Annual Report2010 / 2011

Contents

Report from the Mayor and Chief Executive 1

SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION 3 Council’s Vision, Mission and Objectives 4 Reporting on Our Work 6 Your Council 7 Overview of Performance 8 Looking Forward 9 Financial Overview 10 Statement of Compliance and Responsibility 18 Audit Report 19

SECTION TWO: CHOOSING FUTURES - THAMES-COROMANDEL 21

SECTION THREE: OUR ACTIVITIES 25 Introduction 26 How to Read This Section 27

Community Leadership 29 District Leadership 31 Local Advocacy 33 Performance Against Budget 34

Planning for the Future 36 Strategic Planning 38 Landuse Planning 39 Hazard Management 41 Performance Against Budget 43

Strong Communities 45 Emergency Management 48 Economic Development 49 Community Health and Safety 50 Building Control 51 Social Development 52 District Transportation 53 Local Transportation 55 Cemeteries 56 Airﬁ elds 57 Contents

Halls 58 Swimming Pools 59 Libraries 60 Harbour Facilities 61 Parks and Reserves 62 Performance Against Budget 63

Safeguarding the Environment 69 Natural and Cultural Heritage 72 Public Conveniences 73 Landuse Management 74 Water Services 75 Wastewater 76 Stormwater 78 Solid Waste 79 Land Drainage 80 Land Information Memoranda 81 Performance Against Budget 82

SECTION FOUR: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 91 Contents: Financial Statements 93 Guide to Financial Statements 94 Consolidated Statement of Financial Performance 95 Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity 95 Consolidated Statement of Financial Position 96 Consolidated Statement of Cash ﬂ ows 97 Note 1 : Statement of Accounting Policies 98 Notes 2-35 : Notes to the Accounts 109 Council Controlled Organisations 157

SECTION FIVE: COUNCIL POLICIES 159 Development of Maori Capacity to Participate in Council Decision-Making 160 Equal Employment Opportunities 162

SECTION SIX: GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP 163 Governance 164 Council Structure 165 Management 166 SECTION THREE OUR ACTIVITIES

Whitianga Harbour Introduction How to Read This Section Community Leadership Planning for the Future Strong Communities Safeguarding the Environment

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 25 INTRODUCTION The following section outlines the Thames-Coromandel District Council’s annual service performance results for the 2010/2011 year. In its Ten Year Plan, the Council deﬁ nes its activities and sets targets. This report details the 2010-2011 results against the targets set for this year. The Council organises itself into four Activity Groups with twenty eight associated Activities. These are listed below

This section of the report contains the non ﬁ nancial service reporting results of the organisation in 2010/2011 and deﬁ nes for each activity: ▪ The aim ▪ What we do ▪ The service we provide ▪ Why we provide this service ▪ What we aimed for (our targets) ▪ How we did The performance results are drawn from a wide range of data and approaches to assess how effective the Council has been at delivering these services. They measure a range of customer’s needs and interests and a range of different approaches are taken to assess how effectively this has been done. The approaches include customer satisfaction surveys; number of complaints; time taken to respond to requests for service; independent reviews of the quality of the service provided; services delivered against agreed timescales; providing evidence that services protect the safety of the community are some examples. It has not been possible to produce results for a small number of the performance measures for a variety of reasons. In these instances supplementary measures have been reported on which give a more complete picture of the activities performance.

26 SECTION THREE | Our Activities HOW TO READ THIS SECTION In order to help navigate this section, a snapshot view is given of what information is included and what it tells you.

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE Activity Group The name of the activity What We Do group The Coromandel Peninsula is constantly changing. Over recent years the Peninsula has experienced rapid growth in housing, shifts in the social makeup of our communities and continued extreme weather events impacting on our people and natural environment.

The Coromandel Peninsula community has told us that planning for the future is important. This is in part so we can meet the needs of our local and visitor communities ahead of change but also so that we can retain the diversity, character and natural values that they believe make the Peninsula special.

The Planning for the Future group of activities is about just that - planning for the wellbeing of the District in the long-term. Planning for the Future involves:

Understanding the characteristics and trends of the District as well as the pressures it is facing. What the activity is and why we provide it. Understanding community aspirations for the future. Having a clear direction for the future of our District, and having tools to implement it.

Planning for the Future Activities This group includes Strategic Planning the following activities Landuse Planning The name of the activities Hazard Management

Contribution to Choosing Futures The Ten Year Plan identifies how we’ll assess the contribution we made to progressing our community outcomes.

4 In 2011 46% of residents and non-resident ratepayers are aware of the vision for the District of those 77% are satisfied that the Council is working towards achieving this goal. This compares with 53% and 67% being satisfied in 2010, a decrease of 7% in awareness and a 10% increase in satisfaction

(2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Survey) Contribution to The reported figure is adjusted to exclude 'Don't knows'. If 'Don't Knows' were included, the result for awareness in 2011 is 44% and 2010 is 51%, Choosing Futures satisfaction is 73% in 2011 and 61% in 2010. Measuring our progress in 5 In 2011 77% of residents and non-resident ratepayers have some level of confidence that the plans the Council makes for contributing to achieving the future are in the best interest of the District. In comparison the level of confidence was 61% in 2010, an improvement Choosing Futures of 16% on last year.

(2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Survey). The reported figure is adjusted to exclude 'Don't Knows'. If 'Don't Knows' were included the result in 2011 is 75% and 2010 is 60%. Footnote: for the above measure, result is derived from the categories: “complete confidence”, “a lot of confidence” and “some confidence”.

Note: Not all results are available annually and consequently some information is unavailable at this time.

Overview of Planning for the Future Performance

2010/2011 Planning for the Future Highlights Overview of Coromandel Peninsula Blueprint - Draft Local Area Blueprints (LABs) were developed and a full briefing was given to the performance Council in February prior to the LABs being presented to the Political Steering Group for endorsement. Highlights of performance As a result of feedback technical officers were asked to make a number of changes to improve the accuracy and referencing for each group of of the documents. In April the Council determined that the LABs will be used to inform the development of the 2012-2022 Ten activities.

This page is a snapshot for illustrative purposes only.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 27 How to Read This Section Continued

Planning for the Future Group Achievements during the 2009-2019 Ten Year Plan

Summary Service Levels How We Did Pass Rate Achieved Annual Report 2010/2011 6 of 10 Both Strategic Planning and Landuse Planning improved on last How we achieved this year years performance however Hazard Management met only one of its three measures. The Hazard Management measures are based on compared to last year. National Research Bureau survey, and in light of the challenges facing this activity as a result of the Christchurch earthquake and Japanese tsunami the heightened levels of awareness and concern are understandable. Annual Report 2009/2010 4 of 10

2010/2011 Planning for the Future Achievements

Activity / Output Area Service Levels How We Did Pass Rate Achieved Strategic Planning 3 of 3 A solid year of performance set against the background of a How many performance challenging work programme. targets we've achieved Landuse Planning 2 of 4 Good progress was made in a number of key areas. The loss of a over the last year. few key personnel resulted in some delays. Hazard Management 1 of 3 This was a particularly challenging year for those involved in hazard management as the public became both more aware of the risks, the response was ninety two percent compared to a target of sixty percent. Despite such a significant level of awareness the community still felt relatively secure in their home with the result only being three

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE - Strategic Planning Activity

Our Aim The name of the activity and its purpose. To plan for the future of the Coromandel Peninsula in an integrated and sustainable way.

While not part of the services this activity provides, the Strategic Planning budget also includes a disaster reserves fund and the assets that the Council needs to operate, such as vehicles, furniture and computers (These operational assets take up about half the total strategic planning budget).

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did

Communities are helped to Community Outcomes are in place Achieved Choosing Futures Thames-Coromandel identify local and District that identifies the District community outcomes were reviewed in 2009/2010 visions community vision. and remain in place. Note that recent legislative amendments have changed the meaning of the term community outcomes. For the avoidance of any doubt, community outcomes in this context refers to Choosing Futures Thames-Coromandel. The services we Customers can expect the Initiatives completed to provide Achieved No update was planned for 2010/2011. provide Council to identify potential current information on issues and issues before they become trends Our performance in problems delivering services to our Plans are in place to Four Blueprint local area plans Over Achieved The Local Area Blueprints for the whole of District community. manage growth and change complete. were completed in the 2010/2011 financial year, in the District ahead of target. The Council adopted a planning methodology which enabled the more efficient completion of the Blueprints in order to reduce costs.

Other projects and Other Factors programmes New Council Outcomes Other specific workstreams Recent legislative changes now require the identification of council outcomes rather than district community outcomes. The and Projects we've 2010 elected Council has developed a new Council Direction accordingly. This Direction will be applied to the Council's achieved. 2012-2022 Ten Year Planning process. Christchurch Earthquake The Christchurch Earthquake has had an impact on some of the Council's work programmes in the planning area. In particular, the postponement of the National Census from 2011 to 2013 will impact upon the Council's own demographic update project planned for the 2011/2012 year. As a result, the Demographic Update will be delayed until the 2013/2014 year.

28 SECTION THREE | Our Activities COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

What We Do Through this group of activities, the elected Council and Community Boards help the Peninsula’s communities contribute to Council plans and processes and then make decisions on the communities’ behalf. These decisions help ensure that the Council is contributing towards improving the social, cultural, economic and environmental wellbeing of the District’s communities. The Council sees itself as having a proactive role in providing leadership to the community through the development of the District and community. This approach is seen as being consistent with the purpose of local government as deﬁ ned in Section 10 of the Local Government Act.

Community Leadership Activities

District Leadership Local Advocacy

Contribution to Choosing Futures The 2009-2019 Ten Year Plan identiﬁ es how we’ll assess the contribution we made to progressing our community outcomes.

5 In 2011 47% of residents and non-resident ratepayers are satisfi ed with the way the Council involves the public in the decisions it makes. In comparison 34% were satisfi ed in 2010, an improvement of 13% on last year. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Survey) The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 44% and 2010 32%.

4 In 2010 32% of residents agree that they have conﬁ dence that the Council makes decisions that are in the best interests of the District. This compares with 41% in 2007 (Survey not updated this year and these are the last available results). (2010 and 2007, Waikato Perception Survey - Thames-Coromandel District) This survey was last held in 2010 and is held every three years.

4 In 2011 76% of residents and non-resident ratepayers felt they knew how to contact a Councillor and would go ahead and do so if the situation arose where they wanted to put a viewpoint, problem or issue to a Councillor. In comparison 81% of respondents said they would contact a Councillor in 2010 - a 5% reduction in perceived accessibility from last year. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Survey) The actual performance result is measured from the survey results adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Know’ were included, the result for 2011 is 74% and 2010 80%.

Overview of Community Leadership Performance

2010/2011 Community Leadership Highlights

2010 Elections - The fi rst quarter of the 2010-2011 year was busy with preparation for the October Council and Board elections and induction programme. Voting closed on 9 October 2010 for the 2010 local authority elections. Voting returns exceeded the 2007 election, refl ecting the considerable interest in the election by candidates and the public. Elected Member Induction Programme - A comprehensive induction programme was prepared for elected members. Because of members standing down, it was anticipated there would be a number of new elected members coming onto the Council and Community Boards. Of the nine elected Council members eight were new to both Council and their positions; therefore there was an intensive focus on induction and direction-setting. Community Boards - Community Board members were sworn in at their respective inaugural meetings after the election. Community Board Chairs have also been invited to attend full Council meetings to encourage more effective communication between Boards and the Council and to also ensure community perspectives are part of the discussions around the Council table. Community Board Chairs have speaking rights but cannot vote on Council decisions. Community Grants - Grants were approved for community groups that met the requirements. As usual, applications for grants exceeded the available funds by a signifi cant amount. District Leadership - Council, Committee and Community Board order papers (with attachments) were made available online from February 2011.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 29 Community Leadership Activities Achievements during the 2009-2019 Ten Year Plan

Summary Service Levels How We Did Achieved

Annual Report 2010/2011 3 of 8 Good progress has been made in the Community Leadership Group of activities. And while the majority of targets have not been met the gap has been closed signiﬁ cantly in most areas and it is anticipated that most will have been achieved by next year.

Annual Report 2009/2010 1 of 8

2010/2011 Community Leadership Achievements

Activity / Output Area Service Levels How We Did Achieved

District Leadership 3 of 5 Four of the fi ve reported results are based on a National Research Bureau (NRB) survey. The improvement in results in this area have been signifi cant. Every one of the measures covered by the survey saw the percentage improvement from last year in double fi gures. The one which didn’t reach its target moved within two percent of meeting the target. Progress on the storage of records electronically has started to make up some of the ground lost due to a delay in commencing this project. A revised timetable and targets have been developed and these new targets are now being met.

Local Advocacy 0 of 3 Two of the three measures were covered by NRB survey. Satisfaction with the way the public are involved in decisions rose by thirteen percent; however the other measure which focussed on knowing how to contact a Community Board member fell. The approach and methods used was the same as for Councillors and this was considered effective.

30 SECTION THREE | Our Activities COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP - District Leadership

Our Aim To govern the overall direction of the Council on behalf of the District’s communities.

Why We Provide This Service The Local Government Act 2002 requires that elected members show leadership so their communities can be successful as well as meet and survive challenges as they arise. Local councils are in a position to provide leadership on behalf of the District on matters that are within its role and outside its core functions. There are a number of regional and national directives that impact on our communities and it is through District Leadership that they can be kept informed and represented. The Local Electoral Act 2001 provides the means that enable our communities to select the people they want to represent them, through a democratic decision making process.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did An avenue is provided 83% of residents and non-resident Achieved 90% feel they can contact a Council member. The through which the ratepayers feel they can contact a following steps were taken to achieve this year’s community can have its Council member to raise an issue or target: views heard. problem. • A sign displaying photographs and names of the elected Council has been installed in the customer services area of the Thames building. • Brochures providing photographs and contact details of each Community Board have been developed and made available at each service centre, including the Thames offi ce. • Contact details for elected members are available on Council’s website. • Order Papers now contain photographs and contact details of the elected members on that Committee, Community Board. • Staff have been provided with a spreadsheet containing elected member contact details for providing to the public on request. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 88% and 88% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) 29% of residents and non-resident Achieved 30% feel that the Mayor and Councillors give them a ratepayers feel that the Mayor and fair hearing, up from 19.5% in 2010. The Mayor has Councillors give a fair hearing to been active in communicating through the media that their views (the target is the peer the Council is listening to community views. group average) The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 25% and 16% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) Direction is set to determine 40% of residents and non-resident Achieved 48% are satisfi ed with the Council’s decisions and what activities the Council ratepayers are satisfi ed with the actions. Council has had a high profi le coming out of should engage in Council’s decisions and actions (the the 2010 elections. It has communicated a change in target is the peer group average). Council direction in terms of economic development, and organisational effi ciency gains. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 46% and 31% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys)

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 31 Direction is set to determine 71% of residents and non-resident Not 69% are satisfi ed with how the Council allocates what activities the Council ratepayers are satisfi ed with how Achieved funds. This measure is up from 57% in 2010. should engage in the Council allocates funds / rates This increase may be due to Council’s high profi le to be spent on the services and campaign to reduce costs and seek effi ciencies facilities provided (the target is the across the organisation. peer group average). The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 66% and 52% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) The Council will keep and 60% of property records stored Not 48% achieved. The target was revised due to maintain accurate property electronically in accordance with the Achieved technical issues at the start of the project resulting records Public Records Act 2005. in a later than anticipated start. The revised target is now being met and sits at 48% completed at the end of June 2011. Completion of the project is scheduled for the end of 2012.

Other Projects and Programmes Various options for remedial work to the roof of the Thames Administration building to correct design and installation issues were explored. Options considered ranged from a temporary quick ﬁ x to more permanent solutions, which will meet revised NZ Building Codes. This was not concluded in time to carry out the work during the summer window. A request for the project to be carried forward to the 2011/2012 year has been agreed. The 2010/2011 Annual Plan identiﬁ ed the need for additional resources of $42,000 to be allocated to meet energy costs for the Thames Administration building; this has been done.

32 SECTION THREE | Our Activities COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP - Local Advocacy

Our Aim Ensure that the Council appreciates and understands local views.

Why We Provide This Service The Local Advocacy activity is about ensuring your local community can be involved in the decision-making processes of the Council. Community Boards are an important link in maintaining relationships between the Council and smaller community groups. The Local Government Act 2002 and other legislation have placed increased emphasis and requirements on the Council to consult with its communities.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did Community boards offer 72% of residents and non-resident Not 55% know how to contact a Community Board local representation ratepayers know how to contact a Achieved member. Staff have taken a number of initiatives to community board member. make it easier for ratepayers to contact Community Board members. These include: • Including contact details of elected members with each agenda. • Leafl ets have been developed for each Community Board area providing contact details for each Community Board. • Posting contact details and minutes of meetings on public notice boards. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 54% down from 60% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) Community boards make 94% of Community Board decision- Not 37% of reports included community plan information. decisions that consider making reports on local issues Achieved The under performance of this measure identifi es a local issues include community plan information. clear need for even more education of report writers to reference community plans on local issues. Opportunities are available 52% of residents and non-resident Not 47% are satisfi ed with public involvement. This year’s to raise local issues and ratepayers are satisfi ed with the Achieved performance is an increase from 34% in 2010. The understand what will way the Council involves the public steps taken to raise the performance were: happen as a result in the decisions it makes. • Encouraging the public to submit to annual and Ten Year Plan processes. To facilitate this an online submission process has been developed. • Council, Committee and Community Board meetings are advertised through public notices and published to Council’s website. The public can attend open sessions of Council to observe the decision making process in action. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 44% up from 32% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys)

Other Projects and Programmes Community Boards will assign portfolios to members Achieved. All Community Boards were assigned portfolios. Community Boards will submit an annual work programme to the Council for endorsement Achieved. The annual work programme was endorsed by Council in April 2010 (for the 2010/11 year). Council endorsed the 2011/12 annual work programme on 29th June 2011. The Community Board Code of Conduct will be reviewed Achieved. The code of conduct was reviewed and adopted at the ﬁ rst meeting of the Community Boards after the triennial election. Regular feedback will be provided to Community Boards and community on progress with actions contained in community plans (every six months) Regular feedback was provided. A process will be developed to ensure Community Board members are available to the community Process developed and in place.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 33 Performance Against Budget

Community Leadership

For the year ended 30 June 2011 2010 2011 Actual Budget Actual Variance Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s $000’s Revenue 0 Activity Revenue 0 3 3 15 Contributions Revenue 17 13 (4) 2,938 General Funds 2,784 2,920 136 1 0 Subsidies Revenue 0 0 0 2,953 Total Operating Revenue 2,801 2,936 135 Cost of Services 2,766 District Leadership 3,060 2,424 636 2 1,265 Local Advocacy 1,312 1,183 129 3 4,031 Total Cost of Services 4,372 3,607 765 (1,078) OPERATING SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) (1,571) (671) 901

What did it Cost?

Actual expenditure incurred for 2010/11 financial year ($000s) 3,607

Planned expenditure for 2010/11 financial year ($000s) 4,372

Variance ($000s) 765 Total cost of services was $3.6m against a plan of $4.4m

Notes

1 General Funds is showing a favourable variance as: ■ Rates revenue is showing a favourable variance as shifts in the rating database in the time between ﬁ nalising the budget ﬁ gures of the Annual Plan and actually assessing the rates at the end of closing off the District Valuation Roll on 30 June 2010 varied

2 District Leadership is showing a favourable variance as: ■ Expenses are under budget by $385,000 in Council administration due to cost reductions across all activities and the deferral of capital expenditure on the Thames County Building reducing the depreciation charge by $41,000. Also a further $87,000 in Council public relations and $83,000 in relationship with Maori. Election costs were $40,000 under budget.

3 Local Advocacy is showing a favourable variance as: ■ Expenses are under budget by $129,000 in the Community Boards again reﬂ ecting reductions in costs in Council activities as well as general operating costs within each Board.

34 SECTION THREE | Our Activities COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP - CAPITAL WORKS

2011 Budget Actual Variance CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s

COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

Upgrade Thames Administration Building 42 0 42 1 Upgrade Thames County Building 72 0 72 2 Thames Administration Building Roof 207 0 207 3

Total Community Leadership Capital Works Projects 321 0 321

Percentage Capital Works Projects completed 100% 0%

Notes 1 Thames Administration A directive for reduced expenditure on this project was given by the Council due to rates Building affordability issues. Work has now been deferred to part-way through 2011/12 and 2012/13. 2 Thames County Building A directive for reduced expenditure on this project was given by the Council due to rates affordability issues. Work has now been deferred to part-way through 2011/12 and 2012/13. 3 Thames Administration Various options for remedial work for the Thames Administration building range from a Building - Roof temporary quick ﬁ x to more permanent solutions in order to correct design and installation issues in order to comply with the NZ Building Code. Unfortunately, these options were not fully explored in time to make use of the summer window, hence the request for the project allocation to be carried forward for roll-out in the 2011/2012 year. The additional energy costs identiﬁ ed in the 2010/2011 Annual Plan were able to be offset by the budgeted shortfall to be incurred by the Thames Administration building.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 35 PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

What We Do The Coromandel Peninsula is constantly changing. Over recent years the Peninsula has experienced rapid growth in housing, shifts in the social makeup of our communities and continued extreme weather events impacting on our people and natural environment. The Coromandel Peninsula community has told us that planning for the future is important. This is in part so we can meet the needs of our local and visitor communities ahead of change but also so that we can retain the diversity, character and natural values that they believe make the Peninsula special. The Planning for the Future group of activities is about just that - planning for the wellbeing of the District in the long-term. Planning for the Future involves: Understanding the characteristics and trends of the District as well as the pressures it is facing. Understanding community aspirations for the future. Having a clear direction for the future of our District, and having tools to implement it.

Planning for the Future Activities

Strategic Planning Landuse Planning Hazard Management

Contribution to Choosing Futures The 2009-2019 Ten Year Plan identiﬁ es how we’ll assess the contribution we made to progressing our community outcomes.

4 In 2011 46% of residents and non-resident ratepayers are aware of the vision for the District. Of those 77% are satisﬁ ed that the Council is working towards achieving this goal. This compares with 53% awareness and 67% respectively in 2010, a decrease of 7% in awareness and a 10% increase in satisfaction (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) The reported ﬁ gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for awareness in 2011 is 44% and 2010 is 51%, satisfaction is 73% in 2011 and 61% in 2010.

5 In 2011 77% of residents and non-resident ratepayers have some level of conﬁ dence that the plans the Council makes for the future are in the best interest of the District. In comparison the level of conﬁ dence was 61% in 2010, an improvement of 16% on last year.

(2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included the result in 2011 is 75% and 2010 is 60%. Footnote: for the above measure, result is derived from the categories: “complete confi dence”, “a lot of confi dence” and “some confi dence”. Overview of Planning for the Future Performance

2010/2011 Planning for the Future Highlights

Coromandel Peninsula Blueprint - Draft Local Area Blueprints (LABs) were developed and a full briefi ng was given to the Council in February prior to the LABs being presented to the Political Steering Group for endorsement. As a result of feedback from the Political Steering Group technical offi cers were asked to make a number of changes to improve the accuracy and referencing of the documents. In April the Council determined that the LABs will be used to inform the development of the 2012-2022 Ten Year Plan and the District Plan review. District Plan - Work continued on the full review and restructure of the District Plan. Staff were also involved in the preparation of a submission to the Regional Policy Statement at the end of February 2011. A new District Plan Review Committee was established with its fi rst meeting held in February. Staff also worked on a number (16) of direction setting papers seeking guidance from the Committee on proposed provisions for the draft reviewed District Plan relating to the ‘built environment’.

36 SECTION THREE | Our Activities Planning for the Future Group Achievements during the 2009-2019 Ten Year Plan

Summary Service Levels How We Did Achieved

Annual Report 2010/2011 6 of 10 Both Strategic Planning and Landuse Planning improved on last year’s performance, however Hazard Management met only one of its three measures. The Hazard Management measures are based on National Research Bureau survey, and in light of the challenges facing this activity as a result of the Christchurch earthquake and Japanese tsunami the heightened levels of awareness and concern are understandable.

Annual Report 2009/2010 4 of 10

2010/2011 Planning for the Future Achievements

Activity / Output Area Service Levels How We Did Achieved

Strategic Planning 3 of 3 A solid year of performance set against the background of a challenging work programme.

Landuse Planning 2 of 4 Good progress was made in a number of key areas. The loss of a few key personnel resulted in some delays.

Hazard Management 1 of 3 This was a particularly challenging year for those involved in hazard management as the public became more aware of the risks associated with natural hazards. The response was ninety two percent compared to a target of sixty percent. Despite such a signifi cant level of awareness the community still felt relatively secure in their home, with the result only being three percent under target at fi fty seven percent. A fall of four percent on last year. The results for awareness of joint initiatives were just over half the target fi gure.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 37 PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE - Strategic Planning

Our Aim To plan for the future of the Coromandel Peninsula in an integrated and sustainable way.

Why We Provide This Service Strategic planning enables us to better understand the pressures facing the District and make informed decisions for the future. Through initiatives like the joint agency Coromandel Peninsula Blueprint project and associated Blueprint local area plans, we can identify and match our service delivery and assets to meet the long-term aspirations of our communities. Any of the facilities we provide, such as sewage schemes and water supplies for example, have a long life span and strategic planning helps ensure that we can match their outputs to expected future demand. While not part of the services this activity provides, the Strategic Planning budget also includes a disaster reserves fund and the assets that the Council needs to operate, such as vehicles, furniture and computers (these operational assets take up about half the total strategic planning budget).

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did Communities are helped to Community Outcomes are in place Achieved Choosing Futures Thames-Coromandel community identify local and District that identifi y the District community outcomes were reviewed in 2009/2010 and remain visions vision. in place. Note that recent legislative amendments have changed the meaning of the term community outcomes. For the avoidance of any doubt, community outcomes in this context refers to Choosing Futures Thames-Coromandel. Customers can expect the Initiatives completed to provide Achieved No update was planned for 2010/2011. Council to identify potential current information on issues and issues before they become trends problems Plans are in place to manage Four Blueprint local area plans Achieved The Local Area Blueprints for the whole of District growth and change in the complete. were completed in the 2010/2011 fi nancial year, District ahead of target. The Council adopted a planning methodology which enabled the more effi cient completion of the Blueprints in order to reduce costs.

Other Factors New Council Outcomes Recent legislative changes now require the identiﬁ cation of council outcomes rather than district community outcomes. The 2010 elected Council has developed a new Council Direction accordingly. This Direction will be applied to the Council’s 2012-2022 Ten Year Planning process. Christchurch Earthquake The Christchurch Earthquake has had an impact on some of the Council’s work programmes in the planning area. In particular, the postponement of the National Census from 2011 to 2013 will impact upon the Council’s own demographic update project planned for the 2011/2012 year. As a result, the Demographic Update will be delayed until the 2013/2014 year.

38 SECTION THREE | Our Activities PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE - Landuse Planning

Our Aim To identify and manage the resource management issues facing the District.

Why We Provide This Service As a legal requirement under the Resource Management Act 1991, the District Plan provides a strong element of control and certainty for land use activity on the Peninsula. As a growing community there are increased development pressures, yet at the same time there is a desire to maintain the ‘special character’ of the Peninsula, especially in coastal areas. In various community aspiration documents and separate consultation exercises protection of landscape as well as provision of land for certain types of development have been identiﬁ ed as important. The District Plan and the associated resource consent process are important regulatory tools to help ensure appropriate land use.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did The Council has a District 100% of annual work programme Not Actual result is 75%. Whilst much of the work in the Plan that is relevant and (set through annual District Plan Achieved District Plan business plan is either completed, or well robust business plan) completed. advanced, timeframes associated with the District Plan review, which is a signifi cant piece of work, have slipped by approximately six months (see ‘Other Projects and Programmes’ below). This delay will have fl ow on effects for the completion of the whole District Plan review. Notable milestones over the year have included: • fi nalisation and adoption by Council of the ‘Kopu to Thames Structure Plan’ (August 2010). • adoption of decisions by Council on Plan Change 1: Satoma Ltd and Plan Change 8: Te Karo Bay/ Sailors Grave (both operative in April 2011). • a hearing into submissions and further submissions on ‘Proposed Plan Change 3 - Natural Hazards: Flooding’ (June 2011). Signifi cant milestones have also been achieved in relation to the District Plan Review project, most notably: completion of base monitoring and technical work to feed into the District Plan review (eg. coastal subdivision, conservation covenant analysis, impermeable surfaces analysis, identifi cation and assessment of notable trees, etc); preparation of a ‘Plan Drafting Guide’ and associated templates; the completion of initial drafts for several sections of the reviewed District Plan, the establishment of a District Plan Review Committee, etc (see ‘Other Projects and Programmes’ below). The Council has a District 44% of residents and non-resident Not The annual customer satisfaction survey recorded Plan that provides certainty ratepayers satisfi ed with the District Achieved that 29% of survey respondents thought the Thames- of land use/environmental as a “better” place to live. Coromandel District was a “better” place to live than outcomes at the local and last year (compared to 26% in 2010). This measure District levels is likely to be open to infl uence from a number of other economic factors. The Council has completed a signifi cant planning for the future exercise (Blueprint) which will inform the District Plan Review and should, over time, improve this result. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 27% and 24% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) 90% of residents and non-resident Achieved The annual customer satisfaction survey recorded ratepayers satisfi ed with the image that 90% of survey respondents were satisfi ed with of the closest town centre shown as the image of the closest town centre (compared with “satisfi ed”. 89% in 2010). The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 90% and 88% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) The Council has a One resource issue is monitored Achieved The report ‘Coromandel Coastal Zone Review’ was monitoring programme that and reported on each year. completed in January 2011 and the results from this provides information on the project have been reported to both the District Plan outcomes of the District Review and the Policy and Planning Committees of Plan at the local and district Council. Information from the report will be used to level help inform the District Plan Review. Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 39 Other Projects and Programmes Comprehensive review of the District Plan Strong progress was made during the year on the full review and restructure of the Thames-Coromandel District Plan. Nearly all the monitoring and technical work required to undertake a review of the District Plan has now been completed and most of the ‘Project Setup’ work has also been fi nalised. A District Plan Review Committee (consisting of three elected members and three appointed external members) has been established and has met on three occasions: on 18 February 2011 to provide background information to the Committee; on 4, 5 and 6 April to consider and confi rm review directions specifi cally relating to the ‘built environment’ and on 18 and 19 April to consider and confi rm review directions specifi cally relating to the ‘rural environment’. Project progress has lagged against the agreed 2009 project plan (by approximately 6 months) as a result of delays fi nalising the Local Area Blueprints, staff changes and subsequent unavailability of Committee members to re-schedule District Plan Review Committee meetings. Private plan changes considered and, if accepted for processing, processed in accordance with statutory requirements Private plan change applications continued to be considered and assessed in accordance with standard operating procedures and requirements of the Resource Management Act 1991. A decision was released on the Satoma private plan change application, which is now operative and a substantial amount of work was completed to progress both the Coromandel Business Park and Hahei Holidays Ltd private plan change applications - both of which are set for hearings in the near future. Work has been ongoing to progress the consideration of other private plan change applications (ie. the Pauanui Orchard Estate Ltd and Pauanui Mountain Estate Ltd) although progress is often reliant upon information and engagement from the applicant. At the end of the 2010/11 fi nancial year there were fi ve private plan change applications ‘in the system’. Environmental Advocacy Staff contributed a signifi cant amount of time and effort to the Joint Working Party on the Regional Policy Statement to develop and lodge a submission/further submission on the Proposed Regional Policy Statement. A separate submission/further submission on the Proposed Regional Policy Statement was also prepared for lodgement by the Thames-Coromandel District Council. Other submissions were prepared and lodged by Council on the: Proposed National Policy Statement on Biodiversity; Proposed National Environmental Standard on Plantation Forestry, and Revised National Environmental Standard on Plantation Forestry.

Other Factors Staff Changes During the later part of the year two members of the District Plan team (40% of the staff resource) resigned and left the employment of Council. Although both staff have now been replaced, there was a loss of momentum whilst the new staff ‘got up to speed’ with the work of the District Plan team.

40 SECTION THREE | Our Activities PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE - Hazard Management

Our Aim To protect life and property from natural hazards.

Why We Provide This Service As the Coromandel Peninsula has been identifi ed as being susceptible to extreme climatic and seismic (i.e. earthquake and volcanic) events, our people and visitors can be at risk. The impact of natural events include threats to life and health, damage to property (whether public or private), economic disruption as time is required to clean up following an event, social impacts (particularly where communities have been cut off through blocked/fl ooded roads) and the impact on our biodiversity and ecosystems. Our communities have said that safety and health is important. In addition, central government has placed responsibilities on all councils to work with partners and agencies to put strategies in place to prepare for natural hazards. This is refl ected through legislation and policies (such as the Resource Management Act 1991, Local Government Act 2002, the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002, the Building Act 2004, and the New Zealand Coastal Policy statement to name the more important).

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did The Council will work with 60% of residents and non-resident Not 32% read and hear about joint agency initiatives. other agencies to manage ratepayers read and hear about Achieved The result is below expectations despite numerous the effects of natural joint agency initiatives in media and media releases consistently high-lighted joint agency hazards through word of mouth networks. approach to hazard management on the Coromandel Peninsula, particularly in relation to the East Coast Tsunami Project. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 31% and 32% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) The community is able to 60% of residents and non-resident Not 57% feel safe in their homes, falling from 61% last adapt to the threat of natural ratepayers feel safe in their homes Achieved year. Target was almost achieved and indicated disasters and for their livelihoods when a that the activity is on-track in terms of keeping natural disaster strikes. people informed of agency hazard risk management strategies. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 56% and 60% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) 60% of residents and non-resident Achieved 92% are aware, and the target was comfortably ratepayers who are aware of exceeded. This is probably due to agency whether their community is communications strategies coupled with recent susceptible to a natural hazard. signifi cant international (Japanese tsunami) and national (Christchurch earthquakes) hazard events. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 88% and 88% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys)

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 41 Other Projects and Programmes Flood risk profi ling work will continue for the fl ood prone communities of Thames, Te Puru, Waiomu, Tapu, Coromandel and Tairua townships Complete. Other secondary catchments (with a lesser risk profi le) will be modelled as Waikato Regional Council resources and priorities allow. Environment Waikato will be supported in implementing the Peninsula Project (ongoing from 2010) On-going. Project emphasis on implementation of approved work programmes: pest control, stream clearance and protection works, District Plan hazard management provisions, development and implementation by the Waikato Regional Council of a Coromandel (catchment and harbour) Zone Plan. The Council will continue the Moanataiari Protection Scheme (ongoing) On-going. The Council’s policy for coastal protection works on Council-owned land will be reviewed Council approved the policy in 2007 and since adoption it has been informing coastal management programmes. Review is planned within the next fi ve years to coincide with the release by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change of its Fifth Assessment Report in 2013/14, particularly as it relates to predicted sea level rise. Existing wind shear data will be reviewed as a result of an apparent increase in extreme storm events Complete. Advice from the National Institute Water Atmospheric Sciences (NIWA) is to continue using current data and wind maps to inform building and resource consent processes. Council is seeking to further advance the project, possibly in collaboration with other agencies, and is in discussion with NIWA regarding new numerical modelling techniques that may have applicability in refi ning wind hazard data for the Coromandel Peninsula. The Council will investigate the effects of signifi cant tsunami on the Peninsula with Waikato Regional Council (by 2014) Tsunami risk management plan for Whitianga, including community emergency response plan, due for completion by the end of 2011. The project will then focus in 2012 on working with the Tairua and Pauanui communities to develop a similar risk management plan for those settlements. The Council will participate in a Government funded coastal adaption to climate change project Project due to report to agency partners by September 2011.

42 SECTION THREE | Our Activities Performance Against Budget

Planning for the Future

For the year ended 30 June 2011 2010 2011 Actual Budget Actual Variance Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s $000’s Revenue 120 Activity Revenue 24 135 111 1 0 Contributions Revenue 0 0 0 3,373 General Funds 3,626 3,696 70 0 Subsidies Revenue 0 0 0 3,493 Total Operating Revenue 3,650 3,831 181 Cost of Services 1,333 Strategic Planning 1,818 1,390 428 2 1,036 Landuse Planning 1,262 1,264 (2) 271 Hazard Management 289 225 64 3 2,640 Total Cost of Services 3,369 2,879 490 853 OPERATING SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) 281 952 671

What did it Cost?

Actual expenditure incurred for 2010/11 financial year ($000s) 2,879

Planned expenditure for 2010/11 financial year ($000s) 3,369

Variance ($000s) 490 Total cost of services was $2.9m against a plan of $3.4m

Notes

1 Activity Revenue is showing a favourable variance as: ■ Additional recoveries of Blueprint costs charged to the Waikato Regional Council (due to an arrangement to half the costs of Maori participation in the Blueprint project)

2 Strategic Planning is showing a favourable variance as: ■ District monitoring costs, administration costs and the District growth/Blueprint project costs are under budget by $151,000. This includes costs of preparing the growth projection. Further savings have been made by delaying LGA implementation costs which are under budget by $48,000. The growth budget was underspent due to the ability to adopt a more cost effective project process. Other work has not taken place due to other project work taking precedence. ■ Strategic Planning and Development of District Policy costs being under budget by $158,000 due to deferral of planned work and the delay in the recruitment of a Senior Policy Analyst. ■ The remaining variances are due to cost savings in other areas.

3 Hazards Management is showing a favourable variance as: ■ Expenses are under budget due to cost reductions across all Council activities as well as under budget expenditure on consultants and legal expenses.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 43 PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE - CAPITAL WORKS

2011 Budget Actual Variance CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

Computer Software 582 532 50 1 Computer Hardware 286 226 60 2 Plant & Vehicles 390 204 186 4 Furniture & Fittings 128 28 100 3

Total Planning for the Future Capital Works Projects 1,386 990 396

Percentage Capital Works Projects completed 100% 71%

Notes

1 Computer Software Council did not purchase a number of dataworks licences which were previously budgeted for. 2 Computer Hardware IT was unable to complete all planned asset replacements anticipated for the 2010/11 fi nancial year. 3 Furniture and Fittings A directive for reduced expenditure on this project was given by the Council due to rates affordability issues. Work has now been deferred until part-way through the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 4 Plant & Vehicles A directive for reduced expenditure on this project was given by the Council due to rates affordability issues. Work has now been deferred until part-way through the 2011/12 fi nancial year.

44 SECTION THREE | Our Activities STRONG COMMUNITIES

What We Do The Strong Communities group of activities involves promoting the development of our communities to ensure they have a good quality of life. The Council’s focus over the next ten years is ensuring that services and facilities are in place to enable communities to function. It will also consider the social issues facing the District and review its role in social development. The group includes infrastructure to help people get around and community facilities where people can join together for sporting, social, cultural events or enjoy the outdoors. This group also contains functions to make sure people are safe - from being prepared for emergencies to implementing bylaws to having well constructed buildings.

Strong Communities Activities

Emergency Management Cemeteries Economic Development Airﬁ elds Community Health and Safety Halls Building Control Swimming Pools Social Development Libraries District Transportation Harbour Facilities Local Transportation Parks and Reserves

Contribution to Choosing Futures The 2009-2019 Ten Year Plan identiﬁ es how we’ll assess the contribution we made to progressing our community outcomes.

4 In 2010 45% of residents agree that their community is a place where young people can imagine building a life. This compares with 49% in 2007. (2007 and 2010 Waikato Perception Survey - Thames-Coromandel District) The survey was last held in 2010 and is held every three years.

5 In 2010 100% of residents perceive that their community is safe during the daytime and 85% perceive that their community is safe after dark. By comparison in 2007, 98% and 84% (respectively) perceived safety in their community. (Survey not updated this year and these are the last available results) (2007 and 2010 Waikato Perception Survey - Thames-Coromandel District) The survey was last held in 2010 and is held every three years. There were no ‘Don’t Know’ responses to these questions in the 2010 survey.

5 In 2010 96% of residents were happy with their overall quality of life. This compares with 87% in 2007. (Survey not updated this year and these are the last available results) (2007 and 2010 Waikato Perception Survey - Thames-Coromandel District) The actual performance result is measured from the survey results adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’ responses (a 95% result if the ‘Don’t Knows’ responses are included)

Overview of Strong Communities Performance

2010/2011 Strong Communities Highlights

Land Transport Procurement Strategy - The Council’s Land Transport Procurement Strategy was endorsed by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA). The letter of endorsement congratulated the Council on the quality of the procurement strategy noting that it was appropriate to the scale and complexity of the Council’s works programme. NZTA noted that the Council’s strategy included a description of the ‘sub- regional’ collaboration that is seeking ways to improve value for money in procurement of roading works and services and supported the Council’s efforts to ensure that the supplier markets it operates in remain efﬁ cient and competitive. Matarangi Boat Ramp - The upgrading of the Matarangi Boat Ramp was completed and the ramp open to public use in August 2010. The project was brought forward when Matarangi Beach Estates offered $25,000 if the project was completed and the ramp open to the public before the 31 August 2010.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 45 Whitianga Multisport - The majority of earthworks have now been carried out under the Whitianga Waterways earthworks consents with piping for drainage and irrigation placed prior to fi nal earthworks levelling. The Council land use consent has been applied for. Once the land use consent is obtained work will progress on the above ground infrastructure works. Whangamata Marina Society - The marina was formally opened on 21 November 2009. There were a number of matters to be tidied up that were covered by bonds with Council either as property owner or regulatory authority. These works were all completed in November 2010 and all bonds held have been refunded. Roading - Area Wide Treatment Contracts (AWT) 2010/2011 - Two contracts for pavement rehabilitation AWT and associated works have been tendered evaluated and awarded. Five conforming tenders were received and evaluated for both contracts. Over both packages there were cost savings of $645,000 (inclusive of NZTA subsidy). A signifi cant part of these savings ($470,000) was used to fund additional maintenance work associated with the June and August weather events. Canterbury Earthquake - February 2011 - As a result of the Canterbury earthquake, a national state of emergency was declared on 23 February 2011 and extended on 14 March 2011 for another 7 days. The Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management coordinating centre and the Thames Valley emergency operating centre was activated. For a period, Council building inspectors and welfare personnel were deployed to Christchurch and emergency operating centre personnel were deployed to the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) in Wellington. Following requests from the NCMC, schedules of available resources were collated and Tourism Coromandel coordinated offers for temporary accommodation. The Council approved a donation of $15,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund. Japan Earthquake - March 2011 - The Thames Valley emergency operating centre activated following reports of the Japan earthquake and tsunami on 10 March 2011. Flooding was recorded in Port Charles with reports of confused seas and tides in other areas around the Coromandel Peninsula. Roading Infrastructure Safety Audit - New Zealand Transport Agency undertook a roading infrastructure safety audit of Council on 9-10 February 2011, and whilst there are areas in which improvements can be made overall the result was good. The audit report will be received for comment and then fi nalised. The Roading Manager will undertake a covering report bring the audit report, when fi nalised, to both the Service Delivery Committee and Audit Committee. From the review most of the recommendations for improvement appeared to be easily funded from within the current minor safety works budget (things like signage etc,). Some will wait and be programmed for when the relevant section of road next receives an area wide treatment or other major work. Roading Professional Services Contract - Council approved the fi rst annual extension of contract C08/01 Roading Professional Services for the period of 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012. This contract was originally jointly tendered with Hauraki District Council’s similar contract which gave both some price and expertise benefi ts. The one year extension allows Council to complete its Service Delivery Mechanism Review and is also consistent with the actions taken by Hauraki District Council. Parks, Gardens, Cemeteries and Community Facilities Operations and Maintenance Contract - The contract was awarded to Streetsmart Ltd in 2004 (later assigned to Smart Environmental Ltd) for a term of fi ve years with a potential two year extension available at Council’s discretion. Council, given the contractors continued satisfactory levels of overall performance, approved an extension for one year subject to the contractor carrying any contract price escalations for that year (with a limiter of 15% fuel price increases). This allows Council to complete its planned Service Delivery Mechanism Review and provides a fi nancial benefi t estimated to be between $40,000 to $60,000 (depends on contract cost escalations).

Strong Communities Group Achievements during the 2009-2019 Ten Year Plan Summary Service Levels How We Did Achieved Annual Report 2010/2011 45 of 55 Strong performance this year with a number of the activities achieving their highest ever results in the National Research Bureau survey, as well as being above the peer group averages. Annual Report 2009/2010 41 of 54 Two measures were not reported on last year.

46 SECTION THREE | Our Activities 2010/2011 Strong Communities Achievement

Activity / Output Area Service Levels How We Did Achieved Emergency Management 3 of 4 Strong consistent performance. The only area not to reach its target was survey based and may refl ect the higher levels of concern following the Christchurch earthquake and the Japanese tsunami. Economic Development 1 of 2 A number of high profi le initiatives were developed this year. The economic downturn continues to have an impact on visitor numbers which are down 4.5%. Community Health & Safety 5 of 5 Strong consistent performance with all targets met. Building Control 3 of 5 Performance within this activity was mixed with a number of issues arising from changed priorities affecting reporting. Supplementary measures have been developed but can not be fully implemented until next year. Social Development 4 of 5 Consistent performance with only one part of the activity not meeting their target only being marginally under. An extensive range of physical activity and health programmes were run through the year. Community organisations delivering local services continued to be supported through funding awards made by Community Boards. District Transportation 4 of 6 Targets were largely met with very high levels of satisfaction which was well above both the peer group and national averages. One target was not measured this year as it is only measured every two years. The one part of the activity that was well under target was potholes on unsealed roads as a result of work being reprioritised to address the many issues following Cyclone Wilma. Local Transportation 2 of 4 Performance in this activity was relatively strong despite only 50% of targets being met. Very high levels of satisfaction were recorded with footpaths achieving its highest ever level of satisfaction. One of the measures not meeting its target had a result of 88% just 2% under target. Cemeteries 2 of 2 Targets met with extremely high level of satisfaction in the NRB survey. Airfi elds 2 of 2 Both targets were met. Halls 5 of 6 Halls continue to be well supported with only one target throughout the District not met. Swimming Pools 2 of 2 Targets met. Libraries 5 of 5 Strong performance with all targets met. Libraries continue to be well supported with most parts of the activity experiencing increased usage of the available services. Harbour Facilities 3 of 3 Target met with high levels of satisfaction. Parks And Reserves 3 of 4 Parks and Reserves had high satisfaction in the customer satisfaction survey. The one target that was not met was not measured due to technical issues.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 47 STRONG COMMUNITIES - Emergency Management

Our Aim To promote individual and community resilience in emergencies and to enhance the community’s capability to respond to and recover from disasters.

Why We Provide This Service The Council has a responsibility to protect life, health and property under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002. It does so by dealing with the four Rs in an emergency: Reduction, Readiness, Response and Recovery. The three core elements of Emergency Management are Civil Defence, Rural Fire and Water Safety.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did People are prepared for a 54% of residents and non-resident Not Achieved 47% are prepared for an emergency. The level of civil defence emergency ratepayers are prepared for an preparedness steadily improved from 45% in 2006 emergency. to 58% in 2010. The 2011 result may be in response to a greater level of awareness required to deal with major disasters, such as the Christchurch earthquake or Japan tsunami. People know what to do in Eleven emergency plans available Achieved Tsunami action plans have been distributed to the an emergency for urban communities with over communities of Whangamata, Tairua, Pauanui, 100 properties. Whitianga/Wharekaho, Cooks Beach, Ferry Landing, Hahei, Hot Water Beach, Coromandel, Kuaotunu and Whangapoua. Community support is Recovery teams (made up of Achieved Regular meetings were held with welfare groups, available to recover from an agencies with the capacity to assist community emergency management committees emergency with welfare, property, business and and the emergency services. rural area recovery) are established, The review of the Thames Valley Recovery Plan is trained and meet at least annually. to be aligned to the Waikato CDEM Group Recovery Thames Valley recovery plan Plan, programmed for 2011/12. reviewed. Surf life saving services are Five high risk eastern seaboard Achieved Hot Water Beach 20 December - 4 February provided over peak summer beaches have professional surf life Tairua 27 December - 28 January periods saving guards available: Pauanui 27 December - 28 January 26 December - 16 January Onemana 27 December - 21 January Hot Water Beach, Tairua, and Whangamata 20 December - 4 February Onemana Regional professional lifeguard services are 26 December - 9 January provided on weekdays only but weekends are Pauanui and Whangamata. covered by volunteer surf life saving clubs. Over the 2010/2011 peak period, December 26 fell on a Sunday, meaning professional lifeguards were not available. However, professional lifeguards were available for a longer period overall than required. Contractual arrangements may also vary from time to time because of beach conditions and operational requirements.

Other Projects and Programmes An annual public awareness campaign for residents and visitors will be run Public awareness was targeted through media releases associated with local, national and international emergency events, presentations to community groups and distribution of “Get Ready Get Thru” booklets. An emergency programme will be available in primary schools During 2010/11, the emergency programme was delivered to primary schools upon request. Appropriate warning systems will be investigated and installed Funding of $13,821 was provided for tsunami evacuation signage and siren upgrades. Rural fi re equipment will be provided Funding of $32,409 was provided for rural fi re equipment. Emergency plans for urban communities will be reviewed every fi ve years Community action plans are continually reviewed by the community emergency management committees. Emergency scenarios will be tested every fi ve years The Thames Valley Emergency Operating Centre (EOC) participated in the national Tangaroa exercise (tsunami) and a local welfare table-top exercise. The EOC also activated in response to earthquake, weather and tsunami warnings and threats.

48 SECTION THREE | Our Activities STRONG COMMUNITIES - Economic Development

Our Aim To increase the wealth of the people and the viability of the businesses on the Peninsula.

Why We Provide This Service The Council anticipates that the community will expect a greater level of involvement in economic development to ensure the economic viability of the District. Our communities have told us that local economies should refl ect the spirit of the Peninsula. The Council’s current involvement in economic development is focused almost entirely on the visitor industry with the provision of funding to Tourism Coromandel and Information Centres within the District. Signifi cant funding is also provided for event promotion while a small amount of funding is provided to the regional economic development organisation. We also support the combined Thames-Coromandel and Hauraki Regional Economic Development Strategy which has identifi ed aquaculture, tourism, transport/ storage, minerals/mining and manufacturing as being the highest priority industries for enhancing the economic performance of the region. The Mayor is involved in the ‘Mayors Taskforce for Jobs’ programme which concentrates on youth employment.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did The Council will identify Council resources are focused on Achieved The Council is focusing its resources on priority areas where the community the priority areas identifi ed in the identifi ed in the Regional Economic Development should focus its resources Regional Economic Development Strategy. Both aquaculture and tourism have been in order to gain the greatest Strategy. identifi ed as priority areas of focus in the Strategy. economic benefi t Council’s main focus with this activity is tourism with the funding of Information Centres and Tourism Coromandel who provide destination marketing and event management services. In addition Council has played a signifi cant and increasing role in advocating for aquaculture development through the funding of expert advice and signifi cant staff resources in advancing aquaculture development. To increase the number of Number of visitor guest nights Not The total for the year ending 30 June 2011 was guest nights that visitors increased by 5% from 2009/2010. Achieved 596,716. The total for the year ending 30 June 2010 spend in the District was 624,797. Therefore there has been a decrease of 4.5% (rounded).

Other Projects and Programmes The Council will get involved in regional interagency forums Achieved. The Council is involved in the Hauraki Coromandel Economic Development Group and is active in progressing aquaculture opportunities with other agencies. Ongoing funding for tourism (including event coordination) will be provided including funding for Information Centres. The annual funding for Tourism Coromandel and Information Centres has been paid to provide destination marketing and event management. Information centres provide specifi c information on Council’s behalf. This is managed through a Service Level Agreement. Hauraki Cycle Trail The Council has been investigating possible funding of a portion of the Hauraki Cycle Trail. Signifi cant staff time was spent investigating the matter including an independent cost benefi t analysis. Council subsequently decided to provide funding for the 2011/12 year after consulting through the draft 2011/12 Annual Plan. Information on the progress of the Hauraki Cycle Trail can be found on www.tcdc.govt.nz/cycleway.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 49 STRONG COMMUNITIES - Community Health and Safety

Our Aim To help achieve a safe and healthy community and avoid behaviour causing nuisance in the community.

Why We Provide This Service Community health and safety was identiﬁ ed as a top priority in a recent ratepayer survey. To meet these needs the Council has a number of bylaws and policies that it implements to maintain a healthy community. Changing circumstances and Government prescription regularly create a need to enact new bylaws and policies, such as in the liquor licensing and litter areas recently.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did Food services used by the 100% of premises failing to comply Achieved Those premises that were found to be non-compliant public are healthy and safe with Food Hygiene regulations are with the Food Hygiene Regulations were co-operative re-inspected within a three-month and ensured that they undertook the required works. period. The supply of liquor is 100% of premises that sell liquor Achieved All premises were visited to ensure that they were controlled to prevent bad are checked to make sure they are displaying signage and meeting other conditions of behaviour following the rules. their licence. Dogs don’t wander freely in Less than 5% of dogs impounded. Achieved This year 5% of known dogs were impounded. the street 100% of complaints about roaming Achieved All complaints regarding roaming dogs were dogs are responded to. responded to. The Council will respond 100% of calls received by Council Achieved All calls to Council received a response although in a when I need some help with regarding noise control have been small number of cases ofﬁ cers were unable to attend noise issues responded to. at the time of the call.

Other Projects and Programmes The Council will undertake monitoring and enforcement programmes Council offi cers have undertaken monitoring programmes associated with: Bylaws - i.e. Sign survey, freedom camping patrols, alfresco dining survey; Health - Monitoring is undertaken on properties that have suspected septic tank (effl uent disposal) issues. Bylaws and policies will continue to be reviewed every fi ve years, including inviting and hearing submissions No parts of the Consolidated Bylaw were reviewed. However work has commenced reviewing Part 8, Control of Advertising and better aligning it with the District Plan.

50 SECTION THREE | Our Activities STRONG COMMUNITIES - Building Control

Our Aim To protect people and communities by ensuring buildings are safe.

Why We Provide This Service The Council is required by law to carry out building control activities. Through the Building Control activity people building and buying houses are afforded a high degree of certainty over the process and quality of construction (i.e. materials used, structural integrity, weather tightness etc) in turn contributing to the protection of public health and safety. From mid 2008 the Council has been an accredited Building Consent Authority and needs to commit additional resources to maintain that accreditation, especially as additional standards continue to be introduced.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did The Council processes, Thames-Coromandel District Achieved Accreditation was achieved in May 2010 inspects and certifi es Council maintains its processes so Work with respect to maintaining accreditation has building work in my District that it meets (BCA) accreditation occurred throughout the year via audits to ensure every two years. compliance with the BCA processes. Building consent 100% of Code of Compliance Not A result of 97% was achieved with 1269 CCC applications are processed Certifi cate (CCC) applications are Achieved recommendations processed during the year, with within a reasonable processed within 20 working days. 38 of these not completed within the 20 day statutory timeframe time frame. Building consent Applicants can track the progress of Achieved The Council’s system was unavailable less than 1% applications can be tracked their building consent on the Council of the time and there were no recorded complaints on the Thames-Coromandel web site 99% of the time. during the year. District Council website All reported cases of 100% of illegal projects have been Not Changes have been made to how this activity is illegal building work are issued with a notice or works have Measured delivered, moving to a risk based approach which investigated stopped. prioritises higher risk cases which pose a risk to people, places or property. These cases are followed up more urgently, and they are enforced to a safe state. As a result the original performance measure can not be measured and a supplementary measure has been developed. 100% of all illegal works identifi ed Achieved 100% of all illegal works identifi ed as high or very high as high or very high risk are made risk were made safe. safe.

This supplementary measure was not in the Ten Year Plan and has been included because there were technical difﬁ culties reporting on the original measure. This result has been included to complete the performance reporting picture.

Other Projects and Programmes Building compliance will continue to be monitored Building compliance has focussed proactive resource on the implementation of the strategy for the management of swimming pool risk with signiﬁ cant improvement in compliance outcomes in this area as a result. Building consent authority status will be maintained to accredit building consents Accreditation was maintained in May of 2010 and the next assessment has been agreed for March 2012.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 51 STRONG COMMUNITIES - Social Development

Our Aim To promote the social wellbeing of our communities.

Why We Provide This Service As one of its core principles the Council is required to promote environmental, social, economic and cultural sustainability in its communities. It delivers this programme in part through social development. The Council believes that the support of sports, arts and life education is important in achieving healthy communities. This activity also involves the provision of funding for Community Board grants.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did Information can be accessed No action taken to ensure that Achieved The target for this measure was to undertake no work on the social issues faced people can fi nd out how the Council in this year. Preparatory work has been carried out by our communities is addressing the social issues and resources allocated for the development of social faced by this District. impact assessment and a Positive Ageing Strategy in the 2011/12 year. Programmes that aim to Funding is provided to organisations Achieved Community Waikato (Waikato Social Services) improve the health and and agencies to help them deliver - Funding has been paid in full ($21,517) and all safety of our communities their programmes and services to conditions of the contract have been met. An agreed can be accessed their communities. format for reporting has been adopted and will be implemented from 1 July 2011. Eight physical activity programmes Achieved Sport Waikato has run 13+ physical activity are run throughout the year. programmes for the year and an agreed format for reporting has been adopted and will be implemented from 1 July 2011. Health programmes are delivered Achieved Life Education Trust - All conditions of the contract to primary school children on an have been met and it has been noted that numbers annual basis. of students participating in these programmes has declined, although the same amount of input is required by the educator. An agreed format for reporting has been adopted and will be implemented from 1 July 2011. The Council provides 100% of Council local grant funding Not This year’s annual target was not achieved (Annual some funding to local is distributed to local organisations Achieved Actual 91%). Results were: organisations whose main for specifi c projects or for the function and/or activity is of maintenance of a facility, which is of • Coromandel-Colville 100% of funds budgeted have a community, or charitable benefi t to the community. been allocated - completed nature (via community • Mercury Bay 100% of funds budgeted have been boards) allocated - completed • Tairua-Pauanui 100% of funds budgeted have been allocated - 98.4% paid out. One recipient did not claim full amount granted. • Whangamata 100% of funds budgeted have been allocated - completed • Thames - 64% of funds budgeted have been allocated and 87% of grants allocated have been paid to date. The Thames Community Board chose not to fully allocate the available grants because of concerns about the quality and eligibility of some applications.

Other Projects and Programmes The Council will continue to provide money to non-Council swimming pools in Whitianga and Whangamata (funded through the Social Development activity) The annual grants for the Whangamata and Whitianga community pools have been processed and paid out. Continued funding will be provided to Community Arts Councils to enable distribution of Creative New Zealand funds for arts in our District Funding and staff resources have been provided.

52 SECTION THREE | Our Activities STRONG COMMUNITIES - District Transportation

Our Aim To provide safe, reliable and accessible roads around the District - with consideration for the environment.

Why We Provide This Service A well maintained roading network enables economic activity and growth by allowing for the efﬁ cient transport of goods and services and by promoting visitor access to the Coromandel. Road safety is also improved as part of proactive road maintenance.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did Road closures or blockages Roads are available 99% of the Achieved 99.9% achieved in 2010/11. Road closures occurred are minimised and cleared time. due to fl ooding on Hot Water Beach and Tuateawa in a timely manner Roads during the June quarter. The greatest infl uence on annual achievement were the August 2010 and January 2011 (cyclone Wilma) storm events. The design, management No fatal accidents due to road Achieved No road fatalities occurred on Council roads during and maintenance of District factors. 2010/11. roads ensures that roads are reliable The design, management 92% of potholes and corrugations Not 43% achieved in 2010/11. The majority of requests not and maintenance of District on unsealed roads are repaired Achieved completed within timeframes were received following roads ensures that they are within fi ve working days. cyclone Wilma when the maintenance contractor was safe and comfortable to focussing resources to address more critical repairs travel on to infrastructure. Note: This performance measure does not align with contractual requirements. 80% of vehicles are exposed Not The 2009/10 annual target was achieved with 85% of to smooth sealed roads (with Measured vehicles exposed to smooth roads. roughness lower than 150 NAASRA Road roughness is measured biennially, with the next counts). roughness survey scheduled for May 2012. Council’s annual programme of road maintenance, renewal and improvement works are likely to result in this performance measure being achieved. 80% of residents and ratepayers are Achieved 85% are fairly/very satisfi ed. This level of satisfaction fairly/very satisfi ed with the roads. compares favourably with the national average and the peer group average of 79% and 74% respectively. The reported fi gures are adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 84%. The peer group averages would be 79% and 73% (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) The design, management No infringements against Achieved No notices received for infringements against and maintenance of environmental legislation. environmental legislation. District roads ensures the environment is considered when maintenance and improvement works are carried out

Other Projects and Programmes Road maintenance, renewal and construction activities will continue including: reseals, pavement rehabilitation, seal widening, drainage renewal and improvement projects, pavement maintenance, bridge maintenance, safety improvements, street cleaning, trafﬁ c signs and markings and carriageway lighting All maintenance, renewal and capital roading activities were completed in line with approved work programmes. The programme of work during the year included 8km of pavement rehabilitation; 730m of seal widening; 39.5km of resealing; 6300m of new and replacement kerb and channel; 850m of new and replacement culverts; 61 km of unsealed road metalling and 4772 miscellaneous maintenance tasks. A forward works programme will be developed for unsealed roads The unsealed road forward works programme was completed in 2009. The programme of work is updated annually to reﬂ ect metal replacement, traction seal and dust sealing achievement as well as network need (based on condition assessment). All 2010/2011 unsealed road metalling sites were completed by 30 June 2011. Traction seals and dust sealing proposals will be prioritised in accordance with the District Transportation Strategy All programmed traction seals and dust seals were completed by 30 June 2011.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 53 Square Kauri bridge will be replaced As a result of the Council’s 2011/2012 Annual Plan review the Square Kauri bridge replacement project was deferred to 2011/2012. Connection to the new Kopu Roundabout will commence Negotiations continue with New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) regarding responsibility for various components of the Kopu access road construction and land designation responsibilities.

Other Factors Coordinated communication during storm events Staff have been liaising with the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to agree protocols with the aim of integrating communication systems allowing improved public access to road closure information for both Council roads and state highways managed by NZTA.

54 SECTION THREE | Our Activities STRONG COMMUNITIES - Local Transportation

Our Aim The creation and maintenance of safe and attractive towns with good facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

Why We Provide This Service Our communities have told us they value their attractive towns, local businesses, heritage and their identities. In addition to carrying out town centre upgrades the Council is looking at how to implement its recently adopted Walking and Cycling Strategy within the constraints of available funding.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did Footpaths can be used to 70% of residents and non-resident Achieved 78% are satisfi ed with footpaths. This level of get around town ratepayers are satisfi ed with satisfaction is equal to the national average and footpaths in the District. above the peer group average of 67%. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 75% and 75% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) Street lighting is provided 90% of street lighting outages Not 88% of performance target achieved in 2010/2011. in urban areas and major repaired within agreed response Achieved The majority of requests not completed within intersections times (10 days) timeframes were received following cyclone Wilma when the streetlighting contractor was focussing resources to address more critical infrastructure repairs. People can access a 88% of residents and non-resident Achieved 90% are satisfi ed with the image. pleasant town centre ratepayers satisfi ed with image of closest town centres. Vegetation on Council 90% of requests for service received Not 50% of performance target achieved in 2010/2011 owned land is mowed on vegetation control responded to Achieved (1 of 2 requests received were completed within regularly (excluding private within 10 days. target timeframe). berms) Note: This performance measure does not align with contractual requirements.

Other Projects and Programmes Footpath construction, maintenance and rehabilitation will continue in various communities Improvement projects and renewal work programmes as well as any maintenance tasks identiﬁ ed were completed during 2010/11. Lighting improvements and replacements will continue in various communities Improvement projects and renewal work programmes as well as any maintenance tasks identiﬁ ed were completed during 2010/11. Construction of the Tairua Service Lane/Car Park will commence The Tairua service lane and carpark improvements were completed prior to Christmas 2010. Hahei-Cathedral Cove bus subsidy will be provided Council and Waikato Regional Council continued to subsidise the ‘Hahei Park and Ride’ and ‘Summer Shuttle’ bus services in the Mercury Bay south area during 2010/11.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 55 STRONG COMMUNITIES - Cemeteries

Our Aim To provide burial facilities that meet the needs of the community.

Why We Provide This Service The Council is involved in the provision of cemeteries primarily because of its statutory responsibility under the Health Act 1956 and the Burials and Cremations Act 1964. They also provide a community facility where the dead can be remembered. While the Council provides cemeteries throughout the District, this requirement can be met by providing one District cemetery only. There are public expectations that the Council will maintain open cemeteries to a high standard as a mark of respect for the dead. Assuming all cemetery land is usable and plots are of a standard size, there are no future burial capacity limitations for the District as a whole. There is still space in Tairua, Whangamata, Omahu and Totara cemeteries in particular; however speciﬁ c local cemeteries are expected to reach capacity in the short to medium term.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did People can be buried Five community board areas with Achieved There are Council owned open cemeteries at in a cemetery in each open cemeteries. Coromandel, Colville, Thames, Omahu, Whangamata, community board area Tairua and Whitianga (Ferry Landing). The cemetery is well 86% of residents and non-resident Achieved 96% are satisfi ed which has improved from last years maintained ratepayers satisfi ed with cemeteries. result of 93%. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 48% and 52% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys)

Other Projects and Programmes Community demand for alternative interment like eco-burial, family ash plots, garden plot areas will be assessed Demand has been assessed as part of the production of a draft cemetery management plan. This will be presented to Council in the ﬁ rst quarter of the 2011/12 ﬁ nancial year. Land will be purchased for a new cemetery in Mercury Bay The negotiation of the purchase of a new cemetery for Mercury Bay is progressing in accordance with a Council Public Excluded resolution. A sale and purchase document has now been prepared for execution.

56 SECTION THREE | Our Activities STRONG COMMUNITIES - Airﬁ elds

Our Aim To provide access to the District by air.

Why We Provide This Service The Thames and Pauanui airfi elds provide safe air-based access to the Coromandel Peninsula. While small scale in nature, the airfi elds provide for air-based recreational opportunities, some commercial fl ights in Thames and air-based emergency access. The Waikato Civil Defence and Emergency Plan 2005 have suggested that alternative transport be available in the District and these airfi elds could provide for this. While helicopters are mainly used for emergency air transport; the airfi elds provide the capacity for large scale emergency evacuations.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did Light aircraft can be landed The airfi elds meet the requirements Achieved The Civil Aviation Authority’s annual inspections have safely at airfi elds in Thames of the three yearly Civil Aviation been carried out and the airfi elds passed the safety or Pauanui Authority inspections. inspection to allow continued operation. Land for airfi eld facilities The airfi elds meet the requirements Achieved The Civil Aviation Authority’s annual inspections are is available in Thames and of the three yearly Civil Aviation carried out in July of each year. Pauanui Authority inspections.

Other Projects and Programmes The management of Pauanui airfi eld will continue to be contracted out The management of the Pauanui airfi eld was carried out by staff for the majority of the year while negotiations with an operator were concluded. A contract was signed with an operator to commence 1st July 2011. Thames airfi eld will be maintained Drains were cleaned, new signage in place and mowing undertaken. A future strategic approach for Airfi elds will be developed, including options for providing the service, research into the wider community/district benefi ts (economic and social) The future of the Council airfi elds was considered by Council as part of its activity plan review in May 2011. Airfi elds are considered the lowest priority of all Council activities by ratepayers and Council has determined to take minimal cost approach to its involvement in the activity.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 57 STRONG COMMUNITIES - Halls

Our Aim To provide facilities for social, cultural, recreation and educational activities

Why We Provide This Service Halls have, in the past, provided a venue for social, cultural, recreational and educational users. Some halls serve as memorials to recognise community achievements. There is a strong sense of community ownership in each facility and some halls have become multi-functional and of more beneﬁ t to their local community. Ratepayers have told us that compared to other services, halls are not a priority.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did People have access to Nine community halls are available Achieved Nine community halls are available for hire. a hall either in a local for hire. community or in one of the Three towns have major halls Achieved Thames, Whangamata and Whitianga have major main centres in the District available for use. halls available for use. (Thames, Whitianga, and Whangamata) The halls are available when 36% of available hall hours used - Not 32% achieved. Council made signifi cant gains in people want to book them Thames. Achieved usage of this facility in 2010 as a result of a new management system. This result was maintained in 2011. 46% of available hall hours used - Achieved 51% achieved. There were a number of larger Whangamata. events using the facility for extended periods of time. Following the noise mitigation works carried out on various areas of the Hall the usage has increased and regular Hall users have continued to utilise the facility throughout the year. 35% of available hall hours used - Achieved 40.5% achieved. Continued good patronage by Whitianga. regular hall users throughout the year. A number of larger events using the total facility. The halls are well maintained Percentage of users and non-users Not Not measured in 2010/2011 as this survey only takes satisfi ed with the halls. (Measured applicable place every three years. When last measured in every three years). as not 2009/2010, 88% of those surveyed were satisfi ed. scheduled to be measured.

Other Projects and Programmes Coromandel building will be upgraded This work is on-going and the hall is yet to be upgraded. A new Hall Committee was established in February 2011. The new committee’s ﬁ rst order of business was to make a decision on whether to continue with the hall upgrade and if so progress the establishment of an incorporated society to further funding opportunities. Noise control works will be completed at Whangamata Memorial Hall Sound mitigation improvements to the old hall have been undertaken to complement the improvements already completed in the Auditorium. An online hall booking system will be investigated The on-line booking system has been designed and is in test phase. A strategy for rationalising Council’s involvement in community halls will be developed A strategy was discussed with the Council in May 2011 and will be included in the 2012-2022 Ten Year Plan.

58 SECTION THREE | Our Activities STRONG COMMUNITIES - Swimming Pools

Our Aim To provide Council-owned pools to promote community wellbeing.

Why We Provide This Service Providing and funding swimming pools is mainly historical and there is no legal requirement for the Council to be involved in this activity. A Hauraki/ Thames-Coromandel Physical Activity Strategy did identify there should be a covered swimming pool facility somewhere on the Peninsula. The Council also provides swimming pool grants in Whangamata and Whitianga. The Coromandel pool is discretionary through the Community Board Treasure Chest. All these grants are funded from the Social Development activity. While funding has been allocated for a new pool feasibility study, the facility itself is not budgeted for in this Ten Year Plan.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did A clean safe public 100% of Council pools comply with Achieved The Thames pool is the only Council pool and it swimming pool can be New Zealand swimming pool water achieved 100% compliance with the New Zealand accessed in the District standards. swimming pool water standards. Less than two health and safety Achieved An incident involving chlorine levels being incorrect incidents per year at the Council due to an equipment problem was recorded in July pool. 2010.

Other Projects and Programmes Customised programmes tailored to the needs of individual patrons at the Thames Centennial Pool will be provided The revised Learn-to-Swim programmes have been implemented and this has seen a dramatic increase in enrolments. The Thames Community Board recently approved the integration of the Thames Swim Squad Coaching into the Centennial Pool activities. Whilst funded through the Social Development activity, the Council will provide money to non-Council pools in Whitianga and Whangamata An annual grant was paid to Whangamata Community Pool and a Service Level Agreement has been signed. The plant at Thames Centennial Pool will be replaced. The new wood-ﬁ red boiler was fully commissioned in September 2010, and is working well.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 59 STRONG COMMUNITIES - Libraries

Our Aim The wide provision of a variety of information to improve the wellbeing of our communities.

Why We Provide This Service Libraries foster community growth, allowing communities to become self sufﬁ cient and self-sustaining by meeting recreational needs and providing access to information through a range of technologies. As public spaces they allow social contact and provide focal points for the sharing of information.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did There is a wide range of 100% of the Thames Library Achieved Thames Library collection exceeds the target by 2.2% Library stock including up collection meets 3.5 items per local but expenditure has remained within budget. to date material resident. 90% of the Mercury Bay Library Achieved Mercury Bay Library collection exceeds the target of collection meets 3.5 items per local 90% by 37% but expenditure has remained within resident. budget. The population criteria used to determine collection size for Mercury Bay Library was reduced from the community board area to the local urban area, resulting in a larger collection size than that determined by the reduction in population fi gures. The book budget has been further reduced in line with the change in criteria. 100% of the Tairua Library collection Achieved Tairua Library collection exceeds the target by 48% meets 3.5 items per local resident. but expenditure remains within budget. The Tairua Library collection includes a large amount of stock inherited from the old volunteer run Library as well as a signifi cant amount of donated books. 4 to 8 newspaper and periodical Achieved Total number of targets per library and titles held: titles are held in each library per Thames target: 41-83 titles held: 48 1,000 local residents. Mercury Bay target: 18-36 titles held:29 Tairua target: 5-10 titles held: 10 70% of ratepayers are satisfi ed with Achieved 95% are satisfi ed. This is further refl ected in the Council libraries. increased membership of the libraries, the unsolicited feedback received, the attendance at library events and programmes and the increased use of library resources. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 62%. (2011 Thames- Coromandel District Council Communitrak Survey )

Other Projects and Programmes Annual grants will be provided to Coromandel, Ferry Landing, Hahei, Pauanui and Whangamata Achieved. Service level agreements have been signed and annual grants paid to Pauanui, Whangamata. Ferry Landing, Hahei and Kuaotunu Libraries. New books will continue to be purchased for Thames, Whitianga and Tairua libraries New books were purchased for each library within the capital budget allocated. The Thames Library ventilation system will be replaced The ventilation system has been replaced.

60 SECTION THREE | Our Activities STRONG COMMUNITIES - Harbour Facilities

Our Aim To provide harbour facilities allowing for the provision of recreational and commercial opportunities for the community.

Why We Provide This Service While there is no legal requirement for the Council to provide harbour facilities and it is ranked as a low priority compared to other services (15th out of 20 in a ratepayer survey), there is a user expectation that we will assist in this area. Harbour facilities add social, cultural and economic value through sporting opportunities, tourism based activities and driving some aquaculture business opportunities.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did Boat ramps can be 62% of residents and non-resident Achieved 83% are satisfi ed, an improvement from 72% last easily accessed in our ratepayers are satisfi ed with the year. communities at any time harbour facilities provided. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 68% and 62% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) Five community board areas with Achieved All-tide boat ramps are provided at Kopu, Thames, access to an “all tide” boat ramp. Sugarloaf, Whangapoua, Matarangi, Kuaotunu, Whitianga, Purangi Estuary, Tairua, Pauanui, and Whangamata. Wharves are accessible in Seven major harbours have Achieved The wharves continue to be provided as listed. most major harbours wharfage facilities: • Thames Kauaeranga River Mouth • Coromandel Harbour • Port Charles Harbour • Whangapoua Harbour • Tairua Harbour • Whangamata Harbour • Mercury Bay

Other Projects and Programmes Opportunities for creating partnerships to improve wharfage facilities will be explored This is a work in progress. Partnering is being explored in detail with the marine farming industry, with regard to development of suitable facilities for the industry, particularly in the Coromandel/Colville Community Board Area. Matarangi Boat Ramp will be upgraded This project has now been completed. Whangamata launching approach will be upgraded This project has now been completed.

Other Factors Whangamata launching facility - Pontoon As a result of consultation with the local harbour committee, the Whangamata boat launching facility upgrade was completed. Some money from this budget has been “carried over” to 2011/12 ﬁ nancial year, with a view to installing a pontoon adjacent to the launching area. Some early scoping work has been completed and this will now progress during the 2011/12 ﬁ nancial year.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 61 STRONG COMMUNITIES - Parks and Reserves

Our Aim To provide a mix of park and reserve facilities in keeping with the natural character of the District.

Why We Provide This Service The promotion of tourism, outdoor activity and recreation for residents and visitors is important in the Coromandel so it is essential that there are adequate facilities for people to use. Communities also value reserves for the open space they offer, making settlements more pleasant to live in and enabling access to coastal areas. Recreational facilities provide for social interaction and development, helping create healthy communities.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did Every house will have No less than 95m2 of neighbourhood Achieved At present the District Average for neighbourhood access to parks and reserves per property (District open space is at 95 m2 per rateable unit. The reserves for casual and average). average per community board area varies widely - community use from 16.8 m2 per rateable unit in Coromandel-Collville Community Board area to 185.5m2 / RA in Tairua / Pauanui. There are also other types of reserves not assessed (e.g. sports fi elds). Adequate access to multiple One (Whitianga) sports fi eld used Achieved Whitianga sportsfi eld (Lyon Park) is the only sports code sports facilities will for more than ten hours a week for fi eld which is used more than 10 hours a week. The be provided for in larger formal sport. Council continues to contribute to the maintenance of communities school grounds, however, with the advent shortly of the new sports fi elds, this will cease to be an issue. The parks and reserves 85% of residents and non-resident Achieved 92% are satisfi ed, an improvement from 89% last enhance our communities’ ratepayers are satisfi ed with parks year. quality of life and reserves. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 90% and 87% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) 100% of urgent requests responded Not Percentage of urgent requests responded to within to within one day. Measured timeframes cannot be reported on.

Other Projects and Programmes Project lists, resulting from the reserve management plans will be devised, prioritised, costed and set out as either part of a renewals programme or as a separate capital works programme Minor improvements have occurred over the entire network in accordance with the reserve management plans. Coromandel Long Bay Camping Ground Shoreline will be stabilised This project is now completed, although some monitoring is now continuing with regard to erosion at the end of the installed wall. Taylors Mistake will be beautifi ed This project is on target for the 2011/12 fi nancial year. Tairua Youth Zone, Cory Park planning and consent process will commence The consent process is commenced and is up to the hearing stage. Whangamata Moana Anu Anu Harbour Walkway will be developed Development of the concept and engineering drawings is continuing. Some boundary fencing work has been completed. Project will continue in 2011/12. Whangamata Beach Road Reserve will be enhanced This project is on target for 2011/12. New Playgrounds will continue to be built Upgrades and the installation of additional implements have been completed as budget allows. Whitianga Sports Ground development will commence The fi rst stage of Whitianga Sports Ground is now almost completed, with only the turf, carpark, and other landscaping items to progress. Whitianga Buffalo Beach foreshore enhancement will commence This project is on target for the 2011/12 fi nancial year, and will be progressed in conjunction with the seawall protection around the public toilets.

62 SECTION THREE | Our Activities Performance Against Budget

Strong Communities

For the year ended 30 June 2011 2010 2011 Actual Budget Actual Variance Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s $000’s

Revenue 5,479 Activity Revenue 5,311 5,695 384 1 616 Contributions Revenue 1,331 1,842 511 2 18,184 General Funds 18,301 18,352 51 5,383 Subsidies Revenue 5,006 5,552 546 3 29,662 Total Operating Revenue 29,949 31,441 1,492 Cost of Services 457 Emergency Management 486 493 (7) 1,138 Economic Development 1,337 1,259 78 1,678 Community Health and Safety 1,797 1,703 94 3,665 Building Control 3,942 4,284 (342) 4 1,048 Social Development 1,067 1,141 (74) 11,181 District Transportation 10,745 11,924 (1,179) 5 1,336 Local Transportation 1,501 1,331 170 424 Cemeteries 497 404 93 144 Airﬁ elds 129 128 1 717 Halls 679 736 (57) 427 Swimming Pools 373 418 (45) 1,297 Libraries 1,287 1,358 (71) 713 Harbour Facilities 715 698 17 4,026 Parks and Reserves 4,194 4,143 51 28,251 Total Cost of Services 28,749 30,020 (1,271) 1,411 OPERATING SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) 1,200 1,421 221

What did it Cost?

Actual expenditure incurred for 2010/11 financial year ($000s) 30,020

Planned expenditure for 2010/11 financial year ($000s) 28,749

Variance ($000s) (1,271) Total cost of services was $30.0m against a plan of $28.7m

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 63 Notes

1 Activity Revenue is showing a favourable variance as: ■ Unbudgeted grants received from the Ministry of Youth Development of $40,000. A partnership 2010 service level agreement has been made between the Council and Coromandel Independent Living Trust to utilise this grant. ■ Building consent fees revenue is under budget by $288,000. For the year the number of consents is lower than originally anticipated. ■ Building control inspection fees is higher than budget by $250,000 due to catch up on old outstanding consent applications and the re evaluation of the provision required for inspections not yet ready for inspection but where the fees have been paid for in advance by the applicants. ■ Building control monitoring revenue is higher than budgeted by $68,000 due to higher than anticipated certifi cate of acceptance fees. ■ $50,000 due to collection of court fi nes and other fees collected. ■ Invoicing of cost of repairs Old Highway, Whitianga to New Zealand Transport Authority of $74,000. ■ Rental income from Council’s endowment farms is $50,000 over budget ■ Revenue from boat launching and parking fees is $102,000 under budget due to the non enforcement of the launching and parking policy for part of the fi nancial year. ■ Unbudgeted grant received from EECA for the Thames swimming pool of $70,000. ■ The remaining variances are due to small movements in other activities.

2 Contributions Revenue is showing a favourable variance as: ■ Contribution revenue has continued to be affected by lack of developments in the District. In particular there has been a marked drop off in Whangamata, Pauanui and Tairua. This has been more than offset by the developments on the Whitianga Waterways, resulting in revenue exceeding the budgeted amount by $511,000.

3 Subsidies Revenue is showing a favourable variance as: In general, funding assistance is provided by NZTA for planning, operating, maintaining and developing the land transport system. This budgeted funding is based on budgeted work to be completed throughout the fi nancial year. Funding assistance provided by NZTA in most cases is less than 100 percent of the total cost of the activity or combination of activities. Council is then responsible for providing the remaining portion of the total cost. For this fi nancial year additional revenue was received in relation to fl ood event repairs.

4 Building Control, inspections and monitoring expenditure is showing a unfavourable variance as: ■ The building control consents contract other budget is currently overspent by $103,000. Consultants were required to cover a shortage of staff in the environmental services team during the year and to process more complex consents. This is to ensure that all building consents are processed within the required time frames. Most of these costs are recovered from the applicants. ■ The building control inspection expenses are overspent by $50,000. Consultants were used for part of the year to cover staff shortages. ■ Legal expenses were higher than budget by $94,000 relating to defending weathertight home claims and enforcement of Council’s building standards. ■ Weathertight settlement claim expenses are over budget by $250,000. ■ Other building control expenses are under budget by $168,000 due to cost reductions across various activities.

5 District Transportation is showing a unfavourable variance as: ■ Transportation activity budgets are managed to ensure best value for money. This is achieved by managing work within the total operational and capital activity budgets for both district and local transportation and prioritising work that best addresses the road network needs (such as reducing the resealing length in favour of completing drainage improvements). ■ This approach results in over and under expenditure on specifi c budgets to balance the total activity expenditure. The overall expenditure when compared with the revised activity budgets at 30 June is as follows: ■ Within district transportation expenditure depreciation was under budget by $223,000 and interest costs under budget by $53,000 refl ecting the revised programme for roading maintenance agreed with NZTA. ■ Expenditure on rural and urban pavement maintenance was under budget by $106,000. ■ Unbudgeted response and reinstatement costs were incurred for fl ood damage during the year of $1,318,000. ■ District road joint safety expenditure is over budget by $199,000. 75% of the costs are subject to a NZTA subsidy and is shown as part of subsidy revenue. The remaining costs are shared equally over three Councils.

64 SECTION THREE | Our Activities STRONG COMMUNITIES - CAPITAL WORKS

2011 Budget Actual Variance CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s STRONG COMMUNITIES Emergency Management Rural Fire Equipment 23 32 ( 9 ) Emergency Management Warning System 20 14 6 District Transportation Minor Safety Projects 773 494 279 1 Area-wide Pavement Treatment 2,787 2,211 576 2 Major Drainage Control 468 511 ( 43 ) Maintenance Chip Seals 1,623 1,265 358 3 Seal Widening 133 124 9 Land Legislation 95 55 40 Thin AC Surfacing 421 423 ( 2 ) Trafﬁ c Services 121 135 ( 14 ) Dust Sealing 100 98 2 Square Kauri Bridge 203 0 203 4 Joint Development Projects 119 0 119 5 Preventative Maintenance 138 115 23 Unsealed Road Metalling 700 957 ( 257 ) 6 McNeils Bridge 0 53 ( 53 ) 7 Kopu Bridge Roundabout 365 1 364 8 Local Transportation Thames Footpath Construction 29 30 ( 0 ) Footpath Rehabilitation 26 23 3 Street Lighting 16 11 5 Coromandel Footpath Construction 19 20 ( 1 ) Footpath Rehabilitation 9 3 6 Street Lighting 16 17 ( 1 ) Mercury Bay Whitianga Service Lanes Legalisation 122 186 ( 64 ) 9 Street Lighting 36 36 ( 0 ) Footpath Rehabilitation 29 24 5 Footpath Construction 105 63 42 Carpark Reseal - Administration Building 8 5 3 Car Park Reseal Blacksmith 0 14 ( 14 ) Whitianga CBD Upgrade 0 14 ( 14 ) Tairua/Pauanui Footpath Construction 76 73 3 Street Lighting 12 12 0

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 65 2011 Budget Actual Variance CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s

Footpath Rehabilitation 30 12 18 Tairua Service Lane/Carpark 272 272 0 Whangamata Footpath Construction 63 60 3 Street Lighting 23 24 ( 1 ) Footpath Rehabilitation 23 6 17 Whangamata Boat Ramp 39 33 6 Dust Sealing Wentworth Valley 16 13 3 Street Furniture Renewal 3 1 2 Cemeteries Renewals 12 12 0 Mercury Bay Land Purchase 421 28 393 10 Halls Thames Hall Furniture & Fittings 2 0 2 Coromandel Improvements 60 3 57 11 Whangamata Memorial Hall Noise Control 100 21 79 12 Whitianga Civic Centre Fire Brigade Land 0 1 ( 1 ) Swimming Pools Thames Plant Replacement 30 36 ( 6 ) Libraries Thames Library Furniture & Fittings 62 4 58 13 Thames Library Books 97 94 3 Mercury Bay Library Books 47 44 3 Mercury Bay Library Furniture & Fittings 6 1 5 Tairua Library Books 14 15 ( 1 ) Tairua Library Furniture and Fittings 3 2 1 Harbour Facilities Hannafords Jetty Modiﬁ cations 55 2 53 14 Matarangi Boat Ramp 67 64 3 Whangamata Launching Approach Impr 78 27 51 15 Parks & Reserves Thames Renewals 29 29 0 Minor Structures 28 28 0 Minor Tracks & Walks 2 2 0 Netball Courts 0 122 ( 122 ) 16 Coromandel Renewals 17 17 0 Minor Structures 6 6 0 Mercury Bay Parks Whitianga Taylors Mistake Development 0 291 ( 291 ) 17 Parks Whitianga Sports Ground 876 2,182 ( 1,306 ) 18

66 SECTION THREE | Our Activities 2011 Budget Actual Variance CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s

Parks Signage 4 4 0 Parks Asset Register Rep 140 140 ( 0 ) Mercury bay Tracks & Walks 27 27 0 Parks Mbay Buffalo Beach Rock Wall 120 48 72 19 Parks Mbay Whiti Heritage Signage 20 11 9 Parks Whiti Sports Ground Purchase 0 3,274 ( 3,274 ) 20 Tairua/Pauanui Renewals 44 43 1 Cory Park Domain 137 37 100 21 Minor Structures 2 2 0 Whangamata Renewals 34 33 1 Moana Anu Anu Development 212 31 181 22 Total Strong Communities Capital Works Projects 11,813 14,120 (2,306)

Percentage Capital Works Projects completed 100% 120%

Notes 1 Minor Safety projects There was a delay in starting work due to initial design issues. The majority of the work was completed in the fi nal three months of the fi nancial year; however, work is expected to continue through the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 2 Area-wide Pavement Two contracts for pavement rehabilitation AWT and associated works have been tendered, evaluated Treatment and awarded. Five conforming tenders were received and evaluated for both contracts. Over both packages, there were substantial cost savings. A signifi cant part of these savings ($470,000) was used to fund additional maintenance work associated with the June and August weather events. 3 Maintenance Chip Seals Refer to comment 2. 4 Square Kauri Bridge As a result of the Council’s 2011/2012 Annual Plan review, the Square Kauri bridge replacement project was deferred to 2011/2012. 5 Joint Development Projects The budget is committed to fund Council’s contribution to the construction of Earl Street (Kopu). An agreement is yet to be reached on the project scope and timing with external developers. 6 Unsealed Road Metalling The scope of work was greater than that originally anticipated. This was identifi ed early in the fi nancial year, and the budget was revised upwards accordingly. 7 McNeil’s Bridge McNeil’s Bridge was identifi ed as a high risk structure during Council’s two yearly inspections. Unplanned and urgent work was required to ensure ratepayers could access properties safely. 8 Kopu Bridge Roundabout NZTA are now expected to fund the construction of the fourth Arm. Therefore funds were no longer required for this project. 9 Whitianga Service Lanes Delays in the previous fi nancial year meant that the scope of work required in this current fi nancial year was greater than that originally anticipated. 10 Mercury Bay Land Purchase As at 30 June 2011 a sale and purchase agreement had not been signed as negotiations with the land owners continued for longer than that originally anticipated and the traffi c engineering plan was required to be resubmitted to NZTA for further changes. 11 Coromandel Improvements The Business Plan is being presented to the Community Board and the resource consent has been obtained. If the Business Plan is accepted - work may begin in the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 12 Whangamata Memorial Hall Physical works on the auditorium were thought to be complete. However, after further investigations, Noise Control it was found that further physical works on the old hall were required to better improve this section of the hall and to align it with the other work that had been completed. This project is expected to be completed during the 2011/12 fi nancial year.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 67 Notes 13 Thames Library Furniture and The Annual Plan budget represents additional capacity which could have been required if trials of the Fittings new air-conditioning system over the summer period were not successful. Once the trial concluded, it was found that the new system was adequate and Council would not have to install an extension of the current system. 14 Coromandel - Hannaford’s This year the budget was allocated for consent processing. WRC did not require Council to have a Jetty Modifi cations consent in order to complete the works as it was considered maintenance work under the WRC District Plan rules (as it is a renewal). Physical works to commence in 2011/12 fi nancial year. 15 Whangamata Launching The costs were less than that originally anticipated. An overall cost saving of $51,000 was achieved Approach during the tender process. 16 Thames Netball Courts Damage was sustained to the netball courts during cyclone Wilma. Unbudgeted expenditure was required to ensure that these were repaired prior to April 2011 as the courts were required to be used for sporting fi xtures in June 2011. 17 Whitianga Taylors Mistake The community is still deciding (through consultation) what work is required in respect of the Taylors Development Mistake Development. 18 Parks Whitianga Sports The purpose of this project is to create a large multi-sports complex facility in Whitianga. The packages Ground of work in relation to this project were reliant on the Deed signed between Council and an external third party. As the Deed was fi nalised during this fi nancial year, the budget was readjusted accordingly. The 2011/12 Annual Plan expenditure for this project has also been updated to refl ect the new staging of this project. 19 Mercury Bay Buffalo Beach This project was expected to be completed in the 2010/11 fi nancial year however; work did not Road Wall Extension progress as far as that originally anticipated. Work is now expected to be completed in the 2011/12 fi nancial year. Staff will go to Council in August to arrange for the unspent portion of this project to be re-budgeted within the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 20 Whitianga Sports Ground The purpose of developing this ‘project code’ was to separate the land purchase of the multi-sports Purchase complex from the facility itself so that the land could be capitalised immediately and all transactions relating to the land could be reviewed separately from the construction work. Council is expected to receive 10 hectares from one external third party. This land purchase will be funded for over time by reserve development contributions that are owed to Council by this particular party. 21 Cory Park Domain The Tairua Youth Zone Resource Consent Application was lodged on 11 January 2011 and publicly notifi ed on 4 February 2011. While full public notifi cation was not required, due to the wide public interest in the project, full public consultation was requested by TCDC in its applicant role and subsequently carried out. Submissions closed on 4 March 2011 with 409 submissions being received. Due to the volume of information provided within the submissions, Council’s consents department indicated it was unable to process the application within the time limits set out in the Act and advised that as the consenting authority it has extended the processing time limits to twice the time limits specifi ed in the Resource Management Act. A hearing for this consent application is expected to be heard in the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 22 Moana Anu Anu Detailed design plans are currently being produced in order to go out to tender by June 2011 with Development construction to commence shortly after. Delays are due to issues with the legal status of land. These are currently being worked through.

68 SECTION THREE | Our Activities SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT

What We Do This group of activities helps ensure that the natural environment of the Coromandel Peninsula is enhanced and maintained. The effects of this development on the natural environment are minimised by the provision of these activities as they ensure safe disposal of wastes generated by the population like rubbish, sewerage and stormwater. The provision of large-scale water supply infrastructure means that water is collected and stored in ways that minimises harm to the environment. The Council is committed to ensuring that its services are delivered in an environmentally sustainable way. The provision of these services is also considered essential for the health and well-being of communities as they are required for sanitary living conditions. There is a strong correlation between clean and safe drinking water and good health. This involves protecting catchment areas and water sources. In order for people to enjoy and access the natural environment the Council aims to maintain or enhance harbours, coastal waters, inland waterways, the biodiversity and keep this free of rubbish and pollution. Without these safeguards, the community may itself be at risk of pollutants. During the process of identifying the Community Outcomes, protecting the environment was a strong theme for our community. Three of the six outcomes showed a signiﬁ cant level of Council contribution to valuing the natural environment, the coast and beaches and meeting the needs of the community and visitors now and in the future. In a 2008 ratepayer’s survey, four of the activities within this group made up the top ﬁ ve priorities for our residents (drinking water, wastewater (sewage), stormwater and rubbish collection and recycling). Local communities have told us that protecting the environment is important in their community plans.

Safeguarding the Environment Activities

Natural and Cultural Heritage Stormwater Public Conveniences Solid Waste Landuse Management Land Drainage Water Services Land Information Memoranda Wastewater

Contribution to Choosing Futures The 2009-2019 Ten Year Plan identiﬁ es how we’ll assess the contribution we made to progressing our community outcomes.

5 In 2010 54% of residents were satisﬁ ed that the impact from development on the coastline is adequately managed and minimised. This compares with 49% being satisﬁ ed in 2007. (2007 and 2010, Waikato Perception Survey - Thames-Coromandel District) The actual performance result is measured from the survey results adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Know’ responses (a 51% result if the ‘Don’t Know’ responses are included).

N/A Level of concern with water pollution from town and farmland areas. (2006, Environmental Awareness, Attitudes and Actions Survey) Due to excellent results from surveys carried over previous years this survey has been cancelled.

N/A Percentage of samples meeting our guidelines for excellent, satisfactory or unsatisfactory coastal water quality for contact recreation. (Environment Waikato, Environmental Indicators, Coastal Water Quality, 2007/2008) The 2009 survey was cancelled. The next survey will be carried out in 2012.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 69 Overview of Safeguarding the Environment Performance

2010/2011 Safeguarding the Environment Highlights

Solid Waste A review of solid waste services was completed to inform future solid waste planning processes. A district waste assessment was completed as required by the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 in preparation for the development of the Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP). The Thames Valley Councils of Thames-Coromandel, Hauraki and Matamata-Piako District Councils have all agreed to proceed with the shared solid waste services project. This includes the development of a joint WMMP and a joint procurement process at the expiry of the current Solid Waste Services Contract C03/25. Confi rmation of landfi ll closure status has been confi rmed with Waikato Regional Council. Highlights of capital improvements to Refuse Transfer Stations (RTS) this year are; • installation of new Point of Sale (POS) systems at Matarangi, Coromandel and Pauanui RTS • installation of a 4th district weighbridge at the Whangamata RTS • installation of a compactor at Pauanui RTS • installation of bulk glass bunkers at Coromandel RTS Bio-Solid Compost Project Council has approved continuing with this project, based on resiting the bio-solid operations composter to Whitianga.

Service Delivery Summer Operations 2010/2011 Peak The service delivery peak summer operations overall went very well and initial comment on activities is as follows: • Water Supplies - overall the summer went very well with fewer restrictions than in previous years. • Wastewater - no issues or incidents, nor any odour complaints for Whitianga. One odour complaint was sent by email to the Utilities Operations Engineer concerning the Pauanui scheme. The engineer was on leave at the time (the party had previously been advised to place a Request for Service with Customer Services if any issues) and the complaint was not followed up in a timely manner. • Solid Waste - The contractor did not complete collections in Whangamata over New Year and that had a domino effect on collections in Tairua and Pauanui.

Tairua/Pauanui Water Supply Application was made to Waikato Regional Council for an extension of the existing consent for three years whilst the further detailed investigation work is completed on the future staged water supply and treatment upgrades for both Tairua and Pauanui communities. The scoping of the initial investigation work is now complete and test bore drilling was underway in the second quarter. The interim resource consent applications have been lodged with WRC but not heard prior to Christmas. Thames Valley and Matatoki Water Supplies The Regional Council hearing for the temporary consents applied for the Thames Valley and Matatoki water supplies were held in Thames from Monday 15 to Thursday 18 November 2010. The hearing concluded by being adjourned with a direction from the Chairman that parties liaise and then fi le an amended set of conditions. The issues were worked through at a staff level and the hearing reconvened on 24 January 2011. The consents were granted on the 11th of February 2011 have a fi ve year term for the Matatoki take and eight year term for the Omahu take (Thames Valley scheme). The volumes that have been consented are suffi cient to provide for both schemes in the short term; however there are conditions within both consents requiring Council to have investigated the options, made a decision and begun implementation of long term options within two years for Matatoki and three years for Omahu.

70 SECTION THREE | Our Activities Safeguarding the Environment Group Achievements during the 2009-2019 Ten Year Plan

Summary Service Levels How We Did Achieved

Annual Report 2010/2011 27 of 46 The Safeguarding the Environment Group has met the same number of targets as last year. Water and Wastewater achieved their highest ever satisfaction rating in the Communitrak Survey.

Annual Report 2009/2010 27 of 44

Safeguarding the Environment Achievement

Activity / Output Area Service Levels How We Did Achieved

Natural And Cultural Heritage 2 of 4 Progress has been made but there have been issues measuring some areas of the activity because of the number of absentee ratepayers.

Public Conveniences 1 of 1 Business as usual with high levels of satisfaction in the NRB survey.

Landuse Management 5 of 8 Strong performance with those areas not meeting the target only marginally under.

Water Services 5 of 9 Strong performance in critical areas with those areas not meeting the targets only marginally under.

Wastewater 4 of 7 Strong performance in critical areas with those areas not meeting the targets only marginally under.

Stormwater 1 of 6 Despite there being few reported inundations the customer satisfaction survey while only two percent under target had dropped ten percent from last year. A number of ongoing issues with consents have now been resolved.

Solid Waste 5 of 6 Strong performance with high levels of satisfaction. Recycled waste has however levelled off and may require further actions in the coming year.

Land Drainage 1 of 1 Target met.

Land Information Memoranda 3 of 4 Strong performance has been maintained despite many records being taken off site for scanning.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 71 SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT - Natural and Cultural Heritage

Our Aim To promote the protection and enhancement of the natural and cultural heritage of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Why We Provide This Service The community outcomes and local community plans indicate that there is a strong desire to ensure the unique natural and cultural heritage of the Peninsula is protected. Council has recently adopted heritage and biodiversity strategies to facilitate this process.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did The Council works with 190 heritage items are on the District Not Achieved The actual result was 170. There have not yet been others to protect natural and Plan Register. any opportunities to update the District Plan Heritage cultural icons in the District Register (which currently contains 170 heritage items). However, the District Plan Heritage Project has largely been completed and there will soon be an opportunity to review items on that register (some items are likely to be added to the Register whilst others may be removed). The Council promotes An increase of 1% in land owner Not Measured “Landowner Commitment” was not used as a measure landowner awareness and commitment being assessed to this year (nor in 2009/2010) as it was found that an enhancement of the District’s be “good” in recent monitoring assessment of commitment is difﬁ cult to make when unique biodiversity of conservation covenants (from many covenant owners are not home when the 2009/2010). monitoring ofﬁ cer visits. Overall condition of covenants. Achieved In 2010/2011 overall condition was assessed as being

This supplementary measure was not in the Ten “good” in 77% of covenants visited (compared with Year Plan and has been included as there were 61% of covenants visited in 2009/2010). technical difﬁ culties reporting on the original measure. This result has been included to complete the performance reporting picture. The Council will assist the Number of funding initiatives was Achieved There were no funding initiatives included in the community by providing outlined in the Biodiversity Strategy Ten Year Plan for the 2010/2011 year. However, funding initiatives for heritage are developed, implemented or through the 2010/2011 Annual Plan process Council and biodiversity conservation promoted in a way that means 100% resolved to contribute $11,000 towards the funding of and enhancement of funds available are distributed. “Enviroschools”. The budget for this funding initiative has now been distributed.

Other Projects and Programmes The state of the biodiversity on the Peninsula will be monitored and a plan developed to identify, conserve and enhance ecologically valuable areas A project by the Waikato Regional Council (with support and assistance from Council) has been completed to identify ‘signifi cant natural areas’ on the Coromandel Peninsula. Provisions are being developed for inclusion in the ‘draft’ District Plan that will be used to help conserve and enhance ecologically valuable areas. The heritage strategy actions will be adopted and implemented through the District Plan heritage review The Heritage Review Project has largely been completed which identifi es heritage buildings and areas throughout the District for possible inclusion through the District Plan Review process. Provisions are being developed for inclusion in the ‘draft’ District Plan that will be used to help conserve and enhance heritage values (items and areas) in the District. Natural and Cultural heritage opportunities will be identifi ed through landuse planning, protection, promotion and tourism Opportunities have been taken as they have presented themselves (eg. heritage signage, heritage photographs for Tourism Coromandel, Ferry Landing stone wharf conservation plan, etc) but activity in this area is limited.

72 SECTION THREE | Our Activities SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT - Public Conveniences

Our Aim To provide safe and convenient public toilet facilities in areas of frequent community activity.

Why We Provide This Service Our community has high expectations around protecting the environment. Public toilets help do this while offering comfort to visitors and residents. When provided, they must meet a minimum public health standard (all low quality-graded (2 or 3) toilet facilities will be targeted for refurbishment over time). This is an area where the Council is looking to save costs over time by reducing the number of public conveniences it provides. A number of toilets have been deferred from this plan while a strategy to determine services it will provide in the future is completed.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did Public toilets are convenient 75% of residents and non-resident Achieved 84% are satisfi ed. and safe ratepayers are satisfi ed with the The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t public conveniences provided. Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 75%. (2011 Thames- Coromandel District Council Communitrak Survey)

Other Projects and Programmes All toilet facilities with a low quality grading (2 or 3) will be targeted for refurbishment (from a set refurbishment budget) This is an ongoing programme with works continuing in the manner as described above. Toilet Criteria Plan This has been completed and will be submitted to Council for review.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 73 SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT - Landuse Management

Our Aim To manage development to achieve agreed environmental outcomes.

Why We Provide This Service Our communities have highlighted the importance of the natural environment, particularly the coast, and the need to minimise the negative effects of growth and development on the environment. The Council also has statutory responsibilities under the Resource Management Act 1991 to receive process and monitor resource consents in accordance with its District Plan.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did All resource consents will 90% of consent applications Achieved 98% for the year including 347 non-notifi ed resource be processed effi ciently completed within statutory consents. timeframes. * 100% of 223s issued within fi ve Not 70 out of the 71 were issued within 5 working days. working days. Achieved There were also fi ve consents that took longer than fi ve working days. These consents were submitted as combined 224c’s as they were submitted online and they cannot be separated and processed individually. 85% of 224s issued within 15 Achieved 100% achieved. All 61 were issued within 15 working working days. days. 100% of planning checks on PIMS Not 98% achieved, 779 out of 796 were processed within processed within ten working days. Achieved 10 working days. * Whilst recognising that the statutory requirements are 100%, this is not always achievable due to the complexity of some applications and the frequency of legal challenges. Good, prompt advice will Duty Planner in attendance during Achieved Duty Planner available as advertised throughout the be delivered to help people ‘Duty Planner’ hours (three hours year. understand the District Plan per day by email, phone and/or rules person). No complaints about poor or slow Achieved No complaints received about poor or slow service advice. from the duty planning service. Our environment is being 100% of complaints and enquiries Not Over the year 90% of complaints and enquiries were cared for in regard to resource consent are Achieved responded to within 5 working days. For the fi rst two responded to in fi ve working days. quarters 100% was achieved however, one of the monitoring offi cers left the council in January. During the last two quarters the team has had a shortfall in staff and more recently a concentrated effort training the new staff member. 100% of decisions are peer Achieved 100% of all resource consents decisions were peer reviewed prior to release. reviewed.

Other Projects and Programmes Processes will be continually reviewed, managed and improvements implemented in line with best practice and statute From the beginning of August the ‘Discount regulations’ went live following the Resource Management Act RMA Amendment Act. Prior to this the processes were carefully looked at to ensure compliance with the Act in terms of timeframes. To date no consents have over run or been required to provide a discount to the applicant. In respect of creating further efﬁ ciencies our end to end processes are being reviewed and use of the Pathways is subject to review.

74 SECTION THREE | Our Activities SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT - Water Services

Our Aim To provide adequate safe water for both drinking and ﬁ re ﬁ ghting purposes and the promotion of water conservation.

Why We Provide This Service Clean and safe water is one of the essential needs of the community that the public can simply not do without. It is one of the core services that the public generally expects the Council to provide in urban areas. We are required to deliver suffi cient water quantities and pressure for fi re-fi ghting purposes in urban communities. We are also actively engaged in promoting water conservation. However, because the Council is looking to reduce expenditure, new developments can no longer rely on a guaranteed Council supply of water, unless in an area already serviced or planned for being serviced. Council will be concentrating on managing and upgrading its existing networks and new developments may need to provide their own private water schemes.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did The Council provides 18,309 connections are available Not Large water supply expansion projects have been reliable drinking water for water supply across the District. Achieved deferred to later in the Ten Year Plan due to a supplies decrease in the rate of growth in the district. There are currently 18,283 connections available across the district. 100% compliance with resource Not 99.5% of resource consent conditions were complied consent conditions/water permit Achieved with. Non compliance relates to over abstraction and conditions. an increased take rate in Matatoki, Hahei, Onemana and Pauanui, predominantly over the dry periods. Potable water is available for Achieved Potable water supplies exist in all urban areas and household and business use (not are available for household and business connection irrigation) in urban areas. by application. Water restrictions are imposed when Achieved In order to conserve water, maintain supply continuity there are water supply shortages to and meet resource consent conditions, water manage demand. restrictions were applied to all appropriate areas during dry periods. The water provided is safe 95% of water supply systems Achieved 98.6% compliance was achieved. United Water to drink comply with Drinking Water has supplied the operational data as part of their Standards guidelines. contractual KPI compliance requirements. Single failures are related to water quality or low chlorine levels in a number of townships. 80% of residents and non-resident Achieved 88% of residents and non-resident ratepayers are ratepayers are satisfi ed with the satisfi ed with the level of service compared to 83% level of service. last year. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 74%, 70% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) 90% of urgent* requests for service Achieved 98.9% of urgent requests for service were responded responded to within one day. to within one day. There has been a total of 91 requests received during the year, of which 90 were completed within the allocated timeframe. * Dirty, cloudy, smelly or bad tasting water or no water at all. There is adequate water for 90% of fi re hydrants tested annually Achieved The 2010/2011 annual target was achieved. All fi re fi ghting meet New Zealand Fire Service 1,250 identifi ed hydrants were serviced and tested for Code of Practice. operation by United Water during the year. Implementation Plan commenced Not Work has commenced on the implementation plan to ensure 100% of residential Achieved with the Geographic Information System (GIS) survey properties have a proximity to fi re nearing completion. Work continued during the hydrants as required by the New fourth quarter and will continue into the fi rst quarter of Zealand Fire Services Fire Fighting 2011/2012 in order to establish compliance with the Water Supplied Code of Practice New Zealand Fire Fighting Water Supplies Code of (currently two hydrants within a Practice. 270m radius).

Other Projects and Programmes Water supplies will be re-graded To date four supplies have been graded (Coromandel, Tairua, Thames and Whitianga). The Ministry of Health will schedule the remaining supplies over the next two years. Conservation and demand management initiatives will be implemented Water restrictions were in place where applicable during the peak period to help ensure efﬁ cient use of the available water. Conservation and demand management initiatives form part of the Council’s Summer Action Plan that was implemented during the peak summer period. Water Conservation Demand Management Plans continue to be developed for all schemes as required.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 75 SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT - Wastewater

Our Aim To appropriately collect, treat, and dispose of wastewater ensuring public and environmental health.

Why We Provide This Service As well as enabling households to easily dispose of sewage the appropriate collection, treatment and disposal of wastewater in the District is important to maintain public and environmental health. Our communities have said through Community Outcomes and Local Community Plans that having clean catchments is one of their top priorities. The Council is legally required to maintain its current wastewater schemes but not provide for new areas. It also has legal obligations under the Health Act 1956, Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 and the Resource Management Act 1991. In future, new developments outside of new areas planned to be serviced can no longer rely on guaranteed Council supply of wastewater services in order to reduce expenditure. The Council will also reduce expenditure on this activity by changing the way it calculates depreciation. This means not setting money aside for 6 years to replace capacity that has been provided for future ratepayers who are not currently consuming it.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did The Council provides 12 blockages per 1,000 connections. Achieved There was a total of 74 blockages around the wastewater services that peninsula during the year equating to 3.3 blockages effectively collect and per 1,000 connections. Over achievement of this dispose of wastewater measure results in no additional cost to Council. 90% of urgent* requests responded Achieved 91.2% of urgent requests were responded to within to within one day. one day. 91 urgent requests were received by Council, 83 were attended to within the one day timeframe and eight attended to within two days. 80% of ratepayers are satisfi ed with Achieved 94% Achieved. This is up from 91% last year. Over wastewater services. achievement of this measure results in no additional cost to Council. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 76% and 77% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) The Council provides wastewater Not The actual number of connections was 22,596. The facilities to 23,214 rating units. Achieved Council has created suffi cient capacity to comfortably cope with demand for connections in excess of the target 23,214, particularly through the investment in the Eastern Seaboard wastewater treatment plants. The actual number of connections is outside the control of the Council and demand has been lower as a result of the economic downturn which has had a signifi cant impact on planned house building on the Peninsula. * Emergency overfl ows, loss of service or strong odour complaints Wastewater disposal does 100% of resource consent Not 98.9% of conditions were complied with. There was not create any smells, spills conditions complied with. Achieved one discharge and one ammonia failure at the Hahei or health issues and causes treatment plant during the second quarter along with minimal impact on the maximum discharge limits being exceeded during natural environment heavy rain in Matarangi. Discharge pH limits at Coromandel were high during the fourth quarter. 26 odour related requests for Not 31 complaints were received during the year. The services/complaints. Achieved majority of complaints received were related to the Whitianga treatment plant in the vicinity of Moewai Road during the second quarter. This situation was resolved prior to the third quarter with no further issues. Less than seven spills into water Achieved A total of 17 spills were reported during the year, bodies (average per township). of which six affected waterways (<2 per township). Three occurred in the third quarter from locations within the reticulation in Whangamata due to diffi culties experienced during the January 2011 heavy rain event. The Waikato Regional Council was notifi ed of each event.

76 SECTION THREE | Our Activities Other Projects and Programmes The Eastern Seaboard wastewater upgrade programme will continue: Whitianga disposal upgrade, Whangamata efﬂ uent disposal and Matarangi plant upgrade The Whitianga wastewater disposal resource consent has been granted by the Waikato Regional Council. Work is commencing on the disposal upgrade project for this area. Work on the Whangamata wastewater disposal project is ongoing with good progress. The Matarangi wastewater disposal resource consent has been lodged with the Waikato Regional Council. This consent was granted without the need for a hearing. The consent process is proceeding with further information requests being completed as required. Once the consent has been issued, work can commence on any upgrades, if required, at the treatment plant. The wastewater sludge (biosolids) strategy and related infrastructure will be implemented The biosolids trial was completed. Work is ongoing regarding long term composting operations.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 77 SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT - Stormwater

Our Aim To ensure that stormwater is controlled and, if necessary, treated and then disposed of, in order to protect the health and safety of people, land and property.

Why We Provide This Service The Council is legally required to maintain current stormwater schemes in most cases and there is a strong public expectation it will do so in built- up areas. In the future new developments outside of those planned to be serviced can no longer rely on guaranteed Council supply of stormwater services in order to reduce expenditure. However it has decided to spread its stormwater programme out to reduce the ﬁ nancial burden on ratepayers and look for more localised solutions to stormwater management. Currently developers are required to manage stormwater run-off from their projects.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did In light to moderate rain, 1% of dwellings in urban areas of Not There is not adequate data to substantiate an stormwater is diverted the District (except the Thames Measured assessment for these performance measures. Further from properties. In heavier fl ats*) susceptible to inundation by a investigations have identifi ed that the time and cost rainfall, habitable areas are one-in-fi ve year rain event. implications of developing this theoretical model are not fl ooded prohibitive relative to the benefi ts. A supplementary measure based on actual reported inundations has been developed. Less than 5% of dwellings in Not urban areas of the Thames fl ats Measured susceptible to inundation by a one- in-20 year rain event. Less than 1% of dwellings in urban Achieved Residents of fi ve properties reported inundation from areas experience inundation from stormwater during the year, the incidents happened stormwater. on four seperate days. Two of the reported incidents This supplementary measure was not in the Ten were in adjacent properties in the same settlement Year Plan and has been included as there were on the same day. This represents less than 0.1% of technical diffi culties reporting on the original properties. measure. This result has been included to complete the performance reporting picture. 100% of resource consent Not The issuing of resource consents by Waikato Regional conditions met throughout the year. Measured Council has been subject to protracted negotiation and have only recently been issued. This now allows necessary work to progress reporting conditions through the United Water contract, who deliver this service on the council’s behalf. Stormwater systems 70% of residents and non-resident Not 68% achieved, which has fallen from 78% last year. are well operated and ratepayers are satisfi ed with Achieved There is nothing specifi c that can be identifi ed for maintained by the Council stormwater systems. not achieving the target. Areas of the district did experience several heavy rain events, which may be refl ected in the lower than target rating. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 63% and 72% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys) 90% of urgent4 requests for service Not 85.7% of urgent requests were responded to within responded to within one day. Achieved one day. Six requests related to blockages and fl ooding, of which one was not addressed within one day. There is however no evidence in the request for service system relating to fl ooding of dwellings. * Any blockage causing extensive fl ooding of buildings or other serious fl ooding

Other Projects and Programmes Business as usual improvements will be made to stormwater systems in relation to comprehensive discharge consent requirements in Thames, Thames Coast, Tairua, Pauanui, Matarangi, Coromandel, Onemana, Whangamata and Mercury Bay The comprehensive stormwater discharge consents process is proceeding slower than anticipated, but is close to sign-off by the Waikato Regional Council. Improvements, if required, will be planned and implemented once consents have been granted. Stormwater investigations will be undertaken in order to determine fl ood risks, appropriate levels of service and capital investment requirements Stormwater modelling is ongoing with further refi nement of the capital expenditure programme being undertaken. The programme of works is being completed with a focus on fi nancial restraint assisting in the prioritisation of works.

78 SECTION THREE | Our Activities SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT - Solid Waste

Our Aim Ensure that all rubbish is properly disposed of to protect the public and environment through kerbside rubbish collection and recycling.

Why We Provide This Service This activity was rated as one of the highest priorities by ratepayers in a recent survey. The Health Act 1956 also requires the Council to deliver this activity to protect the environment and public health. New legislation has increased our responsibility to minimise the amount of waste generated within the community and there are good fi nancial reasons for everybody to work towards diverted waste from landfi lls. We have a pilot programme planned to make compost from green waste and bio solids from our wastewater plants, which is currently landfi lled.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did Refuse transfer stations 90% of urgent* requests responded Achieved 100% of urgent requests responded to within one day. (RTS) are accessible and to in one day. Only 2 requests received. maintained Seven communities with RTS. Achieved All RTS were accessible throughout the year. Monthly maintenance audit results complied with the specifi ed contract standards. * this should refer to the refuse & recycling collection services urgent request measure in following section Refuse and recycling Volume of waste per rating unit Achieved 537kg per rating unit equates to a 7% reduction from collection services are being disposed of at the landfi ll 2009/10. provided and recycling decreased by 5% from 2009/2010. actively promoted Percentage of rubbish that is Not The percentage of waste diversion for both the 2009- recycled compared to being Achieved 10 year and the current 2010-11 year has remained disposed of at the landfi ll increased static at 27%. A levelling out of the diversion rate is by 1% from 2009/2010. expected at some point and it may be that additional waste minimisation initiatives will be required to increase diversion rates above the current. 90% of urgent* requests for service Achieved 90.8% of urgent requests for service and complaints and complaints responded to within were responded to within one day. 485 requests were one day. received. * Rubbish bags not collected or whole streets not collected in error. The correct measure for this footnote. 85% of residents and non-resident Achieved 86% Achieved. A marginal increase from 85% last ratepayers are satisfi ed with the year. This is a very satisfactory result considering level of (collection) service. the geographic and peak population challenges and complexities involved in operating solid waste services in this district. The reported fi gure is adjusted to exclude ‘Don’t Knows’. If ‘Don’t Knows’ were included, the result for 2011 is 83% and 81% in 2010. (2011 and 2010 Thames-Coromandel District Council Communitrak Surveys)

Other Projects and Programmes New moloks will be provided This project was deferred until the above solid waste strategic planning processes are completed. Resource consent quality standards and conditions for closed landﬁ lls will be monitored and reported Resource consent quality standards and conditions have been substantially complied with.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 79 SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT - Land Drainage

Our Aim To safeguard the environment, including land and buildings, through the provision and maintenance of an effective and efﬁ cient drainage system in the geographic districts included in the schemes.

Why We Provide This Service Land drainage is undertaken to provide assistance to small groups of people trying to mitigate the possibility of ﬂ ooding and damage to deﬁ ned areas of property. Council’s role is limited to an administrative role in collecting revenue and distributing the funds back to the three drainage committees.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did Land Drainage Schemes are No fl oods caused by drains being Achieved No fl oods have been attributed to drains being unable cost effective and effi ciently unable to cope with fl ood events. to cope. managed

80 SECTION THREE | Our Activities SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT - Land Information Memoranda

Our Aim The provision of timely and accurate information about property or land in the District.

Why We Provide This Service Aside from being a legal requirement under the Local Government Offi cial Information and Meetings Act 1987 and the Local Government Act 2002, Land Information Memoranda (LIMs) are a valuable service giving information needed by potential purchasers and fi nanciers. The back scanning project of the Council’s property records as outlined under District Leadership will help the Council meet its ten day processing obligation, which is currently diffi cult to meet.

The Service We Provide What We Aimed For How We Did It is easy to purchase All LIMs contain accurate Achieved Council has had no claims or investigations this year. information on any property information (no proven claims). This can be attributed to better recording practices in the District and processes and the back-scanning of fi les which is encouraging the organisation to have a better approach to document management thus reducing the risk. 100% of non-urgent requests are Achieved 100% of non-urgent requests were processed within processed quickly (within ten days). ten days. This target has been comfortably achieved, on average taking 5.5 days. A faster service is available 100% of urgent LIMs are delivered Achieved 100% of urgent requests have been processed within when my LIM enquiry is within 48 hours. 48 hours. urgent Customers can understand The percentage of users satisfi ed Not Not reported this year as the next survey is scheduled and have confi dence in the with the content of LIMs increased applicable for 2011/2012. content of their LIMs (reported every three years - not as not reported in 2010/2011). scheduled to be measured

Other Projects and Programmes The current ‘check’ system for District and local level LIMs will be maintained LIMs team are consistently reviewing the checklists at regular meetings and updating as required when new issues arise or where others are dealt with or where circumstances change. Policies, processes, quality of information and delivery of services to customers will be continually reviewed and improved The Land Information Management Strategy was approved by Executive Leadership Team during the year and is now awaiting some technical development which will give another tool in which to improve our service and help ensure Council is fulﬁ lling its obligations. The LIMs team is also helping co-ordinate the back-scanning project as they will directly beneﬁ t from the results to improve access to information not only for the LIMs team but for the stakeholders in general.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 81 Performance Against Budget

Safeguarding the Environment

For the year ended 30 June 2011 2010 2011 Actual Budget Actual Variance Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s $000’s

Revenue 3,540 Activity Revenue 4,210 4,120 (90) 1 1,239 Contributions Revenue 1,416 583 (833) 2 33,375 General Funds 34,716 34,630 (86) 3 0 Subsidies Revenue 0 0 0 38,154 Total Operating Revenue 40,342 39,333 (1,009) Cost of Services 142 Natural and Cultural Heritage 158 98 60 842 Public Conveniences 904 866 38 3,380 Landuse Management 3,646 3,125 521 4 6,832 Water 7,374 6,928 446 5 14,574 Wastewater 16,647 15,041 1,606 6 2,581 Stormwater 3,253 2,399 854 7 5,270 Solid Waste 6,099 5,691 408 8 55 Land Drainage 50 49 1 131 Land Information Memoranda 213 119 94 33,807 Total Cost of Services 38,344 34,316 4,028 4,347 OPERATING SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) 1,998 5,017 3,019

What did it Cost?

Actual expenditure incurred for 2010/11 financial year ($000s) 34,316

Planned expenditure for 2010/11 financial year ($000s) 38,344

Variance ($000s) 4,028 Total cost of services was $34.3m against a plan of $38.3m

82 SECTION THREE | Our Activities Notes

1 Activity Revenue is showing an unfavourable variance as: ■ Solid waste transfer fees being under budget by $391,000 and solid waste collection fees are likewise under budget by $101,000. This is reﬂ ective on the lower level of economic activity as a result of the recession. Revenue from solid waste disposal levy was unbudgeted at $80,000. ■ Resource control consent fees was under budget by $448,000 due to the lower number of consents than planned. ■ Unbudgeted revenue from forestry harvest was $842,000. ■ Land information memoranda revenue is under budget by $70,000 again reﬂ ecting the lower level of activity.

2 Contributions Revenue is showing an unfavourable variance as: ■ Contribution revenue has been severely affected by the aftermath of the global recession. It has severely restricted developments within the region and as a consequence has impacted on contributions revenue.

3 General Funds is showing an unfavourable variance as: ■ Rates revenue is showing a unfavourable variance as shifts in the rating database in the time between ﬁ nalising the budget ﬁ gures of the Annual Plan and actually assessing the rates at the end of closing off of the District Valuation Roll on 30 June 2010 varied.

4 Landuse Management is showing a favourable variance as: ■ Resource control consent costs, monitoring costs and resource control RMA appeals are under budget by $520,000. As the number of resource consents and appeals received this year is less than that originally anticipated, this has reduced the need for external consultants and other direct operating expenditure in relation to these consents. This is consistent with the drop in revenue.

5 Water is showing a favourable variance as: ■ Total contract costs are $142,000 above budget due to non-routine maintenance expenditure associated with faults and maintenance repairs. ■ Offsetting this is the savings in Council overhead costs charged to the water activity of $43,000. ■ Asset management planning costs are less than those originally anticipated this year to date by $148,000. Work is ongoing but a conscious effort was made during the ﬁ nancial year to minimise expenditure. ■ Investigation fees and management plan expenditure is less than that budgeted for by $59,000 and $56,000, respectively. Savings have been made by taking some of these tasks in house as opposed to use of consultants, while other less essential projects have been deferred. ■ Depreciation charge is under the budget by $192,000 and interest costs are under budget by $133,000. These are a result of deferral of capital works expenditure

6 Wastewater is showing a favourable variance as: ■ Contract desludging costs are unbudgeted at $410,000. These costs were budgeted for in the last ﬁ nancial year but delays associated with obtaining resource consents from Waikato Regional Council and to adverse weather conditions last year resulted in the revised scheduled dates. Council has approved the carryovers. ■ Total costs for the three Eastern seaboard plants are under budget by $584,000. These costs include energy, chemicals, labour, plant maintenance and monitoring and solid waste disposal. Expenditure is directly related to demands placed on the plants processing requirements which are affected by such things as weather conditions and demand. ■ Contract costs including contract escalations are greater than anticipated by $107,000. ■ Council overhead costs charged to the waste water activity are under budget by $44,000. ■ Energy cost, other than the Eastern seaboard plants, are less than that budgeted by $62,000 ■ Investigation fees are under those originally budgeted by $45,000. ■ Trade waste Bylaw expenses are less than that originally budgeted for by $65,000. ■ Unbudgeted expenses associated with the forest harvest revenue and management of the forest are $118,000. ■ Asset management planning costs are under budget by $149,000. ■ Depreciation charge is under budget by $763,000 and interest costs by $528,000 due to anticipated capital works projects being deferred.

7 Stormwater is showing a favourable variance as: ■ Non-routine maintenance expenditure being less than that originally budgeted this year to date by $78,000. Contract costs are $112,000 under the original budget. This is reﬂ ective of the need to conserve expenditure ■ Management plan fees are less than those originally anticipated this year by $20,000. There were delays in obtaining resource consents which delayed the planning process. ■ Investigation fee expenditure is less than that budgeted for by $129,000 and asset management plans are under budget by $154,000. Savings have been made by taking some of these tasks in house as opposed to use of consultants, while other projects have been reprioritised. ■ Depreciation charge is under budget by $295,000. Interest costs is under budget by $51,000. This is due to anticipated capital works projects being deferred.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 83 Notes

8 Solidwaste is showing a favourable variance as: ■ Transfer waste station costs are under budget by $447,000 refl ecting the lower level of activity and associated revenue. Savings have been made in contract cost, transport and disposal costs. ■ Solid waste collection costs less than those originally budgeted this year by $137,000 again refl ecting the lower level of activity and associated revenue. ■ Lanfi ll charge provision is over budget by $190,000.

84 SECTION THREE | Our Activities SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT - CAPITAL WORKS

2011 Budget Actual Variance CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s

SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT

Public Conveniences Renewals 161 165 (5) Water Thames Valley Renewals 12 6 6 New Supply 125 209 (84) 1 Matatoki Renewals 12 0 12 New Supply 125 207 (82) 2 Thames Urban Renewals 608 206 403 3 Kauaeranga Consent 0 5 (5) Reservoir Replacement 300 14 286 51 Reticulation 361 10 351 4 Treatment Upgrade 600 49 551 5 Systems Improvements 58 0 58 6 Coromandel Renewals 75 158 (83) 7 System Improvements 101 0 101 8 Pump Station Upgrade 50 0 50 9 Matarangi Renewals 27 9 (1) Water Meters 0 31 (31) System Improvements 28 28 28 Whitianga Renewals 54 26 28 System Improvements 32 28 4 Hahei Renewals 27 18 9 Water Meters 81 1 80 10 Tairua Renewals 54 73 (19) Consent 398 115 283 11 Systems Improvements 408 5 402 12 Treatment Plant Upgrade 300 112 188 13 Pauanui Renewals 54 37 17 Consent 398 214 184 14 Oturu Intake Upgrade 70 0 70 15

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 85 2011 Budget Actual Variance CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s

Onemana Renewals 27 11 16 Whangamata Renewals 158 160 (1) Wentworth Valley Improvements 270 311 (41) 16 Wentworth Valley Consent 61 61 (1) Wastewater Thames Thames Infl ow & Infi ltration 106 35 71 17 Thames Renewals 83 213 (130) 18 Thames Reticulation Upgrade 59 0 59 19 Thames Telemetry Upgrade 41 29 12 Thames Treatmant Plant Upgrade 587 60 527 20 Thames Pump Station Upgrade 144 22 122 21 Coromandel Pump Station Upgrade 38 34 4 Coromandel Consent Renewals 0 30 (30) Coromandel Infl ow Infi ltration 106 35 71 22 Coromandel Renewals 38 55 (17) Oamaru Bay Oamaru Bay Renewals 8 0 8 Matarangi Matarangi Consent Renewals 0 22 (22) Pump Station Upgrade 15 10 5 Matarangi Renewals 19 14 5 Treatment Upgrade 633 1 632 23 Whitianga Biosolid Infrastructure 1,408 0 1,408 24 Consent Renewals 87 154 (67) 25 Disposal Upgrade 1,810 127 1,683 26 Infl ow & Infi ltration 156 65 90 27 Pump Station Upgrade 264 19 245 28 Renewals 57 134 (78) 29 Treatment Upgrade 132 131 1 Cooks Beach Pump Station Upgrade 28 15 13 Cooks Bch Renewals 26 24 2 Hahei Hahei Infl ow/Infi ltration 121 34 87 30 Hahei Renewals 19 17 2 Tairua/Pauanui Paku Hill Grinder Pumpstation 50 9 41 31

86 SECTION THREE | Our Activities 2011 Budget Actual Variance CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s

Pauanui Infl ow & Infi ltration 0 28 (28) Pauanui Pump Station Upgrade 65 13 52 32 Pauanui Renewals 28 26 3 T/P Treatment & Disposal Imp 103 55 48 33 Tai/Pau Effl uent Disposal 25 85 (60) 34 Tairua Infl ow & Infi ltration 50 37 13 Tairua Pump Station Upgrade 103 16 88 35 Tairua Renewals 28 36 (8) Tairua/Pauanui Biosolid Infrastructure 547 507 40 Onemana Pump Station Upgrade 62 46 16 Renewals 19 25 (7) Whangamata Treatmant Plant Upgrade 160 91 69 36 Effl uent Disposal 3,045 1,447 1,598 37 Infl ow & Infi ltration 200 172 28 Pump Station Upgrade 271 296 (25) Renewals 57 112 (56) 38 Stormwater Thames Renewals 502 177 325 39 Thames Improvements 452 252 200 40 Thames Coast Renewals 55 0 55 41 Kopu Drainage Upgrade 84 22 62 42 Coromandel Renewals 54 2 53 43 Discharge Consent 0 6 (6) Improvements 88 8 80 44 Mercury Bay Renewals 75 99 (24) Renewals Whitianga 74 14 60 45 Cooks Beach Improvements 21 0 21 Whitianga Improvements 145 119 26 Matarangi Improvements 603 101 502 46 Tairua Renewals 55 15 39 Discharge Consent 30 8 22 Outfall Upgrades 69 0 69 47 Improvements 97 82 15 Pauanui Renewals 76 22 53 48 Discharge Consent 30 18 12

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 87 2011 Budget Actual Variance CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS Notes $000’s $000’s $000’s

Improvements 200 5 195 49 Whangamata Renewals - Onemana 27 14 13 Onemana Discharge Consent 0 7 (7) Renewals - Whangamata 69 68 1 Whangamata Discharge Consent 80 8 72 Whangamata Improvements 304 5 299 50 Solid Waste Transfer Station Renewals 89 76 13 Transfer Station Miscellaneous Improvements 64 64 1 Community Litter Bins Replacements 22 22 0 Compactor Replacements 81 79 3 Transfer Station Transporter Bins 36 34 2 New Moloks 40 7 33 Total Safeguarding the Environment Capital Works Projects 19,352 7,881 11,481

Percentage Capital Works Projects completed 100% 41%

Notes 1 Thames Valley - New Supply Short term resource consents were applied for and obtained after an extensive application and hearing process was completed. Work is ongoing regarding long term options for water supply in the area. 2 Matatoki - New Supply Short term resource consents were applied for and obtained after an extensive application and hearing process was completed. Work is ongoing regarding long term options for water supply in the area. 3 Thames Urban - Renewals This budget is reactive in nature and there was limited scope for work during this fi nancial year. 4 Thames Urban - Reticulation No major works were completed on the larger stormwater catchments within Thames to necessitate upgrading of sewer and water supply networks at the same time. 5 Thames Urban - Treatment The aim of this project is to identify and undertake works related to the water treatment plant to ensure Upgrade that water grading requirements are met, as well as best practice for water treatment processing. This will ensure that levels of service standards are maintained. Implementation of this project has been delayed due to initial design issues. However, since the design has now been fi nalised an overall cost saving maybe realised due to a number of effi ciencies being captured within the design itself. Work started in June 2011. Work is expected to continue during the 2011/12 fi nancial year and is expected to be completed by September 2011. 6 Thames Urban - System Works deferred in line with water drinking standards compliance being pushed out to later fi nancial Improvements years for all water schemes. 7 Coromandel - Renewals Critical unplanned replacement of the water treatment plant switchboard and control panel was required due to intermittent failure and inability to comply with drinking water standards. 8 Coromandel - System Works were deferred due to requirement for fi nancial restraint. The budget was decreased to zero at Improvements the December budget revisions. 9 Coromandel - Pump Station Work did not start due to the focus on the critical replacement of the water treatment plant panel. The Upgrade budget for this project was removed and provided for critical replacement work. 10 Hahei - Water Meters Work deferred until the 2013/2014 fi nancial year. 11 Tairua - Consent Short term consents were lodged with the regional council during the fi rst quarter. Detailed planning and site investigations commenced with further work ongoing. Work is expected to be complete in the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 12 Tairua - System Work was deferred on this project due to slower than anticipated progress on the consent project. Improvements 13 Tairua - Treatment Plant Planning and design works were undertaken, but unsuitable ground conditions were encountered Upgrade during detailed investigations. A decision was taken to put the project on hold to enable further work to be undertaken on the available options.

88 SECTION THREE | Our Activities Notes 14 Pauanui - Consent Short term consents were lodged with the regional council during the fi rst quarter. Detailed planning and site investigations commenced with further work ongoing. Work is expected to be complete in the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 15 Pauanui - Oturu Intake Work was deferred on this project due to slower than anticipated progress related to the consent Upgrade project. The budget was reduced to zero during the December revisions. 16 Whangamata - Wentworth The aim of this project is to continue with the development of the Wentworth Valley bore fi eld, with the Valley Improvements drilling of additional bores and the construction of related pipework. The majority of the work is now complete. Power supply is to be established during the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 17 Thames - Infl ow and Work proceeded well throughout the year with identifi ed and prioritised works being completed on time Infi ltration and under budget. 18 Thames - Renewals Renewals for the scheme were done on a reactive basis. Unforeseen asset replacement work was completed during the fi nancial year. This project also included reactive work on the Thames Pump Station Upgrade. 19 Thames - Reticulation No major works were completed on the larger stormwater catchments within Thames to necessitate Upgrade upgrading of sewer and water supply networks at the same time. 20 Thames - Treatment Plant Work at the Thames Wastewater Treatment Plant is being undertaken in line with new Waikato Regional Upgrade Council Resource Consent conditions. The work involves the installation of a rock fi lter and UV fi lter to the pond outlet. Work was scheduled to commence in the 3rd and 4th quarter of the fi nancial year, but the entrance way was found to be completely unstable for trucks. As such, work was required to stabilise this entranceway so that rock could be carted to the site as required. 21 Thames - Pump Station The majority of work in relation to this pumpstation replacement work was completed under the Upgrade renewals budget. 22 Coromandel - Infl ow Work proceeded well throughout the year with identifi ed and prioritised works being completed on time Infi ltration and under budget. 23 Matarangi - Treatment The purpose of this project is to improve the Wastewater Treatment Plant to comply with resource Upgrade consent requirements. The work on this project is dependant on Waikato Regional Council granting a renewal of the disposal consent. Work is ongoing regarding the resource consent, so this project was deferred at the December revisions until the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 24 Whitianga - Biosolid The purpose of the project was to plan and provide infrastructure to process treated wastewater plant Infrastructure sludge to a high grade compost. The reason for the large variance within this project was due to Council being unable to obtain consent for the Tairua RTS composter. The Tairua RTS composter was to precede the Whitianga Composting Plant installation. This resulted in a signifi cant change in direction on the overall biosolid project which was reported to Council in June 2011. The new direction of the overall project will see the Tairua RTS Composter relocated and installed at the Whitianga Wastewater Treatment Plant. This work will start in the 2011/12 fi nancial year commencing with consent applications in August 2011. 25 Whitianga - Consent The consent has been granted. The consent application process included more than anticipated pre- Renewals consultation work in order to avoid costly hearing processes. This process included a considerable amount of preliminary conceptual design work in order to avoid future hearings in court. 26 Whitianga - Disposal The purpose of this project was to design and construct a Disposal System for the Whitianga Upgrade Wastewater Treatment Plant. Implementation of this project has been delayed pending Council obtaining consent from Waikato Regional Council to proceed with physical works based on the designs submitted. Council had the consent approved in February 2011, and physical works have only recently started. Work is expected to continue through 2011/12 fi nancial year. 27 Whitianga - Infl ow & Work proceeded well throughout the year with identifi ed and prioritised works being completed on time Infi ltration and under budget. 28 Whitianga - Pump Station Works deferred due to programming issues. Scope of work to be confi rmed the 2011/12 fi nancial year. Upgrade 29 Whitianga - Renewals Critical replacement of assets in the Cobham Lane waste water pumpstation were required and is ongoing. This expenditure was unexpected and required for scheme functionality. 30 Hahei - Infl ow Infi ltration Work proceeded well throughout the year with identifi ed and prioritised works being completed on time and under budget. 31 Tairua/Pauanui - Paku Hill Council only purchased three pumps for grinder pumpstations. There was no requirement to replace Grinder Pumpstation a failed pumpstation in this fi nancial year. 32 Tairua/Pauanui - Pauanui Works were planned around the effl uent disposal system which were due to start earlier in the fi nancial Pump Station Upgrade year. Work was delayed due to programming and weather issues. As such, physical work did not start until March 2011. It is expected to continue through the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 33 Tairua/Pauanui - Treatment & The blower investigation and business case was developed in 2010/11 and will be presented to Council Disposal Imp in August 2011. If approved, implementation will occur in the 2011/12 year.

Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010/2011 Annual Report 89 Notes 34 Tairua/Pauanui - Effl uent Work was delayed from the previous fi nancial year. The Annual Plan budget was not refl ective of the Disposal value of work outstanding. Work is still required on the integration of the control and monitoring system. The irrigation system is an automated process. 35 Tairua/Pauanui - Tairua Pump Works were planned around the effl uent disposal system which were due to start earlier in the fi nancial Station Upgrade year. Work was delayed due to programming and weather issues. As such, physical work did not start until March 2011. It is expected to continue through the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 36 Whangamata - Treatment Delays in the project were due to procurements issues. The tender process was cancelled on two Plant Upgrade occasions due to the risk profi le to the contractor. Works have now been procured on a multiple-minor package basis. Final implementation is to start towards the end of August 2011. 37 Whangamata - Effl uent The purpose of this project is to plan and implement the upgrade of the effl uent disposal system in line Disposal with consent requirements. The original budget in the Annual Plan included for consent requirements relating to additional storage and denitrifi cation beds. The requirement was reversed with the section 127 application to alter the original waste water discharge consent conditions. This work may still be required as per the section 127 process after a period of monitoring has been concluded. As such, this expenditure has been ear-marked in the 2011/12 Annual Plan. 38 Whangamata - Renewals Critical panel replacements were required to ensure continued scheme functionality. 39 Thames- Renewals This budget is reactive in nature and there was limited scope for work and/or demand for this budget during this fi nancial year. 40 Thames - Improvements Works were held up with wet weather and a number of underground services confl icts. Works are ongoing with completion scheduled for the fi rst quarter of the 2011/12 year. 41 Thames Coast - Renewals This budget is reactive in nature and there was limited scope for work and/or demand for this budget during this fi nancial year. 42 Thames - Kopu Drainage Essential works were completed under budget upgrading the open drainage system in Kopu. Upgrade 43 Coromandel - Renewals Investigations commenced on solutions to the Coromandel Sports Domain and fi re station fl ood mitigation. Investigation works not yet complete and will continue in the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 44 Coromandel - Improvements Consent application process commenced per WRC instruction. Pre-consultation work was completed and consent lodged. WRC then confi rmed no consent was required. Physical works then commenced in June 2011 and will be completed during the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 45 Mercury Bay - Renewals Minor works were completed to defer larger and more expensive packages of work, thereby resulting Whitianga in a saving in this fi nancial year. These minor works will be monitored and augmented with larger packages of work if and when required. 46 Mercury Bay - Matarangi The purpose of this project is to upgrade and improve the stormwater network based on level of service Improvements requirements and stormwater investigation studies. Delays in implementing this project have been experienced due to fi nal design and weather issues. Work commenced in May 2011 and will continue through into the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 47 Tairua - Outfall Upgrades Project deferred and funds carried over to 2011/12. This project proceeding is reliant on external third parties and timing issues. 48 Pauanui - Renewals Budget reactive in nature. Limited renewals work required during this fi nancial year. 49 Pauanui - Improvements Investigation work still progressing with regards to the Holland Close stream fl ood mitigation work. Further options are currently being developed in accordance with the investigation work and stormwater level of service. Work expected to start in the 2011/12 fi nancial year. 50 Whangamata - Improvements Works were deferred due to the requirement for fi nancial restraint. The budget was reduced at the December budget revisions. 51 Reservoir Replacement Delays in work are due to suitable property site issues and property ownership issues. Lead-in works have now started with surveying, negotiations with property owners, and further options being explored for the situating of the reservoir at Waiotahi as well as Irishtown.

90 SECTION THREE | Our Activities