Council to plan HWMAC

A Whangarei District councillor's attempt to keep council staff out of planning for the Hundertwasser Wairau Maori Arts Centre (HWMAC) has been voted down by fellow councillors.

Councillor Phil Halse said now that the public had voted yes to the project, the Whangarei Art Museum Trust (WAMT) and Prosper Northland Trust (PNT) should take charge of the promoting, marketing, fundraising, managing, building and operating side of things.

He said council group manager district living, Paul Dell, was already part of WAMT, which should be sufficient in terms of council's future involvement.

Nearly 14,000 people voted yes to Whangarei's former harbour board building being turned into an art complex inspired by the late Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

During an extraordinary council meeting last Thursday, there was a recommendation concerning council staff meeting with PNT to discuss future planning for the project. But Mr Halse said there was no need for council staff to get involved.

Councillors said it was difficult for the council not to stay connected with WAMT and PNT.

Cr Greg Martin said council needed to monitor the planning for the project. Regular updates on the time and money spent by council staff on the project should be made available.

Cr Crichton Christie said since the Hundertwasser building would be council-owned, staff should liaise with PNT and others involved in planning.

Liaison was no different to the council dealing with representatives from the Northland Event Centre.

Mayor Sheryl Mai said council would get involved in future planning of the arts centre through building and resource consent applications.