Council’s away day costs $23,000

Wellington City Council forked out almost $12,000 for a guest speaker from Australia and an out-of-town facilitator for its recent away day.

Documents obtained under the Official Information Act show the council spent almost $23,000 on the away day, held at Silverstream Retreat on November 5 and 6.

That included almost $6300 to bring over guest speaker Tim Williams from Australia, and more than $5500 for a facilitator from Auckland.

Another $10,113 was spent on venue costs such as equipment hire, accommodation, and catering for the 15 councillors and 15 council staff.

Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons said the event cost too much and the decision to recruit an external facilitator was unnecessary.

‘‘It is surprising the council contracted and flew someone from Auckland to facilitate the meeting.

‘‘He was clearly a skilled facilitator but the council has many staff adept at doing this role.’’

Mayor Andy Foster said the away day was not excessive and was important for building a cohesive council.

Celia Wade-Brown, mayor from 2010 to 2016, scrapped the away days when she was elected and subsequently led two councils that ‘‘did not work well at all’’, Foster said.

‘‘I am not saying it would have been all fine had she held them but there is certainly a significant benefit in doing that.’’

All councillors had been in favour of the away days being reinstated when former mayor

Justin Lester was elected in 2016, Foster said.

‘‘It is a reflection of experience that when you do it, it helps the council to function better than when you don’t do it.’’

Guest speakers

Williams, cities leader for Australasia at London-based professional services firm Arup, was paid $4848 for his speaking services (including separate discussions with councillors and council staff), $761 for return flights, and $688 for accommodation costs.

Other guest speakers were Therese Arseneau, chairperson of Regenerate Christchurch, and former deputy prime minister Sir Michael Cullen.

Both spoke for free, but Arseneau was reimbursed $307 for a one-way flight and $359 for a night’s accommodation, while

Cullen was paid $166 for return flights.

Out-of-town facilitator

The council spent $5508 for Leigh Auton, director at Auton and Associates, to facilitate the event. The council paid Auton $4450 for his services, $456 for return flights from Auckland, $532 for two nights’ accommodation, and $70 for disbursements.

According to the council documents, Auton facilitated a team-building workshop with councillors and council staff outside of the away day.

‘‘His company, Auton and Associates, was established to provide leadership and direction in areas of governance, strategic thinking and environmental planning,’’ the documents said.

The council did use its own staff to organise the event, the documents showed.