Frequently Asked Questions

Ngā Tino Pātai

Dog registrations are due on the 1st of July every year.

If you do not pay your dog registration fees on time then a 50% penalty is applied.

All of this information can be found in our dog control policy and bylaw.

• View our dog control section

You can contact animal control 24/7 on 021 247 2290

You can apply for a rates rebate from 1^st of July to the 30^th of June.

The rates due dates are:

• 25th of August 2023
• 23rd of February 2024

Rates invoices are sent out every 6 months.

If you do not pay your rates on time then a 10% penalty is applied.

You can look up any property on our rating database to find out the rating information:

• Rating Database

Each year Council’s rates income requirements change, this is mostly due to inflation (the cost of everything going up). The rates income increase for Ōtorohanga District this upcoming year (1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024) is 6.17%, this ensures that we can continue to provide the services we do for our communities.

An external independent entity called Quotable Value (QV). Your QV rate reflects the likely selling price of your property at the time of the revaluation date, which was 1 October 2022 for this round. On average, the value of residential housing in our district has increased by 54% since 2019, with the average house value now sitting at $566 000. See the below video for further explanation.

These are our rubbish collection days:

• Ōtorohanga: Wednesdays
• Kāwhia and Aotea: Mondays

Refer to our zones???

Because of the difficulty in safely receiving unwanted chemicals, which are often in unlabelled or leaking containers, it was decided not to provide a facility to receive them in the Ōtorohanga District. If you have such unwanted chemicals you should take them to a suitable disposal depot in another District, or employ a hazardous substances contractor to manage their disposal.

Yes, standards are provided in the Building Act regarding unsanitary buildings. Notify the owner of your concerns, but we can assess the situation and take action if necessary.

All plumbing and drainage work should be carried out by a Registered Plumber or Drainlayer. In some circumstances, it may be necessary to obtain a building consent to replace broken or defective plumbing or drainage. In these cases, the work will be inspected by Council's Building Control Officers.

Yes, we carry out free testing. Bring in a sample with several flakes (some from each room, labelled and kept separate). To discuss implications, contact the Environmental Health Officer.

At the moment, there is no bylaw and people can burn what they want. However, it is an offence contrary to provisions of the Health Act to create a nuisance - an incident which is offensive or likely to be prejudicial to health. Talk to the offending neighbour first, if you can. If necessary contact us.

You can find your property boundaries by using our GIS system:

• maps.otodc.govt.nz

No, but you may need a Resource Consent, contact our District Planner on (07) 873-4344. We are not involved in B&B’s unless there are five or more guests. If there are, then matters such as fire regulations, food safety standards and resource consents will need to be considered.In the case of backpackers especially, consideration must be given to maximum numbers to prevent overcrowding.

If the premises is not on a council operated sewer, you should also be aware that additional activity may affect your onsite sewage system.We can offer advice on both issues.

On-site sewage discharges are controlled in Environment Waikato’s Regional Rules and applied by this Council.

• If your property has at least 2500 square metres of effective disposal area and there are no physical constraints to sewage disposal, an on-site system designed in accordance with NZ Standard 1547 should be suitable. A Building Consent will be required giving approval of design and location. The work will have to be supervised by a registered drain layer.
• If you have a section which is less than 2500 square metres or there are constraints on where on the site disposal can occur, then a higher standard of effluent and a certified design meeting a different Regional Rule will be required. Designs and options available will depend on the site constraints. The Environmental Health Officer can give advice on the choices available to you and may provide the necessary certification.

You found it! Great Hunting! 

How to collect your card?

1. Head down to the Ōtorohanga, Kāwhia or Waitomo Library
2. Let them know where you found this card
3. Collect it from one of the friendly staff

Keep collecting them all.

You can return items to either Ōtorohanga or Kāwhia Libraries 24 hours a day (via the returns slots when the libraries are closed).

You can renew most items twice, provided they are not on hold for someone else.

• Phone 07 873 7175
• Email [email protected]
• Go to www.otorohanga.kotui.org.nz. and log into ‘My Account’ 
• Ask at the library

There is no charge for renewing an item, but any rental charges that applied when you first borrowed it will apply on renewal, as will any overdue charges if you renew the item after the due date.

If you have an email address we will send a pre-alert message three days before the item is due. We will either post or email a notice after an item is due.

Most items can be borrowed free of charge. Recent releases, new magazines and DVDs incur charges. In addition, there may be charges for items that are returned late.

You can have up to 50 items out at once.

• Books (except for recent releases and new magazines) - 3 weeks
• Recent releases and new magazines - 2 weeks (no renewals)
• DVD’s - 1 week
• eBook & eAudio - 3 weeks

Just take your card and the items you want to borrow to the issues desk at any library. A receipt will be printed with the due date/s printed on it. This can also be emailed to you if you request this at the time of issuing.

Water invoices are sent out quarterly.

If it is the Council water supply and you have health concerns, please contact the Environmental Health Officer at Council. If you have other concerns, such as supply, pressure etc contact the Council's Services Engineers. Council can provide a list of certified water testing agencies who can assess the quality of your water supply.

It is an offence under the Health Act and Building Act to let a house without a potable water supply. This means a safe water supply, one which is not exposed to the risk of contamination by bacteria or chemicals. Make sure the owner has been notified and discuss with them. The Environmental Health Officer can visit, assess the situation and take the necessary action.

Each notification shows which of your saved places it relates to, by displaying the places' nickname at the top left.

Yes, each Antenno post has a small icon in either the bottom or top right of the screen with a speech bubble and cog. Selecting this icon will show you the topic and present you with various options for opting out.

If there hasn't been any incidents or information relevant to your saved places you won't be sent any notifications. Don't worry – Antenno will let you know when something happens.

Your friend will have loaded the address for your sports ground into Antenno as a 'place of interest'. The only way to make notifications specific and useful is for user to enter the addresses places they are interested in hearing about into the app.

Because Antenno notifications are location specific, it can be tricky for Council to know how far to "cast the net" in terms of pushing out notifications. In cases like this, we could send a notification to all Ōtorohanga app users, but it would only be relevant to some. In these circumstances we would use Antenno alongside our traditional methods of communication such as digital road signs and advertising.

Yes.

Read the Antenno Privacy Policy.

The app requires either a wifi connection or mobile data to receive notifications. If you are somewhere without wifi and don't have your mobile data on, you won't receive new posts until you are connected again.

There are currently a couple of interaction options for any post you receive via Antenno. If you want to let us know that the post was useful you can 'Thank' us using the thumbs-up icon.

If you want to let a friend, who doesn't have the app, know about an Antenno post you can 'Share' it with them. There are multiple ways to share a post including text message, email and social media.

Future enhancements to Antenno will provide even more options for interacting with Ōtorohanga District Council.

The app uses Google as the source for its address data. This means that when Google Maps is updated with a newly created property address, the address will appear in Antenno. Antenno works by sending notifications to whichever parts of the city are relevant for that particular information, so an interim measure can be to find the nearest address that does appear in Antenno (or even a street name rather than a specific address, although if doing this we recommend you choose a short street). We suggest this because generally nearby addresses will receive the same notification.

You need to call 07 873 4000

Private property, neighbours other than Noise Control

Selling from a vehicle is subject to a licence - under the Hawker and Mobile Shop Bylaw - two testimonials/referees as to character will be required. The sale of food will require compliance with the Food Hygiene Regulations, in the same way as any other food business.