Ombudsman criticises Palmerston North City Council secrecy

Thursday, 16 December 2021

The Palmerston North City Council has been told to apologise for withholding information for 10 months.

Chief ombudsman Peter Boshier has found the Palmerston North City Council should not have withheld information requested about the Nature Calls wastewater management review.

Stuff learned about the existence of the material in October 2020, when reference was made to a comprehensive workshop that was closed to the public.

Nature Calls is a $500 million project which has identified the best way to treat the city’s wastewater involves upgrades to remove almost all nutrients before discharge to the Manawatū River, with some diverted to land.

The council refused Stuff’s request for the information for 10 months, finally releasing the technical papers in public in August.

* Another lens to bring council dealings into focus? Tell us more.

* Palmerston North City councillors should hold their debates in the open

Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has ticked off the Palmerston North City Council for refusing information request.

Boshier said after his investigation that the council should have released the information when it was asked for.

“If information is requested, an agency is not entitled to withhold it simply because it wants to retain ownership or decide when the public views it.”

The council relied on a clause in the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LOGIMA) to justify its decision.

That was that there was good reason for withholding information where it is necessary to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions of members and staff in the course of their duty.

Boshier did not accept that.

There was no evidence the flow of information from officers to councillors would have been jeopardised in this case, or in future, if the workshop material was released.

Boshier said it was “particularly worrying” that the council wanted to preserve workshops as a forum closed from public scrutiny.

“It is one thing to suggest that there may be occasions when closed-door workshops are appropriate, but it is quite another to suggest that information requested after that workshop has been carried out should be withheld simply to protect the future use of such a forum.”

Boshier said the council should apologise, and Stuff has received a letter of sincere apologies from council chief executive Heather Shotter.

He said transparency was central to the functioning of local democracy.

Due to the significance of the issues raised in this case, he intended to publish and public case note.