Deputy mayor denies Ecoworld allegations
Marlborough’s deputy mayor has denied claims she ever told Ecoworld Aquarium owner John Reuhman that the port would never end its lease.
A High Court hearing on a dispute about the Aquarium’s lease before Justice David Gendall continued this week.
Reuhman claims Ecoworld Aquarium & Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre was promised a renewed lease by its landlord, Port Marlborough. The port denies this and is seeking immediate possession of the land and building, and costs from Ecoworld for the removal of the animals and fit-out.
Deputy mayor Nadine Taylor gave evidence on Wednesday and said she understood Reuhman had made claims she told him Port Marlborough would never end its lease, because it was a significant tourism asset.
Port Marlborough was directly owned by the Marlborouglh District Council through its company MDC Holdings. Councillors did not have a say on the dayto-day operations of Port Marlborough.
Taylor said as a councillor of six years she had met hundreds of different constituents. She had met Reuhman, and said they often talked about general Picton business.
This included Reuhman’s aspirations to hold a night market beside Ecoworld, his desire for more lighting fixtures on the Picton foreshore and that he wanted CCTV put in around the Ecoworld vicinity.
But she said she did not recall ever making a statement about Ecoworld’s lease, the court heard.
Reuhman’s lawyer, Duncan Mackenzie, suggested to
Taylor that she had always been positive about Ecoworld – and perhaps because she had so many meetings with constituents it may be harder to recall the exact conversation.
‘‘I don’t recall the conversation that Mr Reuhman says we had,’’ Taylor said.
‘‘I’m not going to speculate, I can’t recall the conversation. In my role as councillor I am well aware of where my governance role starts and ends, so I would be surprised if I had given that reassurance.’’
Asked if she had spoken positively about Ecoworld in the past, Taylor said she was positive about Picton, and all of its