Councillor wants referendum

Simon Nixon

A referendum should be held so the Hastings community can make a decision on the Hawke's Bay Opera House, says Hastings District councillor Simon Nixon.

Speaking about the upcoming public consultation process on the project, Mr Nixon said he did not believe such a process would offer a reliable indication of community support.

"Such processes tend to flush out the people who have a strong view generally in support of whatever project it is," he said.

"A referendum or some sort of more meaningful survey - maybe a really good survey - would meet the same need."

He said referendums were held on both the sale of Nelson Park for large-format retail and on the groynes for shoreline protection at Te Awanga.

"But we are not giving people that sort of option with the Opera House or Civic Square or the hotel projects," he said.

"And actually, they are going to cost more than any of those other things."

He said with $20 million set aside for the project, the public consultation would come at a cost to ratepayers.

"[Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule] is saying we have put aside $20 million. No we haven't put aside $20 million," said Mr Nixon.

"We have put in the budget a plan to borrow $20 million which could be used for the Opera House.

"It actually wasn't set aside specifically for the Opera House - it came out of the Civic Square project."

He said the $20 million figure was a concern to him, because it was more than what was required to strengthen the Opera House.

"They only should be talking about $10 million or $11 million if they are only talking about the Opera House," he said.

"So they have in fact included these other projects by somewhat devious means by talking about $20 million.

"So I think the whole process is designed to achieve the outcome that some people want, and they are not willing to risk that outcome to a more effective public consultation."

Mr Nixon said he thought the level of support for strengthening the Opera House was greater than for the Civic Square and Municipal Building projects.

"I mean, the Opera House is already built and a lot of people say it should be fixed," he said.

"Civic Square is not built and it is going to cost a lot of money, and I don't think it will bring huge advantages in terms of what it has got to offer."

Mr Nixon thought the council needed to concentrate on the Opera House first and decide whether or not it should be restored.

"I am reasonably open-minded, I don't have a strong view. I don't go to the Opera House that often but a lot of people want to fix it up. I think we have got to acknowledge that," he said.

"I would actually like to see us conduct a referendum because I think that is one way to find out what people are thinking."

At the end of the day, if the community came out overwhelmingly in favour of spending the money on the Opera House, Mr Nixon said he would not have a problem supporting it.

"But we need to make sure that this is the best use of the money for the ends we are trying to achieve."