Councillors have shelved plans for a new dog pound at Ngāwhā, opting instead to expand the current pound at Kaitaia while they rethink their plans in the Mid North.
The Far North District Council had been planning to build new dog shelters at Ngāwhā and Kaitaia but had to go back to the drawing board in June when the estimated building costs turned out to be far higher than the amount budgeted. It is believed the combined estimates were around $6 million.
As a result councillors asked staff to come up with cheaper options and boosted the budget by $1.4m.
The new options, which were discussed in the public-excluded part of the August 29 council meeting, included pooling the money available to build one new pound at Ngāwhā and repair the current Kaitaia pound.
However, in what is believed to have been a vigorous debate, councillors instead resolved to build 24 kennels next to the existing Bonnett Rd shelter in Kaitaia and asked staff to ''re-examine the location of a new southern animal care facility at Ngāwhā''.