Farmer throws $50 notes at regional council CEO after heated meeting

A Central Hawke's Bay farmer threw two $50 notes towards the chief executive of Hawke's Bay Regional Council after a heated meeting over unpaid dam fees.

Water Holdings Hawke's Bay's largest shareholder Tim Gilbertson took issue with a suggestion during Wednesday's meeting that the company owed an $82 invoice and therefore couldn't be trusted to repay fees to the council in future.

Gilbertson threw the money so that it floated onto CEO James Palmer's table as he said: "James, I don't believe we owe you $80, but here is the 80 bucks, keep the change, from Water Holdings."

The outburst followed a victory for Gilbertson and Water Holdings Hawke's Bay after the council decided to defer the collection of annual charges it owes.

Gilbertson explained that, despite his words and actions being directed towards Palmer at the time, they were actually intended for Councillor Rick Barker, who had raised the issue of the alleged invoice.

"I was a bit confused and angry," Gilbertson said.

"It was purely aimed at Rick Barker. I feel a bit sorry for James, because I think he has a very difficult job having to try and sort out the water problems in Hawke's Bay, but dealing with the political side."

Barker said what he said about the $82 invoice was a misstatement after he incorrectly read out some figures he had written down.

"It's one of those consequences you get from not having a pre-typed essay to read out," Barker said.

It was a tense Wednesday meeting, with a 5-4 decision at the end of it, set against the backdrop of a renewed push for a new version of the Ruataniwha Dam in Hawke's Bay.

The Supreme Court found in 2017 that the Minister of Conservation acted illegally by trying to make 22ha of Ruahine Forest Park available for exchange to Hawke's Bay Regional Investment Company Ltd (HBRIC) for the $330 million dam project.

The regional council voted unanimously in 2017 to move on from the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme and focus its efforts on other priorities, but $20m of ratepayers' money had already been invested into the project.

Water Holdings Hawke's Bay is now pushing for a similar project under a new name, the Makaroro Storage Scheme, using the same consents it bought from the council.

But it currently owes just under $260,000 for yearly science charges on the consents.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council CEO James Palmer said the $100 had been credited to Water Holdings Hawke's Bay's outstanding account with the council. He declined to make further comment.

Councillor Neil Kirton called Gilbertson a "jerk" immediately after the incident, which was captured on a live video stream of the meeting.

"I am quite happy to own that one," Kirton told Hawke's Bay Today outside the meeting.

"It's a bit naughty of me, but I sat next to Tim while he was on regional council for three years, so I know Tim well."

RNZ approached Gilbertson for comment immediately after Wednesday's meeting but he said he was too upset to talk.

Water Holdings Hawke's Bay's largest shareholder and former regional councillor, Tim Gilbertson, fired up in a meeting on Wednesday over unpaid CHB water-storage scheme fees. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hugh Ritchie, a director of Water Holdings Hawke's Bay, said the company was accused in the meeting of not paying an $82 invoice, but he said there was no evidence, that he'd seen, that the invoice even existed.

"The alleged refusal to pay an $82 invoice was then rallied as a rationale as to why we were not trustworthy and why not to grant a deferral as requested," Ritchie said.

He said Gilbertson was a shareholder, but not a director of Water Holdings Hawke's Bay, and had made the decision to throw the money on his own.

The regional council first began investigations into the Ruataniwha dam in 2008 and it was originally intended as a long-term, sustainable water supply solution for Central Hawke's Bay.

But it's proved a divisive subject, even 15 years on.

Placards were strewn around the courtyard outside the Hawke's Bay Regional Council chambers on Wednesday.

The signs read: "Charity event, water barons in need", "No favour, no payment, no consent", and "No more ratepayers dollars for dodgy dam".

The $260,000 debt is for annual Section 36 freshwater science charges, which are intended to recoup 35 per cent of the cost of the council's monitoring and management of effects, or potential effects, of consents on the region's freshwater resources.

* This story was updated on September 6 after Gilbertson and Barker responded to HB Today queries.