COVID-19 information
As we return to Alert Level 2, our office will reopen at 8am on Thursday 9 September. On this page, we’ll keep you updated on what that means for our services but if you have any questions that aren’t answered, please give us a call.
Alert Level 2 – What does this mean for our services?
Our office is open to the public, with some restrictions in place. We will have some staff who are working from home, but all our services continue to be available. We encourage you, where possible, to use alternative ways to contact us:
- call us on 0800 76 88 45
- use our online form on the contact us page
- email us on service@es.govt.nz
- follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/environmentsouthland.
If you need to make a payment, those services will be available at the office but with hygiene measures in place. We will have hand sanitising stations and physical distancing protocols. Visitors are required to wear a face covering and scan in using the Covid tracer app. If you are unable to scan in, we will collect the necessary contact tracing information. You can be assured that this data will be treated with the same privacy measures as any other information we collect. Our priority is to keep visitors and staff safe, so please do not come to our office if you are unwell.
Making an appointment
If you wish to see somebody in person, you will need to phone to make an appointment. This is important as not all staff will be back on site and suitable rooms for meetings where physical distancing can be maintained are limited. We can provide digital options for meetings, but if you do need to come to the office, we will make an appointment and go through the necessary information with you. If you are at all unwell on the day of this appointment, please phone and cancel.
Our staff out and about
You may continue to see our staff out in the community. We’re making sure we adhere to Ministry of Health guidelines and our priority is to keep you and our staff safe, so if see them on your travels please keep the two metre distance – but you can still give a friendly wave.
In level two our compliance monitoring programme is continuing but with precautions in place. Our staff will make contact with consent holders to check if there are vulnerable persons on the property and to ensure there are no concerns about our staff coming on site.
Council meetings
Council meetings will be livestreamed and are available on our Facebook page and website. For updated information about our council meetings please visit the meetings page.
Further information
- For official information around COVID-19, visit the government’s dedicated website www.covid19.govt.nz
- You can also visit the Ministry of Health website for detailed health information.
- For information on other councils in the region and their planning for COVID-19, visit the websites of the Gore District Council, Invercargill City Council, or Southland District Council.
