Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau ki te Raki

AGENDA

Supplementary Reports

Ordinary Council Meeting

Thursday, 30 June 2022

Time:	10:00 am
Location:	Council Chamber Memorial Avenue Kaikohe

Membership:

Mayor John Carter - Chairperson

Cr Ann Court

Cr David Clendon

Cr Dave Collard

Cr Felicity Foy

Cr Mate Radich

Cr Rachel Smith

Cr Kelly Stratford

Cr Moko Tepania

Cr John Vujcich

Ordinary Council Meeting Agenda

30 June 2022

Te Paeroa Mahi / Order of Business

6 Reports. 4

6.5 Far North Holdings Statement of Intent 2023-2025. 4

6.6 Remits for consideration at 2022 LGNZ AGM.. 30

Ordinary Council Meeting Agenda

30 June 2022

6            Reports

6.5         Far North Holdings Statement of Intent 2023-2025

File Number:           A3753312

Author:                    Julia Lee, Senior Financial Accountant

Authoriser:             William J Taylor MBE, General Manager - Corporate Services

Take Pūrongo / Purpose of the Report

To accept the Far North Holdings Ltd (FNHL) 2023-25 Statement of Intent (SOI).

WhakarĀpopoto matua / Executive Summary

·      The FNHL SOI 2023-25 outlines the activities and intentions of the company including performance targets and measures.

tŪtohunga / Recommendation

That the Council accept the Far North Holdings Limited Statement of Intent 2023-2025.

1) TĀhuhu kŌrero / Background

The Local Government Act 2002 requires every Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) to provide a SOI that is adopted before the commencement of the financial year to which it relates.

FNHL have prepared the 2023-25 SOI which was discussed with the FNHL Board at a workshop on 13^th April.  Then SOI has now been approved by their Board after taking into consideration the points raised at the workshop.

2) matapaki me NgĀ KŌwhiringa / Discussion and Options

The SOI has been an iterative process. Council commenced the process by considering how they wanted the amendments to the Local Government Act 2002 to be incorporated. Following this, Council met with the Board of FNHL and the key issues were discussed to ensure that all parties understood the changes that were expected. The Board took those issues away and incorporated them into a revised SOI, which is attached to this report.

The process requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 have been completed and the final action is for Council to accept the SOI.

Take Tūtohunga / Reason for the recommendation

Council is required by the Local Government Act 2002 to accept the SOI before the new financial year begins on 1^st July.

3) PĀnga PŪtea me ngĀ wĀhanga tahua / Financial Implications and Budgetary Provision

Council have asked FNHL to make every effort to attain the dividend previously proposed of $1.3m but acknowledge that current inflationary conditions may impact the final value.

The SOI attached has been approved by the FNHL Board.

Āpitihanga / Attachments

1.       FNHL SOI 2022 to 2025 Final to FNDC 22.6.2022 - A3763711 ⇩

Hōtaka Take Ōkawa / Compliance Schedule:

Full consideration has been given to the provisions of the Local Government Act 2002 S77 in relation to decision making, in particular:

1.       A Local authority must, in the course of the decision-making process,

a)      Seek to identify all reasonably practicable options for the achievement of the objective of a decision; and

b)      Assess the options in terms of their advantages and disadvantages; and

c)      If any of the options identified under paragraph (a) involves a significant decision in relation to land or a body of water, take into account the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral land, water sites, waahi tapu, valued flora and fauna and other taonga.

2.       This section is subject to Section 79 - Compliance with procedures in relation to decisions.

He Take Ōkawa / Compliance Requirement	Aromatawai Kaimahi / Staff Assessment
State the level of significance (high or low) of the issue or proposal as determined by the Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy	Low
State the relevant Council policies (external or internal), legislation, and/or community outcomes (as stated in the LTP) that relate to this decision.	Local Government Act 2002, Schedule 8 part 1
State whether this issue or proposal has a District wide relevance and, if not, the ways in which the appropriate Community Board’s views have been sought.	District wide relevance
State the possible implications for Māori and how Māori have been provided with an opportunity to contribute to decision making if this decision is significant and relates to land and/or any body of water. State the possible implications and how this report aligns with Te Tiriti o Waitangi / The Treaty of Waitangi.	FNHL and its Directors will take all practicable steps to ensure that their actions align with Te Tiriti o Waitangi.  The Statement of Intentions dated December 2021 and issued by Council states an expectation for the community, in particular Maori, be considered and accommodated and actively seek positive relationships with regard to the culture and traditions with ancestral land, water, sites of significance, wahi tapu, valued flora and fauna and other taonga.
Identify persons likely to be affected by or have an interest in the matter, and how you have given consideration to their views or preferences (for example – youth, the aged and those with disabilities).	District and community wide significance.
State the financial implications and where budgetary provisions have been made to support this decision.	Council have asked FNHL to make every effort to attain the dividend previously proposed of $1.3m but acknowledge that current inflationary conditions may impact the final value
Chief Financial Officer review.	Senior Financial Accountant has prepared this report

Ordinary Council Meeting Agenda

30 June 2022

Ordinary Council Meeting Agenda

30 June 2022

6.6         Remits for consideration at 2022 LGNZ AGM

File Number:           A3759444

Author:                    Caroline Wilson, Manager - District Administration

Authoriser:             William J Taylor MBE, General Manager - Corporate Services

Take Pūrongo / Purpose of the Report

To provide Council with an opportunity to consider its position on each of the remits for consideration at the 2022 Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) Annual General Meeting (AGM).

WhakarĀpopoto matua / Executive Summary

·      5 remits are included on the 2022 LGNZ AGM agenda.

·      His Worship the Mayor will be attending the LGNZ AGM with voting rights on behalf of Far North District Council.

·      Adopted remits become LGNZ Policy.

·      The AGM is scheduled for 28 July 2022 as an online meeting.

·      The Far North District Council vote is worth 5 votes in accordance with the LGNZ constitution.

tŪtohunga / Recommendation

That Council: 

a)   supports the following 2022 Local Government New Zealand Remits:

·    Review of Government transport funding

·    Illegal street racing

·    Bylaw infringements

·    Density and proximity of vaping retailers

b)   abstains from voting for the Central Government funding for public transport remit.

1) TĀhuhu kŌrero / Background

Each year LGNZ calls for proposed remits to be considered at their Annual General Meeting. Nominating Councils must have endorsement from 5 other Councils. The AGM votes on these proposals and adopted remits become LGNZ Policy.

Zone 1 supported a remit proposed by Kaipara District Council recommending a review into the density and proximity of vaping retailers.

There were an additional 4 remits submitted.

His Worship the Mayor will be attending the LGNZ AGM on 28 July 2022 and will be able to put forward the view of the Far North.

2) matapaki me NgĀ KŌwhiringa / Discussion and Options

The list of the proposed remits is provided below along with commentary and suggested voting from the subject matter experts within Council. 

Remit	Recommendation	Rationale
Central government funding for public transport	Abstain	Whilst Council does acknowledge the need to encourage the greater uptake of public transport, it believes that this proposal will focus on urban areas and areas where there are already high levels of public transport provision. Council would prefer to see funding directed to regional and rural areas to provide subsidised public transport services, particularly in areas where there are high levels of deprivation, and where the private motor vehicle is currently the only viable transport option. This would address transport poverty.   This remit appears to focus on existing public transport services and is therefore limited in its relevance to the Far North district.  Whilst staff have recommended abstaining on that basis, members may equally choose to support or oppose.
Review of Government transport funding	Support	With the paradigm change around hybrid working and the government supported drive to EV vehicles, the current model of transport funding is fundamentally broken. The current funding model will not be able to deliver the outcomes for roading outlined in the GPS, particularly as funding now being provided to rail and coastal shipping. This has already manifested itself in roading maintenance budgets being suppressed and major projects being postponed. A new mechanism for funding roading is needed.
Illegal street racing	Support	Illegal street racing is an issue that the FNDC has not experienced on a large scale.  However, there is a possibility that the district may experience increasing instances of this over time.  For that reason, FNDC would welcome the establishment of a nation-wide working group of subject matter experts with the objective of formulating an action plan to effectively enforce the Land Transport Act 1998 and work with police to tackle illegal street racing and the antisocial behaviour associated with it.  Arguably, the NZ Police are better placed to address this issue than Council who do not have the resources to monitor and enforce such occurrences.  Often there is confusion on the part of the public over which agency (Police or Council or both) are responsible for responding to complaints.
Bylaw infringements	Support	Council has no general power to infringe across a range of bylaws and, in many instances, is left with the time-consuming and expensive option of prosecution.  The proposed infringement notice regime under S259 of the LGA would enhance Council’s ability to impose infringements where such action is deemed necessary, following the VADE approach to achieving regulatory compliance. Due to the nature of bylaw breaches, an infringement fee is most likely to be the proportionate response to breaches of a bylaw. Due to the lack of an infringement regime Councils are only left with the options of education, a warning and then prosecution. Undertaking prosecutions are also of limited utility due to their significant cost and unlikely deterrence due to the limited fines that are likely to be imposed by the Court. So, without an infringement regime we lack the regulatory tools to respond to the myriad of issues that arise in our district. If we could deal with small issues like bylaw breaches early, it could stop further issues compounding within the district. Additionally, an area like the Far North has even further limitations when it comes to undertaking prosecutions for breaches of bylaws. The Far North only has court houses in Kaikohe and Kaitaia. Both of these venues are already overwhelmed dealing with serious criminal offending and family law care and protection issues. These delays have only been compounded by Covid. As such it takes significant time to get before the court to deal with bylaw prosecutions. Due to the low level nature of bylaw breaches in such prosecutions judges are also reluctant to deal with such issues due to the other serious matters they are dealing with. So effectively Council is left without any effective tools to deal with the bylaw breaches if people refuse to cooperate.
Density and proximity of vaping retailers	Support the general intent of restricting the sale of vaping products to R18 specialist vape stores in urban communities. Support proximity limits	Specialist vape retailers can be a great quit tool as long as retailers give advice and recommendations about vaping products to customers who are inside the retailer’s approved vaping premises. Council staff expect that this will work well in urban centres. However, specialist vape stores may not be viable in small rural settlements where specialty stores may struggle to meet the current stipulation that 85% of the store’s income must come from vaping products. Stores in rural communities could be enabled to provide vaping products as a quit smoking tool by partitioning an R18 area within the footprint of the business. Proximity limits would be in line with our other policies related to preventing community harm (Psychoactive Substances and Class 4 Gaming and TAB Venues policies). Which limit proximity to other venues and to sensitive sites (places where young people visit such as schools).

Take Tūtohunga / Reason for the recommendation

To allow Council to determine their positions on each remit for His Worship the Mayor to put forward at the LGNZ AGM.

3) PĀnga PŪtea me ngĀ wĀhanga tahua / Financial Implications and Budgetary Provision

There are no financial implications in endorsing (or not), remits at the LGNZ AGM.

Āpitihanga / Attachments

1.       LGNZ Remits 2022 - A3759445 ⇩

Hōtaka Take Ōkawa / Compliance Schedule:

Full consideration has been given to the provisions of the Local Government Act 2002 S77 in relation to decision making, in particular:

1.       A Local authority must, in the course of the decision-making process,

a)      Seek to identify all reasonably practicable options for the achievement of the objective of a decision; and

b)      Assess the options in terms of their advantages and disadvantages; and

c)      If any of the options identified under paragraph (a) involves a significant decision in relation to land or a body of water, take into account the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral land, water sites, waahi tapu, valued flora and fauna and other taonga.

2.       This section is subject to Section 79 - Compliance with procedures in relation to decisions.

He Take Ōkawa / Compliance Requirement	Aromatawai Kaimahi / Staff Assessment
State the level of significance (high or low) of the issue or proposal as determined by the Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy	This is a matter of low significance.
State the relevant Council policies (external or internal), legislation, and/or community outcomes (as stated in the LTP) that relate to this decision.	Staff have commended on how each proposed remit aligns with existing council policies and processes.
State whether this issue or proposal has a District wide relevance and, if not, the ways in which the appropriate Community Board’s views have been sought.	These are matters considered to have national impact that we have opportunity to comment on from a district perspective. The views of the Community Boards have not been sought due to time constraints however the chair of the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board was present and voted on whether or not to support Kaipara’s density and proximity of vaping retailers remit at the Strategy and Policy Committee on 3May 2022.
State the possible implications for Māori and how Māori have been provided with an opportunity to contribute to decision making if this decision is significant and relates to land and/or any body of water. State the possible implications and how this report aligns with Te Tiriti o Waitangi / The Treaty of Waitangi.	This report seeks the Council’s views on matters considered to have potential impact across the nation.
Identify persons likely to be affected by or have an interest in the matter, and how you have given consideration to their views or preferences (for example – youth, the aged and those with disabilities).	This report seeks the Council’s views on matters considered to have potential impact across the nation.
State the financial implications and where budgetary provisions have been made to support this decision.	There are no financial implications or need for budgetary provision in formulating a view on these remits.
Chief Financial Officer review.	The CFO has reviewed this report.

Ordinary Council Meeting Agenda

30 June 2022