Hutt City Council has closed all Council-operated facilities at Alert Level 4. Level 4 businesses and services to continue

Following New Zealand moving to Alert Level 4 from 11.59pm last night Hutt City Council has closed all Council-owned facilities.

Council will continue to deliver the following services during Alert Level 4:

-water

-waste water

-street cleaning

-traffic management

-kerbside residential rubbish and green waste collection will continue

Residents are asked to hold onto their recycling for now. The Silverstream landfill is only open to account holders and the transfer station there is closed.

This alert level change means there will be no public access to our libraries and hubs, the Dowse Art Museum, Little Theatre and Petone Settlers Museum, recreation and sport centres including RICOH, Walter Nash and our swimming pools are closed. Artesian water taps are closed.

All parks will remain open, but playgrounds and outdoor exercise equipment will be closed. Anyone using the parks will need to stay two-metres away from those who are not part of their bubble.

While parking buildings are closed, council has made city wide parking free again.

Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell says that Council is ready to do what it can to help the community get through this lockdown and encourages people to follow official advice on how to beat the virus.

"Council has good systems in place to ensure the safety of our residents, and also alleviate some stress that people will be feeling with the Alert Level shift."

"Ultimately though, we need to do what’s necessary to get through this. This means following official advice by staying home and saving lives, wearing a mask when you’re out in public, scanning in at supermarkets, and socially distancing yourselves if necessary."

"We’ve done this before, and we can do this again. We know our elimination strategy is quick and effective, so let’s all stop the spread by going hard and going early."

People are urged to stay at home, other than for essential personal movement and doing essential work. And stay in your immediate household bubble.

Chief Executive Jo Miller says that services that can be provided online or remotely will be. This includes the contact centre operating as usual, some library services, building and resource consents processing, environmental health and animal control officers responding to urgent requests.

The rates payment due 20 August has been extended an extra fortnight to 3 September. People are encouraged to contact council on rates@huttcity.govt.nz if they are having difficulty paying their rates.

More information on Hutt City Council services and facilities at Alert Level 4 and information about rates support can be found here: www.huttcity.govt.nz/covid19

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