Official Information
You can request official information held by the Council or any personal information we hold about you.
Information requests
20 August 2021 - Chief Ombudsman’s statement on official information response times during COVID-19 lockdown can be found here.
Information relating to Council is usually available on this website. If the information you are interested in is not available on this website or from our staff, then there are two types of information requests that we can help you with:
- Official Information requests – you can request official information held by the Council and its Contractors.
- Privacy Act requests – you can request to see any personal information we hold about you under the Privacy Act 2020. Request my info tool
These requests for information are governed by the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) and the Privacy Act 2020.
The Council aims to be transparent and accountable in its decision making.
As such, we will endeavour to be as open as possible when providing responses to these requests. If you are not satisfied with our response, you are able to have our decisions reviewed by the Office of the Ombudsman in relation to LGOIMA requests or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in relation to privacy requests.
Click here to see the LGOIMA for local government agencies: A guide to processing requests and conducting meetings.
On this webpage you will find:
- How to make a request
- Timeframe
- Cost
- Withholding information
- Publication of responses to official information requests
How to make a request
You can make a request for official information under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) or the Privacy Act 2020.
Read the Ombudsman’s guide to official information requests and how to make one.
- Apply online
- Email us on info@rangitikei.govt.nz Make sure you include your phone number in case we need to talk to you.
- Phone us on 06 327 0099.
- Write to us: Group Manager, Democracy and Planning, 46 High St, Private Bag 1102, Marton 4741
Timeframe
We will usually answer your request within 20 working days, although we may take longer if, for example, we need more time to gather the information. We’ll let you know if there’s a delay and tell you the reason for it.
Cost
Generally, there will be no charge for your request. Occasionally however we may charge for processing an official information request under guidelines set down by the Ministry of Justice and in line with Council's Schedule of Fees and Charges. This may be considered if a request is for a significant amount of information, or requires substantial collation and research. We'll let you know in advance if that's the case.
If you wish to provide supplementary information, please email this separately to info@rangitikei.govt.nz clearly identifying the contents.
Withholding information
When responding to your request we may withhold or refuse to give you some information. The reasons for this are specified in:
- sections 6, 7 and 17 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987
- sections 27 to 29 of the Privacy Act 2020.
If we withhold or refuse to give information, we will explain the reason why when responding to you.
Publication of responses to official information requests
Please click on the boxes below to see our published OIA responses.
We do not publish every response we process – only those of wider public interest, rather than private matters.