Candidate information requests

2. Please supply the Full-Time Equivalent (FTEs) staff numbers as employed by Waipā District Council as at 30th June each year for the following years: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.

Please find below the information requested in respect of years 2016-2024.

The information for the year ending 30 June 2025 is not yet available as it is still subject to final audit. This information will however be disclosed as part of Council’s Annual Report, following the audit process. The Annual Report will be published on Council’s website. Accordingly, for 2025, the information has been withheld under section 17(d) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 as it will soon be publicly available.

The information provided outlines the FTE figures as reported in each of the Annual Reports over the years you have requested. However, we did think it would be useful to include some context.

As of mid-June 2025, our FTE count was 343. The actual end of June 2025 figure is still subject to audit but we have taken the time to examine the main differences between 2015 and today, and the increases really tell a compelling story of a growing district and increased legislative and regulatory compliance obligations, along with growing expectations of our community.

For example, the main FTE increases since 2015 are in the following business areas:

• planning and regulatory (39),
• waters (20),
• project delivery and delivery performance (12) and
• community facilities (27)

A total 98 new positions are in these spaces.  This all makes sense given the extensive growth in the district, with 12,000 more people calling Waipā home and an additional 3000 plus rateable properties since 2015. That growth is here in 2025, and not in 2031 as anticipated in previous modelling and plans.

Development and growth brings with it more infrastructure required, asset maintenance and communities to provide for in terms of mowing, gardens to care for and playgrounds to look after.

There are other FTE increases in key business support areas that were required to support our growing and maturing organisation. For example, roles for the Strategic Partnerships team were created to support staff meeting Council’s legal and partnership requirements. Likewise ‘organisational excellence’ roles were created to ensure systems improvements for a growing business enabling more efficient and effective services. Further roles saw FTE increases such as communications and engagement (including the approval of the new Waipā DC strategic communications strategy), People & Capability including learning and development for staff, emergency management, and finance, but again these roles have all been approved to support an organisation that had growing complexity and significant additional requirements.

For additional context, our capital expenditure spend in 2015/16 was $43.6 million compared to $158.4 million projected in the 2024/25 Enhanced Annual Plan. Also, in the last decade, in addition to technological changes and cybersecurity risks, we have seen a raft of legislative changes necessitating additional staff resources, including the various iterations of water services reforms, RMA reforms and amendments in areas such as alcohol regulation, food safety, health and safety and building control, among others.

We are doing more of our own work as a Council and more of Central Government’s work than we were doing a decade ago and that has required additional capability, capacity and improved business systems to carry out the work.

3. What are the rates arrears over the Waipā District as a whole as at 1 July each year for the past 5 financial years and the amount still outstanding at 30 June for each of those financial years.

Rates arrears

Note: Arrears are defined by all rates outstanding as at 30 June prior to start of new rating year. E.g. 1/07/2021 is all rates outstanding on that date, includes everything to 30 June 2021, 30/06/2022 is balance of arrears (remainder outstanding to 30/06/2021).

4. What is the average percentage rates increase for each of the past 5 financial years for Waipā District as a whole and for the Cambridge residential area and the Te Awamutu residential area.

You can find more information about the indicator properties for the same five years for the Te Awamutu and Cambridge residential properties: Rates indicator properties (PDF, 124KB).

Please note that Waipā rate arrears are available as part of the monthly report to Council, and is a constant moving target throughout the year. This information is not able to be reported on by specific area but only on the District as a whole.

8. Please let me know the number of staff employed by WaipāDistrict Council on 1 July 2009 and again on 30 June 2024, presented by department or division, together with the total annualised payroll burden for each department or division on those dates. Do not include the CEO's salary in these breakdowns but advise the total amount of his annual package separately for each date.

The number of staff employed by Waipā District Council on 1 July 2009 and again on 30 June 2024, presented by department or division, together with the total annualised payroll burden for each department or division on those dates (not including the CEO).

Please note:

• Group information was not collected in 2009. We have provided the data for 2014 as this was when this level of data was first collected.
• Groups have changed in some cases.

The CEO’s annual salary package for each date above.

9. Please advise WDC's tally of the population of Waipa District on 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2024.

We can provide you with population figures from Stats NZ which are based on annual estimates prepared in June of each year and are the most accurate estimates of Waipā District's actual population:

10. Council was asked to provide an update on the occupancy rates of the Cambridge to Hamilton Bus for the period of 1 January 2025 through to 30 June 2025.

You can read the Cambridge bus occupancy here: Cambridge Bus Occupancy - 1 September 2025 (PDF, 176KB)

11. In the Traffic Impacts peer assessment at the hearing Todd Whittaker included this statement; 5.2 Newcombe Road / Tirau Road intersection. This intersection is administered by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). NZTA, along with an expert traffic engineer submitter (Mr Ray Talbot) provided submissions that raise various safety and operational concerns with the present form of the intersection.

I address these matters further in section 7.2 and 7.3 below rather than repeat them here. Is the intersection under WDC control, or administered by the NZTA?

There are two answers to this question. The first covers maintenance responsibility. The highway on and off ramps start at the central concrete island just east of the Newcombe Road intersection. Therefore Waipā District Council controls and manages the maintenance of Tirau Road up to the central concrete island and maintains the two side road intersections.

However from a planning perspective, the State Highway designation D20 in the Operative District Plan covers the entirety of Newcome Road, Lockley Road and the two intersections with Tirau Road. Therefore any work that has potential to impact the designated highway area has to be approved by NZTA.

12. Were you [Manager Transportation] or WDC asked for an opinion on traffic impacts [from the proposed] quarry within Cambridge particularly about the two roundabouts [on Victoria Street at Queen and Hamilton]?

Council engaged Bloxham Burnett and Olliver Ltd to provide independent traffic advice to the Hearing Commissioners on the quarry application. The record of matters transversed on traffic impacts is covered in the Commissioners decision document and expert evidence provided on the Council website. The Council Manager Transportation did not provide opinions or evidence to the hearing.