Tauranga City Council staff are withholding from media photographs of properties rangers say are encroaching on public land.
The photos were presented during the open section of the council's monitoring committee on Monday. Though they have been released in the public domain through this act, council staff are claiming privacy issues prevent them from giving copies to media.

File picture.

In an email to SunLive, council communications manager Elizabeth Hughes says it is her decision not to release the photographs because it would be a breach of trust to do so.
SunLive is pursuing the release of the pictures through the Local Government Information and Meetings Act 1987.
Tauranga City Council is required to reply to the request in 20 working days.