Unfair Process?

11/05/2006 12:00:00 a.m.

"What happened to natural justice?" asks Save the Point deputy chairman Nick Dryden in response to the Wellington City Council’s latest proposal in the Marine Education Centre debacle.

"ARE they (WCC) in there to totally support the developers or are they here to represent the people?" Dryden says.

Following the Marine Education Centre resource consent application that resulted in the commissioners unable to reach a decision, the Wellington City Council have proposed to part-fund the developers of the Marine Education Centre should the group not have sufficient cash funds during the second hearing.

The proposed WCC "guarantee" for up to $200,000 to the Wellington Marine Conservation Trust will be discussed at the Strategy and Policy Committee on May 11.

Dryden says it is unfair that the council fund the Wellington Marine Conservation Trust when Save The Point Inc are then forced to go to the community to raise money to resubmit their case at the second hearing.

Wellington Marine Conservation Trust submitted a new application for resource consent to construct the Marine Education Centre this week.

"How is that democratic?

"They are just trying to bleed us dry out here. Well they have a long way to go because we are bloody determined lot out here."

Dryden compares the new application for resource consent to trialling a court case twice.

"If you don’t get the right answers from the jury the first time you get to pick another jury and try again and fix up your evidence a bit. It’s not really fair. What happened to natural justice? I think it is disgusting," Dryden says.

However Andy Foster, Strategy and Policy Committee councillor, says it is not unfair that the council – that appoints the commissioners who decide whether the centre goes ahead or not – part-fund the developers and not the opposition in the second hearing.

"We didn’t support Save The Point in the first place so I don’t really see what the difference is.

"The obvious reason (for the $200,000 proposal) is we support the Marine Education Centre to date and we have a most unusual situation with a hearing that has given a non-result. So we have to make a decision as to whether they need additional resources," Foster says.

Meanwhile the Environment Court has not yet ruled as to whether it accepts Save The Point Inc’s application that the first hearing was declined under the Local Government Act 2002 and that one of the commissioners was biased and should be retrospectively voted off.

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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