Covid-19: Bay of Plenty, Taupō councils adjust services, facilities for alert levels 3 and 4

Glass collection recycling. Photo / File

Local government agencies are quickly adapting to the Covid-19 alert level 3 and 4 measures announced today, with new plans for services and facilities for the time being.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council

Most regional council staff are working from home. Frontline receptions are now closed and staff will not be meeting with community members face-to-face. However, the regional council does have several contact-free ways that people can get in touch, including by phone, email or via our website.

Public transport is still available at this time, but in line with government advice, movement will be restricted to necessary trips, keeping as much distance between travellers (and the driver) as possible, use the rear doors to enter and exit the buses and wash hands for 20 seconds before and after travelling.

Bus travel will be free from March 24 until further notice to avoid direct contact between drivers and passengers. Practise physical distancing while onboard – sit in separate rows to other passengers if you can. Bus entry and exit will be by the rear doors where possible. This excludes wheelchair users who require the ramp for boarding.

As of Wednesday, all urban buses will run to the weekend service timetable and tertiary services will be cancelled until further notice. As of Thursday, all school services are cancelled until further notice.

Public transport will only be for essential services from 11.59pm on Wednesday.

COVID-19 BAYBUS UPDATE ▪️ Normal services tomorrow (Tues 24 March) ▪️Reduced services from Wednesday ▪️No fares to be collected from tomorrow Go to https://www.baybus.co.nz/ for more details

Posted by Bay of Plenty Regional Council on Sunday, 22 March 2020

Kawerau District Council

At this stage, the council offices are still open but only for essential services.

Effective immediately – there will only be no recycling collections.

Instead, residents are asked to put all their recycling into their 240-litre green-waste bins.

These will be collected as per the usual green waste collection schedule.

There will be no separate recycling collections.

All other general waste will be collected weekly as usual.

These measures are to minimise the risk to recycling staff and all those associated with the waste streams.

The Council offices will be closed tonight until further notice. Please phone the Council offices on 07 306 9009 if you...

Posted by Kawerau District Council on Sunday, 22 March 2020

Ōpōtiki District Council

Chief Executive Aileen Lawrie has closed all of Ōpōtiki District Council's offices and facilities.

Delivering essential services such as water and wastewater will continue and remain the priority at every alert level.

The urban kerbside refuse and recycling collection and solid waste services will continue - this is also a critical service.

Please put your refuse and recycling bins out as normal.

Tomorrow's Coast Community Board meeting has been cancelled.

Your calls and emails will still be answered.

All non-essential staff will now be working from home.

Don't forget to make time to message or phone your friends and family regularly, and especially to look out for the elderly or vulnerable in our communities.

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Posted by 1 NEWS on Sunday, 22 March 2020

Tauranga City Council

Contacting the Council:
The call centre will be the only way to contact the Council. The phone number is 07-577 7000.

Councillors will still be meeting tomorrow, however, the public will not be able to attend. It will be live-streamed and the public will be able to view it on our website.

There will be no disruption to city water supplies or wastewater services.

Rubbish services will continue, but the contractor will assess the risk to their staff on an ongoing basis.

Civil Defence recovery and welfare functions have been activated and the organisation is supporting the Ministry of Health as the lead agency for the pandemic response.

The Tauranga Transport Operations Centre will still be operating, monitoring traffic and CCTV cameras.

There will be no building inspections until further notice.

Animal Services will continue to manage the pound and respond to dangerous and wandering dogs.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, we are now at COVID-19 alert level 3. The city will keep running, but...

Posted by Tauranga City Council on Sunday, 22 March 2020

Rotorua Lakes Council

Essential services that will continue are the three waters, the transport network, rubbish and recycling and civil defence.

Civil defence recovery and welfare functions have been activated and the organisation is supporting the Ministry of Health as the lead agency for the pandemic response.

If you need to contact Council you can reach our Customer Centre on (07) 348 4199 or via email info@rotorualc.nz online.

Taupō District Council

All Taupō District Council community facilities will be closed from tomorrow until further notice.

This includes all libraries, pools, recreation and events centres, community halls, customer service centres across the district, the Superloo and the Taupō Museum. This means no public access to these facilities, with all activities cancelled until further notice.

Taupō District Mayor David Trewavas is calling for the community to help slow the spread of COVID-19, following the...

Posted by Taupō District Council on Sunday, 22 March 2020

Whakatāne District Council

All public facilities including council offices, swimming pools, libraries, information centres, and playgrounds have been closed to the public until further notice.

Council staff are encouraging residents to do as much council-related business as possible online or over the phone via 07 306 0500, an online enquiry or email info@whakatane.govt.nz online.

All community board meetings have been cancelled and an extraordinary council meeting will be held tomorrow to determine how council meetings proceed.

#UPDATE #LATEST All public facilities including Council offices, swimming pools, libraries, information centres, and...

Posted by Whakatāne District Council on Sunday, 22 March 2020

Western Bay of Plenty District Council

All Western Bay of Plenty District Council libraries, service centres, swimming pools and recycling centres across the district are closed.

To help promote the Ministry of Health's social distancing guideline of two metres between people, the council's free Wi-Fi capabilities at all library and service centres will be unavailable for the duration of the closure.

Other announcements

The Tūhoe and Te Urewera Board have announced that all huts, campgrounds, walks (including the Waikaremoana Great Walk), freedom camping areas in Te Urewera, and Lake Waikaremoana, will be closed.

The announcement includes all huts, backcountry huts, designated paid campgrounds and freedom camping areas.

It includes the use of boat ramps, and the Waikaremoana Holiday Park managed by the Department of Conservation.

All hut and camp bookings to 30 June 2020 have been cancelled and will be refunded automatically. Water taxi bookings will be refunded by Te Uru Taumatua.