Council’s reserves fund shows nil balance

The whereabouts of the estimated $11 million in reserve funds that should have been used to purchase reserves on the Hibiscus Coast is currently being looked into by Hibiscus & Bays Local Board member John Watson.

The funds come from development contributions paid to Council and must, according to the Local Government Act, be spent on buying or developing reserves and parks for public use.

Mr Watson says an obvious lack of reserves on the Coast made it clear to him that the funds were used for other purposes by the former Rodney District Council.

An investigation by Hibiscus Matters in February last year established that the funds were being used for other activities, and that Council would need to raise loans to fulfil the requirements of the Local Government Act.

Mr Watson says his initial enquiries of Auckland Council revealed that, by the end of October last year, all the money had apparently been spent in a “clearing exercise” and that there was nothing left in the fund.

“As it stands it is hard to see how it has been used for purposes required by the Act, “ Mr Watson says.
He says that information that he has received from Auckland Council show that, aside from a couple of minor exceptions, there have been virtually no new reserves acquired on Whangaparaoa during the last five years. Some funds have gone to the development of Metro Park.
“Some of the projects are hardly what you would term as suitable use for a reserve fund but, even allowing for that, the overwhelming bulk of the money appears to be unaccounted for. That is a real concern. There are some serious questions that need to be asked of the people who were in charge of this fund at the time.”
Mr Watson says that the ‘disappearance’ of this money may affect the Council’s ability to acquire new reserves on the Coast, where there is already a marked shortage of reserve land.