Agenda of Monitoring and Operations Committee

Monitoring and Operations Committee 15 September 2020

Recommendations in reports are not to be construed as Council policy until adopted by Council.

Agenda

1. Apologies

2. Public Forum

3. Items not on the Agenda

4. Order of Business

5. Declaration of Conflicts of Interest

6. Public Excluded Business to be Transferred into the Open

7. Minutes

Minutes to be Confirmed

7.1 Monitoring and Operations Committee Minutes - 16 June 2020 1

8. Presentations

8.1 Update on Glass Eel sampling on the Rangitāiki Awa

Presented by: Eimear Egan, NIWA Freshwater Fish Ecologist

9. Reports

9.1 Chairperson's Report 1

Attachment 1 - Provincial Growth Fund BOP Dashboard June 2020 1

Decisions Required

9.2 Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update 1

Attachment 1 - Mount Maunganui Industrial Airshed monitoring and exceedances 1

Attachment 2 - Mt Maunganui Air Quality Working Party Terms of Reference for Councillor approval 1

Attachment 3 - Mount Industrial Environment Network Meeting Notes 1

Information Only

9.3 2019/20 Annual Report for the Regional Pest Management Plan 1

Attachment 1 - Regional Pest Management Plan RPMP Annual Report 2019-2020 - Draft 1

9.4 Review of the 2020 Drought and Water Shortage Event 1

Attachment 1 - Summary flow and rainfall information 1

9.5 An Overview of Wastewater in the Bay of Plenty Region 1

Attachment 1 - Overview of Wastewater in the Bay of Plenty Region FINAL September 2020 1

9.6 Resource Consents Annual Report 2019/20 1

9.7 State of the Environment Reporting in the Bay of Plenty 1

9.8 National Wilding Conifer and Wallaby programmes 1

9.9 Investigating a Potential Biocontrol for Brown Bullhead Catfish 1

9.10 Regional Wetlands Report 1

9.11 2020/21 Annual Work Plans: Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme and Rangitāiki Integrated Catchment Programme 1

Attachment 1 - 2020/21 Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme and Rotorua Lakes Catchment Annual Work Plan 1

Attachment 2 - 2020/21 Rangitāiki Integrated Catchment Programme Annual Work Plan 1

9.12 2020 Residents Survey Findings 1

Attachment 1 - Residents Survey Findings Report 1

9.13 Customer Service Performance 1

9.14 Presentation: University of Waikato Coastal Chair Annual Report

Presented by: Professor Chris Battershill, Chair in Coastal Science

10. Public Excluded Section

Resolution to exclude the public

Excludes the public from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting as set out below:

The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

Item No.	Subject of each matter to be considered	Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter	Grounds under Section 48(1) for the passing of this resolution	When the item can be released into the public
10.1	Public Excluded Monitoring and Operations Committee Minutes - 16 June 2020	As noted in the relevant Minutes.	As noted in the relevant Minutes.	To remain in public excluded.
10.2	Presentation: University of Waikato Lakes Chair Report	Withholding the information is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of deceased natural persons.	48(1)(a)(i) Section 7 (2)(a).	To remain in public excluded.
10.3	River Scheme Sustainability Update	Withholding the information is necessary to avoid prejudice to measures that prevent or mitigate material loss to members of the public.	48(1)(a)(i) Section 7 (2)(e).	To remain in public excluded.

Minutes to be Confirmed

10.1 Public Excluded Monitoring and Operations Committee Minutes - 16 June 2020

Public Excluded Presentation

10.2 University of Waikato Lakes Chair Report

Information Only

10.3 River Scheme Sustainability Update

Attachment 1 - RSS Project Plan 2020

11. Public Excluded Business to be Transferred into the Open

12. Readmit the Public

13. Consideration of Items not on the Agenda



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Authoriser:	Sarah Omundsen

Chairperson's Report

Executive Summary

This report provides an update on key matters of interest for the Monitoring and Operations Committee members, including implementation of the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NES-FW) and S360 Regulations.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1 Receives the report, Chairperson's Report.

1. Purpose

This report provides an update on key matters of interest for the Monitoring and Operations Committee members.

2. Matters of Interest

2.1 Action for Healthy Waterways: National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NES-FW) and S360 Regulations

Staff have been preparing for the first tranche of changes brought about by the enactment of the NES-FW and S360 Regulations which will come into force from the 3rd September 2020. There have been some significant changes to the wording of the provisions following the consultation process that was carried out in late 2019.

Our approach following the release of the final wording of the NES-FW and S360 regulations has been to:

• Carefully work through the new provisions to understand exactly what they mean for Councils functions, powers and duties and when we can expect extra workload to start flowing through;

• Await guidance material from Central Government and Regional Sector working groups regarding how the provisions will be managed;

• Develop Bay of Plenty specific guidance material that takes into account how the new provisions mesh with our existing Regional Natural Resource Plan rules;

• Ensure our existing systems are fit for purpose to receive, store, assess for compliance, and report on the new information requirements of the legislation;

• Collaborate closely with other statutory agencies in Central and Local Government to ensure we gather any learnings and take opportunities to share information and solutions;

• Engage with key Rural Sector organisations to ensure that our communications are consistent as far as possible.

Requirements under the NES-FW and S360 Regulations are phased in over the next 5 years. However, provisions for Natural Wetland Protection, Fish Passage and some provisions for Feedlots, and Stock Exclusion (for new areas of farm land) will be “live” on the 3rd September 2020. Our initial approach will be:

a. Provision of advice and support in terms of understanding the new requirements on request from the community;

b. Proactively advise the rural community that the new provisions are in force and where they can get help to answer any questions;

c. Process any consent applications that are lodged as a consequence of the new provisions.

NES-FW provisions relating to Stock Holding Areas, Intensive Winter Grazing of Fodder Crops, Agricultural Intensification and Synthetic Nitrogen Application are phased in from the middle of 2021. S360 Regulations regarding the Measurement of Water Takes and Stock Exclusion from waterways are phased in commencing from 2022 and 2023 respectively.

The phasing of provisions from mid-2021 gives Council more time to prepare for the workload the new requirements will entail.

The consultation version of the new NES-FW and S360 Regulations included a requirement for Freshwater Farm Plans (FWFP’s) which would have provided an important tool for farmers to aggregate all of the new legislative requirements for their farming operations into one document that could be certified and audited. However, FWFP’s have been delayed awaiting the development of systems and advisory materials necessary for their implementation across the country. FWFP’s can still be brought into the statutory regime by the Minister for the Environment via S360 Regulations who has the ability to require FWFP’s by an area, region or part of the country depending on where water quality issues require them.

The proposed regime would see independent accredited people to act as Certifiers and Auditors of the FWFP’s that farmers develop. Council’s role is the receipt of FWFP certification and audit results and where requirements are not being met compliance and enforcement. Staff are connecting with Waikato Regional Council who are well advanced in terms of developing their approach to FWFP’s. They have generously offered to share any of their information that we require in the future.

2.2 2020 Funding Opportunities

2.2.1 Provincial Growth Fund

There are now 64 Provincial Growth Fund projects in the Bay of Plenty, with a total value of $310m. 38 of these projects are already underway. Appendix 1 provides a high level summary of where the projects are, level of funding they received and progress to date.

2.2.2 Crown Infrastructure Projects

Recent reports to Council provided details on our successful bids for flood protection/community resilience infrastructure projects. Council staff are currently working with MBIE officials to agree on contract documents for the total sum of $23M for six projects across the region, the main one being the completion of the Rangitāiki Floodway. The funding is across two years and contributes 75% of the total cost of these works. There are over 130 jobs expected to be created by the six projects.

2.2.3 Jobs for Nature

Other funding for environmental work has also been received, or announced, including new MPI funding for wallaby control and wilding pine control work (see agenda paper in this agenda); MPI funding for the Waihī estuary project, of approximately $1M; 1 Billion trees funding of approximately $1.5M across all native planting projects; Kia Kaha Whakatāne project funding of $2.1M via MBIE and Whakatāne District Council; and MfE funding of the Bay Conservation cadets programme, of $3.5M.

The Department of Conservation is also allocating jobs for nature funds in partnership with Bay of Plenty Iwi, with recent announcements for Te Arawa, Te Whānau Apanui and Ngāti Awa.

Further announcements are expected from both DoC and MfE shortly.

2.3 Resource Consents update

• We have received 161 resource consent applications so far this financial year. 7 were returned, none have been withdrawn, 10 are for lake structures and 32 are for bore installation.

• No discounts have been issued from 12 decisions made on new applications received within the financial year (to end of July). Overall, discounts had been issued on none of 51 decisions made.

• 2 of the 54 decisions made (to 21 August) were processed by consultants. All the rest were processed internally.

• 13 of 16 customers responding were either satisfied (7) or very satisfied (6) with the service provided (to end of August).

• A breakdown of the type of consents granted so far this year is shown below:

2.4 Regulatory Compliance update

2.4.1 Pollution hotline and complaint response

• 413 service requests have been received between 1 July and 21 August 2020 (see graph below), which is 12% lower than this time last year. 28% of these calls were received after hours, down from the 36% average.

• 60% of service requests were related to air quality – odour (117), smoke (85), agrichemical (24) and dust (9).

• 107 (29%) calls were substantiated, and of these 100% of customers surveyed were satisfied with the customer service they received.

• 67% of calls received were actioned on the day of receipt. 96% of calls were actioned within 3 working days.

2.4.2 Compliance monitoring

In the year to date, we have completed 764 site inspections, and received 2373 performance monitoring returns from consent holders. Compliance levels for site inspections are slightly lower than previous years (77%, compared to 84% from 2019/20). It is expected that this is due to seasonal variation and a smaller sample size; however, the compliance team will continue tracking results throughout the year and ensure that focus is directed towards any emerging areas of concern.

Of note, compliance levels for performance monitoring returns are much lower than previous years, with a marked increase in significant non-compliance, particularly in relation to water use data; this is likely the result of greater focus and resourcing to monitor and respond to non-compliance for water data in relation to both timeliness and daily use limits.

2.4.3 Enforcement

15 Abatement Notices have been served and 5 Infringement Notices were issued, totalling $2,850 in fines.

We currently have 13 cases before the courts. To date, we have received one decision from the court in relation to BOPRC v Kevin Davies, which was a prosecution for the burning of demolition waste in Rotorua. Davies was ordered to pay $14,000 in penalties, $5000 of which was paid to neighbours as reparations. Further information on this decision is available here: link

2.4.4 Managing odour complaints

At the last Monitoring and Operations Committee, Councillors asked for information on the process used to respond to and manage odour complaints.

1.1.1 Relevant rules

To determine if the discharge of odour beyond a site’s property boundary meets permitted activity rules we assess against Air Quality Rule 1 of the Bay of Plenty Regional Natural Resources Plan – Air Quality:

Any discharge of contaminants into air which is not subject to any other rule in this regional plan and excluding the discharge of dust to air associated with a plantation forestry activity, is a permitted activity provided the following conditions are complied with:

a) The discharge must not be noxious or dangerous, offensive or objectionable beyond the boundary of the subject property or into any water body.

1.1.2 Assessment

In assessing whether an activity is noxious, dangerous, offensive or objectionable, an officer acts as representative of the community at large, weighs all competing considerations and ultimately makes a value judgement on behalf of the community as a whole. Officers must consider whether an “ordinary and reasonable person” would consider the smell offensive and objectionable.

The dictionary definition of ‘offensive’ is giving or meant to give offence, disgusting, foul-smelling, nauseous, repulsive. ‘Objectionable’ is defined as ‘open to objection, unpleasant, offensive.

To determine if a discharge is offensive or objectionable, we make an overall judgment that considers the FIDOL factors as follows:

Frequency – how often an individual is exposed.

Intensity – the strength or concentration.

Duration – the length of exposure.

Offensiveness/character – the hedonic tone (pleasant, neutral, unpleasant) or type.

Location – the type of land use and nature of human activities in the vicinity of the source.

When assessing odour discharges we use the following approach:

a) An experienced, warranted Council Officer will make an assessment of the situation taking into account the FIDOL factors.

b) If the discharge is deemed to be offensive or objectionable by the warranted Council Officer, the discharger may be asked to take whatever action is necessary to avoid, remedy or mitigate the effects of the discharge on the environment.

c) If the discharger disputes the warranted Council Officer’s assessment or the problem is ongoing, then further evaluation may be required. This evaluation could include:

i. An assessment by another experienced, warranted Council Officer.

ii. For odour, monitoring using olfactometry or other appropriate technology.

iii. For particulates, monitoring of particulates beyond the boundary will be compared with the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality for particulates if people may be exposed.

Rules are written consistently across New Zealand Regional Council Regional Plans and are based on MfE’s Good Practice Guide for Assessing and Managing Odour.

1.1.3 Proactive odour assessments

Our officers regularly carry out proactive monitoring of sites which are often subject to complaints via our 24/7 pollution hotline. Proactive odour monitoring allows Council to more quickly confirm if there is a problem and if so, capture evidence to convince the discharger to take action to resolve the problem, which saves time and resources. The complaint investigation and recording processes outlined above are also followed during proactive odour assessments.

2.5 Data Services update

Some interesting points about our data service function:

• If you live in Kawerau, Opotiki or Whakatane then the water out of your tap is regularly tested by our laboratory to ensure it meets Drinking Water Standards.

• Our rainfall data gets delivered to the MetService in real-time so that they can ground truth their radar imagery and improve forecasts.

• Our Aquarius database has over 6900 separate monitoring locations holding 1.25 billion individual pieces of environmental data.

• Our laboratory provides services to Taranaki Regional Council for periphyton analysis which is now listed as attribute in the NPS-Freshwater.

2.5.1 Volume of work

A key indicator that demonstrates the work being undertaken in the management of our surface water streams is the number of physical flow measurement surveys performed by staff in a year, refer Figure 1. The increase for the 2019/20 year demonstrates that additional activity that occurred during the drought period over the summer and autumn months.

Figure 1 Flow surveys performed annually

Laboratory samples received have been showing a drop of the preceding year (Figure 2), however the number of tests performed on those samples continues to rise (Figure 3). We are seeing a steady rise in the number of tests being received into the laboratory from external sources indicating we are filling a gap in local services.

Figure 2 Samples received.

Figure 3 Laboratory tests performed

2.5.2 Data Delivery

The continued drive to make the environmental data we collect available to users under ‘open data’ principles has recently see the delivery of surface water quality data added to Council’s Environmental Data Portal (https://envdata.boprc.govt.nz/Data/Dashboard/112).

The amount of data delivered to users of the Environmental Data Portal are shown in Figure’s 4 & 5. When looking at data delivered by type (Figure 4) there is a large quantity of surface water quality information reflecting that for every sample collected there are multiple analyses and datasets that result.

The next stage of development being progressed towards ‘open data’ is to bring ground water quality information to the Environmental Data Portal.

Figure 4 Datasets on the Environmental Data Portal by type

Figure 5 Monitoring sites presenting particular data type on the Environmental Data Portal.

A significant component of data delivery is the speed at which data is made available after collection and analysis and quality assurance. Figure 6 demonstrates the progress against one month and two month turnarounds of data, the big increase in the third quarter of the year was a positive outcome of the COVID-19 lockdown where field activity slowed temporarily allowing staff being to address the quality assurance backlog.

Figure 6 Quality assurance turnarounds from automated monitoring sites

Attachments

Attachment 1 - Provincial Growth Fund BOP Dashboard June 2020 ⇩



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Writer:	Reece Irving, Senior Regulatory Project Officer
Report Authoriser:	Sarah Omundsen, General Manager, Regulatory Services
Purpose:	To update committee members on issues and actions in the Mount Maunganui Industrial Airshed.

Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update

Executive Summary

This report provides an update on activities undertaken to improve air quality in the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area and Airshed. The report covers the period from late-May to mid-August 2020.

No breaches of the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NESAQ) were recorded at any of the monitoring stations located in the industrial area during the reporting period.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Tauranga City Councils both moved to act on the 19 June recommendation of the Tauranga Moana Advisory Group to explore what a managed retreat of polluting industries from the air shed might look like.

Work between local government agencies, including councils and the District Health Board continues as solutions are sought for issues faced by residents in Taiaho Place and Whareroa Marae, with a community health study being explored.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1 Receives the report, Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update.

2 Approves the terms of reference for the Mount Maunganui Air Quality Working Party.

3 Appoints members of Council to the Mount Maunganui Air Quality Working Party.

1. Introduction

This update continues the regular reporting on activities and actions undertaken to mitigate the impacts of industrial discharges to air in the Mount Maunganui industrial area. Air quality in the area has been perceived as degrading over a period of time as Port and industrial activity and vehicle movements have increased significantly in recent years. Regional Council has an extensive work programme underway to improve air quality in this area.

Following the expansion of Regional Council’s air quality monitoring capability in late 2018, several exceedances of environmental guidelines and the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NESAQ) were detected. Investigations of these exceedances have shown a single pollution source is seldom the cause and the cumulative effect of emissions from multiple sources is generally responsible.

1.1 Legislative Framework

The Mount Maunganui Airshed was gazetted as a polluted airshed under the NESAQ Regulations 2004, coming into effect in November 2019. The gazetting was based on breaches of the limits for fine particulate matter, PM_10.As per the regulations, five continuous years with no NES PM₁₀ breaches must be recorded for the polluted status to be reviewed.

1.2 Alignment with Strategic Framework

A Healthy Environment	We develop and implement regional plans and policy to protect our natural environment.
Safe and Resilient Communities	We work with our partners to develop plans and policies, and we lead and enable our communities to respond and recover from an emergency.
A Vibrant Region	We work with and connect the right people to create a prosperous region and economy.
The Way We Work	We look to partnerships for best outcomes.

Improving air quality in the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area requires staff from teams across the organisation to work closely with the community, other agencies and industry.

1.2.1 Community Well-beings Assessment

Dominant Well-Beings Affected

þ Environmental

Medium - Positive

þ Cultural

High - Positive

þ Social

High - Positive

þ Economic

Medium - Negative

Regional Council has a goal to improve the air quality within the Mount Maunganui airshed and ensure contaminants discharged to air are below the NESAQ limits at all times. Achieving this goal will have positive environmental, cultural and social affects for the Mount Maunganui area. However, significant investment from industry will be required which is likely to have short term economic impacts. Since the gazetting of the airshed, some industry have advised staff that they may delay or reconsider proposals to invest in plant or infrastructure due to uncertainty in their future in this location.

2. Updates

2.1 Monitoring and exceedances to date

No breaches of the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NESAQ) were recorded at any of the monitoring stations located in the industrial area during the reporting period.

A list of exceedances since the Airshed was gazetted is included in Appendix 1.

2.2 Tauranga Moana Advisory Group recommendations

At their 19 June 2020 meeting, the Tauranga Moana Advisory Committee recommended “the urgent development of an Action Plan in collaboration with Whareroa marae hau kainga and as a first step: commission an independent, comprehensive report to investigate the potential for instigating a managed retreat of pollutant industries from the Totara Rd site south of Hewletts Road and report back to this committee when completed.”

Advice was provided by Paul Beverley, Partner at Buddle Findlay, a respected RMA practitioner, jointly for Regional Council and Tauranga City Council. He recommended an initial scoping and issues report to start with, in collaboration with Whareroa Marae hau kainga. Both Councils have since resolved to progress this work and have engaged Paul, in partnership with Phil Mitchell of Mitchell Daysh. Paul and Phil will be meeting with all parties this month.

2.3 Mount Maunganui Air Quality Working Party Terms of Reference

At the 10 March 2020 Monitoring and Operations Committee meeting staff were asked to look at the feasibility of setting up a “Mount Maunganui Air Quality Working Party” based on the Rotorua Air Quality Working Party which was established in 2015.

A Terms of Reference for the Working Party has now been prepared, and is included at Appendix 2 for your approval.

The purpose of the Mount Maunganui Air Quality Working Party is to bring together agencies, communities and industry to formulate actions which will contribute to improving air quality in the Mount Maunganui Airshed.

To achieve this the Working Party will collectively inform an overarching goal, being zero exceedances of the National Environmental Standard, to benefit the health of impacted communities.

Nominations from Councillors are sought for membership on the Working Party.

2.4 Mount Industrial Environment Network Meeting

On 31 July the fourth meeting of the Mount Industrial Environment Network was convened. This forum was established in 2018 to give representatives of business and industry an opportunity for open discussion with council staff about issues in the area. The meeting was well attended with 55 delegates from a range of Mount Maunganui based industries. The meeting notes are attached as an appendix.

Some key concerns expressed by industry and being addressed by council staff include:

· The voices of the Whareroa community and Clear the Air community group are being clearly heard and acted upon by council, however there is a perception these are small groups whose concerns are being given unfair weight.

· Air quality monitoring from within the industrial area is not representative of what people in residential areas are being exposed to.

· A proposed investigation to a managed retreat of industry causes concern for new businesses or any industry wanting to expand.

· The rules relating to the gazetted airshed and off-setting PM10 emissions are not clearly understood and need clarifying.

· Council have not been clear with evidence as to why and how the Mount Maunganui airshed became polluted, and who is responsible for the pollution.

· The industrial area at Mount Maunganui is being unfairly targeted.

2.5 Communications and media

There has been a notable increase in media’s interest and social media attention on the Mount Industrial area, and especially the Whareroa Marae since the June 19 Tauranga Moana Advisory Group (TMAG) meeting. This has been prompted by presentations on behalf of the Whareroa hapū and the TMAG’s significant recommendation to commission a report into the potential for a managed retreat of pollutant industries. It also coincides with increased Facebook campaigning by the Clear the Air Mt Maunganui group and ensuing community interest in Mount industrial air quality and the Marae’s plight.

From mid-June to mid-July, the key coverage of Whareroa Marae’s concerns included local and national news outlets: TVNZ, NZ Herald, Bay of Plenty Times, One News and Marae TV. This included TV, print and online formats, with at least 11 published articles. General themes included heavy industries’ discussions about relocation, Whareroa seeking urgent action with a 10 year deadline, potential protest at the Port, Whareroa community’s health being impacted by toxic pollutants and the jet fuel tank farm consent. Social media conversations around this topic were active and centred around views of injustice, exposure to toxins and pollutants, industrialism colonialism, human health risks, land grabbing, a Royal Commission Enquiry and the proposed tank farm.

From mid-July to mid-August, there was continued interest in the Whareroa’s situation and their aspiration for industry to retreat from the Mount area. Media and social media coverage canvassed more industry specific matters at the Mount, such as the international sourcing and processing of phosphate at Ballance and the use of methyl bromide for log fumigation. Facebook commentary increased following the explosion in Beirut on 5 August, with questions asked about chemicals being stored at the Port and hazard management.

Regional Council and Tauranga City Council both put out media releases noting their commitment to address the community’s and Whareroa’s concerns at the Mount, and how they will scope out an investigation into the next steps for local industry, as recommended by TMAG.

2.6 Policy matters

A report to discuss provisions for the proposed Mount Maunganui Airshed plan change will be delivered to a Council workshop on 29 September.

The report will provide a background to, and justification for, the proposed plan change, including land use within the airshed, a history of air quality complaints, and subsequent increase in air quality monitoring and establishment of the airshed in 2019. The report will also refer to Plan Change 13 – Air Quality and the exclusion of certain emissions such as shipping and dust, as well as relevant legislation and regulatory reform.

The report will provide a range of options for the proposed provisions for consideration and the implications of those options. It is likely that this report will be followed by an issues and options paper, then stakeholder meetings.

The bulk solid materials rule and definition are still under appeal and going before the Court in October 2020. This matter is still confidential. The remaining provisions are beyond appeal and must be treated as operative.

2.7 Complaints received from Pollution Hotline

During the reporting period 208 calls were received by the Pollution Hotline relating to events within the Mount Industrial airshed. Of these, 193 related to air quality, with 150 of the total calls relating to pet food manufacturing odours from Ziwi.

All Category Calls Received in Mount Industrial Area 25 May to 13 August 2020
Category	Number of Calls	Percent of Calls
Water & Land	5	2
Coastal	10	5
Air	193	93
Total	208	100

Air Quality Calls Received in Mount Industrial Area 25 May to 13 August 2020
Category	Number of Calls	Percent of Calls
Dust	2	1
Smoke	2	1
Industrial	9	5
Odour	180	93
Total	193	100

Table 1: Breakdown by category of calls received by the Pollution Hotline, 25 May to 13 August 2020

2.8 Consent applications

There are currently nine businesses or activities that have applied for new consents, or are undergoing reviews of existing consents for discharge to air, land or water.

Lawters: The application has been accepted. An independent consultant has undertaken an assessment of the effects of the activity as well an assessment of the cumulative effects of discharges from Ballance, Lawter and Waste Management.

The information has been circulated to Lawters for their review. Council staff will then meet with Lawter to discuss how they will implement reductions in sulphur dioxide discharges as required. Lawter have requested public notification of their application.

HR Cement: The application has been accepted as complete under sec.88 of the Resource Management Act (RMA). The company are currently consulting with relevant iwi authorities.

The application is a high quality example of what other businesses should be doing in the air shed.

Higgins: The application has been accepted as complete and an independent technical review completed. This review highlighted several things that are required from Higgins, including undertaking a new stack test, a summary of the stack testing undertaken to date and to undertake dispersion modelling using the stack emissions testing results.

By undertaking more stack testing BOPRC will get a better understanding of actual use to inform new consent limits. Higgins is requesting a 10 year term even though they propose to move out of the airshed in the short term. This will form part of the ongoing conversation with Higgins as the consent progresses through processing.

Ziwi: The application has been accepted as complete with an independent consultant engaged to undertake a technical review. Ziwi have requested a 20 year term for their consent, as well as public notification.

Port Operators (Matariki, Timberlands & TPT): Three consents are all being processed together. They are the dust discharge applications from the log yards at the Port. The applications were lodged in November 2019 and we asked for further information to quantify the volume of dust anticipated to be discharged and some modelling to demonstrate how far that might travel (so that an assessment of potentially affected parties could be made). The applicants are still working to provide the information requested.

Genera: have applied for a reconsent of their fumigation activities (RM19-0663). That consent was lodged in October 2019 and further information was requested in December. That information is being returned in parts, with the modelling being provided mid-August. The only outstanding matter is the Cultural Impact Assessment, which we expect to come in shortly. The application will be publicly notified in September.

Timaru Oil: this tank farm application is currently on hold pending a TCC notification decision on holding a joint hearing. BOPRC are proceeding on a limited notified basis. TCC have received their landscape assessment and are in the process of making an s.95 (notification) recommendation.

Allied Asphalt: A consent has been lodged and a further information request has been sent.

Waste Management: a meeting was held with Waste Management on 16/07/2020 to get an update on their application before progressing it to make sure there haven’t been any major changes. The applicant has provided information on their production hours and new odour mitigations they have installed. An independent technical review is being undertaken after which the application will be further progressed.

2.9 Methyl Bromide update

A five day Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) hearing for the reassessment of Methyl Bromide (MB) was completed on Monday 17 August 2020. This involved over 6000 pages of presented evidence and 72 submissions. This followed an application by the timber industry in April 2019 to amend the controls for the use of MB and the definition of recapture.

The last reassessment of MB in 2010 required that any use beyond October 2020 would be recaptured to 5parts per million (ppm). The industry sought a change in the recapture definition to mean a reduction of 30%, corresponding to a gas concentration of 10,000ppm or more. They also requested that any requirement for recapture from ships be deferred for another ten years.

The Bay of Plenty remains the only region in the country where a significant amount of recapture occurs, 75% of all fumigated log stacks and 100% of all fumigated log stacks have recapture applied. This is because of resource consent conditions which required the step-wise introduction of recapture. The EPA staff recognised this and referred to their particular interest in Council’s submission based on our experience.

In addition to a written and verbal submission by the Regional Council, the community groups Tauranga Moana Fumigant Action Group (TMFAG) and ‘Clear the Air’ (led by Emma Jones and involving Whareroa Marae) both made submissions. A protest was planned at the Port entrance during the hearing however this was postponed due to Covid.

All submissions can be viewed on the EPA website, under ‘Hearing’. (https://www.epa.govt.nz/public-consultations/in-progress/reassessment-of-methyl-bromide/).

A short time before the hearing Council staff carried out some air monitoring downwind from a ship venting methyl bromide, which despite wind conditions being ideal for rapid dispersion and mixing, recorded an alleged exceedance of the Tolerable Exposure Level (TEL). This formed part of the evidence provided by staff to the EPA. Independent air dispersion modelling in relation to the venting of MB, resulted in EPA staff recommending a buffer distance for ship ventilation of between 1,000m and 1,900m for protecting the health of the public, depending on if recapture was used. This contrasts with a draft modelling report provided by the applicant that the safe distance for ship fumigation was 20m.

2.10 Regulatory Compliance

A number of industries in the Mount Industrial Area hold consents with both the Tauranga City Council (TCC) and Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC). These regulate various activities associated with those industries. Both councils conduct routine monitoring activities to ensure those industries comply with their respective consents and the Resource Management Act (RMA) in particular.

Due to concerns voiced by the community at Whareroa, we have sought to find a way to maintain a greater presence in the area to supplement the consent monitoring each council is undertaking. Now by working together, we essentially visit the area every other day. Although the two councils monitor different issues, we have agreed to let each other know if we detect an issue that falls within the other council’s mandate. In so doing we are able to pool our resources and maintain a greater presence in the area.

One infringement notice was issued in the airshed in July 2020 for a discharge of contaminants to the stormwater system that entered the harbour.

Health impacts of air quality in the Mount Airshed

Toi te Ora attended the 10 March 2020 Monitoring and Operations Committee, and presented modelling information estimating the health impact of PM10 on the wider Mount Maunganui and Ōmanu areas. In their view, there are preventable illnesses in the community, caused by the current PM10 levels in the Mount Airshed.

Improving air quality in the area is a clear priority for Council. However, given the significant concerns that the Whareroa community have about their physical and mental well-being given they are residing within an Industrial Zone, staff have been working hard to engage a number of agencies to expedite an improved health outcome as soon as possible.

In particular, the Bay of Plenty District Health Board and Western Bay Primary Health Organisation have pledged joint resources with us to work together on understanding this collective issue.

3. Considerations

3.1 Climate Change

The matters addressed in this report are related to air quality and climate change impacts are not considered as part of the discussion.

3.2 Implications for Māori

Ngāi Tukairangi me Ngāti Kuku ki Whareroa are the Ngāi Te Rangi hapū affiliated with Whareroa Marae and with whom Regional Council staff have been endeavouring to foster closer relationships to ensure council actions will have direct and positive impacts on the Taiaho Place and papa kainga communities. Staff have also been working hard to ensure the communities are connected with agencies such as Ministry for the Environment and Toi te Ora.

3.3 Community Engagement

INVOLVE

Whakaura

To work directly with affected communities throughout the process to ensure that their issues and concerns are consistently understood and fully considered in Council’s decision making.

3.4 Financial Implications

There are no material unbudgeted financial implications arising from this report and it fits within the allocated budget.

4. Next Steps

Staff will continue to update this Committee on all work underway to improve air quality in the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area. The Associate Minister for the Environment has also requested six monthly updates from the Regional Council on this work, and the current report will be sent to her as part of this update.

Attachments

Attachment 1 - Mount Maunganui Industrial Airshed monitoring and exceedances ⇩

Attachment 2 - Mt Maunganui Air Quality Working Party Terms of Reference for Councillor approval ⇩

Attachment 3 - Mount Industrial Environment Network Meeting Notes ⇩



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Writer:	Shane Grayling, Biosecurity Team Leader
Report Authoriser:	Chris Ingle, General Manager, Integrated Catchments
Purpose:	This report presents the Bay of Plenty Regional Pest Management Plan Annual Report for 2019/20 as required by the Biosecurity Act.

2019/20 Annual Report for the Regional Pest Management Plan

Executive Summary

The Biosecurity Act 1993 requires Council to prepare and make publicly available, an Annual Report on the implementation of the Regional Pest Management Plan’s Operational Plan. Staff have prepared an Annual Report (attached). This paper provides a high level summary of the Annual Report noting the highlights of the last year.

Most pest programmes (74%) are tracking well towards meeting their programme objectives. Our surveillance work continues to identify new pests, with the identification of Cape Tulip at Te Puna being the most significant.

Increasing effort is being put into working with iwi to deliver programmes within their rohe which is improving results against some of more problematic pest issues.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1 Receives the report, 2019/20 Annual Report for the Regional Pest Management Plan.

1. Introduction

This paper presents the 2019/20 Regional Pest Management Plan (RPMP) Annual Report and Biosecurity Activity highlights from 2019/20.

1.1 Legislative Framework

The Regional Pest Management Plan for the Bay of Plenty 2011–2016 (RPMP) became operative on 30 September 2011. Council’s Operations, Monitoring and Regulations Committee then approved an Operational Plan to implement the RPMP on 19 October 2011, which has been updated annually.

Section 100B(2) of the Act requires a report on the implementation of the Operational Plan be prepared each financial year. This report must be provided to Council and then made publicly available.

1.2 Alignment with Strategic Framework

A Healthy Environment	We develop and implement regional plans and policy to protect our natural environment.
The Way We Work	We look to partnerships for best outcomes.

Through the implementation of the Regional Pest Management plan and delivery of the Operational Plan Council is delivering its legislative responsibilities to provide regional leadership for pest management and protect our natural environment from pest species. In doing this we look for partnership opportunities to improve delivery and the strategic management of key issues. Partnerships have been implemented with Ministry for Primary Industries, Department of Conservation, Waikato Regional Council, eg, Te Arawa Lakes Trust, Tūhoe Manawaru Tribal Authority, Tauranga Moana Biosecurity Capital, and Lakes Water Quality Society.

1.2.1 Community Well-beings Assessment

Dominant Well-Beings Affected

þ Environmental

High - Positive

þ Cultural

High - Positive

þ Social

High - Positive

þ Economic

Medium - Positive

Protection of values from the impacts of pests, whether they be environmental, cultural or social, are key drivers for the Biosecurity Activity and the delivery of the Regional Pest Management Plan. The management of new incursion and low incidence pests (Eradication species) aims to prevent the impact of highly problematic species on the Bay of Plenty.

The management of pests at key sites also protects cultural values. Council looks to engage tāngata whenua and hapū to help deliver the work and manage biosecurity issues in their community, examples of this include Rotorua Lakes, Matakana Island, East Cape and Ruatāhuna.

Where possible, local contractors are engaged to improve local engagement in pest issues and provide local employment.

2. Regional Pest Management Plan Annual report for 2019/20

The Annual Report highlights progress with key pest programmes and provides a summary of work for each Exclusion/Eradication and Containment Pest.

One new to region species was detected in 2019/2020, Cape Tulip (note, Cape Tulip has been present in the region previously). This was discovered as part of Council’s Regional Surveillance programme which is designed to discover ‘new to region’ pests. As Cape Tulip is a National Interest Pest, it will be managed by the Ministry of Primary Industries.

A number of new incursions and eradication species sites have been found from proactive surveillance programmes, including new sites of sagitarria, creeping gloxinia, noogoora bur, rough horsetail and Asian paddle crab. Surveillance and control programmes are currently in place to manage these threats, and the early detection of these infestations increases the likelihood of local eradication being achieved quickly and efficiently.

Overall, 74%, pest programmes are considered on-track to meet their RPMP management objectives. However, 19% of pest programmes are at risk of failing their objectives and 7% will not achieve their objectives (Catfish, woolly nightshade and green goddess lily).

Good progress continues with eradication programmes. Partnerships with research institutions such as the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) are resulting in the latest research findings being incorporated into control programmes increasing effectiveness. In total, 33% of the eradication sites currently being managed across the region are at zero density (the goal of the programme). Increases in pest numbers were found at only 21% of sites.

Most containment pest programmes are also progressing well. Innovation has become a big part of managing these more established pests, more efficiently. Trials with infrared technology, mobile data capture applications, and new control technology, continue to evolve and are beginning to allow us to scale up our efforts.

The spartina programme at Maketū estuary, which utilises local Contractors, is tracking nicely toward eradication. It is estimated that the infestation has been reduced by 98% over two control seasons and only small patches remain. Testing to determine if the herbicide left any residues has been carried out with none detected.

While Covid 19 restrictions prevented or slowed the delivery of most programmes the impact was minimal on most programmes apart from catfish, where the significant increase in fish caught might be associated with spawning success during the lockdown period.

There was a significant increase in the number of catfish caught (62,413 or a 150% increase) which is concerning. The ‘Catfish Killaz’ community trapping programme, managed by Te Arawa Lakes Trust, controlled 24,320. Investment in the development of effective control tools will be critical for this programme to be successful long term.

Challenges remain with the management of woolly nightshade on unoccupied or unmanaged land. While progress has been achieved at some sites, gains made are hard to maintain without a significant change in land-use. This species is unlikely to meet its current RPMP management objectives, primarily due to the fact that it is widespread, rapidly distributed across the landscape by birds, and has an incredibly fast transition from seedling to flowering plant (4-6 months compared with 3-4 years for wild ginger).

An exciting development for the coming years is the Government post-Covid recovery work and the ‘Jobs for Nature’ funding announced in the 2020 budget. Significant funding has been allocated to wilding conifer and wallaby control. This significant financial investment by central government will strengthen Council wallaby and wilding conifer work, as reported separately.

3. Considerations

3.1 Risks and Mitigations

There are no significant risks associated with this report.

3.2 Climate Change

The matters addressed in this report are of a procedural nature and there is no need to consider climate change impacts, though it is noted that the pest management activities generally have positive effects on climate change, particularly the control of browsing animal pests such as wallabies.

3.3 Implications for Māori

Opportunities for meaningful engagement with Māori are fundamental to the delivery of the Regional Pest Management Plan. Council looks for opportunities to engage and partner with Māori. Collaboration continues with Te Arawa Lakes Trust to manage the catfish programme and more recently with the national wallaby programme. Strong relationships have been built with hapū on Matakana Island, East Cape and at Ruatāhuna where Council have engaged hapū to manage Biosecurity issues in their communities. The relationships are mutually beneficial and through the Biosecurity programme more opportunities will be investigated moving forward.

3.4 Community Engagement

INVOLVE

Whakaura

To work directly with affected communities throughout the process to ensure that their issues and concerns are consistently understood and fully considered in Council’s decision making.

One of the outcomes of the Regional Pest Management Plan is for our communities to be experienced and effective pest managers. We do this by providing technical advice, best practice guidelines and look to engage in community events to inform and educate on key biosecurity issues. Council received 803 public enquiries during the year and attending a number of events to support engaged communities and inform others.

3.5 Financial Implications

There are no material unbudgeted financial implications and this activity fits within the allocated budget.

4. Next Steps

The attached Operational Plan report documents the highlights and challenges for the year. The biosecurity programme is a dynamic programme there are a number of variables that impact our success. Overall the programme is tracking well and the goals of the programme are likely to be achieved for 74% of the species we manage. Staff continue to look for opportunities to collaborate and innovate which brings strength to the programme. We are working closer than ever with local communities and Iwi/hapū and believe this is critical for programme success.

Attachments

Attachment 1 - Regional Pest Management Plan RPMP Annual Report 2019-2020 - Draft ⇩



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Writer:	Steve Pickles, Regulatory Compliance Specialist and Glenn Ellery, Data Services Manager
Report Authoriser:	Sarah Omundsen, General Manager, Regulatory Services
Purpose:	To provide a summary of the 2020 drought and water shortage event, and highlight focus areas to enable better management in future events

Review of the 2020 Drought and Water Shortage Event

Executive Summary

The summer of 2019/20 saw some of the lowest ever recorded stream flows in the Bay of Plenty, which were the result of very dry conditions experienced since early 2019.

Although much of the Bay of Plenty was affected, the most sustained low flows were in the western extent of our region where very little rainfall was recorded in the area until May 2020. This, coupled with high horticultural water demand and the pressures of operating through the lockdowns associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, meant responding to the event was challenging. Notwithstanding this, management of the water shortage event was undertaken in accordance with the recently adopted Water Shortage Standard Operating Procedure.

There were examples of success during the management of the event as well as some valuable lessons learnt. This report summarises the event, including describing the difference between a drought and a water shortage event, and details some of the challenges that were encountered during the management of the event. It also introduces new assessment reporting tools will assist in early identification of upcoming drought situations, and inform any responses required to manage future water shortage events.

Following review of the response to the event, it is expected that changes to the Standard Operating Procedure will be presented to the Strategy and Policy committee for consideration before the end of 2020.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1 Receives the report, Review of the 2020 Drought and Water Shortage Event.

1. Introduction

The summer of 2020 brought severe drought conditions to the North Island of New Zealand following prolonged spells of hot and dry weather. In the Bay of Plenty these dry conditions were reflected by record low surface water flows in parts of the region.

This resulted in the development and implementation of the Council endorsed Water Shortage Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). A summary of the three level SOP is shown below. This was displayed on our water shortage webpage.

The SOP was extremely useful in guiding the response to the drought event. However some of the detail of the SOP was found to be challenging to implement. A short analysis of the SOP is included in this report.

The long, dry summer saw increased reliance on water resources for irrigation of horticultural crops and pasture, as well as high municipal demand. This coupled with very low stream flows created elevated risk to waterway health.

Unfortunately the worst of the drought coincided with the government implementing Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. This caused significant challenges for staff in getting out to physically assess the streams, which meant more reliance on the Council’s network of flow and rainfall monitoring sites.

On 20 March 2020 the response was escalated to Level 2 of the SOP. Although in some locations stream flows were very low (i.e. significantly less than 90% of Q₅7_day flows), the instream evaluation that was able to be carried out did not reveal any significant adverse environmental effects. On balance, and considering the implications of moving to Level 3 where a Water Shortage Direction would be issued, the decision was made to stay at Level 2. On 11 June 2020, the Chief Executive agreed to lower the Alert Level to Level 1.

2. Drought versus water shortage event

2.1 What is a drought?

Droughts commonly arise from a range of hydro-meteorological processes that supress rainfall creating conditions that are significantly drier than normal. These dry conditions can reduce surface water flows and/or lower groundwater levels. If extreme enough, this can result in impacts to the health of the waterbody, as well as affect an abstractor’s reliable access to water.

Droughts are a normal part of the climate and they occur in the Bay of Plenty region just as they do in any other climate around the world. However climate change predictions for the Bay of Plenty suggest more extreme wet and dry events will occur, so droughts are likely to become a more frequent occurrence over time.

It is important to note that the impacts of droughts can be varied depending on what is being affected, time of year, industry production cycles, antecedent conditions and other impacting environmental factors such as temperature and wind.

2.1.1 Central Government drought classification

Central government classifications are based on ‘adverse events’, of which there are three levels – localised, medium and large. These are used for applying recovery assistance measures and can cover events like drought, floods, fire, earthquakes and other natural disasters. The criteria for assessing the scale of an adverse event are:

• Options available for the community to prepare for and recover from the event;

• Magnitude of the event (likelihood and scale of physical impact), and;

• Capacity of the community to cope economically and socially to the impact.

On 12 March 2020 the government classified the whole of the North Island, as well as the top of the South Island, as a large-scale adverse event. As of September 2020 the classification remains in place.

MPI uses several criteria to help classify a drought as a large-scale adverse event, including the geographic extent and level of impacts, and whether farmers are coping and still have options and resources to manage through the event, an example being access to supplementary feed.

Through the course of the 2020 event staff had effective communication with MPI and other stakeholders through the Primary Sector Stakeholder group. This included providing the group with regular situation reports to support their decision making.

2.1.2 Defining a drought

Drought is a complex phenomenon which can be difficult to monitor and define. Where floods are generally associated with a discrete weather event (e.g. a storm), droughts on the other hand, are about the absence of water and as such are a creeping phenomenon that slowly builds and can sneak up and affect different sectors of the environment or economy on different time scales.

There are various established ways to try and define a drought in terms of its start/end, severity and impact. For our purposes, we have used rainfall as the primary indicator of drought type conditions^{^[1]} through an internationally recognised tool called the Standardised Precipitation^{^[2]} Index (SPI). This provides a presence/absence definition of drought type conditions and accommodates different impact scenarios. SPI compares current rainfall against a history of 30 years or more rainfall at a particular location.

SPI Drought types, their related impact examples and the analysis period^{^[3]} being used for each are presented in Table 1.

Drought Type	Related Impact Examples	SPI Analysis Period Used
Meteorological	Meteorological drought happens when dry weather patterns impact quickly on resources such as soil moisture. These may impact short duration uses such as horticulture or instream habitat.	1 month
Agricultural	Agricultural drought are those that may impact longer steps in a growing or production cycle and instream habitat. The impacted steps may be 1 - 6 months in duration.	3 month
Hydrological	Hydrological drought occurs when low water supply becomes evident in streams, reservoirs, and groundwater levels. These develop over longer timeframes usually after many months of meteorological drought.	12 month

2.2 What is a Water Shortage Event?

There is no decisive point that marks the start of a water shortage event and the Resource Management Act 1991 provides considerable latitude to Regional Councils to decide when it considers that there is a serious temporary shortage of water.

Water resources are part of the hydrological cycle and are ultimately replenished by rainfall. During periods of low rainfall, stream flows recede to base (low) flow conditions. Base flow is that portion of stream flow that is maintained from shallow groundwater, as opposed to direct surface flow following rainfall events. Base flow enters streams as diffuse seepage through the banks or bed, or by direct discharge from natural springs.

A water shortage event is where stream flow and groundwater levels reduce to a point where Council considers there is a serious temporary shortage of water (for example water use, cultural flows or the ability to support aquatic ecosystems is compromised).

The duration and magnitude of a water shortage event can be quite variable, and may encompass the entire region or be confined to a single catchment within the region.

When sufficient flow data is available, the onset of low stream flows can be predicted reasonably accurately based on the recession behaviour of a particular stream or river. Generally, a short period of rainfall will only temporarily elevate stream flow levels as surface runoff enters a river or stream. The river or stream can quickly return to a low level of flow in a short period of time.

Ground water behaviour is more complex with shallow and deep ground water resources often being connected, and as noted above contribute to stream flow during low rainfall periods. Rainfall and streams can also recharge ground water resources. Generally ground water resources are recharged in winter, when rainfall is high and temperatures are low, and are reduced in summer months. Periods of prolonged low rainfall or drought can affect the recharge of ground water resources and therefore those who draw water from them. In most ground water systems there are lag effects between rainfall and water levels in ground water aquifers.

3. Summary of the 2020 event

As stated earlier, lower annual rainfall over parts of the region during 2019 set the Bay of Plenty up for the drought conditions we experienced from early 2020. Routine reporting and monitoring of rainfall and stream flows was undertaken, which in part provided the urgency to develop the Water Shortage SOP.

On 20 March 2020 the response reached Level 2 of the SOP and a Water Shortage Event Manager was appointed. This prompted closer scrutiny of rainfall and stream flow, as well as regular weekly meetings with MPI and other stakeholders. Rainfall in the eastern parts of the region helped alleviate low flows, however the lack of sustained rainfall in the west meant low flow conditions were present up to late May.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, limited instream assessments were able to be carried out. However over the course of the event, two surveys of representative western bay streams were undertaken, with neither revealing any significant adverse ecological effects.

Although low flows in the west continued, small amounts of infrequent rainfall during late April through May generally meant that minimum flows in the west got to their lowest point in April. Given this, and the lack of observed effects, the decision was made to stay at Level 2 rather than moving to Level 3 where a Water Shortage Direction would be issued.

More regular and heavier rainfall fell in the western part of the region in late May and early June. Therefore on 11 June 2020, the Chief Executive agreed to lower the Alert Level to Level 1 i.e. normal water availability.

3.1 Rainfall and flow observations from the summer of 2020

3.1.1 Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) results

The development and severity of rainfall deficits can be seen by examining the SPI results. The 12 month SPI results show that the drought of 2020 had its beginnings in the summer of 2019 when low rainfall created deficits in the western Bay of Plenty, following very wet years in 2017 and 2018. Figure 1 highlights the trend towards the 2020 Hydrological Drought based on Tuapiro rainfall measurements.

Figure 1: 12-month SPI (Hydrological drought) based on Tuapiro rainfall data

Appendix 1 contains maps and hydrographs representing what was seen over the drought event. Some of the reporting methods and outputs shown did not exist prior to this event and were created to help support decision making. However these can now be generated automatically to support future events.

Figures 1 to 8 of Appendix 1 show the 12-month SPI figures represented as interpolation graphs across the whole of the Bay of Plenty. They show that rainfall throughout winter meant the 12-month SPI levels were near normal by August 2019. However by December 2019 the signal of drought in western Bay of Plenty was clearly evident. Severely dry conditions continued through the following months to May 2020, with peak extreme dry conditions in the west of the region being present in March.

The maps show the trend towards drought, with Figure 8 showing the start of the recession from severe drought conditions.

Staff are considering using the 1-month or 3-month SPI assessment tool as part of a decision matrix which is being developed to assist with future management of Water Shortage events. This is discussed further in section 3.4 of this report.

3.1.2 Stream flows

The impacts of the drought were represented by stream flows in some of the Council reference monitoring sites falling to below Q₅7_day flows, and in some cases to lowest ever recorded levels.

Figures 9–11 of Appendix 1 provide hydrographs from reference monitoring sites in eastern, central and western parts of the Bay of Plenty. Wherever the solid black line is seen at the bottom of the graph, then the stream reached the lowest ever measured flow.

3.1.3 Current State – as at 1 August 2020

July’s rainfall totals were generally lower than long term monthly rainfall averages. This has seen the redevelopment of a moderately dry signature in the western Bay of Plenty (refer Figure 2).

Figure 2: July 2020

NIWA’s predictions for August to October 2020 suggest La Niña type conditions are developing and these can lead to increased chances of subtropical systems affecting the north eastern parts of the country, similar to what was seen in Northland and Coromandel in the month of July. Current regional predictions are:

• Temperatures are very likely to be above average (60% chance).

• Rainfall totals are about equally likely to be near normal (40% chance) or above normal (35% chance).

• Soil moisture levels and river flows are most likely to be near normal (40-45% chance).

3.2 Planning framework

Regional Council has a duty to promote the sustainable management of the region’s water resources, especially during water shortage events, to safeguard the life supporting capacity of the region’s waterways and to avoid, remedy, or mitigate to an acceptable level the adverse effects of the use of the region’s water resources.

The Regional Natural Resources Plan (RNRP) provides direction regarding minimum flows:

The RNRP identifies a specific instream minimum flow (IMFR) for the Waitahanui stream but no other streams in the Bay of Plenty. Method 179 states that where an IMFR has not been established, the default instream minimum flow requirement will be 90% of the Q₅7_day low flow.

Policy 80: To use appropriate measures to restrict the take and use of water during hydrologic or meteorological drought events to ensure the instream minimum flow requirement is not breached as a result of abstraction, while recognising and providing for public health requirements.

Method 172: Manage water abstraction during drought/low flow events according to the following:

In some regions resource consents have special conditions attached relating to stream flows, requiring users to restrict or cease use once instream low-flow thresholds have been passed. Generally, such conditions are not in place in the Bay of Plenty, making s329 the only regulatory tool available to manage low flow. More recent consent conditions for surface water takes are now incorporating conditions advising that s329 restrictions may occur.

The purpose of limits to allocation is to prevent (or in the case of essential uses, reduce) the taking of water causing a breach of the minimum flow. Despite these methods in the operative plan, Council has not previously taken action to stop or reduce the taking of water.

3.3 Identified challenges with the Standard Operating Procedure

The Council adopted SOP details steps to be taken leading up to, and during, a water shortage event. As detailed above, the recent event operated through both Level 1 and Level 2 of the SOP. Table 2 summarises an assessment of the various tasks relevant to Level 1 and 2 of the SOP.

Table 2: Summary of tasks and issues identified from Level 1 and 2 of the SOP

Task	Comments
Situation reports. Regular updates on progress of the extent and magnitude of the current situation to the Water Shortage Event Manager	The frequency of the SitReps was increased as the drought conditions intensified. Information was shared with MPI and other stakeholders
Low-flow gauging and telemetry system maintenance	Limited low flow gaugings were able to be undertaken given Covid-19 restrictions
Interpretation and assessment of stream flow recessions/ground water reduction, weather forecasts and longer-term climate predictions	This is core business. Challenge with extrapolating permanent monitoring sites to wider catchment assessments
Stream flow recession/ground water reduction forecasting. Specific assessment as to when and where stream flows will reach critical levels
Science assessment of the adverse environmental effects of low stream flows on biota	Science advice was considered at Level 1 and used to inform the decision to move to Level 2. Limited benchmarking
Development of an up-to-date database of resource consent holders that may be affected	Consents database is up to date with data available to be reported on spatially. Automated notification of relevant consents holders will require further work to improve contact data
Identification of other water users (PA’s, s.14 and unauthorised)	This task is significant in the absence of any plan requirement to register PA takes. Future plan changes will assist addressing this
Development of a Communications Plan to all relevant stakeholders. Communication with general stakeholders	A communications plan was drafted early on during the event. Press releases were issued during the event
Engagement with iwi about the potential for restrictions to be imposed	Western Bay iwi were notified of the event and potential water restrictions, however engagement was unable to be carried out. Iwi engagement on low flow management has been identified as a critical component of the NPSFM workstream
Notification of water resources users and other Hort/Ag organisations. The aim is to provide one week’s warning of possible restrictions to water resource users as low stream flows recede	The WSEM gave weekly briefings to the MPI convened Primary Sector Coordination Group. In addition, press releases were issued during the event
CE, GM, LT and Councillors are to be kept appraised of the situation as it develops	The WSEM had regular direct contact with the GM Reg Services throughout the event, who then informed CE/LT and Cr’s of developments

3.3.1 Considerations when moving to Alert Level 3

One of the most challenging considerations during the event was at what point it might be appropriate to move to Level 3, and the implications of doing so for the community. Issuing of a Water Shortage Direction has never been undertaken in the Bay of Plenty before, and as such careful consideration was carried out. There was a general feeling that it was unlikely water users would have been prepared for restrictions should they have been imposed. In addition, given the Covid-19 restrictions, there was a lack of ability for staff to be in the field to monitor compliance with any restrictions imposed.

There were a number of issues that came up when considering moving to Level 3 including:

· Covid-19 significantly reduced our ability to manage the event. In particular we could not mobilise staff to monitor compliance with any issued Direction;

· Limited instream ecological assessments were able to be carried out, and those that were undertaken were only on a small number of sites. Results from the assessments did not identify significant adverse effects;

· Current Regional Plan policy states that where appropriate Council could apportion, restrict or suspend water takes (and discharges to waterways) when streams drop below 90% Q₅7_day flows. Although the wording gives direction for decision making, it also allows discretion. Note: This aspect of water quantity management was a key component of the PC9 process, and will be reviewed through the NPSFM process;

· Many of Council’s permanent flow monitoring sites are located at the top end of catchments, as they have historically been setup for flood management. In some cases these sites add limited value when dealing with low flow events;

· We could not confidently extrapolate from a permanent flow monitoring site to a wider water shortage “management zone”. This needs further assessment;

· We were unable to source sufficient information on cultural flow values, and whether they were being impacted on any of the region’s streams;

· No hierarchy of use has been established through a formal Policy process so limited direction for staff or users as to what water use should be targeted for restrictions first;

· Demand for water was high for municipal, horticulture and pastoral use. Any restriction would have resulted in potential for significant financial impacts as well as increased stress for users. Although not a primary consideration, it was taken into account when considering moving to Level 3;

· Given the SOP was adopted by Council in mid-March, at the time a drought was declared, there had been no ability to engage with stakeholders as to what possible restrictions would look like, or what they could mean to the industry;

· Although the extent of unauthorised takes is unknown, placing restrictions on consented water users could have penalised legal users, while unauthorised water users would continue to take. This was of concern given staff were unable to mobilise during Covid-19 restrictions, so could not easily respond to any reported cases of illegal abstraction;

· Currently only a small proportion of consented water users have telemetry. Therefore staff were largely unable to track “live” water use.

3.4 Future work and impacts

The following priority workstreams have been identified through the course of the event.

Work stream requirement	Desired outcome	Expected timeframe
Development of representative “Water Shortage Management Zones”	Defendable WSMZ’s are established and communicated to water users	Interim solution: 30 Nov 2020 Final solution: Through NPSFM 31 Dec 2024
Cultural flows are developed through engagement with relevant iwi across the region	Cultural flow limits are understood and available to be incorporated into a decision making matrix	Through NPSFM 31 Dec 2024
Develop key reporting and resourcing to identify and respond to drought	Required tools and resources are available to communicate efficiently with water users	Interim solution: 31 Dec 2020
Develop a clear and defendable decision matrix for Water Shortage Directions or other response tools	A decision matrix exists that supports decision making and can clearly communicate why a decision is made. This will incorporate and balance factors such as river flows, ecological health, cultural, user impact, future forecasts, etc	Interim solution: 30 Nov 2020 (see comments below) Final solution: Through NPSFM 31 Dec 2024
Refine reference monitoring network to support limit setting and drought management. Likely to require increased levels of monitoring	A fit for purpose monitoring network exists that informs the state of water resources	Will be considered through NPSFM development
Compliance with Water Shortage Directions or other requirements is known	Compliance monitoring of water use is available in near real time that accurately demonstrates usage	Metering Regs require telemetry by 2026. New consents require telemetry

Due to the rainfall deficits compared to historical norms continuing through much of this year, drought is a very real possibility for the coming summer months. In preparation staff are building upon the learnings from last summer and are developing a systematic process to inform water shortage direction decision making.

An impact assessment based process is currently under development that will assess individual factors including rainfall, river flows, ecological condition, cultural flow values (where available), water usage, forecasts and information from other sources e.g. NIWA’s regional drought reporting. These factors will inform a matrix assessment tool that will help support the movement between Water Shortage Direction levels and any actions that may result. The use of a matrix approach:

· acknowledges that it may not be a single trigger that leads to action but a series of cumulative effects and that depending on the time of year and area affected the impacts may be different, and

· provides reasoning that can be communicated to stakeholders for why a particular course of action was or wasn’t progressed.

3.5 Legislative Framework

Managing the effects of water takes during low flow events is a statutory requirement under the Resource Management Act. Although the Natural Resources Plan helps direct Councils’ response to low flow events, more stringent policies will be developed through the NPSFM process. These are expected to provide much stronger direction.

3.6 Alignment with Strategic Framework

A Healthy Environment	We manage our natural resources effectively through regulation, education and action.
Freshwater for Life	Good decision making is supported through improving knowledge of our water resources.

3.6.1 Community Well-beings Assessment

Dominant Well-Beings Affected

þ Environmental

Medium - Positive

þ Cultural

Medium - Positive

¨ Social

þ Economic

Robust management of water resources through low flow and water shortage events is critical to protect environmental, cultural and economic well beings.

4. Considerations

4.1 Risks and Mitigations

Workstreams identified in section 3.3 and 3.4 of the report have already been identified as key components of the NPSFM implementation. It is therefore considered appropriate to develop an interim solution recognising that a more formal and thorough policy process will be carried out over the coming three to four years.

4.2 Climate Change

It has been identified that climate change will likely bring more regular drought conditions to the Bay of Plenty. Therefore it is important to have robust and effective processes in place to manage water shortage events.

4.3 Implications for Māori

Council has a responsibility to sustainably manage the risks posed by over abstraction during low flow events. As kaitiaki, Bay of Plenty Iwi have an inherent interest in the long term health and management of the regions water resources. As such, iwi and hapū will have a critical role in defining appropriate cultural flows across the region.

4.4 Financial Implications

The response to the 2019/20 event was undertaken within existing activity budgets by redirecting staff time and resources in order to meet the response. Resourcing future work to improve the process and resolve outstanding issues will be considered through the LTP process.

5. Next Steps

Staff will work through the issues and workstreams identified in this report. It is expected that there will be a requirement to amend the current Standard Operating Procedure. Any significant changes to the SOP will be referred back through the Strategy and Policy Committee for consideration and adoption.

Attachments

Attachment 1 - Summary flow and rainfall information ⇩



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Writer:	Jessica Newlands, Senior Regulatory Project Officer
Report Authoriser:	Sarah Omundsen, General Manager, Regulatory Services
Purpose:	To provide an update on the status of wastewater in the Bay of Plenty Region

An Overview of Wastewater in the Bay of Plenty Region

Executive Summary

This report is an annual update to the Monitoring and Operations Committee on municipal wastewater (treatment, conveyance, and discharge) in the Bay of Plenty Region. There are 19 municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) servicing communities across the Bay of Plenty Region.

There are a significant number of challenges faced by Territorial Authorities in the operation of their wastewater treatment plants, which can result in failure to comply with their consent conditions. These challenges are experienced across the region, with a number of non-compliances identified throughout the 2019/2020 financial year, ranging from low-risk or technical non-compliance to significant non-compliance.

In addition to monitoring compliance for wastewater treatment plants consents, Regional Council is also working with Territorial Authorities to establish solutions for non-reticulated communities. This is feeding into the Plan Change 14 process (plan change relating to on-site effluent treatment requirements).

The best practice guide for the management of, and response to overflows from wastewater networks was completed in late 2019. All Territorial Authorities are now working in accordance with this Guideline

Central Government is currently working through a three waters reform programme. It is expected that further consultation on this will be sought soon.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1. Receives the report, An Overview of Wastewater in the Bay of Plenty Region.

1. Introduction

The attached report is an annual update to the Operations and Monitoring Committee on the current situation with regards to wastewater (treatment, conveyance, and discharge) in the Bay of Plenty Region.

There are 19 operational municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) servicing the various communities spread across the Bay of Plenty Region. The new wastewater treatment plants at Rotomā and Ongare Point are now operational.

There are six territorial authorities (TAs) responsible for the operation and compliance of these WWTP’s:

· Tauranga City Council

· Western Bay of Plenty Council

· Rotorua District Council

· Whakatāne District Council

· Kawerau District Council

· Ōpōtiki District Council

There is one WWTP operated by a community organisation (Kāingaroa Village inc).

1.1 Alignment with Strategic Framework

A Healthy Environment	We manage our natural resources effectively through regulation, education and action.
Freshwater for Life	We collaborate with others to maintain and improve our water resource for future generations.

A strong regulatory oversight of wastewater treatment plants and systems allows us to ensure we have a healthy environment as we can pre-empt issues and work with Territorial Authorities to solve problems relating to non-compliant discharges.

Collaboration and a good working relationship with TAs and Iwi is important to ensure we take a “no surprises approach”. The Regional Wastewater Management Group allows us to share ideas across the region. TAs that are more experienced in some areas can provide support to others.

1.1.1 Community Well-beings Assessment

Dominant Well-Beings Affected

þ Environmental

High - Positive

þ Cultural

Medium - Positive

þ Social

Medium - Positive

¨ Economic

Low - Positive

This assessment relates predominantly to the Community Reticulation section of this report. Encouraging the reticulation of certain communities reduces discharges of poorly treated wastewater which is a risk to not only the environment but to public health.

2. Main points from 2019/2020 Overview of Wastewater report

2.1 Wastewater Treatment Plant Compliance

There are a significant number of challenges faced by the TA’s in the operation of their WWTP’s, which can result in failure to comply with their consent conditions. These challenges are experienced across the region, with a number of non-compliances identified throughout 2019/2020, ranging from low-risk or technical non-compliance to significant non-compliance. These challenges include:

- Increased inflow over the summer months as the local populations dramatically increase,

- Infiltration into the pipe networks,

- Unforeseen mechanical and electrical failures,

- Aging infrastructure (both at WWTP’s and wastewater reticulation),

- High strength tradewaste discharges,

- Expected permanent population increase, and,

- A lack of funding for upgrades and maintenance.

There were no TAs that were fully compliant with their resource consents for the 2019/2020 reporting period.

The significant non-compliances recorded were for the following reasons:

Western Bay of Plenty District Council

- Katikati Waste Water Treatment Plant – Delay in submitting management plans and annual report, delays in submitting diffuser design, lack of outfall inspections, and heavy metal exceedance in discharge.

- Maketū Vermicomposting operation – No groundwater sampling, lack of site management plan, issues with onsite management of sludge and windrow formation.

Kawerau District Council

- Kawerau Wastewater Treatment Plant – Exceedances in contaminant levels in the treated effluent.

Ōpōtiki District Council

- Ōpōtiki Wastewater Treatment Plant – Low pond level, lack of site management plan updates, exceedance in number and volume of overflows – E.coli exceedances also related.

Rotorua Lakes Council

- Rotorua Wastewater Treatment Plant – Overland flow in the Whakarewarewa Forest irrigation block, lack of irrigation block/volumes reporting.

2.2 Bio-solids disposal

Solids that have been separated through the wastewater treatment process are known as bio-solids or sludge. Until recently the majority of the bio-solids generated in the Bay of Plenty were sent to landfill. The Western Bay of Plenty District Council has two resource consents which allow the discharge of bio-solids to land. Tauranga City Council has one consent.

The Ecocast composting facility in Kawerau recently underwent a consent variation process and can now accept the majority of the bio-solids generated in the Bay of Plenty. The Ecocast facility is the largest worm farm in New Zealand. All TAs now send bio-solids to Ecocast where it is mixed with wood waste and turned into a commercial compost. What was previously considered a waste material can now be used as a beneficial land conditioner – bio-solids can replenish organic matter, provide nutrients, and add trace elements that are not typically found in chemical fertilisers.

2.3 Network Overflows

Network overflows can present a risk to both the environment and the community. There are several factors that can lead to an unauthorised network overflow, including blockage as a result of wipes, congealed fat and roots.

Whilst emergency discharges from WWTP’s may be provided for by resource consent, network overflows are neither permitted nor consented. A Regional Wastewater Management Group, comprised of representatives from all of the TA’s, Toi te Ora and Bay of Plenty Regional Council, was set up in order to develop a best practice guide for the TA’s to follow in the reporting and management of overflows. This Guide was completed in late 2019 and all TAs are now working to this Guide.

2.4 Community Reticulation

There is a growing understanding around the link between on-site effluent treatment and water quality issues in lakes, rivers and coastal environments, particularly in small communities with a large number of very old septic tank systems, and/or small lot sizes.

Plan change 14 (OSET) to the Regional Natural Resources Plan proposes to recommend reticulation as best long term solution to protect the environment and human health for the following high risk areas:

• Mamakau Township,

• Lake Tarawera Settlement area,

• Lake Rotomā – Along State Highway 30 from Matahī Road to Oxford Road

• Lake Rotoiti – Hauparu Bay, Te Ruato Bay, Gisborne Point, Rotoi and Hinehopu

• Lake Rotoehu – Loop Road, School and campground, Ngamimiro Bay, Ōtautū Bay

• Matatā,

• Tara Road, Pāpāmoa.

Two communities have been connected to reticulation since the last report was presented – Ongare Point and Rotomā. Rotoiti is in the process of being connected.

Whakatāne District Council (WDC) has commenced engagement with iwi regarding the collaborative development of a three waters strategy. This will cover the management of water, wastewater and stormwater in the Whakatāne District, and involve investigations into treatment and discharge options (including for a Matatā Wastewater Scheme).

Rotorua Lakes Council (RLC) is awaiting the submission of a Cultural Assessment prior to progressing work on the Lake Tarawera Settlement area reticulation. This Assessment is expected soon.

2.5 Central Government Position

Central Government recognises that Councils are facing system wide challenges in the management and capability of their wastewater systems, and the broader delivery of three waters infrastructure. It is Central Government’s position that targeted reform of environmental regulation of wastewater services is necessary.

An establishment unit was created in November 2019 in order to set up Taumata Arowai (the new water services regulator). In December 2019, the Taumata Arowai – Water Services Regulator Bill was introduced to Parliament and had its first reading.

On 8 July 2020, the Government announced a funding package of $761 million to provide immediate post-COVID-19 stimulus to local authorities to maintain and improve three waters infrastructure, support reform of local government water services delivery arrangements, and support the operation of Taumata Arowai.

On 27 July 2020, the Water Services Bill was introduced to Parliament. The Bill contains all of the details of the new drinking water regulatory system, and provisions relating to source water protection and Taumata Arowai’s wastewater and stormwater functions. Subpart 7 relates specifically to the monitoring and reporting on environmental performance of wastewater and stormwater networks and Taumata Arowai’s role therein.

It is expected that further consultation on three waters reform will be sought soon.

3. Considerations

3.1 Climate Change

The matters addressed in this report are of a procedural nature and there is no need to consider climate change impacts.

However, the impacts of climate change on wastewater infrastructure is a significant issue facing TAs, particularly in low lying coastal areas. The Bay of Plenty Lifeline Utilities Group (Emergency Management Bay of Plenty is a member) is tendering for a full Climate Change Risk Assessment which will focus on infrastructure, including the Three Waters. The outcomes will inform adaptation by individual Lifeline Utilities (including TAs).

3.2 Implications for Māori

Maori have identified discharges of treated and untreated wastewater to water to be of concern, particularly where that discharge is to freshwater. New consents such as the Rotoiti/Rotoma WWTP have included pre-treatment in response to cultural impact assessments developed by the relevant iwi, and will use land treatment and disposal methods. Other consents require the formation of Iwi Liaison and Kaitiaki Groups.

· Staff understand that the key aspects identified by iwi include:

· Active involvement in monitoring both before and after the consent is granted;

· Consultation in the proposed WWTP design and disposal method;

· Sharing of information;

· Up-skilling of young people in environmental management and the RMA

· Introduction of aspects of matauranga Māori in monitoring and response to issues.

TAs are encouraged to notify tangata whenua of network overflows, and each TA is currently developing their own Iwi notification procedure following consultation.

3.3 Community Engagement

TAs have been provided with copies of the 2019/2020 Overview of Wastewater report with an opportunity to comment.

3.4 Financial Implications

This work was undertaken within the existing 2019/2020 budgets for the Regulatory Compliance Activity.

There are no material unbudgeted financial implications and this fits within the allocated budget.

4. Next Steps

Next update to Council will be in August 2021 for the 2020/2021 financial year.

Attachments

Attachment 1 - Overview of Wastewater in the Bay of Plenty Region FINAL September 2020 pdf ⇩



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Writer:	Hamish Dean, Consents Team Leader
Report Authoriser:	Sarah Omundsen, General Manager, Regulatory Services
Purpose:	To update and inform the committee on the activities and performance of the Resource Consents Team during 2019-20

Resource Consents Annual Report 2019/20

Executive Summary

This report provides a summary of the activities and performance of the Resource Consents team in 2019/20. Team KPIs were exceeded this year with just 2.8% of applications receiving discounts and an 84% customer satisfaction score. Other key points are:

· 95% of non-notified applications were processed within statutory timeframes;

· 60% of applications were processed within 40 working days;

· 846 consent applications were received along with 348 applications to change existing consents;

· Land use consents were the most numerous issued although high numbers of discharge and water take consents were also issued.

· A range of notable consents were progressed during the year including the Taniwha Springs municipal water take and the long-awaited Pukepine discharge.

· Staff have been involved with three court processes during the year.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1 Receives the report, Resource Consents Annual Report 2019/20.

1. Introduction

This report provides an update to Council on the activities and performance of the Resource Consents team during the 2019/20 financial year. The team has met Key Performance Indicators for discounts on consent processing fees and customer satisfaction. Application numbers were slightly lower than the previous year but complexity of applications continues to increase. The team were involved in a number of high profile and interesting applications during the year and these are summarised below.

1.1 Alignment with Strategic Framework

A Healthy Environment	We develop and implement regional plans and policy to protect our natural environment.
Freshwater for Life	We listen to our communities and consider their values and priorities in our regional plans.
The Way We Work	We provide great customer service.

1.1.1 Community Well-beings Assessment

Dominant Well-Beings Affected

¨ Environmental

High - Positive

¨ Cultural

Medium - Positive

¨ Social

High - Positive

¨ Economic

High - Positive

This report is for information only and although the work of the Resource Consents team does impact on community well-beings no changes are proposed here.

2. Consent Processing

2.1 Statutory Timeframes

95% of all non-notified consents were processed within the statutory timeframes, up from 82% the previous year (Figure 1). This resulted in just 2.81% of applications receiving discounts which achieves the KPI of <5%. This is a considerable improvement. There was also a small improvement in processing efficiency: 60% of all consents were processed within 40 working days (this measure doesn’t take into account any ‘clock stops’), which was up from 54% the previous year. In many cases the total time taken to process a consent is affected by external factors such as waiting for the applicant to provide additional information or waiting for tangata whenua feedback.

Figure 1: Consent processing efficiency between 2016 and 2020

2.2 Applications

During the 2019/20 Financial Year, 846 applications for resource consents were received, averaging just over 70 applications per month. In addition, 338 applications for changes to existing consents were received.

Figure 2: Trends in Consent applications between 2016/17 and 2019/20 Resource Consent applications received in the 2019/20 Financial Year

These numbers were not significantly different from the previous year when 852 new applications and 346 change applications were received (Figure 2). Of the applications received in the 2019/20 year, 1,111 (94%) were allocated to staff and 73 (6%) were allocated to consultants for processing.

2.3 Activity Type and Location

Land use consents were the most numerous of those issued in the 2019/20 financial year, followed by discharge and water take/use consents (Figure 3). Activities in the beds of rivers and lakes comprised 12% of consents issued while coastal consents made up just 1%.

The highest number of applications came from the Rotorua District, resulting from the renewal of lake structure consents, PC10 land use consents, and geothermal takes. Western BOP applications included a range of activity types while those from Tauranga City were dominated by earthworks applications.

Figure 3: Consents issued by activity type and applications received by Territorial Local Authority Area.

2.4 Returns and withdrawals

Resource consent applications are returned at the start of the process if they do not contain the information required, and staff provide guidance to applicants in relation to the gaps in returned applications.

Applications can also be withdrawn by applicants at any stage in the process. This often happens if plans change or consents are unlikely to be supported.

Figure 4 below shows the numbers of returned and withdrawn applications since January 2016 (through to 21 August 2020).

Figure 4: Returned and withdrawn applications

2.5 Complexity of consents

How complex an application is can have a significant impact on the time spent to process it. We do not directly collect data on the complexity of an application because it is too subjective, but time spent per application gives an indication of the complexity. In the 2019/20 financial year the average billable time spent on an application was 12.4 hours (Figure 5). This was only slightly up from the previous three years but the proportion of applications that took longer than 30 hours to process has increased considerably. In 2016/17 only 1.8% of applications took longer than 30 hours to process while in 2019/20 this had increased to 11.4%.

Figure 5: Average time to process an application and proportion of applications that took longer than 30 hours to process.

The complexity of consent applications is driven by the complexity of the activity being proposed but we have also seen an increase in the involvement of external parties such as tangata whenua, neighbours, and community groups over the last few years, which makes the processing more complex and time consuming.

3. Customer Service

Customer service remains a priority of the team and we are continuously improving in this area.

All decisions sent to consent applicants are accompanied by a customer satisfaction survey. In the 2019/20 year around 15% of applicants responded to the survey resulting in an 84% satisfaction score, which achieves the team KPI of 80%. This was up from 77% the previous year.

An example of great customer service from the team is the approach that Consents Planner Aleisha Mitchell took when dealing with an application for a cleanfill site at Clarke Road, Te Puna. Aleisha arranged an on-site meeting between the applicant and concerned neighbours and iwi to talk through the application. Aleisha got this feedback from one of the neighbours:

A more targeted investigation into customer service was completed in April and involved interviews with 13 planning consultants and applicants who regularly deal with the Resource Consents team. The work provided some valuable insights for the team and has become the basis for a series of improvements to the way we work. One of the issues raised by several of those interviewed was the difficulty they have with engaging with tangata whenua. This prompted a similar piece of work where 11 tangata whenua Resource Management representatives were interviewed about their experiences interacting with our team. This deep dive into customer service and tangata whenua engagement will be reported more fully to Council in a separate report in November.

A detailed report on the feedback received through the ongoing consents satisfaction survey was presented at the 16 June meeting of this committee. Those results were representative of the results for the financial year.

4. Team Activity

4.1 Fit for Purpose

Two significant changes have been made to the team during the year. Two new Principal Advisor roles were created to take the lead on technical planning matters and provide technical leadership to consent planners. The second significant change was to establish a full time Duty Planner role to field enquiries from the public via phone and email. In the past, this has been shared around the team but the new approach is proving to work very well and we have received great feedback, such as this comment from the call centre staff:

4.2 Covid-19 Lockdown

As for the rest of the organisation the Covid-19 response in March/April required that we re-assess the way we work. The first week of lockdown saw a reduction in consent applications before they picked up to near-normal levels in the second week. In comparison to previous years (Figure 6) there was a slight reduction but we continued to process consents within the prescribed timeframes, allowing applicants to get on with their business immediately after the interruption.

Figure 6: Consent applications and decisions during the lockdown period (26th March - 13th May 2020) compared to the same period for the previous four years.

5. Projects and Significant Consents

A range of significant or notable consents have been processed during the 2019/20 year.

5.1 Notable Applications and Hearings

Number	Applicant Name	Status
RM18-0294	Rotorua Lakes Council	Processing – non-notified
Municipal water take from Taniwha Springs. After many years of disagreement between Ngāti Rangiwewehi and RLC about the use of Pukehaua Puna (Taniwha Springs) as a municipal water take, they filed a joint application to renew the take. The proposal involves moving the pumps and intake back from the spring and below ground level so that the spring was uncovered and returned to a more natural state, as well as a viewing platform and walkways. Significantly, this consent is being processed non-notified as opposed to the last time it was renewed when it was appealed through to the Environment Court.
Number	Applicant Name	Status
RM18-0384	Polynesian Spa Ltd	Approved
Geothermal take. The applicant applied for a 10-year term for their geothermal take consent renewal but it was issued with an expiry date of 2026 so that it aligned with the expiry of their existing discharge consent. This makes the activity manageable as a whole. The applicant objected and a virtual hearing was held during lockdown. An independent commissioner dismissed the objection and the consent was issued. The commissioner considered that aligning the two would result in a better overall ‘systems’ management approach.
Number	Applicant Name	Status
RM18-0457	MMS GP Ltd	Withdrawn
Earthworks on Opihi Spit. This application sought approval for earthworks on the Opihi Spit in Whakatane for a new residential subdivision. Staff worked hard with the applicant to improve environmental outcomes. It was withdrawn this year and the applicant intends to submit a revised plan that complies with the structure plan and has a lighter environmental footprint.
Number	Applicant Name	Status
66758	Pukepine Sawmills (1998) Ltd	Approved
Pukepine Sawmills (1998) Ltd applied for a new resource consent to authorise the discharge of stormwater from a sawmill to Factory Drain at 274-290 Jellicoe Street, Te Puke, on 28 April 2011. The application, as lodged, recognised a number of non-compliances with the previous consent and recommended a number of remedial actions. Further information was sought from the applicant and an extension of the statutory timeframes agreed to while the applicant undertook work to improve the discharge quality. The initial actions did not result in any significant improvement in the discharge and in 2016 the applicant provided a concept design of a treatment system and site upgrades, which it committed to install. The works, which began in 2016 and were completed in 2018, included re-diversion of roof stormwater, sealing parts of the site, diversion of all yard stormwater to two central treatment ponds and the treatment and discharge of condensates to trade waste. The application was notified in February 2017 and seven submissions in opposition were received. A hearing was held in August 2019 and the consent granted on 6 September by a panel of independent commissioners.
Number	Applicant Name	Status
RM19-0361	Te Whanau a Maruhaeremuri HapuTrust	Approved
Water take from the Raukokere River. This large water take will support the hapū’s plan to develop 1,000 ha of high-value horticulture over the next 20 years. Staff worked closely with the hapū through the process and the application addressed cultural aspects, efficiency, ecological effects of taking the entire allocation of a river, low flow conditions, staging of the water take, and a water management plan designed in accordance with schedule 7 of the plan.

5.2 Mount Airshed

The Mount Industrial area has been the subject of numerous complaints, specifically for dust and odour. Sulphur dioxide emissions and methyl bromide are also contaminants of concern to residents and particularly to the Whareroa Marae. Plan Change 13 increased the number of discretionary activities. As a result, a pet food factory, a cement manufacturer and bulk cargo handling in the Mount now need to obtain a consent.

Increased air quality monitoring undertaken by the Regional Council has identified breaches of the National Environmental Standard for Air Quality (NESAQ) and as a result the Mount Airshed was gazetted as a polluted airshed on 29 November 2019. Regulation 17 of the NESAQ requires Council to decline any new application for a discharge above 250ug/m3 of PM10 unless the discharge is offset. This will place a ceiling on point source discharges of particulate matter, but it is difficult to quantify diffuse discharges.

In 2018 the Regional Council undertook modelling of the sulphur dioxide discharges, which has assisted with the cumulative assessment of the discharges from Ballance, Lawter and Waste Management. Lawter and Waste Management have lodged new applications which are still being processed, while Ballance’s existing consent is under review to reduce the consented discharge limit. Ballance have undertaken equipment upgrades which have reduced their discharge significantly.

The Regional Council are currently processing eight applications for discharges to air in the Mount industrial area and one for bulk fuel storage.

5.3 Court Processes

Three resource consent applications were subject to court processes in the 2019/20 year.

Consent Number	Applicants Name	Proposal	Court	Process Completed
RM17-0678	Transpower	Remove existing power infrastructure from Rangataua bay and replace with infrastructure in the road corridor.	Environment Court and High Court	Yes – Appeal refused and consent granted.
Key issues in the appeal were whether alternative options should have been more thoroughly considered and whether the removal of one set of lines and the establishment of the other could be considered as one activity (i.e. bundled). The court found that alternatives had been appropriately dealt with and that it was appropriate to assess the effects of both the removal and the building of new transmission lines together. This means that the positive effects of one part of the activity can offset the more minor negative effects of the other part of the activity. This consent has since been appealed to the High Court and a hearing has been scheduled to start 3 September 2020.
Consent Number	Applicants Name	Proposal	Court	Process Completed
RM17-0424	Creswell New Zealand Ltd	Water take to supply a water bottling plant.	Environment Court and High Court	No – Appealed to High Court
Ngāti Awa appealed BOPRC decision to grant this consent in June 2018 and the appeal was heard in December 2019. The appeal questioned effects on te mauri o te wai and the effects on Ngāti Awa’s ability to exercise kaitiakitanga. Council’s decision to approve the consent was upheld and the consent was granted. An appeal to this decision has since been heard in the High Court and is awaiting a decision.
Consent Number	Applicants Name	Proposal	Court	Process Completed
RM18-0508	Rotorua Lakes Council	Discharge treated wastewater to Arikiroa thermal channel	Environment Court	No
Currently RLC hold a consent to discharge treated municipal wastewater to the Whakarewarea Forest. RLC lodged a consent application for a new wastewater scheme, to discharge treated municipal wastewater via the Arikiroa Therma Channel to Sulphur Bay in Lake Rotorua, on 20 August 2018. The application included proposed upgrades to the treatment plant. The Regional Council approved the applicant’s request that the application be directly referred to the Environment Court. The application was publically notified on 1 October 2018 and after considerable public and iwi pushback the applicant formally requested that processing of the application be suspended to enable time for additional consultation to be undertaken. The final documents for direct referral were accepted by the Environment Court on 28 May 2020. Ten parties have provided s274 notices wishing to be heard by the Environment Court. In summary, the Regional Council’s report concludes that adverse effects on cultural values and the Arikiroa Thermal Channel are significant and that the proposal contravenes various important policies in the regional planning documents. However, the Regional Council recognises that the ability to dispose of Rotorua City’s wastewater is an essential service to the Rotorua community. For this reason, the report recommends to decline the application only if the Court is satisfied that no viable alternatives exist for the applicant to explore. On 8 July 2020 the applicant advised the Court and the Parties that a change in circumstances may mean the applicant will not require the Court’s assistance. The Court has provided the applicant permission to update the Court by 28 August 2020. Regional Council does not know what the change in circumstance is.

5.4 Lakes Structures Project

The Lakes Structures Project is streamline project to process a number of replacement consents that were coming up for renewal in 2020. Generally, these are private jetties, boat sheds and retaining walls. The project is a joint effort between BOPRC, RLC, TALT and LINZ and the aim is to bulk-process as many consents as we can. Straightforward consents processed through this process are charged at a flat rate of $1,500.

Lakes Structures Project Summary
Total Renewal Packs to send	Total Sent	Still to Send	Total Renewal Applications Received	Still to Receive
675	664 (98.4%)	11 (1.6%)	584 (86.5%)	91 (13.5%)

Figure 7: Status of consent renewals under the lake structure project.

The next significant step for this project is to process the consents for structures in Lakes Tarawera and Ōkāreka that have been identified as having a minor or more than minor cultural effect. These will be limited notified.

6. Considerations

6.1 Risks and Mitigations

There are new risks associated with the matters reported here.

6.2 Climate Change

The matters addressed in this report are of a procedural nature and there is no need to consider climate change impacts.

6.3 Implications for Māori

The consenting process results in almost every applicant engaging with tangata whenua about their proposal, and staff have regular contact with iwi and hapu RMA representatives. However, the engagement process for resource consents can be frustrating for both tangata whenua and applicants and improving the way engagement is done is one of our priorities for the 2020/21 year.

6.4 Financial Implications

There are no material unbudgeted financial implications and this fits within the allocated budget.

7. Next Steps

A report will be brought to Council in November with further detail on our deep dive into customer service and tangata whenua engagement, and a request for guidance on this matter.



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Writer:	Rob Donald, Science Manager
Report Authoriser:	Namouta Poutasi, General Manager, Strategy & Science
Purpose:	To summarise the current approach to State of the Environment (SOE) reporting in the Bay of Plenty

State of the Environment Reporting in the Bay of Plenty

Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to summarise the current approach to State of the Environment (SOE) reporting in the Bay of Plenty. This follows a request at the first Monitoring and Operations Committee meeting in March for an update on SOE reporting. To support this discussion examples of the reporting methods used are presented.

While the methods currently used for SOE reporting are considered to be fit for purpose, the financial implications of new monitoring and reporting required by legislation (e.g. the NPS for Freshwater Management 2020) will need to be considered in detail during the development of the new Long Term Plan.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1. Receives the report, State of the Environment Reporting in the Bay of Plenty.

1. Introduction

State of the environment monitoring and reporting is an important function of regional councils. The outputs generated (data and information) provide the science evidence base which is an essential component needed to effectively manage natural resources on behalf of the community.

In the Bay of Plenty more than 1,000 sites are monitored routinely under the Natural Environment Regional Monitoring Network (NERMN). This includes sites for water quality and ecology, wetlands, terrestrial ecology, air quality, surface and groundwater hydrology, and geothermal. A range of reporting methods and formats are used and links to these are provided in this report.

1.1 Legislative Framework

Regional Councils are required to monitor and report on the state of natural and physical resources under Section 35^{^[4]} of the Resource Management Act (RMA). The Act itself is non-specific in terms of what should be monitored, and how it should be reported, but the intent is to inform and enable regional councils to carry out their functions. In particular, monitoring enables councils to identify natural resource management issues, and how they are tracking towards meeting objectives for those natural resources. This is key information for determining whether policies and methods for resource management are effective.

Specificity in terms of what is monitored is provided by way of legislative tools under the RMA (e.g. the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality, the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management). These regulations prescribe attributes that must be monitored and reported on, for example water quality and ecological health in freshwater, PM₁₀ and SO₂ in ambient air. As a general comment, the monitoring and reporting workload imposed by legislation is progressively increasing.

1.2 Alignment with Strategic Framework

A Healthy Environment	Our environmental monitoring is transparently communicated to our communities.
Freshwater for Life	Good decision making is supported through improving knowledge of our water resources.
Safe and Resilient Communities	We provide systems and information to increase understanding of natural hazard risks and climate change impacts.
The Way We Work	We use robust information, science and technology.

This work is driven out of the Science and Data Services activities in the Long Term Plan 2018-2028. The following LTP Key Performance Indicators are directly related to SOE reporting;

Data Services

· Level of service - Provide the community with ready access to environmental data

· Target - Percentage availability through website of real-time deliverable environmental data (target is 95%);

Science

· Level of service - Provide accessible, trusted and relevant science

· Target - Number of environmental indicators with online scorecards (target for 2020/21 is 10).

1.2.1 Community Well-beings Assessment

Dominant Well-Beings Affected

þ Environmental

Medium - Positive

þ Cultural

Medium - Positive

þ Social

Medium - Positive

¨ Economic

The impacts of robust SOE monitoring and reporting on community well-being are positive. The information generated, along with information on social, cultural and economic matters, is vital for identifying resource management issues, enabling effective management, tracking progress towards objective, and supporting sound council decision making.

2. Current Approach to SOE Reporting

The range of methods currently used for SOE reporting in the Bay of Plenty is summarised with examples and links in Table 1. Many of these methods involve written reports, however reporting has progressively moved to web based tools which are more interactive and can be more frequently updated. This shift is in response to ‘traditional’ SOE reports taking around 12-18 months to publish, meaning the information is out of date before it is published, and reports are only updated every five years. There is also greater demand for catchment-based reporting rather than regional and this is reflected in the availability of these reports in Table 1. With demand for real-time data, information and reporting increasing, most Councils are moving towards more streamlined, targeted, and web-based reporting tools.

Table 1: SOE reporting methods, format and target audiences. Note hyperlinks are provided for each of the examples.

Reporting type	Format	Target audience	Examples
Environmental Publications (BOPRC) / Consultant Publications	Detailed technical reports that provide the science evidence base for policy development. The reports often include complex statistical and trend analysis and reference to the scientific literature. Typical length of 30-200 pages. These types of reports usually take around 12 months to publish and are only updated when relevant new data is available (often 3-5 years).	Technical experts, consultants, students.	BOPRC Publications web page, e.g.; · Ambient Air Quality Data Update 2020 · Tauranga and Whakatāne Estuarine Wetland Monitoring, 2020 · River water quality state and trends in the Bay of Plenty to 2018 · Assessment of the Rotorua Te Arawa lakes using LakeSPI – 2018
State of the Environment (SOE) Publications	Detailed plain language reports covering all monitored domains (e.g. air quality, water quality, ecology, Mātauranga). These can be catchment or regionally based and cover trends over long time periods (decades). Typical length of 50-150 pages. These types of reports usually take around 6-12 months to publish and are updated when relevant new data is available (often 2-3 years).	General community.	BOPRC Publications web page, e.g.; · Tauranga Moana State of the Environment Report 2019 · State of Environment for Ohiwa Harbour and Catchment 2018 · Rangitāiki Water Management Area – Environmental Summary Report
Science Snapshot Reports	Summarised, plain language reports in a ‘hand-out’ format (typically 2-6 pages). These are usually based on the analysis presented in more detailed Environmental Publications. These types of reports usually take around two months to publish and are updated when relevant new data is available (often each year).	General community, informed, non-expert.	BOPRC Publications web page, e.g.; · Bay of Plenty River Water Quality - Summary of State and Trends to 2018 · Freshwater Ecology Monitoring Programme: State and Trend Report Card · Physical Coastal Monitoring 2019
LAWA (Land Air Water Aotearoa)	Interactive on-line web portal providing access to summarised environmental monitoring information and data collected by Regional Councils. Data update frequency is typically annually but some is updated as frequently as weekly (e.g. bathing water quality).	Wide – from technical experts to general community.	LAWA Home Page, e.g.; · Kaituna catchment - monitored river water quality sites · Lake Rotorua - monitored water quality sites
BOPRC Environmental Data Portal	Provides interactive access to environmental data and summary information collected by the Regional Council. This includes continuous data (e.g. rainfall, river flow, air quality) from telemetered monitoring sites, and discrete data (e.g. water quality) from manual monitoring. The data is available for viewing in various formats, and includes links to relevant environmental publications and snapshot reports. This is updated as new data becomes available and provides real-time access to data and information (generally daily).	Wide – from technical experts to general community.	BOPRC Environmental Data Portal, e.g.; · Managing lake levels - Rotorua and Rotoiti, Okere Gates · Air quality, Mount Maunganui · Water Quality - Rivers

3. Considerations

3.1 Risks and Mitigations

The matters addressed in this report are of a procedural nature so no assessment of risks and mitigations is required.

3.2 Climate Change

The information and data generated by our SOE programmes can be used to describe the impacts of climate change (e.g. monitoring of rainfall intensity and its impact on flooding). These programmes also provide input data to modelling which is carried out to anticipate and respond to future climate change impacts.

3.3 Implications for Māori

Māori have a strong need to fully understand the natural environment. However, science based indicators of the state of our natural resources often ‘fall short’ in terms of conveying the breadth of information needed. This is in part due to the reductionist nature of many science indicators (e.g. water quality measures such as nutrient levels), as compared to cultural indicators which tend to more holistic (e.g. koura health and abundance). The implementation of He Korowai Mātauranga at BOPRC is gaining momentum and this is seen as a key platform to improve communication with iwi and hapū on the state of the environment. Providing access to data, information and reports in the spatial and visual Environmental Data Portal also empowers Māori to access and understand the information Council has about their rohe.

3.4 Community Engagement

INFORM

Whakamōhio

To provide affected communities with balanced and objective information to assist them in understanding the problems, alternatives and/or solutions.

This paper has not been directly informed by community consultation. However, given legislative requirements for monitoring of new freshwater attributes, some level of community consultation will likely be needed as part of LTP development.

3.5 Financial Implications

Resourcing for the current SOE monitoring and reporting programme is budgeted in the Long Term Plan 2018-2028 within the Science and Data Services activities (Total Operating Expenditure of $5.3m and 5.4m respectively).

The financial implications of new monitoring and reporting required by legislation (e.g. the NPS for Freshwater Management 2020) will be considered in detail during the development of the new LTP.

4. Next Steps

While the methods currently used for SOE reporting are considered to be fit for purpose, the delivery and ability of the community to access the information is being progressively improved. This will continue and for example a single web page is under development to bring together all of the current reporting links given in Table 1, and all other SOE reporting that is currently available.

As previously noted, there are legislative requirements to increase monitoring and reporting, and this is supported by members of the community, iwi and industry who often request additional monitoring in their area of interest (catchment, stream, rohe, airshed etc.). Internal operational programmes, for example the Focus Catchments work reported separately in this agenda, are also generating additional monitoring requirements. These needs will need to be balanced using some assessment of priority and the resource management value provided by any new monitoring. Staff will present options to address these needs for consideration during the development of the new Long Term Plan.



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Writer:	Greg Corbett, Biosecurity Manager
Report Authoriser:	Chris Ingle, General Manager, Integrated Catchments
Purpose:	This paper provides an overview and update on the National Wilding Conifer and Wallaby programmes and benefits to the Bay of Plenty region.

National Wilding Conifer and Wallaby programmes

Executive Summary

Wilding conifers and wallabies are two significant pests in the Bay of Plenty region. Both impact our biodiversity and primary industries and can also negatively affect cultural values. Council has been managing these pests through its regional pest management plan, however progress has been difficult and slow due to limited agency and landowner funding and technical challenges.

In 2016 the Crown allocated $16m to wilding conifer control however at that time all funding was prioritised to the South Island and the southern central North Island high country.

Following the initial Covid 19 outbreak earlier this year the government allocated $1.3b for ‘Jobs for Nature’ over the next four years as part of its Covid recovery plan. This funding allocation includes an additional $100m for the National Wilding Conifer Programme and $27m for a National Wallaby Programme.

Nearly $2m of this new funding is available in 2020/21 to support wilding conifer and wallaby control work within the Bay of Plenty region.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1 Receives the report, National Wilding Conifer and Wallaby programmes.

1. Introduction

1.1 Wilding Conifers

Wilding conifers are believed to be New Zealand’s biggest weed issue, with a 2011 status report showing 1.7m ha infested. Without control it is predicted that approximately 90,000 ha of additional land would be invaded every year. The graph below shows the exponential increase in the problem over the last 90 years.

Pinus contorta or lodgepole pine is the most problematic species. It grows in a wide range of habitats and produces seed at a young age that can be dispersed long distances by the wind. This species has been used commercially and, in the past, was widely used by the Forest Service and rural community for erosion control and shelter belts in the high country. The most significant problem areas are associated with these original plantings in the South Island and central North Island high country.

The National Wilding Conifer Programme was established in 2016 following an initial investment from the Crown of $16m over four years. The programme is guided by the New Zealand Wilding Conifer Management Strategy 2015-2030, which aims to ensure a collaborative, coordinated and effective approach to control work. To assist with prioritising effort, the country has been divided into management units (MU’s) with all of the initial Crown funding being allocated to the South Island high country and the southern Kaimanawa/Kaweka and northern Ruahine ranges.

The programme has received a significant funding boost through the ‘Jobs for Nature’ funding package in Budget 2020 of $100m over the next four years.

1.2 Wallabies

Five species of wallabies were introduced to New Zealand during the late 1800’s for private collections and hunting. Bennett’s and dama wallabies are now well-established on mainland New Zealand (Bennett’s in south Canterbury and dama in the central North Island), while parma, brushtailed rock, swamp and dama wallabies are present on Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf. Brushtailed rock wallabies were also present on Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands but were eradicated in the late 1990’s.

Wallabies are both a biodiversity and primary industry pest. Exclosure plots at Lake Ōkataina have shown that plant diversity increases by 57% when dama wallabies are excluded. While three Bennett’s wallabies will consume as much pasture as one stock unit.

Dama wallabies now occupy approximately 200,000 ha around the Rotorua Lakes and Bennett’s are spread over about 800,000 ha of south Canterbury. Following concerns raised by Environment Canterbury and our Council, supported by Waikato and Otago Regional Councils, MPI contracted Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research to assess the likely spread and impacts of wallabies over the next 50 years. This work predicted that up to one third of the country could be infested, with impacts increasing to over $84m, over the next 10 years.

This work was then used to inform a business case to support Crown funding.

The ‘Jobs for Nature’ funding package in Budget 2020 allocated $27m over four years to support a National Wallaby Programme.

1.3 Legislative Framework

While the National Wilding Conifer and Wallaby programmes are non-statutory programmes they will significantly assist in the delivery of our Regional Pest Management Plan

1.4 Alignment with Strategic Framework

A Healthy Environment	We manage our natural resources effectively through regulation, education and action.
Freshwater for Life
Safe and Resilient Communities
A Vibrant Region
The Way We Work	We look to partnerships for best outcomes.

Both the Wilding Conifer and Wallaby programmes will support improving our environment by enabling direct action to manage these pest. By controlling wilding conifers we will protect highly threaten ecosystems such as monoao frost-flats and geothermal habitats and prevent landscape changes. We will also improve water availability and reduce wild fire risks. By managing wallabies we will reduce the browse pressure on indigenous vegetation and improve biodiversity within our native forest systems.

In delivering these programmes, we will work in partnership with Crown, adjoining regional councils, Department of Conservation, iwi and land managers.

1.4.1 Community Well-beings Assessment

Dominant Well-Beings Affected

þ Environmental

High - Positive

þ Cultural

Medium - Positive

þ Social

Medium - Positive

þ Economic

Medium - Positive

Delivering the National Wilding Conifer and Wallaby programmes will provide significant environmental improvements for our region. Threatened ecosystems will receive better protection, biodiversity within our native forests will be improved (or impacts prevented) and to some degree, pressures on water availability and quality will be reduced.

Both wilding conifers and wallabies can impact on taonga species and sites of cultural significance and their control will reduce or prevent further impacts.

Both these programmes will protect or improve economic returns from our primary industries and the control programmes will provide job opportunities for our communities.

2. National Wilding Conifer and Wallaby Programmes

2.1 National Wilding Conifer Programme

2.1.1 Bay of Plenty wilding conifer issue

To support the development of our current regional pest management plan (2011), Wildland Consultants reviewed the issue in our region. They reported that 27,500 ha were infested with wild conifers, with the biggest problems being in the east Taupō area where trees were invading monoao frost-flats. Since that time, Council has worked with land owners in that area to remove established P. contorta shelterbelts that were acting as seed sources. Support has also been provided to landowners and DOC to protect biodiversity sites. However, progress has been slow due to funding constraints from agencies and landowners.

The significant injection of new funding from this year’s budget means Crown funding is now available to support control in the Rangitāiki Management Unit, which includes the upper Rangitāiki River, as well parts of Hawkes Bay region. Staff are also hopeful of some funding support for the Te Urewera and Rotorua Lakes Management Units (see figure 1), which will support control initiatives with Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Whare.

Figure 1: Wilding Conifer Management Units.

2.1.2 Programme implementation

Biosecurity New Zealand (MPI) staff administer the programme. Governance is provided by representatives from the main agencies involved, including Regional Councils and key stakeholders.

Regional Councils involved in the programme act as ‘fund-holders’ and facilitate the delivery of work in Management Units. Annual operational plans for each unit are developed through regional steering groups, reviewed by Advisory Groups and approved by Governance. Funds are then released to the ‘fund-holders’ to implement the approved operational plans.

An example of the workflow is shown below:

governance and management

For more information please see: https://wildingconifers-bionet.cwp.govt.nz/

2.2 National Wallaby Programme

2.2.1 National Wallaby Programme

The National Wallaby programme is still in development, but will follow a similar structure to the National Wilding Conifer programme, which has proved successful to date.

The proposed programme structure is presented below:

To date, the Governance and Operational Advisory Groups have been established and recruitment for the National Programme Team (MPI) is in progress. A National Strategy will be prepared to support and guide the programme with input from key agencies, stakeholders, iwi and industry groups.

It is proposed the our Council act as ‘Fund-holder’ for the North Island and we are collaborating closely with Waikato Regional Council, DOC and Te Arawa Lakes Trust who have all committed resources to the programme.

An operational plan for the 2020/21 year has been developed and approved by governance. Implementation has commenced using Councils’ funding share while we negotiate funding agreements with MPI.

3. Considerations

3.1 Risks and Mitigations

As Council is acting as ‘Fund-holder’ for both programmes the key risks relate to funding and our obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Both risks will be managed through funding and relationship agreements with MPI and partner agencies and through our organisational procurement and health and safety policies and procedures.

Council’s Legal, Procurement and Risk and Assurance teams are assisting with the development and negotiation of funding and relationship agreements and advising on procurement.

3.2 Climate Change

Mitigation			Adaptation
Reduce GHG emissions	Produce GHG emissions	Sequester carbon	Anticipate climate change impacts	Respond to climate change impacts
☐	☐	☒	☐	☐

The removal of wilding conifers and wallabies will improve our natural biodiversity and assist in improving regeneration of native forests thereby sequest carbon.

3.3 Implications for Māori

Wallabies and wilding conifers can impact on taonga and sites of cultural significance and their control is likely to be viewed positively by Māori. Both programmes also offer employment opportunities for Māori.

Iwi are involved at all levels within each programme from National Programme governance through to delivering operations on the ground. The North Island Wallaby management programme will be deliver in partnership with Te Arawa Lakes Trust.

3.4 Community Engagement

CONSULT

Whakauiuia

To obtain input or feedback from affected communities about our analysis, alternatives, and /or proposed decisions.

Both National Programmes are, or will be, directed by a national non-statutory strategy. The National Wilding Conifer Strategy was adopted in 2015 and was informed by a multi-stakeholder working group. The working group included representatives from MPI, DOC, LINZ, Iwi, regional and district councils, NZ defence force, CRI’s, NZ Forest Owners, Federated Farmers and Community Groups.

A strategy to guide the National Wallaby Programme will be prepared with input from various stakeholders over the next few months. This process will be led by MPI.

3.5 Financial Implications

Council involvement in these programmes will mean an increase in revenue and expenditure within the Biosecurity Activity, however we expect no net impact on the Activity budget.

National Programme	2020/21 Crown funding allocated to BOP region
Wilding Conifers	$497,000
Wallabies	$1,450,000

There are no material unbudgeted financial implications and this fits within the allocated budget.

4. Next Steps

The 2020/21 operational plans for wilding conifer and wallaby programmes have already been approved by the Programme Governance Groups and work is currently underway to procure services and implement operations using the Council’s share of operational funds.

Next steps for Council involve completing negotiations with MPI on funding arrangements and finalising associated agreements with our partners, namely Waikato and Hawkes Bay Regional Councils, Department of Conservation and Te Arawa Lakes Trust.



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Writer:	Lucas MacDonald, Biosecurity Officer
Report Authoriser:	Chris Ingle, General Manager, Integrated Catchments
Purpose:	This report is providing an update to the committee on the investigation of a potential biocontrol option for brown bullhead catfish in Lake Rotoiti and Rotorua.

Investigating a Potential Biocontrol for Brown Bullhead Catfish

Executive Summary

Brown Bullhead Catfish populations in Lakes Rotoiti and Rotorua were discovered in March 2016 are now being controlled by volunteers and contractors using fyke nets. Despite this significant effort it appears that netting alone will not suppress catfish numbers enough to minimise impacts on taonga species and the lakes. Bay of Plenty Regional Council, with project partners Te Arawa Lakes Trust, engaged NIWA to undertake a study in November 2019 to assess the feasibility of biocontrol as a catfish management tool. Initial results indicate that the release of sterile (infertile) male catfish could be a successful approach to suppress, or potentially eradicate, catfish from Lake Rotoiti and Rotorua over the long term. Staff, with support from Te Arawa Lakes Trust and key stakeholders intend to investigate this biocontrol method further.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1 Receives the report, Investigating a Potential Biocontrol for Brown Bullhead Catfish.

1. Introduction

Brown bullhead catfish (catfish) were first discovered in Te Weta Bay, Lake Rotoiti March 2016 and Lake Rotorua in December 2018. The population in Lake Rotoiti was estimated to be 186,000 in March 2020. Despite intensive efforts using fyke nets by contractors and volunteers over the previous four years are now established in the lakes. Catfish are a known predator of kōura and there has been a significant reduction in kōura populations, a taonga species of Te Arawa, since catfish were detected in the lake.

To date, over 120,000 catfish have been removed by contractors, and another 30,000 by community volunteers. The 2019-2020 season catch was larger than the previous four years combined, indicating that the population is growing despite the current control effort. It is now widely accepted that the population of catfish can now only be contained within Lake Rotorua and Rotoiti and eradication or high level suppression is not feasible with the current tools available.

In November 2019, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) approached Bay of Plenty Regional Council with an opportunity to investigate a potential biocontrol methods to eradicate (or suppress to a high level) brown bullhead catfish. This work was contracted to NIWA who worked with SF Tech and a feasibility report was delivered in April 2020.

1.1 Alignment with Strategic Framework

A Healthy Environment	We manage our natural resources effectively through regulation, education and action.
Freshwater for Life	We deliver solutions to local problems to improve water quality and manage quantity.
The Way We Work	We continually seek opportunities to innovate and improve.

1.1.1 Community Well-beings Assessment

Dominant Well-Beings Affected

þ Environmental

High - Positive

þ Cultural

Medium - Positive

þ Social

High - Positive

¨ Economic

Low - Positive

Catfish biocontrol could lead high level suppression, or potentially eradicate them, and would have high positive effects on the environment, as catfish are known to impact on koura, degrade water quality and macrophyte beds.

Culturally, biocontrol could be perceived to conflict with values held by Māori including whakapapa (geneaology), however the end goal of high level suppression or eradication of catfish would have high positive cultural effects due to the positive impact on koura, a taonga species. Socially, the implementation of a biocontrol new to New Zealand could receive a range of social responses, but in principle, the removal of catfish from the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes is supported heavily by the community. There is no measurable positive nor negative economic effect on the implementation of this biocontrol aside from the reduced management costs in the long term should high level suppression or eradication be achieved.

2. Potential Biocontrol for Brown Bullhead Catfish

The presence of catfish in Lake Rotoiti and Rotorua have impacted on kōura populations and pose a threat to impact water quality and biodiversity over the long term. There is a risk as population increases over coming years that the pest fish could be transported to other waterbodies which do not currently have catfish, further deteriorating koura stocks and water quality throughout the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes.

The sterile male approach suggested in this report is a novel method which Auckland Council is also pursuing for another pest fish species (Perch) and where possible, Bay of Plenty Regional Council is seeking to collaborate in order to reduce duplication of research efforts. This method could be a key component of the integrated pest management approach and contribute to a reduction of the catfish population in the Lake Rotoiti and Rotorua.

2.1 Sterile Male Biocontrol

“Sterile Male” biocontrol uses technology that has been widely applied (non-contentiously) in aquaculture and fisheries for over thirty years (Thresher et al., 2014). The concept is currently widely used in managing insect pests worldwide and has been applied in the USA to manage sea lamprey populations in the Great Lakes.

The sterile male approach involves breeding catfish in a hatchery or fish farm using a method known as “Triploidy”. These catfish behave naturally and pair with female fish but cannot fertilise any eggs laid by the female. Triploidy involves using a temperature or pressure change while catfish are in egg stage to change one chromosome set from diploid (two chromosomes) to triploid (three chromosomes), which prevents the fish gonads from developing.

The catfish are then raised in the hatchery until approximately 100mm and stocked in the lake at a pre-determined rate. Initial modelling indicates that an annual stocking of 7500 sterile catfish will achieve substantial suppression in 20 years and eradication in 60 years. Continued netting and increased stocking rates would reduce the timeframes. The investigation of this biocontrol is currently in the early stages with a range of research specific to Lake Rotoiti and Lake Rotorua which will inform further modelling and regulatory decisions.

3. Considerations

3.1 Risks and Mitigations

A key risk is the development of mis-information by the public regarding the release of further catfish into Lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti. Council and Te Arawa Lakes Trust have developed a joint communications and engagement plan to manage this risk. Te Arawa Lakes Trust intend to host hui across the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes around this project to inform hapū of this option and receive feedback. Council will present at community board and ratepayer association meetings

3.2 Climate Change

The matters addressed in this report are not sensitive to the effects of climate change. Staff have also considered the effect of the initiative on greenhouse gas emissions and recommend that there will be no effect.

3.3 Implications for Māori

Council works in partnership with Te Arawa Lakes Trust on managing the catfish population.

Te Arawa Lakes Trust have briefed their Board around the intention to investigate this method further, and have their “in principle” support this approach provided that engagement with tangata whenua is carried out and there are opportunities to incorporate mātauranga in research, and any potential implementation and monitoring of this method.

From an early stage, this method has been assessed against Mahere Whakahaere (TALT Fisheries Management Plan) and He Mahere Taiao (TALT Environmental Plan).

Objective one of Mahere Whakahaere plan seeks to ensure sustainability of the customary fisheries in the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes. Relevant methods include protecting at-risk customary fisheries species, breeding female koura and undersized koura. A method of objective four of the plan is “support initiatives to prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic pest species (plant and animals) that pose a threat to customary fisheries”. The long term benefit of the biocontrol will contribute to objective 1 & 4 of the Mahere Whakahaere, however it is contrary to achieve objective four in the short term as it specifically involves introduction of additional catfish.

Objective 5.3 of He Mahere Taiao seeks to reduce the risks and impacts of biological threats (e.g. disease and pests) on our lakes, native flora and native fauna, through surveillance monitoring, increased public awareness, particularly water users; continued management of existing threats and rapid response to new threats. Objective 5.2A of He Mahere Taiao seeks to restore and enhance the health and diversity of ecosystems and habitats in and around Te Arawa Lakes. This includes enhancing kai roto stocks.

The biocontrol option contributes to objectives 5.3 and 5.2A of He Mahere Taiao.

Community Engagement

Wider community engagement will be undertaken throughout the early investigations into this biocontrol method in order to maintain a well-informed community. Key stakeholders such as Fish and Game, Department of Conservation, Lakes Water Quality Society and Ministry for Primary Industries are aware of and support our intentions to investigate this approach.

The Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes community is well engaged on freshwater pests and in general, supports the removal of catfish from the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes, however careful communications will be needed to ensure the community understands this approach does not involve genetic modification (GM) which poses ethical concerns. Discussions have been held with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who have confirmed that this method is not considered genetic modification.

3.4 Financial Implications

There are no material unbudgeted financial implications and the proposed investigations fit within the allocated budget.

4. Next Steps

Throughout the 2020-21 financial year, proof of concept work will be undertaken in a laboratory based environment along with the development of research projects which will incorporate both mātauranga and fisheries science and directly contribute to the implementation of the biocontrol.

This method has not been applied in New Zealand to date, and regulatory agencies have indicated that although this method would be permitted pending an application, there will be variations required to fisheries regulations and schedules to ensure that permitting can progress smoothly.



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Writer:	Shay Dean, Environmental Scientist
Report Authoriser:	Chris Ingle, General Manager, Integrated Catchments
Purpose:	To provide an update on regional wetland mapping and monitoring, as well as restoration and enhancement activities.

Regional Wetlands Report

Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to update Council on the following with respect to freshwater wetlands:

· Regional wetland mapping.

· Wetland condition monitoring.

· Wetland restoration and enhancement.

Key points:

· Council has recently completed mapping of wetlands greater than 0.5ha in size.

· Council has completed baseline condition monitoring at 57 wetlands.

· Council supports restoration and enhancement of existing and former wetlands.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1 Receives the report, Regional Wetlands Report.

1. Introduction

The National Policy Statement for Freshwater 2020 (NPS-FW) and Draft National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity (NPS-IB) both contain new requirements around protection, restoration, mapping, and monitoring of freshwater wetlands. This has prompted an update to Council on the current state of wetland mapping and monitoring undertaken by our Council, as well as an update on wetland restoration and enhancement projects occurring within our region.

1.1 Alignment with Strategic Framework

Freshwater for Life

Good decision making is supported through improving knowledge of our water resources.

1.1.1 Community Well-beings Assessment

Dominant Well-Beings Affected

þ Environmental

High - Positive

þ Cultural

Low - Positive

¨ Social

¨ Economic

1.2 Significant Plan or Policy Inconsistency

Not applicable.

2. Regional wetland report

2.1 Regional wetland mapping

Desktop mapping of wetlands greater than 0.5ha has recently been completed utilising 2015-2017 aerial imagery and LiDAR. This new mapping recorded an additional 1,324ha of freshwater wetland compared to the councils existing wetland extents database developed in 2004-2008 (excluding 803ha of wetland classified as predominantly ‘wet pasture’^{^[5]}).

Comparing this updated mapping to maps of historic wetlands (Wetlands of National Importance) suggests Bay of Plenty retains around 10 percent of its original freshwater wetlands (excluding ‘wet pasture’) – higher than the previous estimate based on our existing wetland extents layer (8 percent).

The new mapping has increased the area of mapped wetland substantially for some Water Management Areas. For example 974ha of freshwater wetland were mapped in the Tauranga Water Management Area compared to 505ha in the existing database. The difference between the new mapping and the existing database is likely due to improvements in aerial imagery, rather than an actual increase in the extent of wetlands.

This new mapping brings us much closer to meeting the NPS-FW (2020) requirement to map wetlands greater than 0.05ha is size, which must be met within 10 years of the commencement date. It will also help us meet the requirement to map wetlands and former wetlands included in Draft National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity, expected to be progressed by the Ministry for the Environment in April 2021.

The Ministry for the Environment have commissioned a research project on mapping of wetlands between 0.05ha and 0.5ha, in a cost effective way.

2.2 Wetland condition monitoring

Council has initiated a wetland monitoring programme to measure changes in condition at many of our region’s nationally and regionally significant wetlands. Baseline data was collected from 57 wetlands over the first five years of the programme and these wetlands will be re-measured for the first time between 2020/2021 and 2024/2025.

Wetland monitoring involves measuring vegetation plots and collecting soil and foliage samples. A ‘wetland condition index’ score is assigned to each wetland based on a range of visual indicators. Of the fifty seven wetlands monitored so far:

· 40% were in good condition,

· 46% were in moderate-good condition,

· 11% were in moderate-poor condition, and

· 3% were in poor condition.

Trend information will be available after the first re-measure is complete. Data from our wetland monitoring will also be used in national level research to improve wetland monitoring and delineation techniques, and to better understand the relationship between soil nutrients and vegetation change.

2.3 Freshwater wetland losses in Bay of Plenty

Last year Council commissioned Wildland Consultants to assess losses of significant indigenous vegetation and habitats from Significant Natural Areas within the Whakatāne, Kawerau, Western Bay, Rotorua, and Tauranga City Districts. The Ōpōtiki and Taupō Districts had already been assessed in 2018/19.

‘Significant Natural Area’ refers to areas of significant indigenous vegetation and habitats scheduled in District and City Plans. These are areas which meet criteria in the Regional Policy Statement, and which have regulatory/statutory protection.

Losses from SNAs detected in this analysis were categorised by ecosystem type enabling us to determine the degree of loss that has occurred in wetlands. This analysis has revealed a loss of approximately 46 ha of wetland within SNAs across the region over a 13-16 year period (2003/2007-2016/2019).

Table 1 Area of wetland loss from Significant Natural Areas within each District

District	Wetland Loss (ha)
Opotiki	4.65
Rotorua	6.35
Tauranga City	4.48
Whakatāne	27.27
Western Bay	3.16
TOTAL WETLAND LOSS	45.91

2.4 Wetland restoration and enhancement

Bay of Plenty Regional Council supports restoration and enhancement of existing wetlands by landowners and community groups. This work is undertaken by Land Management Officers in the Integrated Catchments Group, and typically involves pest plant control, pest animal control, riparian planting, and fencing.

There is no specific budget or Long Term Plan KPI relating to wetland restoration, however support for wetland restoration is funded through budgets for biodiversity and sustainable land management. The Environmental Programmes Grants Policy (2019) enables grant rates up to 75% for wetlands in Priority Biodiversity Sites, 50-80% for wetlands in Focus Catchments, and up to 25% for other wetlands.

A significant wetland enhancement project currently underway is the Rangitāiki Freshwater Improvement Fund project – which is co-funded (50:50) between BOPRC and Ministry for the Environment. The project aims to restore nearly 60ha of wetland across three sites near Murupara. This is a joint project with tangata whenua/iwi and landowners which will support animal and plant pest control using local contractors.

As well as supporting enhancement of existing wetlands Council occasionally funds or co-funds restoration of former wetlands (freshwater and estuarine). For example 20ha of estuarine wetland will be restored adjacent to the Wainui Estuary at Sergeant Road and 100ha of wetland will be re-created in the Kaituna Catchment.

3. Considerations

3.1 Risks and Mitigations

There are no significant risks associated with this matter.

3.2 Climate Change

While this report is for information only, it is acknowledged that wetlands are very important for climate change adaptation and mitigation. They capture and store carbon and provide resilience to hazards such as flooding, storm surge and coastal inundation. Inland wetlands function like sponges, absorbing and storing excess rainfall and reducing flood surges. Wetlands are some of the largest reservoirs of carbon on earth, estimated to store one third of the earth’s terrestrial carbon. If wetlands are drained or cleared, they become a carbon source, releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere.

3.3 Implications for Māori

While this report is for information only, it is acknowledged that wetlands are significant ecosystems to Māori for a range of values. They often have historical cultural and spiritual associations. They sustain many taonga or mahinga kai species either as habitat or as breeding grounds. Many of the most important weaving plants are associated with wetlands.

3.4 Community Engagement

Engagement with the community is not required as this report is information only.

3.5 Financial Implications

The costs associated with monitoring wetlands is provided for in existing budgets.

4. Next Steps

4.1 Regional wetland mapping:

· Undertake field checking and surveying of newly identified wetlands as budget allows – starting with a helicopter survey of low confidence sites.

4.2 Wetland condition monitoring:

· Continue the existing wetland condition monitoring programme – including seeking permissions for target wetlands missed in the first round of monitoring (the aim is to include 75 wetlands in total).

· Undertake preliminary analysis of baseline wetland condition data to compare condition of the region’s wetlands to wetlands nationally and investigate influence of surrounding land use.

· Incorporate Matauranga Māori views and approaches into the wetland condition monitoring programme once available.

4.3 Wetland loss:

· Establish a process for identifying and responding to loss of wetland extent or values (required by 3.23 (6) of NPS-FW).

4.4 Wetland restoration and enhancement:

· Continue support for restoration and enhancement of existing wetlands by landowners and community groups through Environmental Programmes.



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Writer:	Heidi Fraser, Programme Coordinator Integrated Catchments and Laverne Mason, Integrated Catchments Programme Manager
Report Authoriser:	Chris Ingle, General Manager, Integrated Catchments
Purpose:	To provide the approved 2020/21 Annual Work Plans for Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme and Rangitāiki Programme to Monitoring and Operations Committee.

2020/21 Annual Work Plans: Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme and Rangitaiki Integrated Catchment Programme

Executive Summary

The Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme Annual Work Plan was approved for submission to the Minister for the Environment by the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Strategy Group on 22 May 2020. The preparation and acceptance of the Plan is a requirement of the Deed of Funding Agreement for the Programme.

The Rangitāiki Integrated Catchment Programme Annual Work Plan was submitted to the Rangitāiki River Forum on 4 September.

Both plans describe projects, budgets and deliverable for the financial year 2020/21.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1 Receives the report, 2020/21 Annual Work Plans: Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme and Rangitaiki Integrated Catchment Programme.

1. Introduction

The Rangitāiki Integrated Catchment Programme was established in 2014/2015 to deliver on the community’s expectations for the health of the Rangitāiki River and to support the Rangitāiki River Strategy, Te Ara Whānui o Rangitāiki – Pathways of the Rangitāiki. The programme coordinates, prioritises and delivers on all the work of Whakatāne District Council, Taupō District Council and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council related to the river catchment.

The Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme was established following Te Arawa’s Treaty of Waitangi settlement with the Crown in 2006. As part of that settlement the Crown committed to restoring the lakes of Te Arawa. That commitment included a Funding Deed which provided $72 million of Crown funds to a restoration programme on four priority lakes: Rotorua, Rotoiti, Ōkāreka and Rotoehu. The Programme is a partnership between Te Arawa Lakes Trust, Rotorua Lakes Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

1.1 Alignment with Strategic Framework

A Healthy Environment	We work cohesively with volunteers and others, to sustainably manage and improve our natural resources.
Freshwater for Life	We recognise and provide for Te Mana o Te Wai (intrinsic value of water).

2. 2020/21 Annual Work Plan

The Rangitāiki and Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programmes 2020/21 Annual Work Plans are attached as appendices one and two.

2.1 Rangitāiki Integrated Catchment Programme

Priorities for 2020/21 include:

· Whakatane District Council – Wastewater Investigations.

· Taupo District Council District Plan Review.

· Continue improving fish passage through culverts and fish surveys.

· Continue to implement the Rangitaiki Wetlands Restoration Project.

· Work with landowners to protect water quality particularly for the new Focus Catchment area of the upper Rangitāiki/Otangimoana.

· Implement the NPS and NES for Freshwater; which also deliver actions within Te Ara Whānui o Rangitaiki – Pathways to the Rangitāiki.

· Regional Council surveillance and control of dama wallabies and control of alligator weed and wilding conifer sites with the Rangitaiki Catchment.

· Review the Regional Council’s Floodway and Drainage Bylaw 2008, and complete the Rangitāiki Floodway project.

2.2 Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme

Priorities for 2020/21 include:

· Continue investigations into the best location for alum dosing on Lake Rotoehu.

· Complete construction of sewerage reticulation at Lake Rotoiti.

· Continue to connect the remaining unconnected properties in the Rotokawa/Brunswick area to sewerage reticulation.

· Investigate further engineering solutions, with a particular focus on protection and retirement of wetlands.

· Continue to implement the Lake Rotorua Incentives Scheme, including signing up new agreements and implementing existing ones. The cumulative nitrogen target for the 2020/21 financial year is 40 t of nitrogen.

· Continue to implement the Advice and Support Services for landowners affected by Plan Change 10.

· Undertake structural works on the Ohau Wall as per the structural management plan.

· Engagement with hapū and iwi on matters associated with the Te Arawa Lakes Programme via Iwi Engagement Forums.

3. Considerations

3.1 Climate Change

Regional Council’s engineering work responds to the effects of climate change across the region, for example the Rangitaiki floodway is planned to inform climate change resilience. Climate change considerations will be factored in to the implementation of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management and Regional Natural Resources Plan. Ongoing adaptation by the Programmes is necessary to respond to the impacts of climate change.

3.2 Implications for Māori

The Rangitāiki and Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programmes work closely with Māori at a partnership, governance and operational level. At the governance level, co-governance arrangements are in place and these have oversight of the work programmes the workstream leads are delivering. Staff work directly with iwi, hapū, marae and trusts on a number of projects identified within the Annual Work Plans. An example of this is the catfish management programme partnership with Te Arawa Lakes Trust.

3.3 Financial Implications

There are no material unbudgeted financial implications and this fits within the allocated budget.

4. Next Steps

The 2019/20 Annual Reports for the two programmes will be presented to the Monitoring and Operations Committee in December.

Attachments

Attachment 1 - 2020/21 Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme and Rotorua Lakes Catchment Annual Work Plan ⇩

Attachment 2 - 2020/21 Rangitaiki Integrated Catchment Programme Annual Work Plan ⇩



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Writer:	Angela Foster, Communications Manager
Report Authoriser:	Mat Taylor, General Manager, Corporate
Purpose:	To update the committee on the 2020 Residents Survey findings.

2020 Residents Survey Findings

Executive Summary

2020 survey work to assess how well Regional Council is currently performing in relation to the community’s expectations and perceptions is now complete and a report on key findings has been prepared.

This work follows on from the 2018 benchmark study which heavily influenced our 2019-20 customer service, communications and engagement work.

Survey findings will be used to inform the development of our next Long Term Plan and improve our communications, customer service and community engagement work. This report outlines key findings and a proposed programme of work to address findings.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1 Receives the report, 2020 Residents Survey Findings.

1. Introduction

In late 2018 Key Research was engaged to conduct a survey of residents, asking questions to build a representative and holistic community view of Council’s performance. The survey findings provided a useful benchmark at the start of a new Long Term Plan period. The survey results also offered Councillors an opportunity to verify their understanding of the concerns and priorities of the communities they represent, and helped Council to identify opportunities for operational improvement.

Indicative survey findings were shared with elected members at the December 2018 Council meeting and updates on the programme of work that resulted from these findings were shared at the March and June 2020 Monitoring and Operations Committee meetings.

The two main areas that have been a focus for improvement since the 2018 residents survey have been customer service performance and organisational profile. A summary of actions taken since 2018 is included below:

Customer Service

· Customer experience improvements (call management, front of house and web info enquiry processes).

· Service delivery review.

· Implementation of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

· Customer contact centre established.

· Comprehensive knowledge-base developed.

· Consents customer service review.

Organisational Profile

· Awareness-focused communications campaign.

· Revised media protocols.

· Brand stocktake.

· Communications team refocus.

1.1 Alignment with Strategic Framework

The Way We Work

We provide great customer service.

We deliver value to our ratepayers and our customers.

We continually seek opportunities to innovate and improve.

We use robust information, science and technology.

1.1.1 Community Well-beings Assessment

Dominant Well-Beings Affected

¨ Environmental

Medium - Positive

¨ Cultural

Low - Positive

¨ Social

Medium - Positive

¨ Economic

Medium - Positive

2. 2020 Residents Survey Findings

2.1 Key Findings

A survey findings infographic is included with this report for more detailed insights.

Key themes emerging from the survey results include that:

1. Residents’ perceptions of Regional Council’s performance have remained consistent with 50% satisfied residents in 2018, to 51% in 2020.

2. Satisfaction with Regional Council’s overall reputation is up to 55% from 51% in 2018.

3. Awareness levels in the community of the difference between Regional Council and city or district council services remain low. Few residents (22%) have knowledge of the differences between services provided by the Regional Council and those provided by city or district councils and this proportion is the same as the 2018 survey. Tauranga and Whakatāne residents are likely to be more knowledgeable of those differences than other residents. The level of knowledge of differences in Taupō, Ōpōtiki, Kawerau and Western Bay of Plenty has declined, which highlights the challenge of reaching those communities through mainstream/broadcast marketing tools.

4. Residents think that the most important issues that Regional Council should be working on are:

o Protection and enhancement of land, air, water quality and wildlife

o Maintenance of flood protection schemes

o Management of plant and animal pests.

5. More than three in five residents (62%) believe that COVID-19 recovery work should place emphasis on positive steps to address climate change and its impacts.

6. Residents who had contact with Regional Council are more likely to be satisfied with Regional Council’s performance across key measures than those who have not contacted Regional Council in the past year, whereas in 2018, residents who had contact with Council were likely to be dissatisfied with the main service attributes.

7. Regarding interaction with Regional Council, there were increased email and in-person enquiries and requests in 2020. Overall perceptions of Council staff interaction have improved over 2018 results. 72% of residents who have had contact with Regional Council agree that staff did what they said they would do and gave professional and accurate advice on their requests or enquiries. Satisfaction from interaction with staff has also increased; residents are most satisfied with staff sorting out their requests and referring them to persons or agencies who could provide help or assistance (67%).

8. Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s reputation benchmark score remained consistent (+67 in 2018 to +68 in 2020). Residents in Rotorua have more positive evaluation of Regional Council’s reputation than other residents. Regional Council’s reputation profile in 2020 is better compared with 2018 with almost half of residents being champions or perceiving Regional Council as doing a good job.

9. Consistent with the results in 2018, ‘Better/more regular communication and advertising about Council activities’ is the main suggested improvement to improve overall perceptions of Regional Council. A few have suggested more consultation with the community and better use of ratepayers’ money.

2.2 Survey Methodology

Carried out between 14 June and 28 July 2020, the survey used a mixed method of phone, online and postal questionnaires. Data was collected from a statistically representative sample of 1,311 Bay of Plenty residents, this represents a robust sample with a margin of error of ±2.7%.

2.2.1 How the survey differed to 2020

· Adjusted the demographic weighting profile to more accurately reflect the population within our region.

· In an effort to keep the survey concise we removed some repetitive questions and questions that would not have a clear path for action.

· Updated our service offering list.

· Added questions about COVID-19 recovery and climate change.

3. Considerations

3.1 Risks and Mitigations

There is high reputational risk associated with poor customer service, communications and community engagement. As a local government organisation with obligations to the community it is critical we strive to foster positive engagement with all demographics in our region. If residents don’t have a clear understanding of what we do, they will likely not have the information needed to work with us.

Survey results alone do not tell a rich story, it is essential to pair survey responses with context to understand the findings and how they reflect what was happening in the community at the time of the survey. Context around what was happening at the time of the survey in 2018 and 2020 has been included on the second page of the survey findings infographics report.

Resident apathy toward and overall reputation and relevance for regional councils is a nation-wide challenge. Work is underway at a national level to look at ways to address this collectively.

Similar to the adage ‘no news is good news’, customers and stakeholders are more inclined to share feedback when it is negative rather than when it is positive.

3.2 Climate Change

Mitigation			Adaptation
Reduce GHG emissions	Produce GHG emissions	Sequester carbon	Anticipate climate change impacts	Respond to climate change impacts
☐	☐	☐	☒	☐

The 2020 survey’s list of core services were adjusted to include climate change adaptation and mitigation. Relatively good levels of awareness were registered for work on climate change over the past 18 months (45%).

The 2020 survey introduced the following question:

Using a scale of 1-10 where 1 means ‘no emphasis’ and 10 means ‘great emphasis’, please rate how much emphasis the COVID-19 recovery work should place on positive steps to address climate change and/or impacts of climate change?

Results show that more than three in five residents (62%) believe that COVID-19 recovery work should place emphasis on positive steps for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

3.3 Implications for Māori

Data was collected from a statistically representative sample of 1,311 Bay of Plenty residents that reflects the population within our region.

Survey results were analysed by demographic enabling us to analyse our service performance and customer satisfaction levels with Māori residents. This information means that we are able to see if there are higher levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction for Māori and address any problems that may be identified.

Key findings for Māori:

· Māori residents are less aware of Regional Council’s core services than other residents.

· Māori residents are less likely to be satisfied with Regional Council’s core services than other residents.

· Māori residents are more likely to have had contact with Regional Council in the past year than other residents.

· Māori residents have a higher awareness of submission processes that Regional Council has run over the past 12 months than other residents.

· Māori residents are likely to be less satisfied with overall community involvement and engagement than other residents.

· 70% of Māori believe that COVID-19 recovery work should place emphasis on positive steps for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The 2020 survey’s list of core services were adjusted to include “work with tangata whenua to build relationships and support capacity including providing funding for iwi management plans.” Results show relatively good levels of awareness were registered for work with tangata whenua over the past 18 months (47%).

3.4 Community Engagement

INFORM

Whakamōhio

To provide affected communities with balanced and objective information to assist them in understanding the problems, alternatives and/or solutions.

Key findings about community engagement:

· Levels of awareness about submissions processes remain relatively low (24%), and direct impact on the individual or their area remains the most likely reason (37%) that people might make a submission.

· Younger residents aged 18 to 44 years are less aware of any submission process that Regional Council has run over the past 12 months.

· Nearly a quarter of residents (24%) are aware of submission processes that ran over the past 12 months. Personal relevance (37%), having more knowledge about process (15%), and environmental issues (15%) were the main identified motivational factors to be involved in the submission process.

· Māori residents have a higher awareness of submission processes that Regional Council has run over the past 12 months than other residents.

· Just under four in ten residents are satisfied with Regional Council’s overall communication (36%) and overall community involvement and engagement (39%). This shows a slight decrease from 2018.

· Māori residents have a higher awareness of submission processes that Regional Council has run over the past 12 months than other residents.

· Māori residents are likely to be less satisfied with overall community involvement and engagement than other residents.

3.5 Financial Implications

There are no material unbudgeted financial implications and this fits within the allocated budget.

4. Next Steps

4.1 Recommended actions from survey findings:

1. Customer Service:

Continue with customer service improvements as reported in recent Monitoring and Operations Committee reports. This work includes further development of the CRM and increasing the services provided to customers by the Customer Contact Centre.

2. Communications:

Increase awareness campaign coverage. For example, advertising campaigns and sharing of good news stories about our work with tangata whenua, climate change and COVID-19 recovery.

Continue and extend communications campaigns focusing on reputation and relevance. Link this campaign with a sector-wide reputation and relevance communications plan.

More micro-targeted campaigns targeting specific demographics and communities in an effort to engage individuals on topics that will have personal relevance.

3. Engagement:

Use online tools to hold workshops to reach a wider audience i.e. Rangitāiki Floodway consultation.

Proactively seek audiences we do not hear from i.e. going to youth sports events for the LTP pre-engagement.

Set up the online People’s Panel to receive regular survey feedback from community members.

More micro-targeted promotion of submissions processes – look at trying more digital tactics in an effort to connect with younger demographics.

Investigate the opportunity to increase awareness around Regional Council and Quayside Holdings through rates collection.

Attachments

Attachment 1 - Residents Survey Findings Report ⇩



Report To:	Monitoring and Operations Committee
Meeting Date:	15 September 2020
Report Writer:	Rachael Burgess, Customer Contact Manager
Report Authoriser:	Mat Taylor, General Manager, Corporate
Purpose:	To update the Committee on customer service performance improvements

Customer Service Performance

Executive Summary

A programme of work is being carried out to improve customer service performance across the organisation. A key focus for the programme is to improve our customers’ experiences when interacting with Council to increase satisfaction levels.

The work programme includes actions to improve our on-site facilities when people come into the office to access services, increasing the range of services our call centre can deliver, process improvements, customer satisfaction reviews, and streamlining our after-hours call centre services.

Recommendations

That the Monitoring and Operations Committee:

1 Receives the report, Customer Service Performance.

1. Introduction

A programme of work is being implemented to improve customer service performance across the organisation. A key focus for the programme is to improve our customers’ experiences when interacting with Council to increase satisfaction levels.

The initiatives currently underway include:

· Providing facilities that better meet people’s needs when they come into the office to access services

· Process improvements, including the provision of online customer self-service options

· Implementation of a Customer Relationship Management System

· Building the capability of our in-house call centre to deal with a wider range of customer needs

· Consolidating all externally provided after hours call centre services to a single Local Government provider

· Targeted customer feedback reviews to identify areas for improvement

1.1 Alignment with Strategic Framework

The Way We Work

We provide great customer service.

1.1.1 Community Well-beings Assessment

Dominant Well-Beings Affected

¨ Environmental

Low - Positive

¨ Cultural

Low - Positive

¨ Social

Medium - Positive

¨ Economic

Low - Positive

2. Customer Service Performance

2.1 Improved Public Interface

Our newly refurbished reception areas are now open to the public in all three office locations with an increase in visitor numbers on the previous year experienced across all sites. The roll out of the Regional Integrated Ticketing Solution (RITS) and the Rotorua Clean Heat initiative has seen a record number of customers visit our offices to enquire about a bee card or hot swap assessment. This has provided the perfect opportunity to test how our new public interfaces perform.

Improving our customers’ experience has been a strong focus in the design of our new customer interfaces as we previously did not have the facilities or space to cope with high visitor numbers. These areas have been designed to ensure easy access for all members of the public and include features such as large public meeting spaces, bathroom facilities, room to manage large volumes of people and technology to better meet our customers’ needs. Dedicated meeting rooms have been factored into these areas so that our customers have a private space to meet with staff and councillors, with supporting technology in place to ensure that information is easy to access.

When the COVID-19 Alert Level reduced to Level 2 in May, the Tauranga and Rotorua offices opened to the public for the first time. Up to 30 August 2020, there have been approximately 3,100 members of the public visit Regional House and 2,400 customers visit the new Rotorua office. The majority of these customers have visited the office in relation to the Bee Card implementation and the Rotorua clean heat initiative. In Whakatāne, the new reception area was opened to the public on 2 November 2018 and since then approximately 4,051 customers have visited this site. While Whakatāne received a lower number of Bee Card enquiries, there has been a large number of biosecurity enquiries at this site in recent months.

Quarterly Visitor Numbers per Office for 2018/19 vs 2019/20

A total of 14,034 people visited our office locations during the 2019/20 year. This is an increase of 27% compared to the previous year where we had 11,810 visitors.

As part of the Bee Card implementation we also introduced an online customer self-service kiosk where customers visiting Regional House were able to register their details using a touch screen at the front counter. This was very well received, particularly during busy periods as it allowed customers to have their requests resolved much faster and one of our customer service officers were on hand to provide guidance if needed. Additional self-service kiosks are now being introduced in Rotorua and Whakatāne.

The feedback from our customers who have visited is throughout the last few weeks on the new public interfaces and services they have received has been very positive.

2.2 Regional Integrated Ticketing Solution

Our customer service teams had a significant role in preparing for the Bee Card transition and while it was difficult to predict traffic volumes for planning purposes, we were able to closely monitor the trends experienced by Waikato Regional Council who went live with their RITS programme three weeks before us. The Bee Card marketing campaign started on 22 June and finished on 21 August 2020. During that time a total of 7,520 customers contacted our call centre or visited one of our office locations to register for a Bee Card or transfer their balance from their old card to their new one.

To ensure there was a strong focus on customer service, a community outreach programme was also implemented with customer service agents setting up mobile service desks at convenient locations across the region. Staff members served as ‘Ambussadors’ in the community to register Bee Cards and provide information about the system change.

Similarly to the welfare call response that was set up during the during the Covid-19 event, the Customer Contact Centre (CCC) resourcing was flexed to manage the higher volume of calls received during the RITS implementation. In total, the CCC received 3,163 bee card enquires over the nine week period. During this time general enquiries were also being processed and the team experienced a 76% increase on normal call volumes. A total of 10,647 calls were received during the Bee Card project period with a massive 458 calls received in a single day when the system went live on the 27 July. The CCC are able to provide an agile response to call volume fluctuations during project periods by scaling the team resourcing up or down depending on call demand.

2.2.1 Beehive Service Centre

In addition to the CCC, council public interfaces and Ambussador community outreach programme, a dedicated customer service centre (the Beehive) was set up in Tauranga adjacent to the Willow Street bus interchange to respond to the increasing number of Bee Card interactions in the lead up to the Tauranga go live on 27 July. The Beehive was resourced using staff members from various teams across the organisation and supplemented by a small number of temporary contractors who were trained to respond to frequently asked questions and transfer card balances.

Staff collaborated with Tauranga City Council (TCC) which provided the free use of this site for the three week period. TCC also assisted with Bee Card enquiries at their front counter prior to the Beehive being set up and after it was decommissioned.

The ‘Beehive’ customer service centre on Willow Street

By the time the Beehive opened on the 23 July a total of 1,500 Bee Card queries had already been processed at Regional House and at its peak a total of 176 customers had visited Regional House on a single day. The number of customers presenting at Regional House reduced following the opening of the Beehive which operated from 22 July to 11 August. During this time the Beehive processed 2,568 customer enquiries, an average of 171 per day. As at 21 August we had received a total of 10,088 Bee Card enquiries through our customer service channels.

Bee Card Customer Interactions between 22 June and 21 August 2020

Bee Card Interactions by Customer Service Location
BOPRC call centre	3,163
Tauranga Customer Interface	2,790
Rotorua Customer Interface	1,314
Whakatāne Customer Interface	253
Beehive Customer Interface	2,568
Total	10,088

2.3 Implementation of Customer Relationship Management System

At the beginning of our customer service review process, it was highlighted that council did not have effective and comprehensive systems and technology in place to provide staff with the tools to assist them in improving customer service. It was identified that a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system would provide key functional benefits such as ensuring all customer queries are tracked and monitored, provide comprehensive reporting as well as integrating with our other enterprise systems.

In early August 2020, the CRM was rolled out to the CCC. The feedback from the first three weeks has been positive with the team already reporting that they are able to respond to requests much quicker and with greater consistency than they had previously.

During the first three weeks of operation the CCC team have generated a total of 2,666 service tickets with the majority of these being resolved within the first 24 hours.

2.3.1 Building Call Centre Capacity

From 1 September 2020, the CCC has taken all of the ‘BayBus’ calls that were previously managed by an external provider. The team were well placed to start managing these calls following the successful implementation of the RITS programme recently. The Maritime Hotline calls will be managed in-house from next month, and the Rotorua Hotswap Programme calls will move over early next year.

The CCC hours have now been extended to receive calls between 6am to 6pm with the team rostered to work a series of different shifts, ensuring resourcing is sufficient regardless of the time of day someone calls.

2.3.2 Comprehensive Customer Data to Drive Improvements

Since the CRM has been implemented, the CCC team have noticed an improvement in the way they access customer details and past transaction information as they now have access to reliable customer data. Our existing customer database containing 50,000 contact details has been uploaded into the CRM system so that many customers can now be identified by their phone number when they call in.

Each time a customer contacts us their transaction history builds up, providing our CCC agents with a comprehensive view of all of the customer’s interactions with us. This means that any one of our CCC agents can assist with a customer’s enquiry, even if it is a follow up from a previous interaction which the agent had not been involved in.

The CRM has a ‘knowledge base’ tool which allows teams to create and share organisation content easily, ensuring our customers receive accurate and up to date advice relating to their queries. As this knowledgebase increases, and armed with the customers’ contact information and history, our CCC agents are able to answer most queries at the first point of contact.

2.3.3 Improved Analytical Data and Reporting

One of the key features of the CRM system is a data and reporting tool called Zendesk Explore that is designed to help collect and understand our customer data. The CCC team are now capturing all customer interactions in Explore and this system functionality is enabling us to accurately quantify and categorise this data to learn more about our customer patterns.

2.4 After Hours Call Centre

Council previously held separate contracts with three external providers to manage BayBus calls, Maritime hotline calls and after hours call services for our Pollution hotline and the general enquiries line. It was identified that savings could be achieved by combining all after hours call contracts together with a single provider. A procurement process was recently carried out and a contract is now in place with Tauranga City Council who operate a 24/7 call centre, to manage our after-hours calls.

Consolidating these services into a single service provider from the Local Government not only provides the benefit of cost savings, but improves the quality of service to our customers.

3. Considerations

3.1 Risks and Mitigations

The results from the 2018 Residents survey indicated that at that time 30% of people surveyed about the quality of service they received from us found the experience worse than expected. We are aware of the reputational risk that poor customer service has for us and have made a concerted effort to improve our service delivery over the past 18 months. All of the initiatives that are being implemented are designed to mitigate that risk and provide our customers with good experiences.

The results from the 2020 Residents survey have shown a marked improvement in customers’ levels of satisfaction when they have contacted us over the past year.

3.2 Climate Change

The matters addressed in this report are of a procedural nature and there is no need to consider climate change impacts.

3.3 Implications for Māori

Twenty five percent of respondents to the 2018 and 2020 residents’ survey were New Zealand Māori. The data from the survey responses are able to be broken down in to ethnicity demographics which enables us to analyse our service performance and customer satisfaction levels in relation to Māori. This information means that we are able to see if there are higher levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction for our Māori customers and address any problems that may be identified.

Our region has New Zealand’s largest number of iwi entities and the second largest Māori population, providing the region and its communities with a rich and vibrant cultural dynamic. In upgrading our Whakatāne and Tauranga buildings, and during the design of our new office in Rotorua, Council worked with advisors to incorporate features in the buildings that reflect the culture of our region and the values of our organisation. Many of these features have been incorporated into our entranceway and public interface areas.

Cultural design features have also been incorporated into the buildings to reflect the rich culture of our region. The design concept Toi Te Mauri:Mai I Te Tauranga Waka Ki Ngā Tāpuhipuhi Maunga - Mauri from mountain to sea is intrinsically tied to the notion of journey, of progression, of growth and advancement. It attempts to reflect the movements of tangata whenua from arrival on the shores of a new land, to gradually populating the land and carving a vibrant existence that extends from mountain to sea. Staff continue to work with the cultural advisors to ensure that these special design features are incorporated into each site across the region, with additional items being considered for our public interface and meeting room areas.

3.4 Community Engagement

Engagement with the community is not required as the recommended proposal / decision relates to internal Council matters only.

3.5 Financial Implications

Council previously held separate contracts with three external providers to manage BayBus calls, Maritime hotline calls and after hours call services for our Pollution hotline and the general enquiries line. Bringing all council calls in-house so they are managed by our internal Customer Contact Centre will result in a saving of around $50,000 per annum.

Further savings have now been achieved by consolidating the contract for after hours calls into a single provider and extending the hours of our internal call centre to operate from 6am to 6pm.

4. Next Steps

Scoping for Phase Two of the CRM system implementation is now underway and this will include integration with some of our other enterprise systems, such as the Regulatory system called Accela. Being able to access to the information contained in Accela through the CRM platform means our call centre staff will be able to source and log consent and pollution prevention details without needing to refer the call onto a consents team member. Eventually we are aiming to introduce a self-service functionality for customers to access their own consents information however there are some technical security and privacy challenges that need to be explored and resolved before this service can be made available.

Now that the CRM has been implemented and is working well within the CCC, the project team will work to roll out the CRM to other teams that have customer interactions. The Customer Collaborative Network will also continue to identify opportunities for further customer service improvements.

[1] There are more sophisticated drought indexes available that use soil moisture and stream flow as inputs, however the suggestion is to focus on a simple rainfall based index utilising our large physical rainfall monitoring network as an input.

[2] Precipitation is another name for rainfall.

[3] The analysis period is the time at which rainfall is totalised.

[4] s.35(2) Every local authority shall monitor—

(a) the state of the whole or any part of the environment of its region or district—

(i) to the extent that is appropriate to enable the local authority to effectively carry out its functions under this Act; and

(ii) in addition, by reference to any indicators or other matters prescribed by regulations made under this Act, and in accordance with the regulations; …..

Note that s35(a)(i) refers to monitoring to enable councils to effectively carry out their functions. These functions are set out in s.30 and largely relate to preparation and review of objectives, policies and methods for management of natural and physical resources, and the specific matters councils have control over (coastal, water, land for certain purposes, air). Therefore a key part of SOE reporting is (a) identifying the issues councils need to manage and (b) identifying whether objectives are being achieved.

[5] Areas categorised as ‘wet pasture’ would require a field visit to determine whether or not they meet the definition of wetland in the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 (NPS-FW). The definition of natural wetland in the NPS-FW excludes ‘any area of improved pasture that, at the commencement date, is dominated by (that is more than 50% of) exotic pasture species and is subject to temporary rain derived water pooling’.

Chairperson	Cr Kevin Winters
Deputy Chairperson	Cr Norm Bruning
Members	All Councillors
Quorum	Seven members, consisting of half the number of members
Meeting frequency	Quarterly