$800,000 compensation shunned by ARC

The Auckland Regional Council has decided not to seek compensation of $800,000 from the Government for land taken under the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

At a closed meeting, councillors voted by a one-vote majority last night against seeking money for land taken at Wenderholm Regional Park, even though the law allows for it.

This riled councillor Robyn Hughes, who called the sum a "gift to Labour".

She said ARC chairman Mike Lee had refused to give any leeway to "overburdened ratepayers".

"Yet when it comes to his mates in the Labour Government, he supports throwing away $800,000 which should rightly go to ratepayers."