Fighting Talk

4/05/2006 12:00:00 a.m.

OPPONENTS of the proposed Marine Education Centre say a second hearing is illegal.

Save The Point Inc have mounted a legal challenge in the Environment Court after the commissioners voting on a Resource Consent for the Marine Education Centre were unable to reach a decision. The commissioners reached a stalemate of two for and two against the centre at that hearing.

Save The Point says by not reaching a majority decision, the original hearing declined the motion.

Nick Dryden, Save The Point deputy chairman, says the proposal for a new hearing panel and date to consider the application is unlawful.

"They (the commissioners) have in fact declined the application. They need to acknowledge that. If the chairman does not have a casting vote and they cannot agree, the motion has been declined," Dryden says.

Clause 24(2) of the 7th schedule to the Local Government Act 2002 states the chairperson presiding at a meeting in the case of an equality of votes does not have a casting vote and therefore the status quo is preserved.

If the Environment Court accepts the application has been declined there will be no need for another hearing and therefore no Marine Education Centre, Dryden says.

The second declaration that Save The Point have lodged in the Environment Court is that one of the commissioners, voting on the Marine Education Centre’s Resource Consent, Sally Baber, was biased and should be retrospectively voted off. This means the outcome of the Resource Consent hearing would change from two votes for and against, to one vote for and two against the development.

"The (Wellington City and Greater Wellington Regional) councils maintained that there was no bias. There only needs to be a suspicion of bias for a commissioner to excuse themselves. If a normal person would suspect there was a bias then the commissioner should be excused," Dryden says.

Baber was a Wellington City Councillor prior to being one of the commissioners hearing the Wellington Marine Conservation Trust’s application for Resource Consent for the Marine Education Centre.

Dryden is emphatic that a second Resource Consent hearing is ridiculous.

"It’s obvious that it has been declined. It seems so ridiculous to rehash this all again."

If Save The Point fail to win their legal challenge in the Environment Court they will have to participate in the second hearing at their own expense, which infuriates Dryden.

"We have already asked council to fund us, and their response is they were not going to be funding anybody."

The council has provided $555,000 of funding towards the Marine Education Centre, and the Wellington Marine Conservation Trust has also sought an interest free loan of $7 million from the council to be repaid over 25 years.

"It seems so unfair that a developer should be funded by the ratepayer. It is going to be very onerous on the community to raise funds."

Dryden says a date for Save The Point’s legal challenge in the Environment Court has not been set, but the group will also seek costs from the councils for the Environment Court appearance. Dawn Tratt

Cover Story

Best of Wellington 2011

Fringe Festival

Briefs

Plane direction
A new training academy will open in June to help fill a shortage of qualified air traffic controllers in the Middle East and Asia. Global-ATS, a privately owned UK-based academy, will operate from the Wellington School of Business and Government campus. The academy will open with three staff, up to 10 air traffic control students and 70 associated safety management course participants.
Here comes the sun
WELLINGTON city council is one of several New Zealand councils signing up for Solar Promise, a campaign launched last July by the Nelson Environment Centre. The scheme aims to take away barriers to using solar energy and make the technology more affordable. City Council is working with the Regional Council to develop a targeted rate for solar hot water systems, as well as setting up an online map to indicate levels of solar radiation across the city.
Parsons stays put
JULIAN Parsons says his bookstore Parsons Books and Music isn’t going anywhere, despite news that brother Roger’s Auckland Parsons store is closing its doors. Parsons opened in 1958 on Lambton Quay and is still on the same site today.
Bikes allowed
Bikes will soon be allowed on trains on the Johnsonville line at all times following a review by the Greater Wellington Regional Council. Councillor Daran Ponter says that the introduction of the new Matangi units on the line, scheduled for mid-March 2012, means that there will be greater capacity than currently provided by the English Electric units.
Carter clean and green
TEAM members at Carter Observatory have been recognised as keen greenies. Carter has won a Qualmark Enviro-Bronze Award for high standards in environmental practices including energy efficiency, waste management and water conservation. More than 700 businesses carry the Enviro Award mark.
Bowling for a market
MORE than 25 stalls will be waiting behind the fence at the 100 year old Hataitai Bowling Club at the suburb’s Community Market on Saturday. The stalls include sweet treats, produce, books and vintage clothing. The market runs the first Saturday of each month.
Hataitai Community Market, Bowling Club, 9am-1pm, February 4.
Iconic tour
THE second largest wooden building in the world graces Lambton Quay near the Cenotaph and it’s now open on Saturdays for free tours. The colonial-style Government Building features a Kauri-clad interior and cast iron fireplaces.
Government Building Open Day tours, 11am and 2pm, Saturdays, until March 31.
Get arty
FOR those who would like to progress from finger-painting, artist Stephanie Woodman is running classes to teach drawing and painting in a range of styles and mediums. Sessions include acrylic painting techniques, glazing, watercolour and abstract, and there are special classes for teenagers and kids.
Stephanie Woodman art classes, Toi Poneke, Feb 7 – April 5.
Wheels are turning
WELLINGTON Regional Council’s Daran Ponter and Paul Bruce are to present the Bus Review, a proposal for a major shakeup of bus services in the city. It’s also a chance for the public to discuss their ideas and issues.
Bus Review, Crossways Community Centre, 7.30pm, February 7.
Violinist awarded
CONGRATULATIONS to violinist Minsi Yang, recently awarded The Elman Poole Music scholarship.
The scholarship is an annual award for up and coming New Zealand instrumentalists to train with the London orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia.
Yang gained her music degree from Victoria University, before heading to Auckland to study for her Masters degree.
Leap into song
LOCAL songwriters will this month participate in February Album Writing Month, an international songwriting event that usually challenges participants to write a song every two days for the whole month. But it’s a leap year this year, so songwriters have to write 14 and a half songs in 29 days, the ‘half song’ being a collaboration with another writer. At least 12 Wellington songwriters have signed up to take part. ‘Fawmers’ will post audio recordings of their songs on http://fawm.org
Coastal tunes
THE Tora Coast in the Wairarapa will this Waitangi weekend host a music festival celebrating good food and good sounds. TORA!TORA!TORA! features Imon Starr aka Olmecha the Relic, Jon McLeary and The Spines, Louis Baker, Vanessa Stacey and Conor McCabe. This is the third time the festival will take place.

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