Auditor-General finds property purchase process sound

Christchurch City Council’s decision-making process to purchase five central city properties in July last year was sound and complied with the Local Government Act 2002, an inquiry by the Auditor-General has found.

The results of the Auditor-General’s inquiry were released today on the following website: www.oag.govt.nz.

Council Chief Executive Tony Marryatt says the Auditor-General Kevin Brady said that he considered the Council’s process for deciding to purchase the five properties complied with the decision-making principles set out in the Local Government Act 2002 and was consistent with the Council’s wide discretionary powers under the Act.

The Auditor-General carried out an inquiry into the Council’s decision-making process following high public interest in the Council’s decision in July 2008 to purchase five central city properties. The Auditor-General said that not all the concerns raised in submissions to his office were matters for the Auditor-General. He said that his office was not a general appeal authority or complaints agency that the community could turn to if it was unhappy with a decision competently reached by its local authority.

The inquiry did not consider whether it agreed with the Council’s decision or the reasons behind it, rather it considered the process the Council followed to make its decision.

“The Auditor-General said that the merits of the decision to purchase the five properties were a matter for the Council’s elected members. In this instance a majority of elected members decided that the Council should buy the five properties,” Tony Marryatt said.

Mr Marryatt said the Auditor-General acknowledged that the Council’s decision was made under time pressure, but that the Council considered the relevant facts, including its policy on determining significance and the consistency of buying the properties with existing Council strategies and plans, in particular its aspirations for city revitalisation and urban regeneration.

Mr Marryatt said that the Auditor-General included an Appendix to his finding which included a number of observations.

“We have taken on board the observations including the fact that we could have put more detail into the report to Council and also into the Council minutes and resolutions, so that any ambiguity was removed,” Mr Marryatt said.

The Council is now developing a Master Plan for the development of the five properties which will be presented to Council at a workshop in February and at a Council meeting the following month.