The requirement for members of the public to provide a valid My Vaccine Pass upon entering certain Taupō District Council facilities – Including the Superloo and AC Baths has been scrapped.
As of today, the rules are being relaxed across several council venues. The requirement for vaccine passes was introduced at council offices, facilities and venues in December last year.
Taupō District Council chief executive Gareth Green said “Excluding anyone from our public facilities is certainly not something that anyone has enjoyed doing.”
Council management made a commitment to councillors that this decision would be continually reviewed in light of the fast-moving nature of Covid-19, and these reviews have now shown that a change in approach can safely be implemented.
“At the time, there were a number of factors that led to the introduction of My Vaccine Pass, and we wanted to do our utmost to help reduce the risks of spreading the Delta variant, which was the focus at the time.
“Of course, the situation continues to rapidly evolve and we are now dealing with a completely different scenario since that decision. Vaccination rates are up across our district, children’s vaccinations have become available, Omicron is now the dominant variant, and the country has now fully transitioned away from an elimination strategy, as we all learn to live with Covid-19 in our community.”
“We believe [the] timing is now right, with council having a range of tools in place including RATs and isolation requirements, that help us with quick testing and reducing transmission as well”
The relaxing of vaccine pass requirements means that all members of the public are able to access the following council facilities regardless of vaccination status.
- Taupō District libraries (Taupō, Turangi and Mangakino)
- The Superloo
- Taupō Museum
- Great Lake Centre
- AC Baths swimming pools
- Turtle Pools, Turangi
- Owen Delany Park
- All council offices
With New Zealand still being in the Red Light setting the need for vaccine passes will continue in some venues. This is partly due to capacity numbers and other factors around staffing and central government guidelines within the Red traffic light setting.
Venues that will continue with the use of Vaccine passes include, Taupō Events Centre and function rooms, Fitness Studio and The Rockwall.
Taupō District Mayor David Trewavas thanked the chief executive and staff for their work in reviewing the vaccine pass requirements and continuing to keep our community and the organisation safe.
“This is such a fast-paced environment and I take my hat off to the team for their work since December to help us get through the busy summer period. I am very pleased to be able to get to this position, where we can safely open our venues up across our district.”
To ensure the community has had access to its democratic and essential services, Taupō District Council has always kept the customer service centres, council chamber, landfill and transfer stations open to both vaccinated and unvaccinated.
The changes to vaccine pass requirements at selected Taupō District Council facilities are effective as of Monday, 14 March 2022.
