Hauraki District Council | Council Services during COVID-19

For all information and updates on COVID-19 in New Zealand, please go to www.covid19.govt.nz

All online services will be available and managed by staff working remotely to the best of our ability. Here is a list of services and facilities that have been affected by the Level 4 COVID-19 Alert status. Some processes are still being worked through. Updates will be listed here as they become available.Rubbish and Recycling

• Rubbish and Recycling
• Community Services
• Regulatory Services
• Local Government Official Information Requests
• Environmental Health
• Council Service Centres
• Ngatea Main Street Upgrade
• Freedom Camping
• Rates
• Services Requests

Also view Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Rubbish and Recycling Below is a list of Rubbish and Recycling Services and their current status due to COVID-19.

Rubbish and recycling

• Will be collected fortnightly on your normal recycling week.

• During these extraordinary circumstances, everything (recycling included) will be sent to landfill to protect the health and wellbeing of our communities, staff and contractors

• Please put your rubbish and recycling (except glass) in an official yellow council bag inside your big black and yellow wheelie bin, so staff do not have to touch it. 

• If your bag is not in your wheelie bin, it won’t be picked up.

• Glass recycling bins will not be emptied due to the risk of spreading the virus

• If anyone in your household is sick, please double bag your rubbish and recycling, but only the outside bag needs to be an official bag

Paeroa Refuse Transfer Station

• Closed.

Waihi Refuse Transfer Station

• Closed.

Rubbish and recycling for our rural communities

• Our refuse transfer stations are now closed but they will still offer some services for our rural communities and those without kerbside collections.

• A bin for bagged rubbish and recycling (except glass) will be available outside each transfer station from 12.30 to 4pm on the kerbside collection day for that town.

• In Paeroa that’s fortnightly starting Thursday 2 April. In Waihi that’s fortnightly starting Thursday 9 April.

• If anyone in your household is sick, please double bag your rubbish and recycling, but only the outside bag needs to be an official bag.

• A bottle bank for glass disposal will be permanently available outside our refuse transfer stations in Waihi and Paeroa. Please avoid regular trips for small loads and stockpile your glass as much as possible, ideally until recycling resumes.

Community Services Below is a list of Community Services and their current status due to COVID-19.

Playground equipment in parks

• We have been advised that COVID-19 can live on metal for a number of days, so playground equipment is out of bounds.

Council managed sports fields

• Closed during Level 4 Alert.

The Hauraki Rail Trail

• Closed during Level 4 Alert.

Council Reserves

• reserves can still be used by people, on their own or with the family members that they are self-isolating with, for fresh air and exercise. Please observe the physical distancing of at least two meters with other members of the public.

Community swimming pools

• Closed.

Council Halls

• Closed. All regular bookings and events are cancelled.

Community Halls

• Closed. All events are cancelled.

Libraries

• Ngatea, Paeroa and Waihi Libraries are closed. Our Libraries online facility is available offering a huge selection of e-books and other reading/audio opportunities. Visit our libraries

Mowing of berms

• All non-essential services are cancelled.

Refuse Collection and Refuse Transfer stations

• These services are still being assessed.

Public toilets

• we have a reduced number of public toilets open, head here for updated list.

Regulatory Services Below is a list of Regulatory Services and their current status due to COVID-19.

Building Applications

• Applications received on line will be processed as usual.

Building Inspections

• All inspections are cancelled during Level 4 Alert stage.

Pre-lodgement meetings

• All face to face building, planning and resource consent pre-lodgement meetings are cancelled. Meetings can still be conducted by phone where possible.

Resource consent applications

• Procedure still to be confirmed.

Dog Control activities

• Are suspended except for emergencies such as a dog attack.

Swimming pool inspections

• Non essential services are cancelled during Level 4 Alert.

Issuing of Alcohol licences and Duty Manager certificates

• These processes will continue as usual with all correspondence by email to info@hauraki-dc.govt.nz Please use internet banking for payment and advise us of that at the time of submitting your application.

Land Information Memorandum

• All LIM’s are a non essential service.

• Urgent LIM’s will not be processed during Level 4 Alert.

• Standard LIMs will only be available if the information is already digitised for staff to access.

• If the information is unavailable for staff, then the standard LIM application will be processed once we are back to normal.

• Email LIM application to info@hauraki-dc.govt.nz with payment advice. Payment can be made by internet banking. Our details are on the application form. Only email links to the report will be provided. No hard copies.

Local Government Official Information Requests Below is a list of Local Government Official Information Requests and their current status due to COVID-19.

The Ombudsman has confirmed that the only official information requests that can be actioned during Level 4 Alert are those required for essential services and those that can be answered if staff have access to information that is already electronic.

Viewing Property Files

• Non essential viewing of property files will not be actioned. Should there be an urgent incident and there is a requirement to view information on a property files, phone the customer service team.

Requests for property files supplied on email or USB

• These are a non essential service. Therefore only those files already digitised can be supplied during Alert Level 4.

• All other requests will have to wait until we are back to normal and staff can access all the required physical files.

Environmental Health Below is a list of Environmental Health Services and their current status due to COVID-19.

Food grading inspections

• No inspections will take place during Level 4 Alert.

Council Service Centres Below is a list of Council Service Centres and their current status due to COVID-19.

Waihi and Ngatea Service Centres

• Closed from Wednesday 25 March. Customer service staff are available to answer phone calls and process emails and service requests from home.

Paeroa Service Centre

• Open for emergencies only – such as having no water and no way of contacting us by phone or email.

Justice of the Peace appointments in our Ngatea and Waihi offices

• These service centres are closed so no availability for Justice of the Peace sessions. For emergency JP assistance, go to http://justiceofthepeace.org.nz/ to find one near you.

Waihi Ward drop in sessions

• These are cancelled during Level 4 Alert. You are encouraged to contact your Ward Councillors directly if you have an issue to discuss. Councillor contact details are available on our website. View councillor details

Ngatea Main Street Upgrade Below is a list of Ngatea Main Street Upgrade and their current status due to COVID-19.

Ngatea main street upgrade

• Following the Government’s announcement that the country is moving to Covid-19 Alert Level 4 from 11:59pm Wednesday 25 March, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is stopping work on all non-essential state highway activities. This includes the upgrade of SH2 through Ngatea.  Prior to the shutdown Higgins will be making the site as safe as possible, with the following steps put in place for the duration of the lockdown.

SH2 Ngatea has been reopened to traffic in both directions

• The speed limit will be 30km/h.

• There are centre line cones and edge line cones through a significant portion of the site.

• There are cones on either side of the flat median in Stage 3 to demarcate the different level between the eastbound lane and westbound lane.

• All accesses to businesses and private driveways are open.

• The car parks and shoulders next to the east bound lane from Pipiroa Road to the Domain entrance have been levelled to allow run-off into the kerb and channel to avoid water ponding on the road carriageway.

• The site will be monitored daily by Higgins staff.

• A mobile VMS Board will be installed at each end of the site advising of the uneven surface.

Freedom Camping Below is a list of Freedom Camping and their current status due to COVID-19.

Freedom camping is welcome in the Hauraki District

• However, these are unprecedented times and it’s important we all follow the requirements of the COVID-19 Level 4 lockdown, as imposed by the New Zealand Government. Our number priority is the well being of our communities and this includes all visitors to our District.

• The lockdown period is for four weeks in one location from 11.59pm Wednesday 25 March. This means that if you were in a self-contained camper at one of our freedom camping sites at that time, you must stay there for the duration of the lockdown.

How to keep safe in your bubble

• Ensure that you practice social distancing by parking your vehicles at least four metres apart and staying at least two metres away from people outside your "bubble".

• Practice high levels of personal hygiene as recommended by the official government website for information on COVID-19 in New Zealand www.covid19.govt.nz.

• Our public toilet facilities are hygienically cleaned three times a day. Please wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water and dry thoroughly.

• Be patient, respectful and polite with our residents of in the area and we will all get through this together. 

Enjoy your extended stay and thanks for coming to see us

Rates Below is a list of Rates Services and their current status due to COVID-19.

Paying rates

• There are four automated ways you can pay your rates during the Level 4 Alert – Automatic Payments (you set those up with your bank), EasyPay Direct Debit – (we set that up for you), Credit Card Payments through our website or Internet Banking. For more details see our payment methods online or give us a call.
  

Rates Rebate appointments

• There will be no rates rebate appointments conducted during the Level 4 Alert. Other means of holding a rates rebate interview are being investigated.

Water meter readings

• Service is still being assessed

Services Requests Below is a list of Service Requests and their current status due to COVID-19.

• For all council related problems that require attention please notify us by doing a service request online or notify us on Facebook, by email info@hauraki-dc.govt.nz or by phone 0800 734 834 (in district) or 07 862 8609.