Most pitiful excuses ever - Far North District Council Legal Officer gobbles up ratepayers money to come up with this?

To FNDC, Ombudsmen, Ministers of the crown, etc, 1 Feb 2016:

The document provided to me seven days ago, the Application for Licence to occupy a portion of the road dated 24/08/2013, refers to "red lines" and "yellow areas" yet you have supplied a black and white copy - please forward a colour copy of this document without delay - and all information regarding the public liability insurance in the names of the Licensee and Licensor which is referred to in the top portion of the application and also in paragraph nine on the first page - seven days ago I specifically requested that you provide - without further delay - full details of this Insurance Policy including the Policy number and the name of the insurer as required in this document and all details of the Policy including the date it was taken out, the terms and conditions of the Policy and any expiry date if applicable, and all other information about this application, including all measurements taken by FNDC of the road and the proximity to the boundary, all photographs of the survey pegs and evidence of the boundaries, etc, and any infringements of the boundaries in the work actually done.

I have also requested all information from Far North District Council regarding the recent repairs to the road which were carried out last year, and all information regarding previous applications for consents relating to this property including the application for the original retaining wall and the application to put the house on the land, all evidence relating to plumbing, drainage, all information FNDC hold regarding 147 Rawhiti Road.  The information request is an ongoing one and requires the provision of all information acquired or created as and when it is acquired or created, including all updates on the situation and what FNDC is doing regarding the recent pollution of the sea.  There has been no substantial acknowledgement or response regarding these complaints and this is unacceptable.  This is a formal complaint regarding your decision to withhold information and the actions and decisions of the Far North District Council in regard to applications, consents, complaints, including the refusal to act in regard to concerns raised months ago by the Hapu Resource Consent Unit Officer, refusal to respond to requests for information and undue delay in providing the information requested, etc, at 147 Rawhiti Road.

Please provide this information without further delay.
Katherine RaueTe Komiti o te Kaitiaki o Opourua

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Behold, the response, received this afternoon:

Tena koe Ms Raue,
Thank you for your email, the contents of which I note.

Regarding your query concerning the copy of the Licence application that I sent to you on 26 January. I received your email on Thursday 28 January and with the statutory holiday (Northland Anniversary Day on Monday 1 February) this is the first opportunity I have had to respond to you. The copy of the plan I emailed to you was in fact a colour copy but unfortunately of pretty poor quality in that the colour-marked area was very faint. I have therefore attached another copy for your information (having re-highlighted the coloured areas referred to) and I hope this makes things clearer for you.

Regarding your request for a copy of the public liability insurance policy. I have consulted property legalisation/roading staff together with IT department staff, and I am advised that the link to this document on Council’s ‘Pathways’ system is irretrievably broken and cannot be accessed. Our IT department have exhausted all reasonable options (including a search of the entire ‘S’ drive) and I am therefore obliged to decline your request under section 17 (e) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the LGOIMA) as the information requested despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be found. 

 You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602. Please find attached a copy of a letter regarding the policy and Council’s approval of the licence as a result and I am advised that there is no further available information concerning this application.

Regarding your request for information regarding the recent repairs to the road which were carried out last year. I have discussed your request with key roading staff. To enable them to investigate this matter and ensure an accurate response is given to your query, please can you clarify the section of road you are referring to and the months/period last year, if known. Your request will then be actioned. Please note that if it takes a substantial amount of time for staff to research and collate this information, Council is entitled to make a reasonable charge of the supply of information under the LGOIMA. I shall notify you in advance of the estimated charge if there is one.

Regarding your request for “all information regarding previous applications for consents relating to this property including the application for the original retaining wall and the application to put the house on the land, all evidence relating to plumbing, drainage, all information FNDC hold regarding 147 Rawhiti Road”.  As I explained in my email to you of 19 January, you have now been provided with the information held on Council files. That information was supplied to you in good faith and free of charge.

I am seeking final confirmation as to whether there is any information regarding the original retaining wall at all and will revert as soon as I am in a position to do so. In relation to  “what FNDC is doing regarding the recent pollution of the sea”, I have referred your enquiry to our monitoring compliance team who will provide you with an update on this situation soon.

Regarding your reference to the ‘undue delay’, you have the right to complain about any perceived delay to the Ombudsman (on the details mentioned above & previously).

Finally, I note you indicate (when signing off) that you are writing on behalf of Te Komiti o te Kaitiaki o Opourua.  As you know, Council were informed by the Te Komiti in early January that you had “been removed from your role as spokesperson for for Te Komiti O Kaitiaki O Opourua [and] discharged from dealing with this Kaupapa/case any further". Please could you confirm the present position.
If you wish to discuss your official information request with us, please feel free to contact me.

Regards,

Alice Astell
Legal Services Officer
Far North District Council
 - cc [Person 1 and Person 2]
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Tena koe Alice,

I founded the komiiti and can not be removed at a meeting to which I was not even invited, or advised of despite repeated requests for the time and the place it was to be held, let alone given an opportunity to speak in my defence against allegations which are nothing but lies. 

I have the full support of my kaumatua.  Regardless of the divisive tactics of you and Darren Edwards or anyone else employ, I represent the komiti I founded, and the members of the hapu who support my actions.  Any members such as [Person 1] and [person 2] who wished to leave that komiti and form another are welcome to do so, they have been replaced.   I remain spokesperson for the komiti I founded and will continue in that role, with the mandate from my kaumatua, and other members of our hapu and whanau.  As for being "umbrellered under" any legal entity, that's fine, but I have every right (and in fact I have a duty) to form and run a komiti to address this kaupapa and I my kaumatuas have confirned that.

As you have shared my communication with others, I request that you provide me with all communication you have received from all these other people without further delay, as previously requested.  These people have no authority to "discharge me from this kaupapa".

Finally, I totally reject your excuses regarding my information request as to the existence of Julian Batchelor's five million dollar compulsory public liability insurance and insist that you provide this information without further obfuscation - Council has a mandatory legal obligation to maintain public records and your excuses are frankly not credible.  Please contact Julian Batchelor and ask him to provide the information forthwith and without delay, also please obtain the back up data, and please ensure this information is provided without further delay.  You simply need to contact Julian Batchelor and take action to ensure that he provides the information immediately - there is simply no credible excuse not to do so and Far North District Council has a fiduciary duty to do so.

Katherine Raue
Te Komiti o te Kaitiaki o Opourua 

So basically Julian Batchelor wants to permanently occupy all the land right up to the actual road as well as all the land in the near vicinity, whether he actually owns it or not - the cheek of this man is unbelievable.

As is the cheek of the Far North District Council Legal Excuses Officer.

I am now applying for judicial review of the decision to refuse to provide the information about the five million dollars worth of compulsory public liability insurance - this excuse provided by Alice in the wonderland that is the ratepayer funded Far North District Council is outrageous and completely unacceptable.
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Email sent today to manager of Barfoot & Thompson, Greenhithe:

Tena koe Mr Rose,

I spoke with your wife Michelle yesterday regarding the issue of Mr Julian Batchelor's advertised Christian charity which is included in his Barfoot profile (copy attached).  We are reviewing Mr Batchelor's compliance and consultation with hapu and tangata whenua following recent concerns regarding developments on a property which Mr Batchelor claims is owned by a Christian charity, and variously Mr Batchelor claims that the property is owned by a limited liability private company in his applications to local government.

We would appreciated it if you would please provide all information held by Barfoots or by your agent Julian Batchelor regarding any and all Christian charities, other 'charities' and limited liability companies, etc, that Mr Batchelor is involved in, including the trust deed, constitution, rules, stakeholders, etc, including Stop Promoting Homosexuality International.  Also please clarify the 'ownership' of the three blocks of land at Rawhiti occupied by Mr Batchelor, the claims of a Christian charity are clearly contradictory to Mr Batchelor's claims that the land is owned by a limited liability private company. 

In addition, Mr Batchelor was required to have mandatory $5,000,000 public liability insurance indemnifying both himself and the Far North District Council, and he was required to name the provider, the policy number, and other details - these details have not been provided.  Please provide this information without further delay - did Mr Batchelor have the required $5,000,000 insurance or not?, and if so, who with?, what is the policy number? and what are the terms?

Yours faithfully,

Katherine Raue,

Te Kaitiaki o Opourua
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 We await a response from Mr Graham Rose of Barfoot and Thompson, Mr Bachelor, and the Far North District Council Legal Excuses Officer as well as all Ministers of Local Government and the Ombudsmen.