COVID-19 at Orange

All of NZ is Orange under the Traffic Light system.

At Orange, you can continue to do everyday activities, but we need to protect our vulnerable communities.
You must wear a face mask in many indoor locations. You do not need to wear a face mask outdoors.
You can visit cafes and bars, attend gatherings and events, and go to the hairdresser and gym. There are no capacity limits or distancing requirements at venues.
Workplaces and schools can open.
To protect yourself, your whānau and your community, keep up healthy habits.

For more information about Covid-19 in the Orange Setting go to Life at Orange | Unite against COVID-19 (covid19.govt.nz)

Possible Disruptions to Council Services Due to Omicron

Kia ora koutou,

Over the past few weeks, we have been making preparations so we can keep operating our services as best we can under the government's COVID-19 traffic light system.

However, due to the ongoing spread of the omicron variant, it's possible that some of our services will be disrupted if our staff become unwell or need to isolate - our Aquatics facilities being a recent example.

We want to give you a heads up about some of the changes you might experience. Some of these may happen at short notice, but keep updated here, on our website, on our Facebook page or download our Antenno app.

If council facilities or services are impacted by staff becoming unwell or needing to isolate, this may result in:

• Temporary closure of one or more of our facilities (note: we will contact you if you have made a booking)

• Longer than usual call centre wait times

• Changes to services such as rubbish and recycling kerbside collection

• Delays in processing services such as consents, inspections and licensing

Thank you in advance for your patience and kindness towards our staff as they work hard to continue providing services in challenging circumstances.

Ngā mihi

Waid Crockett

CE South Taranaki District Council

Current Changes to Services or Facilities

AA Services at i-SITE information centre

Due to Covid-19 related staffing shortages the AA services offered at our i-SITE information centre in Hāwera will not be available on Thursday 21 or Friday 22 April.

Kerbside waste collection services

We're asking residents to hold onto their glass recycling next week to help free up drivers for the district's kerbside collection service.

Due to Covid-19 related staff shortages, and with limited drivers available, the Council’s kerbside rubbish and recycling contractors are struggling to get around all their routes in their usual time frames.

We’re asking residents to please leave their rubbish/recycling/greenwaste bins out on the kerbside if they haven’t been emptied on their usual day and they will be emptied the following day.

In an effort to free up drivers, next week (from Monday 25 April to Saturday 30 April) we won’t be collecting the glass (blue crates) for recycling, but we expect that we will be able to resume collecting the glass the following week.

Residents can also take their glass for recycling to any of the district’s transfer stations for no charge.

LibraryPlus Facilities

In-facility events and programmes have been cancelled, however we will continue to provide outreach programmes in schools and other venues.

Our LibraryPlus will continue to offer a contactless Click and Collect service, and (from 7 March) we are also starting a home delivery service for those who can’t come into a LibraryPlus. This free service will be available within town limits in Hāwera, Kaponga, Eltham, Ōpunakē, Manaia, Pātea and Waverley to people with children under 5 years, those who are isolating or at high risk, and people over 65.

You can read all about the new services here.

Libraries Temporarily Closing on Saturday Mornings

Due to the increasing number of Omicron cases and number of staff having to isolate our LibraryPlus facilities will (temporarily) not open on Saturday mornings in Hāwera, Eltham, Ōpunakē, Pātea and Waverley – effective immediately. We will resume Saturday mornings as soon as practical.

You can read more about this here.