following a Council decision to include support for Indigenous Biodiversity in the Annual Plan 2019/20, $265,000 was allocated for this purpose in June 2019. This was as a result of strong community feedback to the Proposed District Plan Change 46 for Council to provide voluntary measures to protect the indigenous biodiversity on private lands. In February 2020, $200,000 was allocated for this purpose in financial years starting in 2020 and 2021.

3. Council already has a number of programmes and management that support indigenous biodiversity on public and private lands. On public land Hutt City Council control pest plants, boundary weed control where private properties neighbour reserves, support Predator Free groups, undertake native plant revegetation, create fire breaks, manage an ex-situ conservation collection and has rules for Significant Natural Resources (SNR) in the District Plan.

4. Council also supports Key Native Ecosystems run by Greater Wellington Regional Council and supports conservation groups such as those that enhance habitats for native animals. On private lands, Council provides free weed control and monitoring for five major invasive species in the area. Council also provides free advice and information to the public who would like to promote indigenous values on their property.

5. In September 2018, Hutt City Council commissioned PublicVoice to undertake consultation on public opinion on indigenous biodiversity. Some pertinent findings of this were:

(a) 89% of respondents thought protecting and enhancing native bush was very important or extremely important.

(b) 97% of respondents believe Council has a role in protecting native bush on public land and 55% of respondents believe Council has a role in protecting native bush on private land.

(c) 78% of respondents thought Council should provide free advice and support to property owners and 68% of respondents thought Council should support property owners to actively maintain native bush.

6. After funding to support landowners with indigenous biodiversity on their properties was approved, discussions were held with landowner representative groups and additional consultation was undertaken specifically with landowners who were affected by the proposed Plan Change 46. Pertinent findings of this were:

- 45% respondents thought that Council should fund activities that support indigenous biodiversity on their property.

- 42% respondents thought that funds should be divided into small amounts so more properties benefit and 66% respondents thought that if a landowner has a project plan designed for a specific indigenous biodiversity outcome, they should be able to access more funding.

- 69% respondents thought that more funds should be available for landowners who have endangered or regionally significant flora or fauna on their property. 59% respondents thought that more funds should be available for activities that support indigenous biodiversity on private properties that have older or more established ecosystems. 46% respondents thought that it is more important to enhance biodiversity on private properties that are connected to reserves or forests.

7. Further analysis of this second consultation can be found in the Consultation section of this report.

8. In the near future, the Biodiversity section of the Environmental Sustainability Strategy Action Plan will be reviewed and this work will be a component of it.

Discussion

9. Landowners in Lower Hutt hold indigenous biodiversity in high regard. They are largely of the opinion that Hutt City Council is responsible for protecting native bush on Council-owned lands and are less strongly of the opinion that Council has a role to play in protecting indigenous biodiversity on private lands.

10. Council has an opportunity to take leadership and demonstrate its commitment to indigenous biodiversity by providing grants to landowners who would like to support it but do not have the capacity to achieve substantial results.

11. Among the people who responded to the consultation, there is support for larger amounts of funding being provided to landowners with a project plan. This kind of approach fits well with Council because project plans have measurable outcomes and progress which can be reported on. Landowners and Council could work together on funded projects to ensure the best outcome and to ensure that the fund is being used efficiently.

12. However, project plans might be cumbersome for landowners who need support and advice for smaller or routine tasks. By grouping together smaller amounts of works and/or materials to more landowners, Council could overcome inefficiencies that individuals may have if they were working alone. For example, delivering trees to a single property is less efficient than delivering trees to a larger number of close properties. In some cases this might not involve the transfer of funds directly to the landowners; rather Council could transfer funds directly to the supplier.

13. To achieve greater outcomes and to reduce inefficiencies of individuals accessing resources separately, a combination of both larger and smaller grants could be considered. However, apportioning the fund to different types of grant could be problematic because it is not yet known how many will apply. Based on consultation, priority should be given to the larger projects with a plan. Targets such as “75% to large projects and 25% to smaller projects” will probably not be helpful if the applications received do not reflect this ratio. To help with apportioning the fund to the level of support, it is preferable to set an annual deadline for applications so that the projects can be prioritised. It is preferable that support deadlines occur prior to the winter so that landscaping works activities can be undertaken when most ecosystems are least active and can tolerate the most change.

14. Some landowners want to enter into conservation covenants and for properties that are deemed acceptable by the covenanting parties, there may be surveying and legal fees that could be supported by Council. Currently officers are investigating the feasibility of Hutt City Council entering into conservation covenants under Section 77 of the Reserves Act 1977. The Queen Elizabeth II Trust is currently the main agency with conservation covenants in Lower Hutt. Unfortunately many areas that have indigenous biodiversity values are not large enough for them to consider for their use.

15. The criteria for accessing the grants could be contentious due to the national and regional policies that exist for protection of indigenous biodiversity. While the criteria used for accessing this fund may be broad, it should not be used as a measure or delimitation of whether or not the land has significant indigenous biodiversity values outside of this funding framework.

16. Most of the respondents to the second consultation thought that having endangered or regionally significant flora or fauna, or having established indigenous ecosystems and being connected to reserves or bush, were reasonable criteria to be able to access larger amounts of funding.

17. The criteria by which a landowner is eligible for funding is important for achieving the aims of the grant fund. Alongside clear thresholds such as threatened species (Department of Conservation), there is also a need for contextually important areas to be included, such as properties that contain or are adjoining wetlands, waterways or waterbodies or areas of indigenous vegetation greater than 1 hectare (see figure 1 for an indicative scale).

2. Figure 1. The shaded area is an example of approximately 1 hectare near to the Hutt City Council Administration Building.

18. The New Zealand Threat Classification System is published by Te Papa Atawhai, Department of Conservation. It has assessed known native species and ranks them by how at risk or threatened the species are. There are four broad categories which are in order: Not threatened, At Risk, Threatened, and Extinct. The At Risk and Threatened categories have subcategory ranks within them. Additional to these categories is a “Data Deficient” category for species for which there is too little information to categorise the threat – often, but not always, these species are lacking data due to their rarity. It is recommended that support is given for any species that is known to be At Risk, Threatened or is Data Deficient.

19. An important consideration of this work is to have strong and clear messaging to the public about the availability and the outcomes of this work. In order to get a good understanding of how this fund is supporting indigenous biodiversity, the project needs to be reviewed after the first year. This review could be done internally and should include an assessment of its suitability and recommendations that could increase desirable outcomes.

Options

20. The support options from Council are:

(a) Option 1: Supply only large grants for projects with a management plan. This may also include costs associated with transitioning properties into conservation covenants. This would make it difficult to make biodiversity gains between properties. This would also mean that simple tasks like weed control will need a disproportionate amount of administrative work. It is expected that in the first year, there will be a limited number of applications for large grants because of the requirement that they have suitable management plans.

(b) Option 2: Supply only small amounts of support to a lot of landowners. The applications for tier 1 would also include applications for the creation of management plans which may be done internally or with the assistance of external contractors. The suitable and qualifying applications would be approved quickly. In most cases this would not involve the transfer of funds directly to landowners; rather Council would transfer funds directly to the supplier. This would also not be favourable because it would mean that important, targeted projects are not funded. In the consultation, this did not get as much support as the Option 1.

(c) Option 3: Create a two-tier model supplying large grants and small amounts of support to landowners. This constitutes a mix of Option 1 and Option 2 and addresses the shortcomings of each approach on its own. This two-tier model is recommended because it will be most efficient and satisfactory for landowners, based on consultation.

Consultation

21. Discussions with representative landowner groups resulted in a co-designed consultation questionnaire which went out to landowners who had been included in the Draft Significant Natural Area (SNA) discussions in November 2018. The consultation occurred in September 2019 and was intended to understand what landowners thought were the major threats to indigenous biodiversity and how they would spend money on protecting or enhancing indigenous biodiversity. It was also used for understanding what kinds of support Council should prioritise.

22. Respondents rated the issues facing indigenous biodiversity as follows: 24% Pest Animals; 20% Invasive Weeds; 10% Property development; 9% Wilding Trees; 8% Pollution; 8% Land Clearing; and 6% Rubbish.

23. Respondents allocated spending on indigenous biodiversity as follows: 25% Pest animal control; 20% tree planting and habitat enhancing; 18% Weed control; 12% Problem and Wilding Tree Control; 10% developing of management plans; 8% making tracks; and 5% Animal exclusion fencing.

Legal Considerations

24. This report is focussed on voluntary support measures and it is separate from any matters of statutory consideration.

Financial Considerations

25. Funding of $265,000 has been allocated for this year, reducing to $200,000 for the following two years.

Appendices

There are no appendices for this report.

Author: Jonathan Frericks

Ecology/Horticulture Advisor

Reviewed By: Bruce Hodgins

Strategic Advisor, City and Community Services

Approved By: Helen Oram

Acting General Manager, City Transformation

28 04 March 2020

Community and Environment Committee

14 February 2020

File: (20/153)

Report no: CEC2020/2/54

Cycleway Projects Updates and Budgets

Purpose of Report

1. The purpose of this report is to update Council on the current status of the three urban cycleway projects and network development.

2. To advise Council of the budget shortfall for the overall programme of work and provide options on the way forward.

Recommendations

That the Committee:

(i) considers options on progressing the cycleways programme; and

(ii) recommends to the Long Term Plan/Annual Plan Subcommittee to recommend to Council a direction on an option to allow officers to progress the cycleways programme and make the necessary adjustments to the Annual Plan 2020/21.

Executive Summary

3. In November 2017 Council approved a programme to build three urban cycleways for a total project cost of $27.9M. This included:

· Wainuiomata Hill Shared Path (complete)

· Eastern Bays Shared Path (in consenting phase)

· The Beltway (construction contract procurement underway).

In the 2019/20 budgets an additional $1M was added to the project budget for The Beltway.

4. Over time the actual and forecast cost of the programme has increased significantly. At the start of the development of the Annual Plan 2020/21, a provisional placeholder of an additional $15M was included to enable delivery of all components of the original programme.

5. Since then, the forecast cost has increased by a further $4.1M and that figure now sits at $19.1M of additional funding required, taking the forecast total programme cost to $43.7M.

6. The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) provides Council with a 51% subsidy on projects (or parts of projects) subject to meeting Business Case criteria and funding gateway approval.

7. The most significant cost increase has been for the Eastern Bays Shared Path, which was originally budgeted at $14.8M and now has a risk adjusted cost estimate of $25M. This is due to a number of factors including the constrained coastal environment, consenting conditions and the specialist works involved. There may also be future implications for this project from our work to address the impacts of sea level rise in the Eastern Bays.

8. A short fall of $4.1M to complete the Beltway will exist given the current tender price of $6.4M and the current budget of $2.3M.

9. Other cost increases have been due to the heated supplier market in the Wellington Region giving rise to higher than expected tender prices, NZTA requirements contributing to scope changes and unforeseen issues arising in construction.

10. Given the magnitude of the increase and Council’s current financial pressures, it is timely to step back and reconsider the priority of the overall programme and its composite parts in determining the way forward.

The following options are proposed for Council to consider:

(a) approve the allocation of an additional $19.1M to complete all the projects in the original programme (includes the provisional placeholder of $15M currently in the Annual Plan 2020/21);

(b) do not approve any further allocation (remove the provisional placeholder of $15M in the Annual Plan 2020/21) and use the current approved remaining budget to do the following:

· complete the construction of the Northern and Central sections of the Beltway;

· obtain Resource Consent for the Eastern Bays Shared Path and construct the Windy Point section, note there would be no further funding for other sections of the Eastern Bays Shared Path; and

· complete some key connectivity work (eg, to CBD, to hospital); or

(c) approve the allocation of $15.0M to complete the Eastern Bays Shared Pathway, defer all other projects in the programme.

Background

11. Council is continuing to progress the remaining two urban cycleway projects following the completion of the Wainuiomata Hill Shared Path in June 2019 which continues to be well utilised by the local and wider community.

12. The proposed new Wainuiomata Heartland Ride championed by the local community has been approved by both NZTA and the New Zealand Cycle Trails Board. This ride will connect the current end of the existing Remutaka Cycle Trail at the Orongorongo River via the Coast Road and through the community of Wainuiomata to Petone.

13. Current progress on the both the Beltway (Northern and Central sections) the Eastern Bays Shared Path and Connectivity projects are as follows.

Eastern Bays Shared Path

14. The Resource Consent public notification period closed with 200 submissions received by Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC). The majority of these submissions were overwhelmingly in favour of the project, however notable opposed submissions came from the Department of Conservation and Forest and Bird.

15. Penguins and shoreline birds were the two subjects of concern from opposing submitters and meetings have taken place with GWRC’s technical experts to discuss potential options however it is likely a facilitated meeting with the attendance of a number of parties will be required to move forward.

16. The most recent version of the Proposed Natural Resources Plan (PNRP) and the avoidance policies detailed within it which are now closely aligned with the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement (NZCPS) meaning project’s legal team will need to ensure we have a very robust assessment of how the project meets these policies.

17. With the above in mind the date for a Hearing is being pushed back to April/May 2020.

18. NZTA’s recent reprioritisation of work due to its internal funding constraints was communicated to Council last year and construction was deemed ‘unlikely’ in the current National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) period, 2018-21. Further correspondence with NZTA has indicated it is receptive to funding a discrete section of the shared path which has a significant safety benefit, this being Windy Point which connects Days Bay to Eastbourne.

The Beltway

19. The Central and Northern Sections were put out to tender in mid-November 2019 with only one tender received for the construction which was considerably over Council’s allocated budget. Work is underway to evaluate the price and identify areas where costs can be saved or rates are higher than envisaged and discussions will begin with the Contractor to help identify other areas of savings.

20. Recent updated guidance from NZTA on sight lines and visibility around parking adjacent to cycle facilities plus enhanced connectivity provisions to schools, public transport and areas with high pedestrian usage requested by NZTA following their review of the project have also combined to push the scope of works and consequently the tendered price.

21. A short fall of $4.1M to complete the Beltway will exist given the current tender price of $6.4M and the current budget of $2.3M

Connectivity Work

22. Initial high level assessment work has been completed in conjunction with key stakeholders through a number of workshops which determined route options to link the major cycleways/shared paths and to provide secondary route connections to suburbs and destinations citywide including local schools.

23. The result of this assessment was the identification of 61 short listed routes which comprised of:

(a) 16 low traffic volume routes

(b) 17 school links

(d) three off-road facilities

(e) six traffic calming routes.

See Appendix 1 to the report for maps of the short listed routes.

24. NZTA now require us to put this work through a Single Stage Business Case and the output of this will be the development of a programme of investment for the network through developed investment objectives. Several workshops will be undertaken with invites going out to key stakeholders, advocates, community groups, elected members and community boards to be part of this process. Wider community consultation is expected following this process.

25. It is envisaged that the completion of this work will tie in with the next Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) and Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP) to secure initial funding for the first phase of implementation.

26. Completion of the Connectivity Business Case will indicate a potential future programme of investment for the development of the network and this will be brought back to Council for decisions on budgets, priorities, packages of work and staging when the work is at a much more advanced stage.

27. The work being completed on the Connectivity Business Case is likely to be included in any Integrated Transport Plan produced by Council.

Options

28. The following options are proposed for Council to consider:

(a) approve the allocation of an additional $19.1M to complete all the projects in the original programme (includes the provisional placeholder of $15M currently in the Annual Plan 2020/21);

(b) do not approve any further allocation (remove the provisional placeholder of $15M in the Annual Plan 2020/21) and use the current approved remaining budget to do the following:

· complete the construction of the Northern and Central sections of the Beltway;

· obtain Resource Consent for the Eastern Bays Shared Path and construct the Windy Point section, note there would be no further funding for other sections of the Eastern Bays Shared Path; and

· complete some key connectivity work (eg, to CBD, to hospital); or

(c) approve the allocation of $15.0M to complete the Eastern Bays Shared Pathway, defer all other projects in the programme.

29. It should be noted that NZTA provides Council with a 51% subsidy on projects (or parts of projects) subject to meeting Business Case criteria and funding gateway approval.

Consultation

30. Officers have undertaken consultation with the community and key stakeholders at various stages of all the projects to date and will continue to engage throughout the remainder of each projects lifespan.

31. We have engaged using a variety of consultation methods, including open days, targeted meetings, workshops and social media in order to obtain feedback from the community on the various stages of each project to date. There continues to be dedicated webpages for each project on the Hutt City Council website where the community can also view the latest information on the respective projects.

Legal Considerations

32. All necessary regulatory and legal obligations in respect of these projects will be fulfilled.

Financial Considerations

33. An overheated supplier market in the Wellington Region has seen a number of tenders returned that are above Council’s allocated budgets. To compound this we are often not receiving more than one tender which adds to the risk of prices being high.

34. Wainuiomata Hill Shared Path is complete aside from some Resource Consent planting and the completion of the purchase of the new Super Plus Mountain Bike Track which is in the forecasted completion costs of $12.3M.

35. The Eastern Bays Shared Path costs to date are all associated with the Business Case, Design and Resource Consent process.

36. The Beltway costs to date are all associated with the Business Case, Design and Resource Consent process.

37. Current spend on the projects are as follows:

· Wainuiomata Hill Shared Path - $12.05M

· Eastern Bays Shared Path - $1.72M

· The Beltway - $473k.

38. $1.7M has been provided via the Urban Cycleway Fund which is a 100% crown fund and this was applied to the Wainuiomata Hill Shared path as per our revised Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NZTA.

39. The revision to the MoU commits Council to constructing one section of the Beltway or this funding could be required to be paid back.

40. The Annual Plan 2019/20 allocated the following funding to the Eastern Bays Shared Path and the Beltway:

Project	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	Total
Eastern Bays Shared Path	$5,010,000	$1,859,000	$1,769,000	$2,588,000	$2,268,000	$13,494,000
The Beltway	1,780,000	520,000				$2,300,000

41. Carry overs of funding for both the Eastern Bays Shared Path ($4.1M) and the Beltway ($180k) from 2019/20 to 2020/21 has been signalled in a report to the Policy, Finance and Strategy Committee for its meeting to be held on 3 March 2020.

42. The Annual Plan 2020/21 indicates the following provisional allocations to the Eastern Bays Shared Path and includes existing funding that has been pushed out to 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Project	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	Total
Eastern Bays Shared Path	$4,100,000		$9,447,000	$9,037,000	$5,000,000	$27,584,000

43. If the Eastern Bays Shared Path budget allocation is confirmed for the Annual Plan 2020/21, a short fall of $4.1M to complete the Beltway will still exist given the current tender price of $6.4M and the current budget of $2.3M

44. An annual budget of $520,000 is available for network development which continues on from 2021/22 to 2039/40 on the Beltway budget line and could potentially be utilised to fund the shortfall however this would impact the ability to deliver any future developments to the network.

45. Council could therefore elect to confirm the provisional placeholder of the additional $15M within the Annual Plan 2020/21 for the Eastern Bays Shared Path Project and provide an additional $4.1M to complete the Beltway Project to complete the current programme of works for the cycleways.

46. Council could elect to not approve any further funding to the cycleways programme given their current financial constraints and complete the following projects (or parts of projects) within the existing remaining budget of $15.8M.

Project	Forecast Cost
Eastern Bays Shared Path (gain consents)	$1.0M
Eastern Bays Shared Path (Windy Point)	$4.0M
The Beltway (Northern and Central Sections)	$6.4M
The Beltway (Southern Section)	$2.0M
Knights Road (CBD Connection)	$1.7M
Hospital Connection	$0.3M
Total	$15.4M

47. Council could elect to confirm the provisional placeholder of the additional $15M within the Annual Plan 2020/21 for the Eastern Bays Shared Path Project only and not complete the other projects within the programme.

Appendices

No.	Title	Page
1 ⇩	Appendix 1 Connectivity Summary and Routes	29
2 ⇩	Appendix 2 Cycleway Programme Summary	35

Author: Simon Cager

Senior Project Engineer

Reviewed By: Jenny Livschitz

Chief Financial Officer

Approved By: Andrea Blackshaw

Acting General Manager City and Community Services

58 04 March 2020

Community and Environment Committee

04 February 2020

File: (20/90)

Report no: CEC2020/2/55

General Managers Report

Purpose of Report

1. To provide the Committee with an update from the City Transformation Group and the City and Community Services Group.

Recommendations

That the Committee notes and receives the report.

Background

2. This is a joint report from the City Transformation Group and the City and Community Services Group.

3. The report covers the activities of five divisions in the City Transformation Group. It firstly covers Environmental Consents, secondly Regulatory Services, thirdly Sustainability and Resilience, fourthly City Growth and fifthly Urban Design.

4. It then covers the Museums, Libraries, Community Hubs and Relationships, Parks and Recreation, Transport, and Infrastructure Contracts divisions of the City and Community Services Group.

5. Environmental Consent data is attached as Appendix 1 to the report and Regulatory Services data is attached as Appendix 2 to the report.

6. The Environmental Consents division processes consent applications under the Resource Management Act, the Food Act, the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act and the Building Act (resource and building consents, liquor and food licences and District Licensing reports), as well as LIMs and property enquiries under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act. The Environmental Consents team offers an Eco Design Advisor service across the city.

7. Environmental Health services are provided for Upper Hutt City Council as well as Lower Hutt.

8. Regulatory Services deals with trade waste applications, bylaws, animal services, parking and emergency management. This division provides animal services for Wellington City Council as well as Lower Hutt.

Discussion – Environmental Consents

9. We are exploring using Building Information Modelling (BIM) to improve efficiencies in the consenting area. We are collaborating with Christchurch City Council (CCC) and Auckland Council (AC) who have the most advanced BIM systems in the country. Any proposals will be worked through in conjunction with our information systems team.

10. The number of building consents lodged remained high over the holiday season. We are expecting the trend to continue for the remainder of the fiscal year. However the loss of 1,000 building consents from Kaianga Ora’s Building Consent Authority has affected revenue. However, there has also been a decrease in expenditure whereby we no longer need to use an external contractor to process consents.

11. We have successfully recruited in the Resource Consents team which means we have full team for the first time in some years.

Building Team

12. Collaboration with AC and is underway, with a visit planned to CCC to explore their processes and procedures in place required for Building Information Modelling (BIM) applications. BIM is the usual practice for lodging building consents in Singapore and Europe but has been slow to evolve in New Zealand.

13. The total value of work for building consents received in December 2019 was $57,560,000 (155 consents), compared to the previous period in 2018, when the value of work received was $24,583,230 (99 building consents). This is a 134% increase in the value of work (equivalent to 56 additional building consents) for the same period last year.

14. A close relationship continues with AdBuild who are constructing residential homes for Kaianga Ora for Auckland and Lower Hutt. Additionally, it is building classrooms for the Ministry of Education.

15. Options are being explored for a reliable inspection bookings system to replace an out dated and problematic version of Outlook. Inspection processes are also being revisited as new IT solutions become available.

Earthquake prone buildings

16. The building changes in July 2017 required Councils to identify priority buildings that potentially earthquake prone by 31 December 2019. We sent letters to five property owners in December 2019. We believe the small number of properties identified was as a result of the successful completion of the unreinforced masonry parapet and façade programme following the Kaikoura earthquake.

Eco Design Advisory Service (EDA)

17. The EDA national conference was held in October 2019 in Auckland and officers were involved in organising this event. It was a successful event and spread the message further about what work is needed to improve housing performance and liveability.

18. Demand for EDA visits continues at a moderate level, typical for the summer. We have undertaken three Homestar assessments for proposed developments and reviewed our customer information to engage with our customers.

Swimming Pools

19. We are continuing to make progress with the swimming pool inspection programme under the Building Act, ensuring safety for our community with pool proper fencing. We completed 142 pool audits in the October to December quarter.

Resource Consents Team

20. The Resource Consents team is currently fully staffed. We have recently hired two graduates Brianne Peters and James Dobson. We are working on reducing our reliance on consultants, however we still have 30 consents we are working through from 2018 development remissions rush.

21. The team has not met the Annual Plan Key Performance Indicators this year. One KPI states that we will issue 80% of non-notified resource consents were in 18 working days. As a result of the workload we have not been able to meet this, but only one resource consent has exceeded the statutory 20 working day limit.

22. We have notified the following consents:

· 211 Waterloo Road, Hutt Central - multiunit development, limited notified to one neighbour who has submitted in opposition. Planners are arranging a pre-hearing meeting to try resolve the issues without the need for a hearing.

· 60 Sydney Street, Petone - three unit development, limited notified. Five submissions were received, four opposing and one in favour of the development. This application is on hold pending the receipt of additional information to cover off some concerns raised by submitters.

· 35 Ludlam Street, Woburn - multi-unit development, notified to property owners and occupiers of three properties. Submissions closed on 10 February 2020 and all three parties made submissions to oppose the development. The applicant is preparing for a pre-hearing meeting to try to resolve the concerns of the submitters. The submitters are concerned about the density, privacy and traffic effects as well as loss of sunlight and vegetation. If a consensus cannot be reached a hearing will be held.

· 15 Molesworth Street, Wainuiomata - multiunit development, notified to one neighbouring property. Submissions closed on 10 February 2020. No submissions were received. We will now complete processing of the consent.

· 80 Meremere Street, Wainuiomata - Stage 2 of a multiunit development that has been limited notified to one neighbour. A submitter has responded opposing the development, the next step will be a hearing.

23. Notable resource consents lodged:

· 131 Cuba Street, Petone: nine single-storey units at the subject site

· 4 Bolton Street, Petone: this consent went to a hearing at the start of last year. Consent has come in to change the accessway.

24. Recently granted resource consents:

· Cleanfill - 130 Coast Road, Wainuiomata - A hearing was held on 5 November 2019. The Commissioner made a decision to grant the consent, subject to conditions on 18 December 2019. The consent requires several pre-commencement conditions to be satisfied prior to commencement of filling in the Stage 3 area. Officers are in the process of confirming the pre-commencement conditions are satisfied.

· Multi-unit development for 13 homes at 48-50 Mills Road, Boulcott - A hearing was held on 17 October 2019. The Commissioner made a decision to grant the consent subject to conditions on 9 December 2019. The development is now underway.

· 137 Cambridge Terrace, Fairfield - this is a development of 124 dwellings of various typologies across the vacant Kainga Ora land in Epuni.

· 1 Elizabeth Street, Petone - New apartment building near the corner of Jackson Street. Contains 22 apartments and three commercial tenancies.

· 177 High Street, Hutt Central - New mixed-use development “High Street Quarter” on ex. BNZ house, proposed by The Wellington Company.

Compliance and Monitoring

25. 14 Molesworth Street, Taita is an enforcement case of a “tiny house” built without resource or building consent. We issued an abatement notice under the Resource Management Act to require its removal. This notice was appealed and a hearing held in the Environment Court on 29 October 2019. A decision from the Court was received on 31 January 2020. The decision declined to confirm the notice because we did not give an adequate timeframe (in the notice) for compliance and we misquoted the relevant legislation. However, the judge was clear in his decision that the tiny house is not a vehicle as purported by the appellant and should be subject to the same rules in the District Plan as any other structure. We are now working with the appellant to gain compliance through either removal of the tiny house or successfully applying for consent.

Land Information Memoranda (LIMs) Team

26. Real Estate Institute of New Zealand statistics for Lower Hutt between 1 November 2019 and 31 January 2020 state:

· 355 Houses sold

· 237 LIMs issued (67%).

27. We are focusing on increasing the awareness of the benefits of applying for a LIM report, particularly for potential house buyers. We have engaged with local real estate agents and will be running a training session in the next couple of months.

28. We are working to put an example of a LIM online to educate our customers as to the importance of obtaining a LIM.

29. We are heading into our busy season, with March traditionally being our busiest month in the year.

Environmental Health Team

Recruitment

30. Recruitment is now complete, with the fixed term (12 month contractor) position now filled.

31. Alan Pope’s role has also been filled since his retirement in November last year.

Alcohol

Compliance Visits/Controlled Purchase Operations (CPO)

32. After hours compliance visits were carried out in May, June and July, visiting a total of 32 premises. The level of compliance was generally satisfactory.

33. A CPO was undertaken in December, resulting in sales to a minor from three off-licensed premises. No formal outcomes have yet been determined, so it is not appropriate to name the premises at this stage.

34. The application for renewal of the off-licence at Park Avenue Foodmarket, High Street, Avalon is to be set down for a public hearing. Opposition has been received from the Medical Officer of Health, in addition to the Licensing Inspector. The basis for the opposition is that the premises do not meet the statutory definition of a grocery store.

Bylaws

35. Work on the Appearance Industries Bylaw and Alcohol Fees Bylaw is ongoing. Submissions have now closed and Council officers are continuing to draft the Code of Practice, which will set minimum standards of hygiene. This is being done in collaboration with those persons/agencies that made submissions.

36. Upper Hutt City Council officers are being kept apprised of progress and of our written material.

Food

37. The Team have been making good progress in reducing the backlog of food control plan/national programme verifications. This has been set back slightly due to a verifier being on extended sick leave. Two ‘new’ verifiers are now competent to verify Template Food Control Plans. An application has been made to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) for a new Food Safety Office appointment, which if granted, will assist the team’s capability to respond to food related complaints.

38. The review of s137 of the Food Act 2014 has been completed. The review concluded that Territorial Authorities (TAs) should retain the exclusive and automatic right to verify food businesses that sell food directly to consumers under a Section 39 Template Food Control Plan (FCP) and operate entirely within the district of that Territorial Authority.

39. In the review MPI found no indications of major systemic issues with the way s137 is currently operating that would require repeal or major amendment to the provision. There are some reported minor issues that require further monitoring and analysis. Hon Damien O’Connor, the Minister for Food Safety, agreed with MPI’s recommendation to keep s137 in its present form. This is good news for Council and provides confidence in work commitments and future business planning.

Noise

40. The noise control/smoke nuisance contract with First Security Guard Services Limited has been terminated due to ongoing problems and their failure to fulfil the contract requirements. The contract has been reconfirmed with Recon Security Limited.

41. Environmental Health have been collaborating with Council’s Transport Division with regard to noisy ‘temporary activities’ occurring in Seaview, being the Port Road Drags and Sprints. These events occur three times per year. Complaints have been received regarding the noise level and frequency of events. Monitoring of noise levels has so far indicated compliance with the District Plan Temporary Activity Noise Rule.

42. Two recent concerts, Fat Freddy’s Drop held at William’s Park, Eastbourne, and Six60 at the Hutt Recreation Ground were granted resource consent to allow noise levels of 80dBA, which is 10dBA more than the District Plan allows for under the Temporary Activity Rule. While this generated a small number of complaints, it is understood that the events were very successful and well attended, contributing positively to the vibrancy of Hutt City.

Litter

43. Our Environmental Investigations Officer has continued active monitoring of the recycling stations within Lower Hutt and has recorded a high number of illegal rubbish dumping in the last quarter. The highest number of dumpings was recorded in November, being 248.

Discussion - Regulatory Services

Animal Services

44. At December 2019, 9798 dogs have been registered in Lower Hutt. This is 436 more compared to last year (being 9,362 dogs). In September we had 1,121 dogs that were not registered, this has been reduced to 95. These are being followed up.

45. There have been three break-ins at Moa Point in the last six months. This has been escalated to Wellington City Council, currently, whilst awaiting the installation of security cameras, a security guard is on site during the weekends.

46. An Animal Services Officer joined HUHA in a volunteer trip to help animals caught in the bushfires. She was there for two weeks doing animal triage, building shelters and restoring water supplies. The team of nine from New Zealand went, with significant donated medical supplies.

47. Since the last General Managers report we have had one prosecution.

48. A dog owner was prosecuted for their dog attacking a person. The dog owner pleaded not guilty. The charge was proven, but the judge discharged it without conviction. There was no order for destruction. The dog owner paid:

§ $500 to the person that was bitten

§ $206 solicitors costs

§ $4,000 for sustenance for the dog while it was held (162 days)

§ The dog was classified as dangerous and returned to the owner.

Trade Waste

49. Trade Waste is assisting with a storm water litter capture project with Weltec and NIWA. Progress has been slowed as is very dependent upon rain events so when there is little rain there is little litter in the net.

50. The Trade Waste team are providing assistance to Wellington Water to resolve long outstanding remedial work requests and testing systems to enable a more effective and timely response to private maintenance issues. Some of these involve significant water leaks (one has gone on for over two years losing significant amounts of water – should be fixed later this month) and sewer cross connections. Common themes around many of the water leak issues are jointly owned services with not all parties understanding their obligations nor willing to meet them.

51. Our core trade wastes works is continuing well with few issues at the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) and around 680 sites consented in Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt. Brewery wastewater volumes have stabilised after a period of significant growth, the waste whilst good food for the WWTP bugs, can be of significant strength with one brewery briefly producing waste equivalent to 6% of the entire valley’s load. Combined with growth from other sites the industrial load into the WWTP is now back at peak levels not seen for 10 years and some 40% above the low point of three or four years ago.

Parking Services

52. The graph in Appendix 2 shows a drop off in the number of parking infringement issued compared to last year. This is due to the departure of one of our wardens and the time taken to fill the vacancy and train the new staff. We have done cross training of staff in case one of the administration staff leave. Unfortunately this has eventuated and the warden leaves us on 28 February.

Discussion - Sustainability and Resilience Team

Whaitua te Whanganui-a-Tara Committee (the committee)

53. Whaitua Committees are groups of local people tasked with recommending ways to maintain and improve the quality of fresh water in a catchment. A key role of the Committee is to give effect to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM), taking into account central government’s recent proposals in this area.

54. It is the third such process in the Wellington region, previous Committees having examined the Central Wairarapa (“Ruamāhanga”) and Porirua (“Te Awarua-o-Porirua”) catchments.

55. Deputy Mayor Tui Lewis is the Hutt City Council representative on the committee. The work of the committee is assisted by an officer -level project team that is led by Greater Wellington Regional Council and also has representatives from the contributing local bodies. David Burt, Senior Advisor Sustainability and Resilience, is the Council staff member on this group.

56. On 12 February 2020, the committee Co-Chairs Louise Askin and Kara Puketapu-Dentice provided Council with an overview of the whaitua process, the work so far, and the work planned during 2020.

57. The committee is expected to largely complete its work by the end of 2020, with the final output being a Whaitua Implementation Plan with recommendations on how to maintain and improve the quality of fresh water in our catchment.

Energy and carbon management at Council’s facilities

58. During 2018/19, Hutt City Council spent approximately $3.4M on energy.

59. On 24 February 2020, the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) endorsed a new Energy and Carbon Reduction Policy and a new Energy and Carbon Reduction Plan for 2020-2024 (the plan). The plan aims to achieve a reduction in energy consumption of at least 25% by 2024 and an associated reduction of carbon emissions of at least 30% over the same time frame. Fully implementing the plan would also result in ongoing operational cost savings of up to $0.5M per year, by 2024.

60. For emissions from energy only, this would put Council on track to achieve net-zero by 2050, as Council requires a 17% reduction in net emissions by the end of 2024 assuming a linear decrease in emissions.

61. Savings are expected to come from a variety of areas, including improved energy management at our facilities (to be facilitated by Council’s new Energy Advisor), replacing end of life boilers with lower carbon heating sources and converting all of Lower Hutt’s streetlights to LED.

Community engagement on climate change

62. Work is under way to scope in more detail a project to engage with the Lower Hutt community regarding climate change (for further background, refer to two previous Council Committee papers from mid-2019: Report No.PRC2019/4/164 and PRC2019/3/152). A co-design approach is currently preferred because it offers advantages over the traditional consultation-based engagement process in the depth and richness of the process.

63. Creative HQ Ltd has been engaged to undertake the first phase of this work, which involves an assessment of whether or not the co-design framework appears to be viable in terms of the work to be undertaken. This involves identifying and meeting with our mana whenua partners and key stakeholders in the community to test their interest in the co-design process and their potential participation in a Lead Group.

64. This step is key to the success of the project as this Lead Group is expected, in Phase 2, to guide and shape the work and thereby give us the greatest chance of community buy-in, acceptance and thus success.

65. Further phases of the project are as follows:

· Phase 2 – Engagement design and preparation

· Phase 3 – Engagement with the community

· Phase 4 – Creation of the pathway to achieve outcomes.

66. Subject to the engagement with mana whenua partners on this issue developing satisfactorily for both parties, officers will report to Council on the outcomes of Phase 1 and request approval to proceed with Phases 2-4. This report is tentatively scheduled for May 2020.

67. Overall and if the work proceeds as currently planned, Phase 4 could be completed by the end of 2020.

Discussion – City Growth

City Wide and CBD Remission Policy and Funding

68. A City Wide and a CBD Remissions Policy were adopted from 1 July 2012. The Policy ended on 31 December 2018. Remissions will be accounted for in the year that they fall due over the coming six years.

69. As of this financial year – 1 July 2019 to 30 January 2020, fees and rates waived and grants made are as follows:

Fee type remitted 1 July 2019 – 30 January 2020	$ Amount
Rates remissions	$478,964
Economic development grants	$0
Development contributions	$405,975
Reserve contributions	$594,759
Resource consent fees	$110,437
Building consent fees	$523,626
TOTAL	$2,113,761

Total Fees Remitted Annually From 1 July – 30 June
FY2012-2013	$159,000
FY2013-2014	$873,000
FY2014-2015	$712,000
FY2015-2016	$548,000
FY2016-2017	$1,137,747
FY2017-2018	$2,763,817
FY2018-2019	$2,782,452
FY2019-2020 YTD	$2,113,761

70. The Urban Growth Strategy 2012 - 2032 was adopted in 2014. Its target is 6,000 new residential dwellings built by 2032 (average 300 pa.) and a population of at least 110,000 by 2032.

71. Progress to date:

New Residential Dwellings completed (net after demolitions/removals) 1 July 2012 – 30 June 2019 1,902

Average per annum 271

Number of new dwellings consented (NZ Stats) 1 July 2012 – 30 June 2019 2,251

Average per annum 321

Value of new dwellings consented (NZ Stats) 1 July 2012 – 30 June 2019 $625.2M

Number of new dwellings consented (NZ Stats) 1 July 2019 – 30 Nov 2019 312

Value of new dwellings consented (NZ Stats) 1 July 2018 – 30 June 2019 $93.5M

Population Estimate (NZ Stats) 30 June 2019 108,700

Population Projection 2033 (NZ Stats – next update March 2020) 108,100

Science and Technology (Te Wā Heke) Funding and Activity

Innovative Young Minds (IYM):

72. The Innovative Young Minds (IYM) programme is designed to encourage young women to explore science, technology, engineering, mathematics and high-tech manufacturing – fields we call the STEMM sector. The week-long residential programme is open to female Year 11 and Year 12 students and runs during the July school holidays each year.

73. The programme is a partnership between Rotary Hutt City and Council.

74. In 2020, the IYM programme will be open to young women throughout New Zealand. IYM will hold 40 places for students from the Wellington Region.

75. The programme is only open to young women, because females are under-represented in the STEMM sector and we want to change that. Increasing female participation in STEMM will mean greater innovation and economic success for everyone.

The Settlement Start-Ups:

76. The new business incubation programme, called “The Settlement Start-Ups”, is underway with its first cohort with five start-ups ranging from a company that wants to design modular, pre-fab building, to a sustainable activewear company and an engineer who has built an autonomous boat to clean up ocean plastic. The programme will continue to take additional businesses on a rolling basis until the 10 places are filled. More information on the re-launched programme is available at https://thesettlement.co.nz/startups.

Hutt Science Programme

77. Hutt Science is part of the House of Science network which distributes quality science resources into schools with a goal of empowering teachers to deliver meaningful engaging science lessons on a regular basis in primary schools. The programme is delivered by Council’s Hutt Science director and approximately 20 volunteers.

78. Fifty five primary and intermediate schools in the Hutt Valley are currently part of the programme (part funding provided by Upper Hutt City Council). The resource centre for the programme is based at Naenae Primary School.

79. In addition a professional development programme for primary and intermediate school teachers is now well developed along with a mentoring programme for secondary school science scholarship students.

Vocational Education

80. In support of the Government’s review of vocational education the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Social Development have recently issued tenders for activities that support getting more young people into trades based learning.

81. The Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce has led tenders for funding in partnership with Hutt City Council and Upper Hutt City Council for a series of events in the two cities to encourage young people into trades and for a work broker who will work with schools and employers to secure opportunities for young people in trades with local businesses.

82. The outcome of these tenders should be known by the time of the meeting.

CBD Activity

83. Current activity includes:

· Construction of a seven cinema complex and replacement car parking is well underway at Queensgate.

· 177 High Street (ex BNZ Building) is awaiting demolition prior to construction of six two storey terraced multi-unit buildings consisting of 29 units made up of a mixture of live work, dual-key and two-bedroom units in addition to commercial/retail units (High Street Quarter).

· 195 High Street – consent has been granted for constructing two additional storeys on the existing three-storey building. External alterations and redevelopment of the internal space is also involved enabling retail on the ground floor with 38 residential apartments in the four floors above.

· Hotel – steel framework is currently underway. Next stages are in consenting.

Southend Business Group

84. Andrews Avenue project is the current project the group is working on with the RiverLink team following the completion of the Massey design students’ ideas for the area.

Retail Activity

85. Retail spending in Hutt City was up 3.2% in the year to 31 December 2019 (compared to the same period last year). This compares with rest of the Wellington region up 4.3% and rest of New Zealand up 2.8%.

86. Spending Summary by location for the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 (compared to the same period last year).

Discussion - Urban Design

RiverLink

87. Central Government’s January 2020 announcement for Melling confirmed $254M funding and indicated the work would be completed by 2026. New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) officers are working through the detail of what this means and how to progress this into action.

88. Pending NZTA decisions, the RiverLink resource consent application will be lodged September 2020.

Naenae Spatial Plan

89. Councillor Andy Mitchell will front a small community group to lead the project assisted by Council’s Urban Design Manager, Paki Maaka.

90. Naenae community workshops will be held through March, April, June and regular updates to Council’s Community and Environment Committee will result in a Draft Spatial Plan in July 2020.

91. The Final Spatial Plan will be taken to Council for approval on 29 September 2020.

Petone 2040

92. The Jackson Street Pilot refurbishment of a block of three buildings is satisfactorily complete. Another group of buildings will be considered over the next couple of months.

93. District Plan Change 43 - P2040 made a submission seeking specific heritage and character provisions in the proposed plan change – some of these were accepted.

94. P2040 will be seeking further heritage/character provisions during the comprehensive review of the District Plan due April 2024.

95. A North Park (new housing area) development study is being considered to master plan long term land-use in Petone North. This is particularly necessary given Imperial Tobacco are reducing its operations. This work will assist the Cross Valley Link business case.

Discussion - Promotions and Events

Events

96. HighLight partners post event reporting almost complete – see report attached as Appendix 3 for reference. All partners reporting positive feedback and indicating their commitment for the future.

97. Successful handover of the civic events portfolio from the Mayor’s Office to the Promotions and Events team, with immediate effect.

98. A series of seven community Christmas events delivered by Council and supported a further six community Christmas events.

99. A series of three Picnic in the Dowse Sunday family events are being run during February.

Events Strategy review

100. A return on investment report is being prepared for the Promotions and Events operation/portfolio, to inform a review of the Events Strategy.

Community Event Support Fund

101. Support approved for 30 community events to date this financial year, from the Event Support Fund, totalling $92,000 of grants.

102. Examples: Petone Rotary Fair, Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon, Local Wildfood Challenge, Te Ra o te Raukura, Waitangi Ki Te Awakairangi, Matariki Whanau Festival, Wellington Heritage Trust Week and Christmas in Da Hood.

Commercial Events

103. Six60 concert wrap up, initial results:

· Positive feedback received from attendees, community, promoter/band, Police, St John’s and security.

· 20,000 crowd with approximately 35% from outside of the wider Wellington region.

· Marketview data will be received in approximately three weeks’ time, but from the feedback and social media, the hospitality businesses (bars, restaurants, takeaways) did well before the show (and some afterwards).

· Public transport and traffic management to and from the event ran smoothly.

· WellingtonNZ worked closely with our team to support transport and traffic management.

· Cost to Council approximately $5k, excluding staff time.

· Some complaints (approximately 10) are being fielded mostly about noise, these are being resolved by the Events Team. As noted previously in this report, the Environmental Health Team has confirmed that resource consent noise limits were not breached.

· Positive media coverage on Stuff including - https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/119047116/six60-hutt-goes-hard-for-first-night-of-saturdays-tour

104. Fat Freddy’s Drop: The concert at Williams Park in Days Bay held on Wellington Anniversary Day was successful and attracted a crowd of 3,000 people.

105. Support of approximately 10 events planned for FY2019/20 to secure them for Lower Hutt. This will result in an economic return to the city of around $2,100,000 with a Council spend of $33,000 (excluding staff time), this is a basic Return on Investment (ROI) of over 60:1. Examples of these are: Filipino Festival, Capital Football Tier two Secondary Schools girls tournament, Maori Bowls tournament, Home and Interiors Show and Effect Dance Competition.

Partnerships team

106. A Sponsorship Strategy is being developed for Council.

107. Council has a current working portfolio of 33 live sponsorship contracts (many being multi-year agreements) with another five or more opportunities currently looking for sponsorship.

108. We have a network of over 80 live relationships.

109. The portfolio spans the entire Council network and includes: Active in the Hutt; Community Arts; the Dowse; STEMM; Facilities; Hutt City Communities Facilities Trust, Events; and Community.

110. The total sponsorship portfolio managed by the team for this financial year currently sits at $692,500.00. This does not include some low level in-kind sponsorship or the programmes/facilities that are currently in the marketplace for sponsorship including: Yoga for Schools; Walter Nash Courts two and three; Dowse exhibitions; Play Containers; and Christmas Carols Pop-ups worth close to $100k.

111. Multi-year contracts currently being serviced are worth more than $1.1M including two contracts that span 15 years.

City Promotions

112. Around 50,000 - 2019/20 Hutt Valley Visitor Guide distributed across New Zealand in October 2019 to promote our area.

113. A refreshed huttvalleynz.com website being developed in collaboration with UHCC and WellingtonNZ, due for launch by March 2020.

114. Visa Wellington on a Plate support for local operators is currently a focus for the team, where we are working on engagement, promotion and collective positioning work for the Hutt offering.

115. Officers are supporting Council’s Transport division in preparation of a Wainuiomata Heartland Ride proposal, conditional approval received from NZTA and NZ Cycle Trail Inc. Engagement with the Wainuiomata community and mana whenua is ongoing.

116. Working on the creation of a Remutaka Cycle Trail experience plan in collaboration with all key stakeholders to inform future investment in and promotion of the trail.

Discussion – Strategy and Planning

Encroachments

117. On 2 December 2019, CLT approved the proposed process for progressing the work on encroachments.

118. This work has begun with initial face to face meetings with Community Board Chairs and papers going to each of the Community Board meetings. The process is:

All encroachments are licensed, unless with respect to garden encroachments, they meet the size and or function criteria:

· Size – they are under 10 sq metres; and/or

· Function – they are accessible and do not interfere with public use of the land or Council access to it.

A staggered approach is being taken to licensing encroachments as follows:

· Pavement

· Garage

· Garden

· Drainage.

CITY & COMMUNITY SERVICES

Museums

Programmes

119. Museums have had a very successful last quarter with a range of exhibitions and events across our facilities that engage with our diverse communities: We opened Anthems of Belonging by Auckland-based artist Olivia Webb who worked with five immigrant families (including three from the Wellington region) to write their own family songs; Strands included the work of five young contemporary Māori artists building on our commitment to toi Māori; we opened three collection exhibitions featuring glass, textiles and works exploring landscape; we had contemporary artist Zina Swanson’s response to the natural environment and the psychology of plants; and we opened an exhibition of contemporary ceramics.

120. We had two of our exhibitions on display at the Christchurch Art Gallery and will have another exhibition on display at Auckland Art Gallery and Dunedin Public Art Gallery later in the year.

121. We are now able to focus more attention on changing some of the displays at Petone Settlers Museum following the positive outcome of our Detailed Seismic Assessment rating the building at 70%. We will be working with our communities to highlight local stories over the coming months.

Facilities

122. We are still awaiting the final Detailed Seismic Assessment (DSA) results for the Little Theatre.

Engagement

123. The Nukutewhatewha revitalisation project is underway and is due to open in July.

124. Our Community Arts Advisor worked alongside other officers and the local community of Naenae to complete the Naenae Pool Mural Project. This had great community support and included significant contributions from schools, community groups, artists and local businesses.

125. The Community Arts Advisor has worked with other Council officers to hold a series of arts workshops throughout the Lower Hutt region. The outcome of these workshops is to gain insights from the community on how we can offer support moving forward.

126. Our education and other engagement programmes have continued to connect tamariki, rangatahi and adults throughout the local community with workshops and activities at the Dowse, Petone Settlers Museum and in schools.

Libraries

War Memorial Library (WML) – seismic issues

127. In October 2019, geotechnical assessments were undertaken on the WML building and the results were incorporated into a DSA report, sent to officers in December 2019. The New Building Standard (NBS) rating for the building remains 40-45% and the report recommends large scale seismic strengthening work to bring this rating up to 80%. Structural engineers have estimated costs for these works of $1.3M, and officers are preparing a case for Long Term Plan 2021-2031 for these strengthening works to be undertaken, in conjunction with additional required maintenance works (ie, roof replacement and HVAC upgrades) for the WML building.

Naenae Library

128. Since July 2019, Naenae Library opening hours have been extended (to include Friday late nights and all day Sunday) and increased levels of community activity continue to take place at this location, following the Naenae Pool closure earlier in 2019.

Highlight Festival of Lights

129. In October 2019, the WML hosted two light installations (“LoveBirds” and “Regal Peacock”) as part of the Highlight Festival, attracting approximately 14,000 visitors into the Library over four nights. Furthermore, Taita Clubhouse received a grant to help them create 'Te ao marama', a light installation in the gardens. Two of the rangatahi members from Naenae Clubhouse won a competition to create a projected animation for the Festival.

Moera Library – health & safety upgrades

130. Work on extending the footprint of the Moera Library into a rectangle (vs. its current “U-shape”) is commencing in February 2020, with an initial meeting to confirm requirements with spatial design consultants. Once the scope is confirmed (within allocated budget of <$150k), the appropriate procurement process will be undertaken and the building consent application submitted.

Community Hubs

131. The team have reflected on and celebrated the 2019/20 year end results which included:

· budget met;

· number of awards for individuals and programmes/services were received throughout the year;

· a real increase in knowledge about the value our hubs provide as places of refuge/safety and genuine relationships, particularly for our tamariki;

· nearly 1.4M visitors across the three hubs – this remains at over double the pre-development level of both the Walter Nash Centre (Walter Nash) and Koraunui Stokes Valley (Koraunui);

· no serious harm incidents taking place at hub sites;

· overall customer satisfaction levels across sites averaged at 94%;

· library memberships at Walter Nash remain 2,000 higher than pre development and at Koraunui continue to climb at 800 more than pre-development showing the increased visibility and access that the hub model provides for literacy services;

· 50,000 participants across our hubs’ regular programmes;

· over 23,000 hours of booked time; and

· Quarterly Customer Satisfaction results are positive, with Wainuiomata Hub 100%, Walter Nash Centre 99% and Koraunui 98%.

132. The 2020/21 year tracking is positive, however a slight reduction in visitation is being observed across both Walter Nash and Koraunui. We will continue to monitor this. Budgets are currently on track exclusive of the Ricoh Sports Centre.

133. A draft Social Return on Investment has recently been completed on the Walter Nash Centre. Initial indications place the value at $16:$1 ratio – ie, for each dollar Council has invested it has received $16 in return. This report has been done using conservative methods.

134. Mike Mercer, Divisional Manager for Hubs has resigned and will finish with Council at the end of February.

135. Seismic issues at Walter Nash Centre have seen the corridor in the old side closed. The team have done a fantastic job enabling normal public use of the back stadium while works to resolve this issue take place. At this stage officers are obtaining prices.

136. A review of the operating model of Fraser Park Sportsville is being undertaken by the board, with support from officers. A paper will be coming to Council in the next cycle for consideration. However early indication has been given to Council that they will require additional operational support.

137. Wainuiomata Hub has had a layout shift and is receiving a number of positive comments from the public.

Community Projects and Relationships

City Safety

Safe City Ambassadors

138. Our Ambassadors now provide a more complete service and operate over six days and have now been assigned portfolios which help to provide both Council, Police and key partners with relevant information, eg, Persons of interest, CCTV, Neighbourhood Support and Graffiti.

139. The team have been very proactive in linking homeless people they come across with the relevant services.

CCTV/Community Patrols Volunteers

140. As a result of a recruitment drive, there are now 25 active CCTV volunteers, who provide approximately 40 hours of their time monitoring the CCTV and completing CCTV download requirements.

141. Ongoing issues with cameras in Hillary Court Naenae being stolen despite a range of measures being taken to secure them. Each time one is stolen, it costs approximately $7K to replace.

142. CCTV search and download requests have assisted Police to identify and apprehend offenders and provide evidence to support victims’ accounts of incidents.

143. Community Patrols have included day patrols and have supported all Council events.

Neighbourhood Support

144. There are approximately 183 Neighbourhood Support Groups (NSG) across the city, however, we continue to have low numbers in the Northern Ward. Bi-monthly newsletters continue to be sent to all NSG.

Empowering Tamariki

Partnership with Te Awakairangi Access Trust – Rata Street School: ‘Bridging the digital divide’

145. Partnership between TAKA Trust, MOE, Chorus, HCC and N4L continues to build momentum, as the partnership actively seeks support to grow the digital programme across the whole city. Currently approximately 150 Rata Street School tamariki have free and secured access to their school’s learning network, including after school access to Chromebooks at no additional cost to whanau.

Access

146. Ride Holidays (Karl Woolcott) has provided a further 23 brand new bikes to our tamariki at Pukeatua School, Wainuiomata. Ride Holidays have now provided over 150 brand new bikes and helmets to tamariki across our city over the last 18 months.

147. Facilitated the delivery of a very success netball programme with Taita Central School with tamariki who were at risk of not playing any netball due to a shortage of volunteers. Programme will now be delivered by the school in 2020. This was so successful that we were approached by another school wanting the same opportunity for their tamariki.

148. Very successful Council Charity Golf tournament held, raising approximately $25k which will go towards bridging the digital divide for our tamariki in low decile schools.

Community Funding

149. As you are aware, we are reviewing Council’s Community Funding Strategy to ensure it aligns with the vision and priorities of the new Council.

150. This is happening in two phases:

· Phase 1 – internal review of the criteria and processes for the current three funds to ensure alignment with Council priorities for the 2020/21 funding round (carried out in January-February 2020, to enable the funds to be promoted in March);

· Phase 2 - a wider review of all contestable and discretionary community funding. The Terms of Reference for this will be signed off by the Chief Executive in early April and the review completed in time for the 2021/22 funding year. This will be carried out independently and will involve a wide group of stakeholders including Councillors.

151. CLT has now approved the Phase One review outcome. The changes are outlined below.

Focus

Vision: Our City and all our people thrive

How Hutt City Council’s Community Funding contributes to this vision:

Supporting organisations and initiatives that enable and strengthen our communities and improve their wellbeing, especially where this is needed most. Wellbeing is when our people are able to lead fulfilling lives with purpose, balance, and meaning to them. Wellbeing includes people’s social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing.

We will look to work with:

· Those who work closely with communities and harness volunteer power

· Those with an equity focus - where it’s needed most.

· Those who enable people and communities.

Structure

· The Kākano (Seed) Fund is unchanged – single year funding for new ideas; $70k available for allocation in 20/21.

· The Mahia Atu Partnership Fund and Mahia Atu Community Fund will be merged for the 2020/21 year, and renamed. Recipients must show a strong fit with the outcomes we are seeking, single year funding (to enable us to align most funding for the Phase Two approach), $369,000 available in 2020/21.

Youth Council

152. Alice Soper has recently started as our new Youth Council Facilitator.

Accessibility and Inclusiveness

153. Great feedback from the Beach Mats at Days Bay. Several business owners and residents are checking on them daily to ensure they are swept down and haven’t been moved by the tide. They have been also been re-configured to better meet demands of those wanting to get to the water to swim.

Parks & Recreation

Pools and Fitness

154. Permanent redeployment of staff displaced from Naenae Pool has now been completed.

155. Upgrading of Naenae Primary School Pool has been completed and the Pool opened for operation at the beginning of October. This will be available for local tamariki through until March.

156. A lease has been signed with the owners of the ex-Post Office building in Hillary Court to house a pop-up gym and a community space. The owners are required to earthquake strengthen the building before fit-out work commences. At this stage progress on addressing this has been slow by the building owner and it is unlikely that the building will be ready for operation before May 2020.

157. Seismic strengthening work on one set of changing rooms at Wainuiomata Pool has been delayed due to consenting issues. This work will now be completed at the end of the season in March. Despite this the pool has continued to operate with reduced changing rooms.

158. Client numbers at our swim school and fitness suites continue to grow and are now exceeding target. Despite this we are still predicting an unfavourable variance against fitness suite income due to overly ambitious revenue projections.

Recreation

159. Ara Mai, our Te Whiti Riser night walk, won the Outstanding Event award at the annual Recreation Aotearoa Awards.

160. Our Summer Play Days programme has been hugely successful with over 5,000 attendances at events across our city. This is a free programme which has been delivered in partnership with Sport NZ at minimal cost.

Parks

161. Updates include:

· Seddon Street Playground completed;

· Barton Grove reserve upgrade is nearing completion;

· upgrade of Naenae Park Pavilion has been completed;

· consultation on a skate ramp in Naenae is ongoing;

· consultation on the review of reserve land in Wainuiomata has now closed; and

· playground maintenance procurement has been completed. The Sports Ground maintenance contract is still to be tendered.

162. A review is underway into the disturbance of nesting shags due to tree removal in Williams Park. This involves Forest and Bird and Department of Conservation as key stakeholders along with the Eastbourne Community Board. The review will be shared with Councillors and made public.

Transport

163. Alistair Dickens has been appointed to the position of Subdivision Engineer to address the internal resource shortage in meeting the significant increase in development and subdivision activity generated by natural population growth and the Development Contribution Remissions initiative.

164. Aileen Campbell has been appointed to the Road Safety Co- ordinator role following Jan Simmons’ retirement.

165. Damon Simmons returns to Council as the Traffic Asset Manager, working part time through February and starting full time on 2 March 2020.

166. The Cross Valley Connections draft Programme Business Case has been reviewed by Council’s Head of Transport and the fine-tuned document will be assessed by an NZTA Senior Investment Advisor for further enhancement before being presented to Council for consideration.

167. The Government has announced funding support for the Melling Interchange construction as part of their $12B Infrastructure Investment programme.

Cycleways

168. Updates include:

· the Wainuiomata Hill Shared Path is operating well;

· the Eastern Bays Shared Path in the consenting phase; and

· the Beltway has been tendered but priority will be confirmed with Council before the contact is awarded.

Infrastructure Contracts

169. Considerably more maintenance repairs have been needed to susceptible parts of the Eastern Bays with sea level and scouring concerns, some areas are undermining into the carriageway in periods of big seas. This is currently being managed within the existing storm damage budget along with other remedial storm and slip work during the course of the year. We are currently being as pro-active as possible in identifying any irregular storm water runoff in hill areas and where possible talking with land owners. There is also a hydroseeding programme being carried out each autumn to capture any old slip faces that need re-grassing before winter.

170. We have been pro-actively trying to preserve the large elm tree adjacent to the Crooked Elm for the last 18 months or so. Unfortunately the tree has not survived and as a consequence had become a danger to the public so the decision was made to remove the tree. Close inspection of the tree showed significant movement of the trunk during heavy wind. Also the tilia tree at the south east corner of the Lower Hutt Events Centre had died and also had to be removed. We suspect this was damaged during construction of Stage 3 Riddiford works.

171. All maintenance contracts are progressing well.

Appendices

No.	Title	Page
1 ⇩	Appendix 1 Environmental Consents Graphs at the end of January 2020	59
2 ⇩	Appendix 2 Regulatory Services enforcement actions up to 31 December 2019	81
3 ⇩	Appendix 3 2019 Fulfillment Report Final Digital	83

Author: Derek Kerite

Head of Environmental Consents

Reviewed By: Andrea Blackshaw

Acting General Manager City and Community Services

Approved By: Helen Oram

Acting General Manager, City Transformation

Deputy Mayor T Lewis (Chair)

Mayor C Barry (ex-officio)	Cr D Bassett
Cr J Briggs (Deputy Chair)	Cr K Brown
Cr B Dyer	Cr S Edwards
Cr D Hislop	Cr C Milne
Cr A Mitchell	Cr S Rasheed
Cr N Shaw	Cr L Sutton

PARKING SERVICES	August	September	October	November	December
Infringements	3073	2715	2383	2402	1578
Stationary offences (WOFs, tyres)	1029	1030	927	1007	675

Description	Author	Cycle 3 6 May 2020	Cycle 4 8 July 2020	Cycle 5 9 September 2020	Cycle 6 19 November 2020	Pending
GMs’ Report	H Oram/ A Blackshaw	x	x	x	x
Update on Carbon Targets for CCOs	J Scherzer	x
Feasibility of including old landfills in target to reduce greenhouse Gas Emission	J Scherzer	x
Fraser Park Sportsville Update	A Blackshaw	x
Hutt City Zero Carbon Plan	J Scherzer					x
Community Engagement on Waste Impacts	J Scherzer					x

ANIMAL SERVICES	August	September	October	November	December
Dogs impounded	56	45	32	42	46
Infringements issued	6	13	12	8	17
Prosecutions			1

Transport, Infrastructure and Sustainable Growth: