Craig Cooper: Lack of info and flip-flops: Let's learn from this

Craig Cooper at yesterday's Whangarei District Council meeting. Photo/Michael Cunningham

I - like Cr Phil Halse - believe in having as much information as you can get in front of you before you make a decision.

In explaining why he has changed his mind on the project in the past eight months, Cr Halse - who turned up yesterday with what he described as "total" anti-HAC support from his ward - said he had demanded important information on the project from council staff, and couldn't get it.

I was surprised.

A) That our local body politicians have no power to access important information and b) for a project that has been kicking around for 21 years, how much time do you bloody need?

Making a definitive Yes or No decision without all the information doesn't seem smart to me.

But that was the corner Whangarei had somehow painted itself into yesterday.

Cr Halse isn't the only councillor to change his mind on the project.

The giant jandal for Flip-flop of the Year goes to Councillor Brian "Butch" McLachlan, who told a radio journalist he supported the HAC.

Hours later - to incredulous looks in the public gallery - he stated he had only made his mind up the previous night and he was against it.

Cr McLachlan sat down, the corners of the mouths of the "No" team went up - they'd won.

And there you go, democracy in action, Whangarei style.

Elsewhere, there were no great surprises.

The arguments for and against, we'd heard them before.

And so the grave has been dug, there's one more part of the process needed - to extract it from the long term plan - and then HAC's limp body can be interred.

Hopefully there won't be muffled screams it was buried alive and should be dug up.

The NO faction should celebrate, the YES faction are entitled to grieve for a day or three, and it's time to move on.

Hopefully with more communication, direction and political leadership than the HAC fiasco has offered.