Palmerston North City Council
Minutes of the Strategy & Finance Committee Meeting Part I Public, held in the Council Chamber, First Floor, Civic Administration Building, 32 The Square, Palmerston North on 20 August 2025, commencing at 9.03am
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Members Present: |
Councillor Vaughan Dennison (in the Chair), The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Patrick Handcock, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood and Kaydee Zabelin. |
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Non Members: |
Councillors Roly Fitzgerald and Debi Marshall-Lobb. |
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Apologies: |
The Mayor (Grant Smith) (early departure on Council business), Councillor Patrick Handcock (early departure), and Councillor Lew Findlay. |
Councillor Roly Fitzgerald left the meeting at 10.55am during consideration of clause 28. He was not present for clauses 28 to 39 inclusive.
Councillor Debi Marshall-Lobb left the meeting at 12.18pm during consideration of clause 30. She was present when the meeting resumed at 2.07pm. She was not present for clause 30 and clauses 36-39 inclusive.
The Mayor (Grant Smith) was not present when the meeting resumed at 2.07pm. He entered the meeting again at 2.32pm during consideration of clause 32. He left the meeting at 3.15pm and was not present when the meeting resumed at 4.16pm after the confidential session. He was not present for clauses 31 and 35.
Councillor Lew Findlay entered the meeting at 2.15pm during the continuation of the hearing of submissions. He was not present for clauses 25 to 30 inclusive.
Councillor Patrick Handcock left the meeting at 3.14pm following the continuation of the hearing of submissions. He was not present for clauses 35 to 39 inclusive.
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Karakia Timatanga |
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Councillor Debi Marshall-Lobb opened the meeting with karakia. |
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Apologies |
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Moved Vaughan Dennison, seconded Karen Naylor. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1. That the Committee receive the apologies. |
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Clause 25-25 above was carried 13 votes to 0, the voting being as follows: For: The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Vaughan Dennison, Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Patrick Handcock, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin, Debi Marshall-Lobb and Roly Fitzgerald. |
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26-25 |
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Chris Teo-Sherrell made public comment on Agenda Item 11: Draft Waste Management and Minimisation Bylaw 2025 – Deliberations on Submissions. |
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Moved Vaughan Dennison, seconded Karen Naylor. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1. That the Committee receive the public comment. |
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Clause 26-25 above was carried 13 votes to 0, the voting being as follows: For: The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Vaughan Dennison, Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Patrick Handcock, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin, Debi Marshall-Lobb and Roly Fitzgerald. |
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Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area |
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Moved Vaughan Dennison, seconded Karen Naylor. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1. That the Committee receive the submissions and hear submissions from presenters who indicated their wish to be heard in support of their submission. 2. That the Committee note the Procedure for Hearing of Submissions, as described in the procedure sheet. |
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Clause 27-25 above was carried 13 votes to 0, the voting being as follows: For: The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Vaughan Dennison, Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Patrick Handcock, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin, Debi Marshall-Lobb and Roly Fitzgerald. |
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The Committee considered submissions on Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area with supporting oral statements including additional tabled material. The following persons appeared before the Committee and made oral statements in support of their submission and replied to questions from Elected Members. Gillian McIntyre (1) Gillian spoke to her submission and made the following additional comments: • Would be happy to have the play areas fenced off and made as on-leash only areas, noting this would not include the wetland area, as this is not only a favourite area for the dogs, but is inherently dangerous for a children’s play area. • Dog owners from outside the city use the park on a regular basis.
Geoff Anderson (40) Geoff spoke to his submission, providing additional material (appended to these Minutes), and made the following additional comments: • Tabled Google Maps snapshot showing several alternative parks within easy distance that are dogs on-leash or no dogs parks. • Suggested Edwards Pit Park as a fabulous dogs on-leash area; Linklater Reserve is superb for the reverse.
Rukmini Vadke (Māmā Mini’s) (261) Rukmini spoke to her submission and made the following additional comments: • Discussed pros and cons of on-leash dog park and off-leash dog park. • ‘Off-leash’ does not mean run wild and run free; owners still need to maintain a level of control of their dog, and their dog needs to be able to be recalled. • Whether the park is designated on-leash, off-leash or mixed model, how is education and enforcement going to be a part of that and what will it look like? Whatever the decision there will be pros and cons as listed above.
Rebecca Culver (76) Rebecca spoke to her submission and made no additional comments.
Richard Isaacs (104) Richard spoke to his submission and made no additional comments.
Maria Reiche (358) Maria spoke to her submission and made no additional comments.
Elizabeth Schaw (105) Elizabeth spoke to her submission and made the following additional comment: • One of the people who signed her petition is the person whose dog was attacked on 10 May which featured on Facebook; he acknowledged it was a completely random act and is still using Linklater Park.
Alan Wall (866) Alan spoke to his submission and made the following additional comments: • Knows of people who travel regularly from outside the area to use the park because it’s such a great facility. • Has concerns around how an area designated as on-leash would be policed.
Kevin Low (566) Kevin spoke to his submission and made the following additional comments: • In his observation, dogs on-leash are more likely to exhibit antisocial behaviour. • Dogs learn socialisation skills primarily from being able to run free. Dog owners are aware of this and realise just how important free running time is to their dog. • Dog owners enjoy the privilege of having a facility like Linklater Reserve. The proposed fenced off area would severely curtail the benefit and usefulness of the reserve as a dog socialisation area.
Kate Argyle (262) Kate spoke to her submission and made the following additional comments: • Referenced Council’s annual Dog Control Reports 2023 and 2024 with respect to dog attacks, noting only eight cases over the two years were classified as serious, and only one successful prosecution was brought across both years. Demonstrates that Linklater Reserve is no more dangerous than other parks. • Council records confirm there are 134 parks and reserves under Palmerston North jurisdiction, with 11 in the Kelvin Grove area. Linklater is the only fully fenced reserve which makes it a vital, safe facility for dogs to exercise freely, something essential for their wellbeing. • Appears to be an attempt by some individuals to frame Linklater Reserve as a ‘locals-only’ Kelvin Grove Community park. All ratepayers have the right to enjoy such facilities; living nearby does not grant exclusive rights.
Ewen Cameron (416) Ewen spoke to his submission, including additional material (appended to these Minutes) indicating his change of view, and made no additional comments.
Rose Byrnes (436) Rose spoke to her submission and made no additional comments.
Gillian Evans (491) Gillian spoke to her submission and made the following additional comment: • If the area that’s paved is fenced off, people in wheelchairs who take their dogs through there will be cut off by having to have their dogs on-leash.
John Hornblow (520) John spoke to his submission and made the following additional comments: • Other dogs off-leash terrorise his smaller dog, and he sometimes feels intimidated himself. Not a relaxing experience. • No sign or fence will change irresponsible dog owners. Socialising will occur whether dogs are on-leash or off-leash. • Having an area properly fenced off around the barbecue/toilet area would be great.
Kirsty Ward (628) Kirsty spoke to her submission and made the following additional comments: • Whilst she has in the past supported fencing off the area by the BMX track and moving the plane forward to the other children’s areas, she has changed her opinion and does support it being an off-leash area completely, so that those people who are disabled and elderly can use that front facility. • Very much support fencing off children’s play areas.
John Charlton (Kelvin Grove Community Association) (861) John spoke to their submission, providing additional material (appended to these Minutes), and made no additional comments.
Carol Shaw (663) Carol spoke to her submission and made the following additional comments: • There is talk of fencing off the children’s area. She sometimes takes her grandchildren to the park and this wouldn’t work unless she put her dog back on-leash; couldn’t watch children and dog at the same time. • If it did become an on-leash area in the front half, she probably wouldn’t be able to take her dog there as she wouldn’t be able to get up the gravel area to the proposed off-leash area.
Valerie Burr (925) Val spoke to her submission, including additional material (appended to these Minutes) and made the following additional comment: • Noted a child was attacked on the flying fox recently. Understood the child’s mother had already made a submission. The owner of the dog vanished; there should be a mechanism by which owners of dogs who attack can be charged. |
Due to there being no more submitters to hear at this time, the Chair adjourned item 6 Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area (clause 27-25) and moved to the next item on the agenda.
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Summary of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area Memorandum, presented by Stacey Solomon, Policy Analyst. Officers noted the following corrections to the report: · Since time of writing, two submitters withdrew their submissions, making the total number of submissions received 965. · The petition submitted by Elizabeth Schaw (901) has additional signatories, making the total number 236. 66 of those also made a submission. Councillor Roly Fitzgerald left the meeting at 10.55am. |
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Moved Vaughan Dennison, seconded Karen Naylor. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1. That the Committee receive the memorandum titled ‘Summary of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area’, presented to the Strategy & Finance Committee on 20 August 2025. |
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Clause 28-25 above was carried 12 votes to 0, the voting being as follows: For: The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Vaughan Dennison, Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Patrick Handcock, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin and Debi Marshall-Lobb. |
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Confirmation of Minutes |
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Moved Vaughan Dennison, seconded Karen Naylor. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1. That the minutes of the Strategy & Finance Committee meeting of 28 May 2025 Part I Public be confirmed as a true and correct record. |
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Clause 29-25 above was carried 11 votes to 0, with 1 abstention, the voting being as follows: For: The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Vaughan Dennison, Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Patrick Handcock, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood and Kaydee Zabelin. Abstained: Councillor Debi Marshall-Lobb. |
The meeting adjourned at 10.57am.
The meeting resumed at 11.22am.
The Chair resumed hearing submitters for item 6 Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area (clause 27-25).
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27-25 |
Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area (continued) |
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The following persons appeared before the Committee and made oral statements in support of their submission and replied to questions from Elected Members. Helen Dollery (714) Helen spoke to her submission and made the following additional comments: • Linklater has many similarities with Arapuke Mountain Bike Park. It may be considered by many as a dog park, even though there is much more to it than that, and that was not its historical foundation. Like Arapuke, Linklater comes with risks – sometimes real, sometimes perceived – so not everyone wants to use it as it is at the moment. • Linklater is so valued as it is beautifully suitable for allowing dogs to socialise, etc., along with their people. Doesn’t mean it isn’t also for other users, as Arapuke is, but recognising the real importance of it, for off-leash dogs and their people, is important.
Lynette Baker (863) Lynette spoke to her submission and made the following additional comments: • She is representing the needs of the disabled community; has worked with them professionally for 27 years. Issues surrounding this community go beyond just mobility. • At the entrance to the park there is a wide ranging area where she keeps her dog(s) on-leash. She has never seen the area on the left going up the hill utilised by children – only ever seen it utilised by dogs. • If Council eliminates the area where the play area and toilets currently are, it will need to consider putting in conveniences elsewhere in the park that can be accessed by the wider community.
Maurice Job (766) Maurice spoke to his submission and made the following additional comments: • Linklater is the only significant park in the city where free exercising of family pet dogs is the priority. All other off-leash areas or reserves are shared with a walk- or cycle-way. • Seen many at Linklater playing fetch with their pets. If people have to keep their dogs on-leash at all times in this area, the open space will be unused and wasted. • Linklater Reserve is not a Kelvin Grove park; is it funded by the whole city. The city has over 9,500 registered dogs, representing somewhere around 9,000 households owning dogs, which is a lot more than just in the Kelvin Grove area. • No longer accepts that some of the reserve could be made on-leash. Have heard alternative thinking on that today and there is merit in it, certainly the playground area. • In his observation, free running dogs outnumber those kept on-leash, so why is half the area being designated as off limits to that majority, while the remaining minority will not be able to fully use the restricted area because dogs have to be on-leash?
Katherine Reedy (879) Katherine spoke to her submission and made the following additional comments: • The park should be open to all the community, with dogs off-leash under the control of their owners, with the exception of the swing playground. • Many owners love that it is a fenced, large and beautiful wild space for dogs to run freely in. In such an environment dogs get fully and safely exercised. Is a very social place for dog owners, their families, and their dogs and allows dogs to become well socialised and happy. • Between the weekday hours of 9am and 3pm there is rarely any family groups there. If the off-leash area was halved, there would be no-one in one half of the park which is unfair to dog owners wanting to use the space. • As a dog owner she has far less choice than the general population, and halving the area for dogs to exercise freely will crowd the space and more than halve the enjoyment of her exercising herself and her dog at the park. • Overheard conversations at the reserve in which dog owners were already resigned to their voices not being heard, and that the decision had already been made by Council to halve the off-leash area. Saddened that they believed this submission process was just a box-ticking exercise.
Kim Penny (883) Kim spoke to her submission, including additional material (appended to these Minutes), and made the following additional comments: • Linklater Reserve is the only fully fenced off-leash dog park in Palmerston North. People wanting to walk without off-leash dogs can do so on every street in the city and most other parks. • Referenced approach at Point Chevalier Beach in Auckland where there is shared use with time of use for different groups to use the beach – times with no dogs, times with on-leash and times with off-leash. If a change is decided on at Linklater Reserve, could you please keep some time where we can be off-leash with our dogs.
Victoria Liddicoat (818) Victoria spoke to her submission and made no additional comments.
Kathryn Dixon (923) Kathryn spoke to her submission and made the following additional comments: • Her grandfather, a foundation member of the Police Dog Squad, had to rehome his beloved German Shepherd Max when his local Council rezoned the reserve he relied on for Max’s exercise. She would be very sad to see something similar happen in Palmerston North. • Suggests alternative could be restricting off-lease use of the reserve to those with ‘preferred owner status’. • Consider increasing the criteria for preferred owner status, in line with that of Wellington Council (for example), whereby people need to have completed a certain level of dog obedience training. People could be incentivised by earning a larger reduction in their annual registration fee; Wellington offers just over a 50% discount under their scheme. • There is a lot of knowledge in the community around dog training that could easily be tapped into. Could look at the use of honorary Dog Rangers to assist with enforcement – Council has power under the Dog Control Act to enable this.
Judith Lacy (960) Judith spoke to her submission and made the following additional comments (on behalf of Maisie): • Education – signs spread throughout the reserve. • Enforcement – need Animal Control’s eyes and ears on the reserve. • Compromise – it is a shared space. • Democracy is much more complicated than the rule of the majority. |
Due to there being no more submitters to hear at this time, the Chair adjourned item 6 Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area (clause 27-25) and moved to the next item on the agenda.
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Quarterly Performance and Financial Report – period ending 30 June 2025 Memorandum, presented by Scott Mancer, Manager – Finance and John Aitken, Manager - Project Management Office. Councillor Debi Marshall-Lobb left the meeting at 12.18pm. |
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Moved Vaughan Dennison, seconded Karen Naylor. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1. That the Committee receive the report titled ‘Quarterly Performance and Financial Report – period ending 30 June 2025’, and related attachments, presented on 20 August 2025. 2. That the Committee note that $2.4M of prior year capital expenditure relating to planning and design work for Transport projects was written off to expenses in FY2025 due to changing Council and NZTA Waka Kotahi priorities. 3. That the Committee note the overspend in the Transport activities was managed with underspends in other activities of Council. The COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS 4. That Council approve the adjustments to carry forward values per the carry forward report in Attachment 5. 5. That Council approve the deferral of $4,330,799 from 2025/26 to 2026/27 for Programme 1895 – Te Motu o Poutoa Development as noted in Attachment 5. |
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Clause 30-25 above was carried 11 votes to 0, the voting being as follows: For: The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Vaughan Dennison, Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Patrick Handcock, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood and Kaydee Zabelin. |
The meeting adjourned at 1.07pm.
The meeting resumed at 2.07pm.
Councillor Debi Marshall-Lobb was present when the meeting resumed.
The Mayor (Grant Smith) was not present when the meeting resumed.
The Chair resumed hearing submitters for item 6 Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area (clause 27-25).
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27-25 |
Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area (continued) Councillor Lew Findlay entered the meeting at 2.15pm. |
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The following persons appeared before the Committee and made oral statements in support of their submission and replied to questions from Elected Members. Cam Horgan (479) Cam spoke to his submission and made no additional comments.
Sally Doherty (450) Sally spoke to her submission, including additional material (appended to these Minutes), and made no additional comments. |
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Treasury Report - Twelve months ending 30 June 2025 Memorandum, presented by Steve Paterson, Manager - Financial Strategy. |
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Moved Vaughan Dennison, seconded Karen Naylor. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1. That Council note the performance of Council’s treasury activity for the twelve months ending 30 June 2025. |
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Clause 31-25 above was carried 12 votes to 0, the voting being as follows: For: Councillors Vaughan Dennison, Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Lew Findlay, Patrick Handcock, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin and Debi Marshall-Lobb. |
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Draft Waste Management and Minimisation Bylaw 2025 - deliberations on submissions Memorandum, presented by Peter Ridge, Acting Manager Strategy and Policy. The Mayor (Grant Smith) entered the meeting again at 2.32pm. A procedural motion to lie the report on the table was moved, to allow a workshop to occur. |
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Moved Grant Smith, seconded Kaydee Zabelin. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1. That the report lie on the table and a workshop be organised. |
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Clause 32-25 above was carried 9 votes to 4, the voting being as follows: For: The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Vaughan Dennison, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Lew Findlay, Patrick Handcock, Orphée Mickalad, Kaydee Zabelin and Debi Marshall-Lobb. Against: Councillors Karen Naylor, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson and William Wood. |
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Draft Speed Management Plan 2025 - Approval for Consultation Report, presented by Peter Ridge, Acting Manager Strategy and Policy, James Miguel, Senior Transport Planner and Steve James, Principal Safety Engineer, Urban Connection. |
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Moved William Wood, seconded Lorna Johnson. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1. That the Committee approve for public consultation the draft Speed Management Plan 2025 (as shown in Attachment 1). |
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Clause 33-25 above was carried 13 votes to 0, the voting being as follows: For: The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Vaughan Dennison, Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Lew Findlay, Patrick Handcock, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin and Debi Marshall-Lobb. |
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Committee Work Schedule |
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Moved Vaughan Dennison, seconded Karen Naylor. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1. That the Strategy & Finance Committee receive its Work Schedule dated August 2025. |
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Clause 34-25 above was carried 12 votes to 1, the voting being as follows: For: The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Vaughan Dennison, Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Lew Findlay, Patrick Handcock, Leonie Hapeta, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin and Debi Marshall-Lobb. Against: Councillor Lorna Johnson. |
The Chair resumed hearing submitters for item 6 Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area (clause 27-25).
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27-25 |
Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area (continued) |
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The Committee considered submissions on Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area with supporting oral statements including additional tabled material. The following persons appeared before the Committee and made oral statements in support of their submission and replied to questions from Elected Members. Beth Weir (575) Beth spoke to her submission and made no additional comments. |
Due to there being no more submitters to hear at this time, the Chair adjourned item 6 Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area (clause 27-25) and moved to the next item on the agenda.
Councillor Pat Handcock left the meeting at 3.14pm.
The Mayor (Grant Smith) left the meeting at 3.15pm.
Exclusion of Public
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35-25 |
Recommendation to Exclude Public |
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Moved Vaughan Dennison, seconded Karen Naylor. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting listed in the table below. The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, 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 as follows:
This resolution is made in reliance on Section 48(1)(a) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and the particular interest or interests protected by Section 6 or Section 7 of that Act which would be prejudiced by the holding of the whole or the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting in public as stated in the above table. Also that the persons listed below be permitted to remain after the public has been excluded for the reasons stated. |
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Clause 35-25 above was carried 11 votes to 0, the voting being as follows: For: Councillors Vaughan Dennison, Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Lew Findlay, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin and Debi Marshall-Lobb. |
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The public part of the meeting adjourned at 3.16pm.
The public part of the meeting resumed at 4.16pm.
The Mayor (Grant Smith) was not present when the meeting resumed.
The Chair resumed hearing submitters for item 6 Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area (clause 27-25).
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27-25 |
Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area (continued) |
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The following persons appeared before the Committee and made oral statements in support of their submission and replied to questions from Elected Members. Megan Wilson (451) Megan spoke to her submission, providing additional material (appended to these Minutes), and made no additional comments.
Don Falconer (788) Don spoke to his submission and made the following additional comments: • Cameras should be installed at the reserve due to the incidences of vandalism. • Should be registering dog owners and require them to complete a course. • Shouldn’t have humans in the park; not the dogs causing the problems but dog owners. |
The meeting adjourned at 4.27pm.
The meeting resumed at 4.30pm.
Councillors Leonie Hapeta and Karen Naylor were not present when the meeting resumed.
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27-25 |
Hearing of Submissions - Proposed Linklater Reserve dogs on-leash area (continued) |
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The following person appeared before the Committee and made oral statements in support of their submission and replied to questions from Elected Members. Kaele Andrew (572) Kaele spoke to her submission and made no additional comments. |
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Karakia Whakamutunga |
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Councillor Kaydee Zabelin closed the meeting with karakia. |
The meeting closed at 4.37pm.
Confirmed
Chair