Update on formal complaints, application for judicial review etc:
Tena koutou, emails recently received from the Far North District Council provide further information, but not much. Still incredibly vague and inadequate:
Tena koe Detlaf,
Thank you for this information.
1. Has Mr Batchelor provided any of the information requested in the letters to him from the FNDC - there have been several letters, and several deadlines, the last being the 23rd December, and the information requests differed in each of the letters.
2. Has Mr Batchelor provided ALL the information requested in the letters from FNDC. On 6 January 2016 FNDC confirmed that NONE of this information had been provided, we've received none of it, so assume it hasn't - where is it?
3. What enforcement action has been taken against Mr Batchelor regarding his ongoing and contemptuous refusals to provide any of this information? What action has Far North DIstrict Council taken with regard to prosecuting Julian Batchelor for this ongoing contempt? I insist that a prosecution is initiated without further delay!
3. I requested all information regarding monitoring and enforcement, all correspondence with Mr Batchelor - none of this has been provided - have there been any enforcement penalties applied apart from the abatement notice whatsoever? Would you please provide a schedule of all payments received by FNDC from Julian Batchelor regarding this property.
4. The road was repaired in 2015. This was widely witnessed. Clearly staff need to look harder for this information, as they do regarding the insurance policy. I understand your email as indicating that you intend to provide further information regarding the 2013 road repairs, please reiterate with staff involved in locating this information that these requests are urgent, and overdue and we require all the information about the repairs in 2013 and 2015 please.
5. Due to previous communications destroying any illusion of good faith bargaining on behalf of some of Council's staff and Mr Batchelor, would you please obtain a full copy of the insurance policy from him - not just the policy number and the name of the provider and reiterate that this request is URGENT.
6. There are a number of other outstanding issues, but in the interests of expediency regarding the priorities outlined above I will follow those up with you shortly.
Thank you for your attention to these matters.
Regards
Katherine Raue
"I am advised by Sam in Monitoring that the situation is ongoing and no conclusions have been drawn so far. He mentions that NRC have been involved in the discussion concerning erosion and sediment issues sorted out at no. 147. We can confirm that 2 recent meetings with officers in Kerikeri on building matters and on planning consents were productive and it is expected that Mr Batchelor will co-operate with the requirements of Council.
On the question of possible sea pollution, since this information will take more time, Council is exercising its right to extend the time for complying with this request. This extension also applies to the production of Mr Batchelor’s insurance policy if he manages to find it." This is an insult to ratepayers, to taxpayers, and to tangata whenua in particular. Ngapuhi didn't sign up to this and we expect the Crown to take action against Julian Batchelor, who is not tangata whenua and has not consulted at all with tangata whenua, not fob us off with excuses like this. The erosion and sediment issues are not "sorted out" and that would appear to be an outright lie or strong evidence of a delusional disorder. There is certainly no evidence whatsoever to suggest that the issues have been "sorted out".
18 February 2016
Tena koe Katherine,
Further to my last message concerning 4 outstanding items of information, Mr Batchelor has recently met with Council staff and agreed to try and find the Public Liability insurance policy for you. I have some details of the road repair in 2013 and attach a plan showing the position of road repair, a photo showing the damaged road prior to repair, and retaining wall then constructed on the seaward side of the road.
I have reminded monitoring staff that I still need to hear from them about the possible marine pollution.
Regards,
Detlef Davies
Local Government Lawyer
Far North District Council
________________________-
18 February 2016Tena koe Detlaf,
Thank you for this information.
1. Has Mr Batchelor provided any of the information requested in the letters to him from the FNDC - there have been several letters, and several deadlines, the last being the 23rd December, and the information requests differed in each of the letters.
2. Has Mr Batchelor provided ALL the information requested in the letters from FNDC. On 6 January 2016 FNDC confirmed that NONE of this information had been provided, we've received none of it, so assume it hasn't - where is it?
3. What enforcement action has been taken against Mr Batchelor regarding his ongoing and contemptuous refusals to provide any of this information? What action has Far North DIstrict Council taken with regard to prosecuting Julian Batchelor for this ongoing contempt? I insist that a prosecution is initiated without further delay!
3. I requested all information regarding monitoring and enforcement, all correspondence with Mr Batchelor - none of this has been provided - have there been any enforcement penalties applied apart from the abatement notice whatsoever? Would you please provide a schedule of all payments received by FNDC from Julian Batchelor regarding this property.
4. The road was repaired in 2015. This was widely witnessed. Clearly staff need to look harder for this information, as they do regarding the insurance policy. I understand your email as indicating that you intend to provide further information regarding the 2013 road repairs, please reiterate with staff involved in locating this information that these requests are urgent, and overdue and we require all the information about the repairs in 2013 and 2015 please.
5. Due to previous communications destroying any illusion of good faith bargaining on behalf of some of Council's staff and Mr Batchelor, would you please obtain a full copy of the insurance policy from him - not just the policy number and the name of the provider and reiterate that this request is URGENT.
6. There are a number of other outstanding issues, but in the interests of expediency regarding the priorities outlined above I will follow those up with you shortly.
Thank you for your attention to these matters.
Regards
Katherine Raue
______________________________________________________
29 February 2016
Tena koe Katherine,
Further to earlier correspondence, we understand that Julian Batchelor will contact us as soon as he has located the Public Liability Insurance Policy.
Information so far received about the road work carried out in 2015 consists of a long list of jobs done in Rawhiti Road between 2012 and 2015. I have separated the items for 2015 and attach the list on which the items in red are those which were within 200 metres of no. 147. I expect that the event in which you are most interested is the one on 23rd November 2015 relating to landslip but please confirm this. Please also advise specifically what detail you would like to know about this event and I will refer back to Roading.
As regards the possible effect of materials being washed into the sea, I am advised by Sam in Monitoring that the situation is ongoing and no conclusions have been drawn so far. He mentions that NRC have been involved in the discussion concerning erosion and sediment issues sorted out at no. 147. We can confirm that 2 recent meetings with officers in Kerikeri on building matters and on planning consents were productive and it is expected that Mr Batchelor will co-operate with the requirements of Council.
On the question of possible sea pollution, since this information will take more time, Council is exercising its right to extend the time for complying with this request for a further 14 days from the current expiry date which is tomorrow, until Tuesday 15th March 2016. This extension is made under section 14 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. You have the right to complain to the Ombudsman about this extension but the reasons for its request is that information on this particular question is not yet available. This extension also applies to the production of Mr Batchelor’s insurance policy if he manages to find it.
Finally please note that I will be away from tomorrow for 3 weeks so the file will be passed back to Alice Astell to handle during that period; please write to her on alice.astell@fndc.govt.nz.
Regards,
Detlef Davies
Local Government Lawyer
Far North District Council
"I am advised by Sam in Monitoring that the situation is ongoing and no conclusions have been drawn so far. He mentions that NRC have been involved in the discussion concerning erosion and sediment issues sorted out at no. 147. We can confirm that 2 recent meetings with officers in Kerikeri on building matters and on planning consents were productive and it is expected that Mr Batchelor will co-operate with the requirements of Council.
On the question of possible sea pollution, since this information will take more time, Council is exercising its right to extend the time for complying with this request. This extension also applies to the production of Mr Batchelor’s insurance policy if he manages to find it." This is an insult to ratepayers, to taxpayers, and to tangata whenua in particular. Ngapuhi didn't sign up to this and we expect the Crown to take action against Julian Batchelor, who is not tangata whenua and has not consulted at all with tangata whenua, not fob us off with excuses like this. The erosion and sediment issues are not "sorted out" and that would appear to be an outright lie or strong evidence of a delusional disorder. There is certainly no evidence whatsoever to suggest that the issues have been "sorted out".
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