Council’s ‘secrecy’ criticised

Members of the public addressing their own elected councillors felt like they were doing so ‘‘halfdressed'' and ‘‘with their hands tied behind their back''.

Thames-Coromandel District Council was confronted with accusations on Tuesday that their proposals to revoke the reserve status of pieces of land at two separate locations, and then sell the land, had been shrouded in secrecy.

Matthew Casey, on behalf of Richmond Villas, a lifestyle village in Thames, spoke to council to further submit against its proposal to revoke the reserve status of land in Queen St, and to sell that land to a third party.

Casey said that since 2016, the matter had been dealt with ‘‘pretty much in secret''.

He claimed that Richmond discovered council's intention to revoke the reserve status and ‘‘dispose of'' the land from a notice placed in the

in 2017.

Speaking to staff on Tuesday , Casey said council's property and facilities manager Jon Muston had prepared a report to be discussed with public excluded, and they were refused a copy of it.

‘‘I'm concerned about the secrecy that surrounds all of this,'' he said.

John McEnteer, on behalf on Nga¯ ti Tamatera¯ , shared the same sentiment. He spoke on council's proposal to revoke reserve status and sell land in Tapu, and said he was embarrassed to do so, due to the fact the process had left him ‘‘bereft of any factual information''.

Like Richmond, Nga¯ ti Tamatera¯ first learned of the proposal through a notice placed in the in 2019.

McEnteer said they didn't even know what council was proposing to do.

‘‘You might be going to sell it, you might be going to sell it for $1, you might be going to sell it for $30,000. Who knows?

Council moved on to reconfirm its ‘Ma¯ ori contribution to council decision-making policy', leading councillor Martin Rodley to ask whether the policy was fit for purpose, because following McEnteer's submission, that did not appear to be the case.

‘‘I think we should be taking this policy out for discussion and asking how it is working and having input into it, rather than saying: ‘We think it's OK,' '' he said.