Minutes of Hawke's Bay Regional Council meeting

1. Welcome/Karakia/Apologies/Notices

The Chair welcomed everyone and the meeting opened with a karakia.

RC1/25

Resolution

That the apologies for absence from Mike Paku and Thompson Hokianga be accepted.

Siers/van Beek

CARRIED

2. Conflict of interest declarations

There were no conflicts of interest declared.

3. Confirmation of Minutes of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council meeting held on 18 December 2024

RC2/25

Resolution

Minutes of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council meeting held on Wednesday, 18 December 2024, a copy having been circulated prior to the meeting, were taken as read and confirmed as a true and correct record.

Harding/Williams

CARRIED

4.	Public Forum
	There were no speakers.

Call for minor items not on the Agenda

Recommendations

That Hawke’s Bay Regional Council accepts the following minor items not on the agenda for discussion as item 10.

Topic	Raised by
Unintended consequences	Cr van Beek
Category 3	Cr van Beek

6.	Council officer delegations under the Resource Management Act
	Withdrawn

North Island Weather Events - Whirinaki flood mitigation

Chris Dolley introduced the item, which was taken as read, noting a correction in paragraph 5 which should read Transpower. Susie Young, Jess Bennett and Andrew Caseley provided additional detail. Discussions covered:

· Costs for the highway ($12M) were originally going to be paid by TREC (Transport Rebuild East Coast)

· Staff trying to manage the costs within the FOSAL agreement to limit financial risks to the Council

· Pan Pac will pay a significant amount toward the flood mitigation work through the rates they pay

· Tony Clifford, Pan Pac Managing Director, spoke on behalf of Pan Pac noting that a significant amount contributed including gifting land, staff expertise and time, and will contribute toward the materials for construction.

· In relation to the Cultural Impact Assessment, staff will provide more information on tangata whenua contributions.

· The application to Kānoa will be submitted by HBRC as the local authority but will be a ‘joint’ application with Pan Pac’s name on it.

· Proposing that a grant is requested, not a loan. The decision today is to lodge an application to keep progressing the project only, and depending on the outcome of the application to Kānoa may require future decisions of the Council.

· Costs incurred to date include consenting, concept designs, optioneering and community engagement.

· The change from the pre Cyclone Gabrielle 1 in 500 to post 1 in 500 level of service is driving some of the increased costs to enable building protection from a future Cyclone Gabrielle sized event.

RC3/25

Resolutions

That Hawke’s Bay Regional Council:

1. Receives and considers the North Island Weather Events - Whirinaki flood mitigation staff report.

2. Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant under the criteria contained in Council’s adopted Significance and Engagement Policy, and that Council can exercise its discretion and make decisions on this issue without conferring directly with the community or persons likely to have an interest in the decision.

3. Endorses an application being made to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Regional Infrastructure Fund for $15.9m shortfall required to progress the Whirinaki North Island Weather Events project.

4. Notes that a further update on the Whirinaki project will be provided once the outcome of the application to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Regional Infrastructure Fund is known.

Williams/Siers

CARRIED

Clifton to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy implementation

Chris Dolley and Simon Bendall introduced the item, which was taken as read. Discussions covered:

· Interim mitigations continue, e.g. Te Awanga and HDC working on revetment wall

· TAG has discussed continued shared funding ($300k per year) with partners and this proposal is based on that being retained.

RC4/25

Resolutions

That Hawke’s Bay Regional Council:

1. Receives and considers the Clifton to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy implementation staff report.

3. Reconfirms Council’s commitment to the Memorandum of Transition signed with the Napier City Council and Hastings District Council in May 2022, which sets out that subject to the adoption of an amendment to its Long Term Plan in accordance with s.16 of the Local Government Act 2022, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council will lead implementation of the Clifton to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy.

4. Confirms that the Clifton to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy Joint Committee has developed and presented a draft Strategy, which was received by Council on 28 August 2024.

5. Confirms that having considered the Joint Committee’s draft Strategy, and taking into account the costs of implementation, the ability of households and communities to meet these costs alongside other financial pressures, and Council’s current focus and priority on Cyclone Gabrielle recovery and flood resilience, that the Strategy in its current form is not progressed to implementation at this time.

6. Instructs the Technical Advisory Group for the Strategy to undertake community engagement through 2025 to test:

6.1. the outcomes developed by Strategy

6.2. implementation costs

6.3. funding methods

6.4. preferred options.

7. Instructs the Technical Advisory Group for the Strategy to report back to Council at the conclusion of 2025’s community engagement.

8. Instructs the Chief Executive to work with Napier City Council and Hastings District Council to confirm project resourcing and progress no or low-regrets opportunities to respond to the ongoing risks posed by coastal hazards while the Strategy development process continues.

van Beek/Harding

CARRIED

Affixing of Common Seal

1. The Common Seal of the Council has been affixed to the following documents and signed by the Chair or Deputy Chair and Chief Executive or a Group Manager.

Seal No.

Date

1.2

Staff Warrants

1.2.1 G. Holder

R. Tully

(Delegations under Resource Management Act 1991 (Sections 34A(1) and 38(1); Maritime Transport Act 1994 (Section 33G(a); Building Act 2004 (Section 317B); Biosecurity Act 1993 (Sections 103 and 105); Local Government Act 2002 (s.177))

4602

4603

23 January 2025

RC5/25

Resolution

That Hawke’s Bay Regional Council:

1. Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant under the criteria contained in Council’s adopted Significance and Engagement Policy, and that Council can exercise its discretion and make decisions on this issue without conferring directly with the community or persons likely to have an interest in the decision.

2. Confirms the action to affix the Common Seal.

Ormsby/Siers

CARRIED

10.

Discussion of minor items not on the Agenda

Topic	Raised by
Unintended consequences. At a meeting in Pakowhai Hall there was heated discussion about a situation where a company has bought some very cheap land and commenced an activity that the community feels is not permitted.	Cr van Beek
Category 3. Council needs to continue to listen to those adversely impacted by land categorisation.	Cr van Beek

Hinewai Ormsby and councillors took the opportunity to thank Iain Maxwell for his contributions over the 13 years he worked at HBRC and offered best wishes for the future.

11.

Confirmation of Public Excluded meeting held on 18 December 2024

Resolution

That Hawke’s Bay Regional Council excludes the public from this section of the meeting being Confirmation of Public Excluded Minutes Agenda Item 11 with the general subject of the item to be considered while the public is excluded. The reasons for passing the resolution and the specific grounds under Section 48 (1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are:

RC6/25

General subject of the item to be considered

Grounds under section 48(1) for the passing of the resolution

Rationale for excluding the public

Flood Resilience Financial Considerations

s7(2)(g) Excluding the public is necessary to prevent disclosure of information that is legally privileged

s7(2)(i) Excluding the public is necessary to enable the local authority holding the information to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations)

The information relates to ongoing negotiations that could be prejudiced if it was made public.

Siers/Harding

CARRIED

12.

Heretaunga Water Storage Project

Resolution

1. That Hawke’s Bay Regional Council excludes the public from this section of the meeting, being Agenda Item 12 Heretaunga Water Storage Project with the general subject of the item to be considered while the public is excluded. The reasons for passing the resolution and the specific grounds under Section 48 (1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are:

RC7/25

General subject of the item to be considered

Grounds under section 48(1) for the passing of the resolution

Rationale for excluding the public

Heretaunga Water Storage Project

s7(2)(b)(ii) Excluding the public is necessary to prevent the disclosure of information which would unreasonably damage the commercial position of the person or company who supplied or who is the subject of the information.

s7(2)(f)(ii) Excluding the public is necessary to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs by protecting councillors and/or council employees and contractors/ consultants from improper pressure or harassment.

s7(2)(j) Excluding the public is necessary to prevent the disclosure or use of official information for improper gain or improper advantage.

Sensitive commercial and pricing information in the report has the potential to adversely impact commercial negotiations and, at this preliminary stage, may be misrepresented publicly and negatively impact the project’s ongoing commercial discussions.

2. That Amanda Langley and Richard Westbury be permitted to remain at this meeting, after the public has been excluded, because of their roles and expertise in the Heretaunga Water Storage Project and its delivery.

Siers/Harding

CARRIED

The meeting went into public excluded session at 2.32pm and out of public excluded session at 4.17pm

A closing karakia was offered.

Closure:

There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 4.18pm on Wednesday, 29 January 2025

Signed as a true and correct record.

Date: by HBRC resolution on 26 February 2025 Chair: Hinewai Ormsby