Tauranga City Council chief executive Marty Grenfell. Photo / File
Tauranga City Council chief executive Marty Grenfell. Photo / File
Tauranga City Council is considering putting a busy bus interchange in Farm St, near the Bayfair mall in Arataki. The proposal has stirred up discontent among residents of Farm St and the surrounding areas about the impact on traffic volumes.
One resident has mounted a long-running protest against theplan, publicly accusing council staff of lying - an allegation the council strongly refutes. This week the clash stepped up a notch after a phone exchange prompted the man to go to the police and the council to launch an independent investigation.
Tauranga City Council is opening an independent investigation into a claim its chief executive Marty Grenfell made "threatening" comments in a phone call to a community member.
Mayor Greg Brownless has agreed to launch an investigation into complaints Farm Street Association chairman Jon Jenner has made against Grenfell and four other council staff members.
Jenner said Grenfell called him on Tuesday night after he gave a presentation at a council meeting about his opposition to the Farm St bus interchange proposal.
Jenner claimed Grenfell shouted and swore, was "intimidating and threatening" and told him, "you have made the bear come out and the bear is going to get you".
Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless. Photo / File
The pair arranged to meet and discuss the issues further.
The next day Jenner made a statement to the police about the call. He said he did not record the call.
He emailed Brownless on Thursday with his description of the call and said he did not want to meet Grenfell alone.
Brownless replied on Friday and said he would engage consultant Campbell Gourlay to run an independent investigation into Jenner's complaint against Grenfell and against other staff members.
It would not be appropriate for Grenfell to meet Jenner until the investigation was done, Brownless said.
Grenfell is a former high-ranking police officer who served as Area Commander for Wellington for several years before moving into local government.
He joined Tauranga City Council in September.
Jenner is a driving instructor and Arataki resident who has long opposed the council's considerations into locating a bus interchange in Farm St.
Jenner spoke in the public forum of Tuesday's live-streamed council Projects, Services and Operations Committee meeting.
He accusing council staff of lying, misleading councillors and making traffic volumes on the street worse.
