Hamilton mayor Andrew King says the council has done nothing wrong over its handling of the Victoria on the River process. Photo / File
Hamilton City Council has finally released minutes revealing what happened in the confidential meetings to extend the inner city park Victoria on the River.
The minutes, released in yesterday's council meeting, show chief executive Richard Briggs was asked to report back to the council on the "potential purchase of 220
through to 266 (inclusive) Victoria St, including market valuation and an indication on the vendors' willingness to sell".
The minutes also show staff provided elected members with a now outdated list of property owners in the area, which identified 36 joint or individual owners.
The release of the minutes come after the Herald revealed last week Briggs, when acting on the council resolution, only approached two property owners, Leonard Gardner and Matt Stark, because he did not want to create "competitive tension" after learning they had their own plans.
The council list had Stark only owning one building in the proposed area and Gardner was not mentioned on the list at all, despite his company Fosters buying a property in August last year, which he offered to council.
