Kedgley Sue: Wellington City Council (Te Aro Reclamation) Amendment Bill — In Committee Procedure 
Kedgley Sue: Wellington City Council (Te Aro Reclamation) Amendment Bill — In Committee Procedure 
[Volume:618;Page:13869] 
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 I am pleased to say that the Local Government and Environment Committee has made some important changes to this bill which will enable the Green Party to support it and will give Wellingtonians a chance to have a say in how their city develops. As the bill was originally drafted it would have allowed the council to disregard all other law in the selling of this precious bit of land. I think we are all aware that it is a precious bit of land right next to Wellington’s civic square across the road from Wellington’s wonderful waterfront. It is a little piece of land called the Jack Ilott Green. I was actually at the ceremony when we named it the Jack Ilott Green not so very long ago and here they are trying to get rid of it—a precious piece of green space in Wellington—so it can be built on which is the councils’ intention. 
As I say the bill as it stood would have allowed the council to disregard all other law in selling this precious bit of land. It would have enabled the council to sell or lease this precious piece of land without reference to any other legislation in this country. Submitters to the select committee were extremely concerned that this would mean the council could sell the land and would not be subject to the provisions of the Local Government Act. Even the officials felt that the original bill gave the council powers that were far too broad. But with the passing of this bill and with the amendments that have been made in the select committee the council will be required to adhere to section 12 of the Local Government Act which states that while council has the capacity to carry out or undertake an activity it must exercise it in accordance with all other legislation in this country. That means essentially that council will be required to consult the community before it sells off this precious piece of land. 
As I said there has been significant concern in the community over the sale of this land. While it is not the role of central government to intervene and tell Wellington City Council what land it can or cannot sell it is nevertheless our role to make sure that due process—the proper process—is followed in the sale of council assets. By amending this legislation we are ensuring that that will happen. I sincerely hope that a robust community consultation process will enable the community to have a say about what happens to this land and that council will be required to look at all the options and not just dispose of it because it is a loss of public space—precious green space. A new building would block views to the waterfront and also shadow the wonderful Wellington civic square. As I said in my original speech on this bill in the second reading we were concerned when submitters to the select committee pointed out that this bill had not been passed by the Wellington City Council. The councillors themselves other than some of those who were on a particular subcommittee did not know that this bill was coming to the Parliament. 
That does seem to us to be very odd. There did not seem to have been public consultation with Wellingtonians about what was being proposed—even just some little public notice to alert them that a bill was coming before Parliament. Fortunately some submitters found out about it by various means and they did make submissions and alert the committee to their concerns and therefore we were able to amend the original Act. Now the council will not be able to sell this land while disregarding all other laws in the land. It will be required to abide by the Local Government Act and it will be required to consult the community before it sells off the land. Thus it will take care of our major concerns on this bill and we will be able to support it. As I said previously I think the sale of this land and the consultation about selling this land will be quite a significant issue in the election because Wellingtonians are very very concerned about the sale of any more precious green space in Wellington City.