KEY POINTS:
Extra payments are being made to some neighbours affected by increased shading from the Eden Park redevelopment, but not to others.
Eden Park redevelopment board chief executive Adam Feeley yesterday said a handful of the worst-affected neighbours had received more money than provided for in the shading compensation deal.
He refused to say what the extra cash was for or why the board was excluding other property-owners from receiving it.
Four of the five property owners believed to qualify for the extra have signed confidentiality agreements.
Eden Park Neighbours' Association president Mark Donnelly said he understood the increase was from $5000 to about $15,000.
This has angered some neighbours in the next band down, who have been told by the board that their compensation is capped at $3500.
In a letter to those neighbours on August 18, Mr Feeley said: "Shading is the only matter on which the redevelopment board is required to provide mitigation offers."
Lambert Hoogeveen, whose home in Reimers Ave will lose an hour of morning sun each day in May, June and July and half an hour in August from the new south stand, said $3500 was woefully little in view of inflation and the stand's 50-year lifespan.
The money was meant for insulation and thermal curtains.
"To rub salt into the wound they have made ex gratia payments [to other residents] based on special circumstances, but what those special circumstances are they won't tell us."
Another Reimers Ave resident, who did not want to be named, said it was frustrating to know some were getting three times the compensation, and wanted payments to be relative.
"According to [the shading report] I get more shading from the park over the course of a year, but just because of one month I don't reach the particular threshold. It's just so mickey mouse."
Some residents have raised their concerns with the MP for Mt Albert, Prime Minister Helen Clark.
A spokeswoman for Helen Clark said the electorate office had raised the issue with Rugby World Cup Minister Clayton Cosgrove and been told a process was being developed to resolve differences between residents and the board over shading issues.
Mr Feeley was cagey about the extra payments, which he said arose after the most affected neighbours suggested a different proposal.
The board took legal and planning advice and agreed.
Most neighbours in the next level down were happy with their compensation packages and had accepted, he said.
Mr Feeley said the extra money was unrelated to the effects assessed in the shading report, but refused to discuss details of the settlement.
Asked why the board was giving public money to residents for reasons unrelated to shading compensation, Mr Feeley said: "I'm refusing to account to you [the Herald] for it."
The $123,000 in compensation has come from the $240.5 million budget for redeveloping Eden Park.
This is largely funded with public money, including $190 million from the Government and $10 million from the Auckland Regional Council.
Mr Donnelly said the board was pitting neighbour against neighbour and refusing to budge.
It should have a process that was fair to all people.
