Wellington Mayor Andy Foster backs down on moves to stop councillors commenting on library plans

Wednesday, 22 July 2020

Wellington Mayor Andy Foster and councillor Fleur Fitzsimons exchanged blows over legal advice relating to the city's central library in July.

Moves to stop councillors voicing their opinions about Wellington’s quake-prone central library have been described by a law professor as “just not consistent” with local democracy.

The comments come after Wellington Mayor Andy Foster sent councillors an email with legal advice on Friday urging them not to publicly state their preferred upgrade option for the library.

Wellington City Council recommended a $200 million high-level strengthening of the library in July. (Video first published October 2020).

Neither Foster nor Wellington City Council would confirm whether the email – which asked councillors to focus public comments only on encouraging community feedback – was Foster’s paraphrasing of the legal advice, or the verbatim version.

Foster doubled down on the directive at a council meeting to discuss the library upgrade options on Tuesday, reminding councillors they were not encouraged to publicly state their preferences.

* Wellington councillors at odds over central library plans

Victoria University of Wellington associate law professor Dean Knight says councillors are elected because of their views and leanings on major issues. (File photo)

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Wellington City councillor Fleur Fitzsimons was prevented from tabling legal advice supporting her right to comment on the library plans.

He said doing so could undermine the feedback process and breach councillors’ statutory obligations.

But Victoria University of Wellington associate law professor Dr Dean Knight said the advice directly contradicted the role of elected members.

“The community elects councillors because of their views, and because of their leanings,” Knight said.

Wellington Mayor Andy Foster emailed councillors with legal advice urging them not to publicly state their preference for the library upgrade.

“That’s coupled with a belief that councillors must take the community with them on decisions they make, through participatory democracy.

“That testing of views doesn’t mean the councillors aren’t allowed to have opinions – we want them to have opinions and views, and we want them to lead those conversations.”

Councillor Jill Day says a $200 million upgrade is not realistic for the council in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The library strengthening project was “city-shaping stuff” which people would expect elected members to have rich and vigorous views on, Knight said.

“Where the law steps in sometimes is if councillors can be seen to have completely closed their mind.

“They can have a strong preference but must remain open to persuasion.”

But requiring councillors to remain completely neutral would be a “pretty impoverished type of democracy”, Knight said.

'The idea that they need to be empty vessels that get filled up with the views of the community is just not consistent with the modern vision of local democracy in New Zealand.”

Foster’s email took special exception to councillor Fleur Fitzsimons’ comments to Stuff questioning why the most expensive strengthening option had been recommended by council staff.

Her comments came after councillors agreed in May to prioritise cheaper strengthening options for the library – overturning a proposal for base isolators to be a necessary part of the upgrade.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Fitzsimons attempted to table her own legal advice supporting her right to comment on the library.

However, the move was rejected by the council’s legal team because the advice contained legally privileged information and was not relevant to the debate.

Council chief executive Barbara McKerrow did not respond on Wednesday to questions about whether she supported the council’s stance.

Foster could also not be reached for comment.

However, Foster and Fitzsimons issued a joint statement on Wednesday afternoon following a meeting with McKerrow, saying Foster’s email was the result of “a series of misunderstandings”.

“Clearly, elected members are free to express their views about what is in the best interests of Wellington,” they said.

“The mayor and councillors have agreed to draw a line under this matter and move on.

“We are all focused on maximising participation from residents and listening to our community about the future of our central library with open minds.”

DIVIDED VIEWS

The council’s preferred upgrade option is a “high-level remediation” project costing up to $200m.

On Tuesday, Fitzsimons pushed for the cheapest strengthening option, costing $91m, to be given preference, while councillor Jill Day pushed for a “mid-level” upgrade, costing $152m, to be recommended.

Councillor Diane Calvert put forward a third option – demolishing the existing library and building a new one.

THE OPTIONS

Low-level upgrade

Cost: $76.3m – $90.8m

Open date: November 2023

NBS rating: 40 per cent

Building lifespan: 35 years

Annual rates increase: $38.70 – $46.30

Mid-level upgrade

Cost: $131.2m – $151.8m

Open date: September 2024

NBS rating: 80 per cent

Building lifespan: 42 years

Annual rates increase: $57.30 – $67.60

High-level upgrade

Cost: $174.4m – 199.8m

Open date: May 2025

NBS rating: 100 per cent-plus

Building lifespan: 50 years

Annual rates increase: $74.30 – $86.20

New build on same or new site

Cost: $156.5m – $160.7m

Open date: November 2025

NBS rating: TBC

Building lifespan: 64 years

Annual rates increase: $50 – $52.60