Move to registers unlikely
District councils in the wider Manawatu¯ are unlikely to follow Palmerston North’s lead and create registers of behind-closeddoors decisions, after the Toyota secret grant saga.
The first tranche of confidential Palmerston North City Council’s decisions were revealed in February when Mayor Grant Smith called for a register after copping criticism for the secrecy surrounding a $391,000 grant to Toyota New Zealand in 2017.
Smith promised a better system of keeping ratepayers informed about decisions made in private.
Although the Horowhenua District Council hasn’t ruled out creating a register, district councils in Rangitı¯kei, Tararua and Manawatu¯ are not likely to follow suit.
Horowhenua chief executive David Clapperton said a debate would need to be had between councillors, but he was open to ‘‘having the conversation’’.
The council published all its private decisions, but kept them behind closed doors while negotiating contracts or selecting scholarships to keep sensitive information private.
In those instances, decisions would be revealed when the tender was let and a scholarship awarded.
‘‘A [register] could be a useful thing for us to have,’’ Clapperton said.
‘‘We haven’t discussed it, but I can’t see why it’s not something that we can look at.’’
Rangitı¯kei chief executive Ross Mcneil said there was no need for a register as all publicexcluded items were made public by the council.
Sometimes it was a matter of timing, he said. For example, the council’s contract with W&W Construction for building a $5.2 million community centre in Bulls was released at its meeting in February, despite the contract being awarded last year.
‘‘The vast majority of publicexcluded items, and we don’t have many of them, relate to tenders, where all of the prices received and the evaluation of tenders is covered in the report. But only the accepted contractor and price is made public.’’
Tararua chief executive Blair King said officials tried to make private decisions public in the minutes of each meeting.
Manawatu¯ District Council also considers a register redundant, with protocols already in place to ensure all decisions become public record.