Councillors spent more than seven hours debating Mayor Andy Foster's proposed Long Term Plan after he publicly announced it one week ago. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Councillors spent more than seven hours debating Mayor Andy Foster's proposed Long Term Plan after he publicly announced it one week ago. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Auditor-General has decided not to investigate concerns raised with his office regarding a last-minute proposal to sell part of Wellington's Central Library building.
In a letter penned last month, Labour ticket councillor Fleur Fitzsimons argued recent decision-making over the building wasn't consistent with the Local Government Act or in line with good governance.
She also requested governance training for elected members and the council's senior leadership team.
But Auditor-General John Ryan replied to Fitzsimons today saying he did not plan to investigate the matter further.
Wellington City councillor Fleur Fitzsimons: "It was clear that some councillors did not understand the implications of what was being proposed." Photo / Mark Mitchell
He said it was not generally the role of his office to determine if a council has complied with its legal obligations.
Ryan noted an independent review into the council's governance was announced by Mayor Andy Foster last week.
"We are interested in the outcome of that review and understanding what lessons the Council draws from it. At that point, we could consider whether it is appropriate for us to provide further governance training to the Council."
The decision comes after a chaotic seven-hour-long meeting when councillors thrashed out Foster's draft 10-year budget.
Despite publicly announcing his budget just one week beforehand, Foster came to the table with several eleventh-hour changes, including partnering with the private sector to reopen the library.
Councillors went on to vote in favour of the move, 9-6, which means a joint ownership or leasing model will be further investigated and put forward as preferred options in future public consultation documents.
But since then, two of them have had a change of heart.
The library has been closed for two years due to seismic concerns and will cost up to $179 million to strengthen.
Fitzsimons wrote to the Auditor-General's office saying the resolution made by the council's Long Term Plan Committee was "irregular".
Councillors were not provided with the mayor's proposed resolution ahead of time, instead just a "difficult to comprehend email" at 9pm on the Tuesday before the budget meeting, Fitzsimons said.
Wellington Central Library has been closed for two years due to seismic concerns and will cost up to $179 million to strengthen. Photo / Georgina Campbell
"It was clear that some councillors did not understand the implications of what was being proposed and raised concerns that the approach from the mayor went against the principles of good governance."
She said the resolution directly contradicted a previous decision made by a full council meeting last year that any further investigations into the library would be undertaken while maintaining council ownership of the building.
"The entire approach goes against the previous decision of the council, is unclear, has not been subject to scrutiny, financial analysis, or risk analysis and need to be investigated and resolved," Fitzsimons told the Auditor-General.
In his decision, Ryan said it was generally good practice to ensure that clear information was provided to decision-makers to enable them to make the best decisions in each situation.
"However, we also recognise that the deliberations about matters that should or should not be included in a Long Term Plan are dynamic and it is relatively common for last-minute adjustments to recommendations to be made."
He noted any final decision on the Long Term Plan would not be made until after the council has received and considered feedback from public consultation.
Fitzsimons said she was thankful to the Auditor-General for the care and attention taken over her concerns.
"The issues raised with him have largely been resolved now given the recent indications from councillors Nicola Young and Laurie Foon that they do not support privatising the library building."
