Heart of the City board resigns, requests halt to funding
Tuesday, 23 June 2026
Six of seven members of Auckland’s Heart of the City’s executive committee have resigned, The Post can reveal.
It comes in the wake of an employment dispute between the committee and its chief executive, Viv Beck, as well as an impending coup lead by CBD business.
A spokesperson for the outgoing committee said members felt that it would be “in the best interests” of the business improvement district (BID) to resign.
“We believe that resignation is the most responsible action we can take as governors,” they said in a statement.
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“Further use of public funding to resolve the society’s governance challenges will not provide value for money to central city.”
The resigning members have also called on Auckland Council to “withhold funding”.
It said the council needed to be “certain that the organisation is delivering value for money for the businesses and entities that make up the BID area for which HOTC is responsible”.
Heart of the City receives around $5 million annually, with inner city businesses paying a targeted rate to the council.
The outgoing committee members have also recommended that council exercise its right to bring in a non-voting member as an observer on the committee.
Council chief executive Phil Wilson said in a statement to The Post that the council shared the outgoing committee’s concerns would “consider next steps urgently”.
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown said there appeared to be a “systemic issue” with the BID.
“As a result of the mass resignation of committee members, I am seeking urgent advice from staff in response to this dysfunction. I want to be very clear that our CBD and its businesses deserve better.”
It’s understood that the executive committee was due to meet this week. It is now unclear who will front the meeting or how elections might be held to replace committee members.
A group of businesses recently presented a petition seeking to force the BID under its constitution to hold a Special General Meeting and an election.
In recent months, the BID has been challenged on whether its membership register has been kept up to date as per its constitution.
According to a statement from the resigning members, they had received legal advice that the register was not compliant with the Incorporated Societies Act.
The Post previously reported the committee had claimed it had been “repeatedly blocked” in its efforts to update the register.
“The barriers faced internally mean we cannot see a pathway by which to get the organisation to a state of compliance,” a spokesperson added in a statement released on Tuesday.
“We have been advised that this is not only an issue with legal compliance but also breaches the BID Contract with Auckland Council.”
The statement suggests that the ongoing saga had taken a personal toll on the committee.
“As volunteer board members, we have had to expend a great deal of personal time and resources to attempt to resolve these issues so that we may be able to get on with the job of overseeing New Zealand’s largest BID, which comprises 8% of NZ’s GDP and 20% of Auckland’s GDP,” the statement said.
“It is a serious and exciting responsibility to be in our roles, and we are a group of passionate representatives of a diverse range of central city organisations who joined the board with the intention of rolling up our sleeves.
“Auckland is on the cusp of transition into a major global city, and our central city is poised to both contribute to and benefit from this, particularly in light of the launch of the CRL and impending commercial and residential developments in the central city.”
The resigning executive committee members are chairperson Malcolm McCracken, Chand Sahrawat, Richard Hansen, Callum Mallett, Chamanthie Sinhalage-Fonseka and Brett Sweetman.
Joe Tattersfield, of Walker and Hall, was not among members who released the statement of resignation on Tuesday.