Wellington City Council

There's basically four sites.

Uh, the Wellington City Council, the mayor and the deputy mayor wrote to me and said, "Look, these provisions in our district plan, the heritage listings, we don't want them anymore." And 'bout, about 18 months or so ago, Parliament gave me the ability to reach into district plans to change them.

It's a bit of an easier process than going through a full plan change.

It's the provisions we use for the Eden Park restrictions, getting rid of the Sunday concert ban, all that sort of stuff.

Good afternoon.

Coming up in the show today, criminal charges against Wellington City Council have been laid over the Moa Point disaster, so finally we're getting some accountability being demanded.

Dave Rennie may have let slip today that there are two tests against the Box next year.

We'll have a chat to the NZR chair, David Kirk, after 5:00.

I've been holding on tight to a telephone line.

Living on a prayer.

Okay, so if you were wanting some accountability for the failings of a council, for example, you know, Wellington City Council and the Moa Point poo explosion into the southern coast of Wellington, you'll be pleased today to see criminal charges have been laid.

They've been laid against Wellington City Council and also the outfit now called Te Ākiwai, which is basically the water people, the new water people in Wellington.

you're back with The Huddle, Matt Ball and Phil O'Reilly.

Matt, I don't think this is the outcome that we want in Wellington City Council, do we? Them being charged over the sewage leak.

No, we don't want this.

Look, I did the numbers.

You've got to be the same for everybody, and that's a big part of... of the competitiveness of any country that state-owned organisations, or council-owned in this case, should be treated exactly the same before the law as private organisations.

Now, I doubt they'll be charged $100 million, but actually, if I was a shareholder in that company, and it was a private company, and they got fined, nothing to do with me as a shareholder, and yet it costs me.

That's the very point of what's going on, and so it's actually vital that Wellington City Council and Te Akiwai are treated just as they would be if they were water company limited.

Some guy owned in the US was doing the same thing.

She won't be locked up at home, covered in sackcloth and ashes, ruing and repenting.

Now we have the greater Wellington Regional Council filing charges against the Wellington City Council and Wellington Water for the catastrophic failure of the Moa Point Wastewater Plant, with the Wellington City Council and Wellington Water facing $100 million fines if the prosecutions are successful.

And in the same week, we have the CEO of Tauranga City Council, Maui Grenfell, resigning after the deadly landslide at Mount Maunganui.

A report found that the council had been warned repeatedly over many years that there was a risk of landslides to those staying at the Mount Maunganui Holiday Park at the base of the mount, and yet the reports were shelved, never read, didn't go to the right people, whatever.

Calls for reform in the sector include suggestions to align local government elections with future national parliamentary polls.

Greater Wellington Regional Council has launched a formal prosecution against Wellington City Council and water service provider Te Āki Wai, laying ten charges each over unlawful sewage discharges at the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant.

According to RNZ News, the charges follow an extensive investigation into raw sewage spills along the city's south coast and failures to comply with an abatement notice.

Both organizations face potential fines running into millions of dollars, with Wellington City Council confirming it is cooperating fully with the court process.

Some senior executive news out of the UK.

In Cornwall, the council chief executive, Kate Kennelly, is reportedly on sick leave and unlikely to return, according to council insiders speaking to the Local Government Democracy Service.

You know Moore Point, where they pumped all the billions and billions and billions of liters worth of, um, you know, Wellington's feces into the ocean? Wasn't a great look.

So the regulator, the environmental regulator, is Greater Wellington Regional Council, and they have charged under the RMA Wellington City Council and Te Ākiwai.

Now, Te Ākiwai is the new water entity, the one that everyone hates because they're sending the bills, and the bills are massive.

But it's part-owned now by, uh, Anita Baker.

Porirua's mayor is shocked by the amount of money tied up in a lawsuit over the Moa Point failure.

Greater Wellington Regional Council is suing water company Te Akiwai and the Wellington City Council over claims of illegal wastewater discharges.

Both organisations could face fines of up to $100 million each.

Anita Baker says it's a lot of money.