Tauranga transport hub: Council given more time to respond to High Court decision

Harington St Transport Hub, pictured after work was abandoned on the project. Photo / Andrew Warner

Tauranga City Council has been given more time to respond to a High Court decision rejecting its bid to recoup losses it says exceeded $20 million over its abandoned Harington St Transport Hub.

The March 28 decision gave the council 20 working days to change its claim. The time window closed this week.

A council spokesman said the High Court extended the timeframe but any application to the Court of Appeal must be filed by the end of Friday.

“An appeal is likely,” the spokesman said.

Earlier this month, the Bay of Plenty Times reported the council was considering appealing the High Court decision rejecting its bid to recoup “wasted costs” from two contractors linked to the proposed Harington St Transport Hub.

The project was expected to provide spaces for 550 cars and 250 bicycles on prime real estate in the city’s CBD.

The council abandoned the partially built project in 2020 after defects were found, eventually selling the site for $1.

The remediated site is now where construction of the $60m, 14-storey Panorama Towers office and commercial building is taking place.

An artistic render of what Panorama Towers will look like, as viewed from the future civic precinct at Hamilton St. Image / Supplied

The council went to court claiming transport hub project contract breached by contractors Harrison Grierson Holdings, which designed the structure, and Constructure Auckland Ltd, which was engaged to review the structural design.

Losses the council listed included more than $20.5m in “wasted costs” and loss of land value exceeding $5.3m.

However, it was argued in the High Court case that Harrison Grierson and Constructure Auckland’s liability limitation clauses in contracts capped how much they could be liable to pay at a fraction of the council’s claim.

Justice Kiri Tahana released her decision on March 28, stating limitation of liability clauses in the contracts did apply.

Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.