Far North Roading shares reason for shutting down footpath

FNR managing director Manu Burkhardt-Macrae has spoken out about a dispute with FNDC and the reasons for shutting down a footpath on Awanui Straight SH1. Photo / Myjanne Jensen

If you've passed along the Awanui Straight recently, you may have noticed something unusual.

A footpath, marked with the sign "Footpath closed: Private Property", was recently blocked from North Rd opposite the Mainfreight entrance near the Far North Roading entrance about 200m down the road.

The signs have since come down, but the Northland Age can now reveal they were a result of a dispute between Far North Roading and the Far North District Council.

FNR managing director Manu Burkhardt-Macrae confirmed the company had taken drastic action to close the footpath due to a misrepresentation regarding a land sale contract and what Burkhardt-Macrae described as an unfair procurement process for local construction works.

Burkhardt-Macrae said in both cases the district council needed to be held accountable for its actions and therefore making a public statement was the only way he believed the matter could be resolved.

"We bought this land eight months ago, but what we didn't know was the footpath and power lines were included in the sale," Burkhardt-Macrae said.

"We were also not informed the previous landowner and FNDC had agreed to establish an easement where the footpath lies.

"This was allegedly agreed upon before the sale, but was not formally legalised by the council, which meant the sale went ahead without that aspect being sorted before we bought it.

"If we had known about this issue, we probably wouldn't have paid what we did for the land."

Burkhardt-Macrae said the issue of the undisclosed land sale was one thing, but the last straw came when the council rejected FNR's tender for works regarding a separate local footpath.

"Last year FNDC put out a tender for works on the Te Ahu to Te Hiku Footpath project, which we tendered for," he said.

"FNR is already working on the new Te Hiku Sports Hub and thought it made sense to tender for the works on the footpath as well.

"We put forward the lowest price tender by more than $80,000, but ended up losing the bid to Fulton Hogan."

Burkhardt-Macrae said he felt the procurement process had set FNR up to fail from the outset and was an insult to the company's integrity and reputation.

According to the council's letter of decline, the Tender Evaluation Team (TET) reached a unanimous agreement that FNR's submission did not meet the minimum attribute requirements.

The letter went on to say the TET failed FNR's submission because its experience was neither relevant in scope nor value and that it had not attained a Practical Completion Certificate (PCC).

Burkhardt-Macrae said this finding was not only unfair but an insult given the company's track record and proven ability to perform.

"FNR is 100 per cent Māori owned and employs more than 100 staff locally," Burkhardt-Macrae said.

"We are also the largest locally based civil contractor and largest commercial building company in the Te Hiku ward.

"With regards to capacity, we have a weekly turnover which is more than the value of this project that we are supposedly incapable of completing."

Since first speaking to the Northland Age, FNR was last week invited to attend a meeting with the council to discuss the matter further.

As a result of the meeting, Burkhardt said he had removed the footpath closure as an act of good faith and on the assurances that the council would act on the points raised.

"We're happy with the outcome and the way that FNDC has now dealt with our concerns," he said.

"I still felt it was important to raise this issue publicly so it didn't continue to be brushed aside and the council could be held to account for their actions."

Far North District Major and recovery projects manager David Clamp said following last week's meeting with FNR, the council had agreed to investigate decisions made relating to a tender submitted to the council by FNR.

"The aim of the investigation will be to establish whether the council's own criteria was correctly applied and specifically, examine whether the council's Social Procurement Policy was followed," Clamp said.

"The aim of the policy is to ensure that tenders submitted by local and smaller contractors are treated fairly and equitably.

"The council also committed to finding a resolution over easements on a stretch of footpath along Awanui Straight (SH1), which runs across FNR-owned property."

FNR has now removed signs blocking the path.