Waikato Regional Council to reopen its doors under Alert Level 2

Waikato Regional Council will be almost fully operational under Alert Level 2, including reopening its offices and delivering public facing services.

“With the northern part of the Waikato region still in Alert Level 4, it’s not business as usual though. But it will be good to open up the work we do with and for most of our communities,” said Waikato Regional Council Chief Executive Chris McLay.

The Hamilton Transport Centre reopens today with the regional council’s customer service team operating to answer passenger queries and manage Bee Card top-ups.

The doors to regional council offices around the region will reopen to staff and the public on Thursday, in line with schools and to allow time for final safety measures to be put in place.

“For those heading back into the office, safety is paramount,” Mr McLay said. “We’ll be ensuring good hygiene practices, physical distancing and contact tracing.

“Our customer-facing staff will be wearing face coverings, and people planning to pop into our reception areas should be wearing a face covering too because it’s a requirement when visiting local government agencies under Government guidelines. We’ll also continue to ask staff and visitors to stay home when sick and to get tested if they have COVID-like symptoms.”

Mr McLay said the council had “taken a good look at the government’s latest guidelines, and our own standard operating procedures, and by and large we’re able to operate almost normally”.

“We’ve proven that we can effectively operate virtually, so we’re encouraging meetings and interactions with stakeholders and customers to continue to be online where possible,” he said.

Regional and Hamilton bus services will run to their normal timetables from today, with the exception of the school assist services which resume on Thursday when schools reopen.

“Physical distancing isn’t required on board the bus, but passengers must be seated and are encouraged to only sit beside those they already know. And of course, face coverings are mandatory on board, at bus stops and at the transport centre.

“Contact tracing is also important, now more than ever to help authorities if there were to be an outbreak of Delta, and QR codes are on the back of all seats,” he said.

But not everything is back to normal. The council’s Ruben the Road Safety Bear programme is affected. “I know Ruben is missing the kids, and they’ll be keen to get him back in the classroom, too. But we’ll be waiting for a return to Alert Level 1 before rolling our road safety programme back out to schools and early childhood centres,” Mr McLay said.

“Unfortunately, in the Alert Level 4 area of north Waikato we can only continue to deliver essential public services. The Auckland border also means the Te Huia passenger rail service and Hamilton to Pukekohe bus service won’t operate,” he said. The 44 Pokeno to Pukekohe bus is able to continue because it operates within the Alert level 4 boundary, but it is running to its weekend timetable.

The two committee meetings this week will be held virtually, with these meetings being recorded and published online at waikatoregion.govt.nz/agendas as soon as practicable afterwards. From next week meetings will be held in council chambers, with staff managing attendance – including by members of the public – to ensure the number of people attending does not exceed physical distance requirements.