The Gore District Council has stopped planting five trees in the main street of Gore, after it broke its own rules at a council meeting on Tuesday.
The council has called an emergency meeting, which will be held on Wednesday, to consider the issue and in the meantime, has increased the area of fencing around each of the holes to take up three parks.
Gore man Peter Woods took legal action to stop five crab apple trees being planted in Main Street after the council breached its own standing orders while discussing a notice of motion about the trees.
Woods presented a petition to the council last month asking the council not to plant trees and to replace them with car parks to support local retailers. It was signed by 180 people, including some who had businesses in the area.
At a full council meeting on Tuesday, Cr Glenys Dickson tabled a notice of motion that the council should go ahead and plant the trees, because the holes that were there were costing the council $300 a day.
The council’s standing orders say: “A member must give notice to the chief executive at least five working days before the meeting at which it is proposed to consider the motion. The notice is to be signed by not less than one third of the members of the local authority, including vacancies.”
The notice of motion was only signed by Cr Dickson when it was tabled at the meeting.
Rachael Kelly/Stuff
Councillor Glenys Dickson at a Gore District Council meeting on Tuesday.
Woods said he was upset that the council did not follow its own rules, and wanted the resolution thrown out because of it.
”We did everything right with our petition, but they’ve broken their own rules so they can just do whatever they like,’’ he said.
”They need to listen to the people who took the time to sign the petition, and abide by their own rules, just like everyone else has to.’’
His lawyer sent a letter about the matter to interim chief executive Stephen Parry on Thursday afternoon.
The letter, which Stuff was sent a copy of, says Woods ‘’urges the council to immediately halt all activities in connection with the planting of the Crab-apple Trees in the Main Street of Gore because there appears to be a serious breach of the Council’s procedural steps under Standing Order 24.3.’’
The council stopped works at the site of the trees as soon as it received the legal letter.
In a statement, interim chief executive Stephen Parry said in light of the issues raised about the notice of motion, the council will not be undertaking any tree planting work in Main Street.
Rachael Kelly/Stuff
A hole where a tree could be on Gore’s Main Street. (File photo)
“Staff had hoped to resume work today after councillors, aware of the significant costs already incurred and being incurred daily, unanimously voted to plant the trees as soon as possible. However, this decision has been challenged on a matter of procedure, which the council must respect,’’ he said.
In the meantime, the council will continue to pay up to $300 a day until work on the sites is finished. The cost covers a daily audit of the sites, as required under the traffic management plan. This is standard for any work site that is not operational,’’ Parry said.
Acting mayor Keith Hovell has called an emergency meeting of the council for Wednesday at 3:30pm to consider the letter challenging the legitimacy of a council resolution regarding the planting of crab apple trees in Main Street Gore, passed at a meeting held on 31 October 2023, the statement says.
On Friday afternoon the council circulated a letter from parks and recreation manager Keith McRobie to Main St businesses saying Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency had instructed the council to extend the safety barriers around the holes to occupy three car parking spaces instead of two.
On Thursday, councillor Glenys Dickson admitted the council was ‘’technically, probably a bit relaxed about some of the standing orders,’’ but said ‘’because it was passed unanimously I don’t actually see that there was a problem’’.
Kavinda Herath/Stuff
Gore District Council interim chief executive Stephen Parry.
Dickson said the issue was ‘’mentioned’’ to her before the meeting, but she referred back to the original clause and thought she had met the obligations.
“It’s a bit pedantic really. If it had been something the councillors hadn’t approved of they would have mentioned it’’.
She said acting mayor Keith Hovell or Parry could have revoked the resolution passed at the earlier meeting, ‘’but the CEO allowed the report to continue’’.
When approached for comment on Thursday, Parry said: “councillors had the opportunity to reject the notice of motion on a procedural technicality if they wished, but they chose not to.
“The fact the motion was passed unanimously shows there was universal support amongst elected members,’’ he said.
The notice of motion was placed on the agenda and distributed last Thursday, giving elected members plenty of time to raise an objection, he said.
A Department of Internal Affairs spokesperson said councils were accountable to their communities for their operational policies and decisions. This included the process for making decisions.
“The Department expects that all councils would comply with the law,’’ the spokesperson said.
“If a resident believes that a council has breached the law, they should take this up with the Council in the first instance. If they remain unsatisfied, residents may then contact the Ombudsman who may determine whether to investigate the claim’’.
