Making an Official Information Request
Anyone can make a request for official information (OIR). Requests to Council for information are made under either the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 or the Privacy Act 2020 – although you don't need to reference any Act when making a request.
How to make a request
Your information request can be made via
- Email to [email protected]
- Letter to Private Bag 60601, Paraparaumu 5254
- Fax on 04 296 4830
Alternatively you can verbally make a request for information from any Council staff member.
To help us respond to you as quickly as possible, please be clear and concise about the information you require. If you are seeking information from between a certain timeframe, please be specific about the range of dates.
Relevant legislation
The Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 covers information requests made about or around another person, issue or event.
The Privacy Act 2020 covers requests for personal information about yourself.
By law, under these Acts, Council has a maximum of 20 workings days to reply to your request. This time limit can be extended in certain circumstances. If an extension is required we will advise you of this within 20 working days and provide you with a reason why the extension is necessary.
You can ask for your request to be treated as urgent but you must state the reason for urgency. Council will endeavour to respond to your request within your timeframe where possible.
Once a request is made the Council must supply the information unless grounds exist for withholding it. Legislation requires Council to provide you with reasons if the information is to be withheld and advise you of your right to complain to either the Ombudsman or Privacy Commissioner depending on the legislation your request falls under.
Charges
Council cannot charge for information provided under the Privacy Act, however there are certain instances where charges may apply to information provided under Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. These charges are required to be reasonable and are applied to cover the costs of research, collating and copying. Charges for official information requests are made on a case by case basis. You will be notified if a charge is to apply and provided with an estimate of the cost for your agreement before we proceed to compile the information you have requested.
Note: During the Christmas/New Year holiday period work will continue on processing information requests, although delivery timeframes may be impacted. This is because the days from 20 December to 10 January are not counted as working days in the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.
For further details regarding information requests please contact please contact us on [email protected].