Vested interest denied

Press, 16 January 1986, Page 7

Vested interest denied

The executive director of the new ratepayer protection committee denies any vested interest in his investigation of Christchurch City Council spending. Mr Roy Hughes says his interest is “purely that of a Christchurch ratepayer who wants to ensure we are not paying too much for too little.” The quick accusation from a City Councillor, Cr Alex Clark, that his interest was improper suggested that the council had something to hide, Mr Hughes

said. “In a democracy my professional activities should not preclude me from taking the same interest in civic affairs as any other citizen. The Christchurch City Council is one of the city’s biggest welfare spenders yet we do not expect Cr Clark to exclude himself from involvement in council affairs because he is employed by a welfare organisation (1.H.C.).” Mr Hughes is a public relations consultant and freelance journalist who

writes for the “New Zealand Times” and “Local Government” magazine. He acknowledged there could be some difficulty in remaining an impartial observer reporting on local body events because of his position with the committee. However, his editors were aware of his involvement in local government and quite happy, he said. Journalists were also bound by ethics to report accurately. , His involvement had been at the invitation of two rebel ratepayers, Messrs

Kim Pettengell and Donald Walker, Mr Hughes said. He was not self-appointed. They had approached him because of his specialist skills in the area. The Heathcote, Lyttelton, Riccarton and Paparua councils had approached him to act as consultant on their local government case for the same reason. The City Council had also employed public relations expertise to promote its local government case.