Stephen Lasham made LGOIMA a request (below) relating to spending by Auckland Council and the TMA on parks management. He obtained the following documents. If anyone can make head or tail of them, please share in comments or by writing to us.
(Published here with Stephen’s permission.)
Stephen’s request:
Hi, I am doing research on the amount of money spent on maintaining our parks in Auckland.
Please can you supply the following information
– The park area in hectares managed by Auckland Council
– The park area in hectares managed by the TMA
– The total budget allocation for Auckland Council managed parks for the last three years broken down by year, including the current year
– The total budget allocation for TMA managed parks for the last three years broken down by year, including the current year
– The actual spend for Auckland Council managed parks for the last three years broken down by year, including the current year to date spend.
– The actual spend for TMA managed parks for the last three years broken down by year, including the current year to date spend.
Please can this information be provided in a single response.
Many thanks
Reply from Council:
Tēnā koe Stephen,
I refer to your request for information regarding the amount of money spent on maintaining our parks in Auckland.
At the outset, we sincerely apologise the delay as we were awaiting an update from the Tūpuna Maunga Authority regarding the information held by them. However, it appears they have now contacted you directly with this information, as per the attached email.
Auckland Council’s response to the remaining parts of your request is outlined below.
- The park area in hectares managed by Auckland Council
Total of Spatial Area (M2) 521,049,885.
- The total budget allocation for Auckland Council managed parks for the last three years broken down by year, including the current year.
Please refer to the table at question 3 below.
- The actual spend for Auckland Council managed parks for the last three years broken down by year, including the current year to date spend.
| FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 (current year to date to Feb 2021) | |
| Budget | $44,036,515.04 | $58,503,197.01 | ||
| Actual | $57,656,361.24 | $97,299,917.95 | $75,513,160.18 | $59,289,822.53 |
The way in which we budget for assets changed in FY2020, and now includes both buildings and parks. This means we are unable to provide budgeted amounts just for parks for those years.
Please note, the parks maintenance cost includes for example: mowing, building maintenance, building compliance costs, cleaning, utilities costs etc.
We trust this information satisfies your request. Should you believe that we have not dealt with your request appropriately, you have the right in accordance with section 27(3) of the LGOIMA to make a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman and seek an investigation.
If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Ngā mihi,
Norma Tinai I Senior Privacy & Official Information Business Partner
Governance Services
Ph 09 301 0101
Auckland Council, Level 25, 135 Albert Street, Auckland
Tēnā koe Mr Lasham
Thank you for your information request.
The Auckland Council has transferred your query to the Tūpuna Maunga Authority as the Authority is an independent statutory board.
You have asked for:
- The park area in hectares managed by the TMA:
This information can be found in Appendix 2 of the Tūpuna Maunga Integrated Management plan.
- The total budget allocation for TMA managed parks for the last three years broken down by year, including the current year:
The funding envelope for the Tūpuna Maunga Authority endorsed in the Council’s 10 Year Budget (Long Term Plan) 2018-28 is set out below:
- The actual spend for TMA managed parks for the last three years broken down by year, including the current year to date spend:
This information can be found in the financial statements for each respective financial year which are attached.
Information relating to actual spend for this current financial year is reported quarterly to the Tūpuna Maunga Authority. Attached are the reports for the two quarters from 01 July 2020 to 31 December 2020.
Noho ora mai
Dominic