City CEO calls in Audit NZ

Hamilton City Council chief executive Richard Briggs has called in Audit New Zealand over his dealings with two city developers.

Briggs came under flak after revelations he had private discussions with property developers Leonard Gardner and Matt Stark around the council’s vision for the south end of Victoria Street.

The discussion focused on the council’s interest in purchasing properties along the eastern stretch of Victoria St, between Embassy Park and Victoria on the River.

Following the discussion, Gardner and Stark went on to form company VOTR 2 WRT Ltd, with the intent to purchase properties along the site council had expressed interest in.

Briggs said he believed no-one had done anything wrong.

‘‘It’s for [Audit NZ] to review the process and make sure [that] if it ever happens again, that there is a set approach to dealing with it,’’ he said.

‘‘What we’ve done previously is that there would be a plan in place first – so council would adopt a plan to do X, Y and Z – and from that, the chief executive would be given delegated authority to go and effect that plan.

‘‘But this time, it was more of an information gathering exercise – council just wanted to know whether or not the owners were willing to do the work before they went off and devised a plan.’’

Briggs acknowledged that the situation may have tarnished the council’s reputation.

‘‘The recommendation I would like to see from this is for council to form some formal strategy before we engage with business owners about the willingness to sell or not – because I was unable to sell them anything.’’

Gardner and Stark earlier defended their actions saying they’re not a looking to make a profit.

Gardner bought properties next to the proposed $73 million theatre site on the corner of Victoria St and Sapper Moore-Jones Place. ‘‘I’ve made an offer to the council for them to purchase my properties with no intentions of making any profit. This is not a money-making venture, it’s about supporting the theatre development by lifting the properties around it.’’

Briggs said after he spoke with Gardner and Stark in September, he saw no point in having the same discussions with other building owners as he wasn’t sure whether the developers had the same vision.

‘‘I’ve sat back in watching the developers have a discussion about their vision and approaching property owners and I’ve been questioned as to whether that was the best thing to do – but I had no choice but to sit back.

‘‘I had no authority to go off . . . I would have muddied up the environment, or potentially created a bidding war whereby people actually thought council was intending to buy the property.’’

Briggs said part of getting Audit NZ to investigate was to give some comfort to the community. He spoke with the audit director yesterday and will meet with Audit NZ in the next few days.