Mark Thomas playing politics with Unitary Plan says David Hay

Mayoral candidate David Hay said today the Mark Thomas, one of the centre-right candidates for the mayoralty "...is playing politics with the Unitary Plan, and has displayed a weak grasp of local government consultation processes."

In an article published in the New Zealand Herald today, titled Cone of Silence over Unitary Plan, Mark Thomas accused the council of having a "bunker mentality" for asking councillors not to publicly comment on unitary plan matters.

"Mark doesn't seem to know his way around the Local Government Act, which is weakness in any mayoral candidate." said Mr Hay.

"There is a whole section of the Act that deals with the Principles of Consultation, and one of the key principles is that views presented to the local authority should be received by the local authority with an open mind and should be given by the local authority, in making a decision, due consideration."

"The Office of the Auditor General provides authoritative advice on this matter on its website." said Mr Hay.

"This goes to the principle of fairness, under administrative law: decisions have to be made free from bias and predetermination. Failure to adhere to that principle could expose the council's decisions on the Unitary Plan to legal challenge, derailing or further delaying the entire process."

"Mark Thomas has acted irresponsibly by trying to score political points on this issue." said Mr Hay.

"The Unitary Plan process is shaped by legal rules that must be followed, and followed very carefully, for Auckland's new district plan to become operative. The council could certainly be accused of being risk averse, and trying its best to ensure the Unitary Plan is not subject to relitigation or appeal. But anybody who has followed the process would think that was perfectly understandable."

ENDS

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