MEDIA RELEASE

6 March 2003

Council welcomes Finau decision

Auckland City Council today welcomes Judge Joyce’s decision to stay the committal order for Ekenasio Finau’s prison warrant.

Council is in full agreement with the judge’s ruling that “the persons truly responsible for his (Mr Finau’s) defiance of the court’s order were not before the court”. The judgement made quite clear that the court considers Mr Finau “but a pawn in a game being played out by others”.

Auckland City is considering its options to enforce the bylaw, and protect neighbourhood values. Options include:
- fines. A maximum fine through the courts of $20,000 is available from 1 July 2003 under the new Local Government Act 2002. The current maximum is $500
- more streamlined ways of issuing infringement notices under the new Local Government Act’s tougher regulatory powers
- entering the property and seizing the signs.

Decisions will be made shortly.

“A recent public poll confirmed an overwhelming majority of Aucklanders back council’s policy on signs in residential neighbourhoods,” says Barry Smedts, divisional manager compliance monitoring. “We are therefore very confident that whatever decision is made about ongoing enforcement, actions to protect neighbourhood values will be strongly supported by the wider community.”

Ends

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