LAWRENCE GULLERY The main tenants for the large format retail centre planned for Hastings' Nelson Park will be revealed by the end of this week.
The Hastings District Council has been criticised by two opponents of the mega retail project, who said the council was taking too long to make
public its plans for the park site.
Gordon Vogtherr and David Renouf, of Hastings, who last year unsuccessfully campaigned to save Nelson Park from being sold, have called for the suspension of the council's chief executive, Murray Gilbertson.
"It would appear that council do not have an anchor tenant and that other likely tenants are not willing to sign up until such a tenant is found," the two men wrote to the council.
"Is the council so desperate it is now going to offload parts of Nelson Park at a discount to get tenants on to the park before elections?" they asked.
Mr Gilbertson, who will leave the council at the end of this year anyway, has been heading the Nelson Park project.
Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule said Mr Gilbertson would not be suspended and the council was working towards an announcement "over the next couple of days".
"We have a deal in place and we are going over the sale of purchase agreements which needs council approval. Once we have that done, all parties will make an announcement." Mr Yule said he would write to the two objectors, stating that the Nelson Park project would remain rates-neutral to Hastings.
"We have given that guarantee, that's what we are working on and we're not going to need to borrow an extra money to move the athletics track (from Nelson Park to the regional sports park)," he said.
Mr Vogtherr and Mr Renouf said they wanted to put a special motion to the next council meeting asking councillors to rescind the project.
"You have to be on council to put a motion, and they're not," Mr Yule said.
"And neither David nor Gordon is running for council," he said.
