Brian Rudman: Secret park sale to Coke - it's the unreal thing

Fisher Park in Carbine Rd, Mt Wellington, is not one of the jewels of Auckland City's park network.

Just 1.5ha and bordered on one side by an intimidating electrified fence topped with barbed-wire that the neighbouring Coca-Cola bottling plant presumably employs to ensure workers don't escape, it's not the most inviting recreation spot.

But for local residents and workers, it's the only one they have and they're fighting to keep it.

Ranged against them is the Auckland City Council, which has done a deal with Coca-Cola Amatil (New Zealand) to sell the park and adjacent legal road, The Oasis, to the fizzy-drink maker for an undisclosed sum.

Council bureaucrats have refused to release much of the background to the deal. But my understanding is it's outlined in a memorandum of understanding signed on August 30 in which Auckland City undertook to deliver up the park to Coca-Cola in return for the company promising, among other things, to desist from any further objections to the proposed Eastern Highway.

Signatories were then-Mayor John Banks and Auckland City chief executive Bryan Taylor, and for Coca-Cola, managing director George Adams and project manager Chris Lysaght.

An additional part of the memorandum was that Coca-Cola would endeavour to acquire a 2.9ha property, two or three kilometres away in Barrack Rd, as a swap for Fisher Park - which came as a great surprise to the owner of the Barrack Rd land, Erin Murphy.

The first he heard of any of this was more than a month later when Coke's Mr Lysaght contacted him wanting to buy his land "as part of their community support and development programme".

Mr Murphy told him the land was not for sale.

In submissions to a council hearing last week, Mr Murphy says that a few days later Auckland City's consultancy services manager, Peter Beckerleg, entered the picture, "insisting" on a meeting.

Mr Lysaght also turned up to this meeting, at which Mr Murphy first learned how his land was supposed to fit into the jigsaw.

He told last week's hearing that when he refused to play ball, "Mr Beckerleg stated that if we didn't take a reasonable attitude, the council would designate the land for the purpose that he required".

Last December 23, as the rest of us were distracted by pre-Christmas fever, a joint committee of councillors decided to plough on and gave approval "to commence the revocation of the reserve status over Fisher Park" in order to sell the property and road to Coca-Cola. By then, the plans for Barrack Rd seemed to have been abandoned.

Last week, councillors Vern Walsh, Glenda Fryer and Bill Christian heard public submissions as the first stage of the revocation of the park's protected status under the Reserves Act.

Among the objectors, either in written submissions or in person, were several residential and business neighbours, Mr Murphy and Noel Robinson, chairman of trustees of the Sir Woolf Fisher Trust, who said that selling to Coca-Cola "would be contrary to the purpose of the original gift by my uncle, the late Sir Woolf Fisher."

It will come as no surprise to any regular reader that I'm appalled at any plan to dispose of any reserve, however neglected it might be.

Surely workers from the surrounding factories and local residents have as much right to a bit of green space as those in leafy One Tree Hill and Mt Eden.

The backroom dealing that's gone on only reinforces my objections.

Mr Murphy, a savvy businessman, raised another objection when we were discussing the case yesterday.

Not only did he agree that selling the only little reserve in the whole area "stinks", so does the process of selling it at an undisclosed price in secret.

"If there is a valid reason for selling the land, it should be sold for the best offer.

"How do we know Coca-Cola is making the highest offer? We don't. Why shouldn't I be allowed to have a crack at the land, too?"

The subcommittee has to report back to the Arts, Culture and Recreation Committee. I can't imagine they'll let this go any further.

Backroom land deal conceived on ill-fated highway

Last April, Coca-Cola and Mayor John Banks had a public slanging match after it was announced the "preferred" route of the controversial eastern highway went through Coke's Waipuna Rd frontage.

Managing director George Adams wrote to Auckland city councillors warning the proposed route could cost his company more than $13 million and if the issue couldn't be resolved, Coca-Cola would need to oppose the proposed motorway alignment "by all means at our disposal".

He suggested a possible solution could be the reconfiguration of "adjacent park assets," but when questioned, would not confirm he meant neighbouring Fisher Park.

Mr Banks' initial response was to say he would not be intimidated by threats, but a day later he was claiming to have had a friendly discussion with Mr Adams. After that, nothing.

It is understood a secret deal was later struck in which Auckland City promised to sell Fisher Park, if it could, to Coke and in return Coke pledged to hold its tongue over any objections it might have to the highway.