News Briefs from the November Council Meeting

Two new citizens make affirmation.

New Zealand gained two new citizens in Thames last week.
Cambodian Yekhoung Touch and Fijian Sandika Hall affirmed their allegiance to the Queen at a citizenship ceremony held as part of the November Thames-Coromandel District Council meeting.
As is the custom at such ceremonies each received a native tree donated by the Thames Coastal Protection Society.

New parking laws for Mercury Bay
Wide ranging changes have been made to the parking bylaws covering Whitianga, Ferry Landing, Cooks Beach, Hahei and Hot Water Beach to address issues that have arisen since parking restrictions were introduced in October 2007.

The Thames-Coromandel District Council November meeting was told that the original restrictions put in place in 2007 had been effective in making parking more available in the central business district (CBD).
However, those who had previously parked in the CBD had overflowed into side streets, blocking access to other businesses.

Similar problems were occurring in other parts of Mercury Bay and a number of other anomalies relating to disabled parking; loading zones; taxi stands and boat trailer parking have also been addressed by the changes.

A full list of the proposed changes can be found on the TCDC website www.tcdc.govt.nz
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New flood rules adopted
New flood rules have been proposed by the Thames-Coromandel District Council for formal notification in the New Year.

November’s Council meeting adopted Proposed Plan Change 3 and Variation 24 Natural Hazards: Flooding after months of public consultation and the public will have a further opportunity to make submissions on the proposed plan change when it is formally notified.

Aimed at reducing risk to life and property in identified flood zones, the new rules define where buildings can or can’t be built and what type of resource consents will be required. While more restrictive in areas where there is a medium or high potential flood risk, the new rules make it easier for property owners to carry out some building activity in low flood risk areas.


Cr Minogue gets Service Delivery Committee seat
Councillor Dal Minogue has been appointed to the Thames-Coromandel District Council’s Service Delivery Committee.

He joins Cr Noel Hewlett (chair), Cr Bill Barclay and Deputy Mayor Adrian Catran on the committee.
Cr Minogue replaces Cr Dirk Sieling, who resigned from the committee in October because of Council workload issues.

Council approves walking and cycling strategy
The Coromandel Peninsula is now covered by an official walking and cycling strategy, but don’t expect any major changes in medium term as a result.

Adopting a walking and cycling strategy is a necessary step for the Thames-Coromandel District Council to gain access to subsidies from the New Zealand Transport Agency in the same way as it does for roads.
The strategy identifies more than $15 million worth of footpath work and $4.5 million for cycleway improvements, of which the local share would be $5.5 million for footpaths and $1 million for cycleways.
However, the November Thames-Coromandel District Council meeting was told that only minimal amounts had been included in the draft 2009-2019 Ten Year Plan that was currently being developed for consultation next year.

Coming to a location near you…
Thames-Coromandel District Council has reaffirmed its commitment to hold submission hearings on its draft 2009-2019 Ten Year Plan at a number of locations around the District.

It had been proposed that holding all hearings in Thames would be more cost-effective, but staff told November’s Council meeting that any cost savings would be minimal and to require all submitters to travel to Thames could be considered unreasonable by those forced to travel from other towns.

Holding hearings in different communities was beneficial for two reasons – it enabled more people to directly engage in the hearing process and it also gave councillors a chance to meet and be seen by residents and ratepayers on their home ground.

The suggestion was raised that the Council could consider the Environment Waikato model of forming sub-committees to hear submissions in multiple locations.

The council resolved that hearings would be held in Thames, Coromandel, Whitianga and Whangamata.





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Lukewarm support for Waiheke proposal
Few Thames-Coromandel District councillors support a proposal to amalgamate some of the Hauraki Gulf islands into the District.
The Council has received a valid petition from a Waiheke Community Board member, acting in a private capacity, to consider creating a Hauraki Gulf islands ward as part of the Thames-Coromandel District.
While the majority of councillors at the November Council meeting were opposed to the idea and felt that a clear message should be sent to the Local Government Commission, at least one councillor said the proposal should be given a fair hearing.
The Council resolved to refer the matter to the Local Government Commission for consideration as the Auckland Regional Council and Environment Waikato have already done so. Auckland City Council had yet to meet and make a decision on the proposal.
Tairua/Pauanui liquor ban dates synchronised
Thames-Coromandel District Council has moved to synchronise the dates that the summer liquor ban applies in Tairua and Pauanui.
Councillors agreed at the November council meeting to change its bylaw to apply a liquor ban in both Tairua and Pauanui from 4 pm on December 23 to 4 pm on January 15 (expect when January 15 is a Friday the ban extends to 4 pm on the following Monday).
They also agreed to add Auckland Anniversary Weekend from 4 pm Friday to 4 pm Monday every year for Pauanui to bring it in line with Tairua.
Mercury Bay multi-sports complex scoping plans
Mercury Bay’s immediate needs for sports grounds will be a key factor driving the preparation of the latest business case for the much-discussed multi-sports complex, following the November Thames-Coromandel District Council meeting.
The majority of councillors agree that local needs should be the immediate prime focus, with any District-wide facilities to be considered later as the need arose.
They resolved that the scope of the project was to create a multi-sports complete with core facilities on one site to meet the needs of the Mercury Bay Ward for the near future and to eventually provide facilities for the District as a whole for major sporting events.
The meeting was told that there was an urgent need for basic sports grounds in Whitianga and something had to be done to meet those needs before other parties developed their own ad hoc solutions.
Some councillors felt that the current economic climate would slow growth and push back the need for District-wide facilities beyond the current 10 year planning cycle.
Cr John Morrissey said Coromandel ratepayers would never use sports facilities in Whitianga and they would not agree to pay anything towards their development.
The Council approved the terms of reference for a new business case for the multi-sports complex and approved in principle a proposed action plan.
Note: Provision has been made for basic sports ground development on the Moewai Road site in the proposed draft 2009-2019 Ten Year Plan that will be put out for public consultation early next year. However, the new business case will look at all options.
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Reserve and beach concessions get Council signoff
Thames-Coromandel District Council has signed off on a number of beach and reserve concessions for commercial operators based on or crossing Council land.
Council issues concessions in order to control the number of operators and to ensure that they have appropriate health and safety plans in place.
In this respect, some of the new concessions approved by the Council are subject to health and safety plans being provided by the applicants.
The only concession declined in the latest round was one at the Hahei Beach Recreational Reserve where the maximum number of licences had already been granted.