Proposal to privatise parts of Wellington's central library building set to be overturned
Tuesday, 2 March 2021
Wellington City councillor Nicola Young says she no longer supports a proposal to privatise parts of the city’s central library building, potentially overturning an earlier council vote.
Young’s comments come after councillor Laurie Foon revealed she was also reconsidering her decision to support the move, which recommended the council sell parts of the library building for commercial use.
If Young and Foon were to vote against the proposal when the council meets again on Thursday, it would tip the vote the other way and overturn the recommendation in the council’s draft 10-year plan.
At the same time, some councillors are hoping to remove the option entirely from the draft plan, meaning it would not be included at all in the document that goes out for public feedback in April.
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Those councillors are awaiting further information from council officers on how that could be achieved within the council’s budget before formally proposing the change.
The initial vote came about following a raft of late proposals introduced to the plan by mayor Andy Foster two weeks ago, in a last-ditch effort to keep the council under its self-imposed borrowing cap.
Young also voted in favour of trimming the council’s library resources budget by 40 per cent over the next two years, beginning from July.
“We didn’t have much time to consider Andy’s 11 last-minute amendments,” Young said.
“It’s clear Wellingtonians are unhappy at the thought of privatising part of the library building and reducing the council’s investment in books.
“I am committed to the urgent restoration of Civic Square, but I’m also elected as a representative, so I no longer support the partial sale of the building, nor the reduction of the library’s book collection.
“We will have to find cuts elsewhere as huge rates increases are scaring Wellingtonians.”
On February 18, councillors voted 9-6 to recommend selling parts of the library building for commercial use to help fund a $179 million earthquake-strengthening project.
Deputy Mayor Sarah Free, Diane Calvert, Jenny Condie, Sean Rush, Malcolm Sparrow, and Simon Woolf were the other councillors to agree to the recommendation.
Free said on Tuesday she was also reconsidering her position.
“I can confirm that I am working with [other councillors] to see if there is another way of managing the cost of the central library so that the council funds the entire build,” she said.
Calvert, Condie, and Woolf said they stood by their original votes, while Sparrow said he could not yet give a definitive answer. Rush could not be reached for comment.
It has also emerged that numerous options were discussed at a private councillor workshop on Monday to keep the building in full public ownership.
They included agreeing to allow the council’s borrowing cap to be breached in the early years of the 10-year plan to help fund the build, and allowing council staff to occupy the upper floors of the building to save on lease costs.