Council apologises for 'avoidable angst' caused by its handling of water scare
A review into the Dunedin City Council’s handling of a lead water issue in three Otago townships has been made public.
The “do not drink” notice for Waikouaiti, Karitane and Hawksbury Village was lifted in July after residents were caught up in a lead scare six months prior.
Residents were unable to use their tap water after elevated levels of lead were found in the water supply, operated by the council.
It was later revealed that there was no widespread lead contamination in the council’s drinking water network, but the elevated levels were likely caused by leaching from privately-owned pipes and fittings.
A report by independent reviewer Ross Tanner, which was released on Wednesday night, will be discussed at the Dunedin City Council next week.
The review identified problems with the council’s initial escalation and notification procedures, including a staff member going on leave before the elevated lead level reading was emailed to their inbox. It meant the council did not know about the reading for some time.
The report noted senior council management, including the chief executive, were blindsided as a major health response unfolded.
Their handling of the situation was compounded by an RNZ interview in which a senior manager incorrectly stated the elevated lead readings were four times the acceptable level, but this was later corrected to 40 times.
“Concern was expressed by the mayor, chief executive, and councillors to whom I spoke that as a consequence of this interview and the mistaken reference, the council had effectively ‘lost control of the (communications) narrative’ and never regained it,” Tanner wrote.
Dunedin mayor Aaron Hawkins said the council had acknowledged, and worked to rectify, areas of concern identified in the review.
Three of the five recommendations had already been implemented, and work on the other two was continuing.
“We accept the presence of elevated lead levels should have been escalated sooner, which would have allowed us to have this very serious conversation with our community sooner, as they deserved.
“This delay caused avoidable angst for our communities and I apologise on behalf of council that this happened.”
The welfare response from council staff, community board representatives and public health authorities was praised in the review.
That included providing temporary safe water tanks and free vegetables to residents in affected communities.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.2% Summer
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36.4% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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