Harington St transport hub - what was meant to be a car parking building and bicycle hub. Photo / NZME
Harington St transport hub - what was meant to be a car parking building and bicycle hub. Photo / NZME
Former Tauranga city councillors have not escaped criticism for their role in the failed CBD transport hub saga.
Tauranga City Council commissioners met yesterday to receive two reports into the Harington St transport hub project, which was abandoned part-built and with $19 million spent, last year.
Both the Auditor-General report and McHale Group report were critical of the council, raising several concerns including with its pre-qualification of contractors and its procurement policies and procedures.
At the meeting, commissioner chairwoman Anne Tolley went one further after a presentation from the council's legal and commercial manager Nick Swallow.
Swallow told commissioners the reports addressed several matters but not the cause of the issue and the "wider Harington transport hub fail", which was subject to ongoing litigation.
"It finds fault with the way the project was ultimately planned. For example, the business case process which is fairly well known... council did not have a business case for this project. Similarly, it did not have a procurement plan for the project as a whole. Rather the focus was on individual components.
Tauranga City Council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley says former councillors had a role to play in the demise of the failed Harington St transport hub. Photo / George Novak
"Harington transport hub was one of a number of key projects identified to reinvigorate the city but overall that one project ... warranted its own very specific planning, project governance. The Auditor-General focuses on whether the council had that balance right and in hindsight the council did not."
Swallow said there had been an overhaul of project processes which included the disestablishment of the council's Project Management Office and establishment of a new "more dedicated" division.
"There's a real message here to really focus on your business case. By and large, that's probably the critical message," he said.
Swallow said staff would report back to the commissioners in September with more of an update on what the council is doing "to prevent a repeat of an issue like this in the future".
Tolley told Swallow: "You were very kind that you didn't highlight the councillors themselves made decisions during the actual construction, changed their minds which would have made and procurement and business case difficult."
Tauranga City Council commissioner Stephen Selwood is pleased the council has made changes to prevent another transport hub failure from happening again. Photo George Novak
Commissioner Stephen Selwood said he was glad to see "that substantive change has taken put in place as a result of this review".
"Both reports are very clear there are significant indictments of our process. It is pleasing to see there were no ... issues raised in terms of behaviour and everything was done on an ethical basis .. but it did outline significant process gaps, particularly in documentation, conflict of interests, and then it's very clear ... of the fundamental failings of project governance.
"We certainly, as commissioners, do not want to be in the same position again. It's important that we learn from the mistakes of the past."
Selwood said it was imperative that the council took on board the reports' criticisms to ensure the right governance and procurement was in place.
This was particularly important in light of the $45m Futureproofing Cameron Rd project which was "particularly high profile, for the money spent on it and also the impact on the community", Selwood said.
Selwood made an amendment before commissioners accepted the reports, for a regular independent review of "council-procured process" to provide assurance the report's recommendations were being adhered to.
Project timeline
2015 Council approves proposal to build a carpark building on a site it owns in Harington St. There was no business case or overall procurement plan for the project.
March 2017 An architect and structural engineers are contracted.
July 2017 Council staff present four design options to elected members. Council approves Option 3, which had two basement levels and nine levels above ground. Estimated cost: $31.6m.
August 2017 Council revokes that decision and approves Option 1, which had two basement levels and seven levels above ground. Estimated cost: $27.1m.
June 2018 Construction begins.
September 2018 Elected members ask council staff to consider alternative uses for the site. Council seeks advice on the costs of terminating the main contract and is advised against it.
June 2020 Council decides to abandon construction after expert engineering advice informed them of serious seismic design issues with the building. Cost to date: $19m.
March 2021 The council decided not to demolish the building and sold the site to the lead contractor for $1.
