Councillors have voted to hold a binding referendum in March next year about what to do with the old Harbour Board building in Whangarei's Town Basin.
The decision came at the conclusion of a rowdy meeting this afternoon, where insults were thrown and traditional council protocol was ignored.
After much heated discussion, councillors finally voted for an amendment to allow further assessment of the Harbourside proposal before holding a referendum to establish whether to choose one of the two proposals, or demolish the Harbour Board building completely.
Put forward by councillor Brian McLauchlan, the amendment was voted for by councillors Hermon, Glen, Morgan, Bretherton, Cutforth, Williamson, Halse, Martin, Innes and Bell, while councillor Crichton Christie abstained and mayor Sheryl Mai voted against it.
More in tomorrow's Northern Advocate.