Bella Vista: Nine more pages of Colgan report released

Tauranga City Council chief executive Marty Grenfell. Photo / File

Nine more pages of the 162-page Colgan report into the role of Tauranga City Council staff in the handling of the failed Bella Vista development have been released.

But the council still refuses to release the whole report.

In September last year the council made public the executive summary of the $400,000 report by retired Judge Graeme Colgan.

The council refused to release the full report, citing privacy among its reasons.

The Bay of Plenty Times complained to the Ombudsman and was notified last month that an investigation had started with a request to the council for information.

Today, as part of its response to the inquiry, the council made a "proactive release" of the report's systems recommendations.

That section of the report - pages 120 to 128 - laid out Colgan's 36 recommendations to the council for how it could avoid similar events in future.

In a press release that followed, council chief executive Marty Grenfell said the council had given the Ombudsman a full copy of the report and documents around its decision to withhold the report.

"We believe those reasons outweigh any public interest in this matter. However, with the passage of time, there are no longer good grounds for withholding the report recommendations.

"All of the system recommendations involved have now been addressed and, where appropriate, changes implemented. I am therefore releasing that additional information to those who have requested it and have advised the Ombudsman accordingly."

The documents show Colgan warned the council against repeating the situation seen in Bella Vista where a staff member was made the single point of contact for the development.

This was also a criticism raised in a previous review of the council's building control functions by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Colgan also said the council should revise its procedures for identifying and dealing with conflicts of interest and consider mechanisms for handling instances of "undue influences" on its staff.

He also recommended the council move quickly to make changes to prevent another development with Bella Vista's geotechnical issues, where land was not properly stabilised and retained.

"Change need not await a necessarily slow consultative and legislative process. It should not be beyond the skill and ability of the council, its expert staff and its advisers, for now at least, to ensure greater co-ordination of the resource management and building aspects of land developments, to minimise the risk of another Bella Vista-like collapse with the consequent loss and suffering illustrated by this case."