Councillor sees ‘shady’ planning

Press, 29 October 1977, Page 25

Councillor sees ‘shady’ planning

The Heathcote County Council will examine the use of consultants in town planning to see if it is possible to ensure that development functions do not conflict with those of planning. Councillor R. H. T. Thompson presented a report to the council on Thursday evening which said that he “inclined to the view that something shady had been going on.” He referred to a recent newspaper article, in which it was disclosed that the, council’s consultants and a subdivider’s consultants were the same firm and questions over the Chorley Place development then extended to the review of the district scheme. If many hours of journalistic investigation had failed, to turn up anything of sub-i stance, the general effect was, still to suggest “that some-: thing, still undefined, is: amiss.” “One has to accept that as long as the council is prevented from joining the: other Peninsula counties, and as long as the pressure to; absorb the county into the city continues, all sorts of dubious manoeuvres are to be expected,” said Cr Thompson. It was therefore necessary to get a prompt report from the consultants on the separation of planning and development within their firm to avoid a conflict between citizen and consultant roles in matters affecting the internal politics of a client council. “Two features of the reported events surrounding the recent election seem quite extraordinary,” Cr Thompson said. There was a letter from a partner of Davie. Love 11 -

r Smith, and Partners, who iwas on the development side, -printed in “The Press” of i September 15. In the past. ; the writer had supported (amalgamation with the city. The letter had been de- • signed to discredit one of rthe election candidates — a ; former chairman who was I opposed to amalgamation — !who, if the council had re- . mained otherwise unchanged, -would probably have become •the chairman of the new ! council. i “That the letter was written at all is remarkable. That sit was one of several moves ■designed to ensure that this 'candidate would not be -elected is more remarkable,” said Cr Thompson. ■ “But the fact that the firm was due to dediver the draft of the revised (district-planning scheme to •the new council shortly after rthe election makes the latter even more remarkable still.” t Cr Thompson said that the ; letter and its context had a link between the 1 review and the question of lamalgamation with the city. > A second “extraordinary ffeature” was that, in all the j columns of newspaper comrment, there had been no indication that “the obvious -lead offered by this letter” twas followed up or its im;plications considered. I The council will arrange an r early meeting with its consultants to discuss the matters raised by Cr Thompson, e The chairman (Mr J. M. t McKenzie) said that it was preferable to discuss the mat- - ter round the table, rather j than by letter. > “If not, it could become a r paper war. There are inevitably grey areas which, on i paper, could easily appear -black and white,” he said.