Velodrome vote could reverse support for plan

Mayor Julie Hardaker. Photo / Christine Cornege

Hamilton City Council could do a u-turn over its decision to support the velodrome if two elected members don't vote on it because of conflicts of interest.

The council last week narrowly voted 6-5 in support of the Waikato Regional Council charging ratepayers $3.18 each a year for 20 years for the proposed National Cycling Centre of Excellence, but a city councillor is going to have another attempt at changing his council's minds.

Councillor John Gower said he planned to call the issue at today's full council meeting when the item was to be ratified. He was unsure whether he would have enough backing to get the council to remove their support for the velodrome and Bike NZ headquarters.

"It's a nice thing to have to be honest but we can't afford it."

He said the city council was trying to tighten its belt but was happy to agree to the regional council charging the same ratepayers more.

"I'm a little bit uncomfortable with some of the stuff that's been going on with the velodrome."

However, he may be able to get enough support should two elected members who have previously raised having a conflict of interest in relation to the velodrome be removed from the voting process.

Mayor Julie Hardaker voted last week on the issue despite raising a conflict of interest in February because of her previous involvement as a trustee of St Peter's School, which is the proposed site for the cycling centre.

She did not respond to the Herald about whether she would be voting.

Councillor Peter Bos declared a conflict of interest at the last full council meeting where the velodrome was raised, because he had received money from the Perry family - a major backer of the project - to fund his last electoral campaign.

He told the Herald he would not vote today after seeking advice from the city council's solicitor.

"No, because I believe I have got a pecuniary interest. If you've got that you shouldn't vote."

He said he was erring on the side of caution because the legal advice he received said it was "borderline".

Councillor Roger Hennebry did not think the mayor or Councillor Bos should vote.

"If you've got a conflict of interest once why don't you have it the next time? I think it stinks."

Councillor Angela O'Leary did not support councillors voting on a subject if they previously said they had a conflict of interest.

Hamilton deputy mayor Gordon Chesterman said it depended on the conflict of interest and if money had been involved as to whether members voted.

Mr Chesterman said the council had not seen his acceptance of an invitation from the Perry family to attend an award dinner in Auckland to celebrate Brian Perry's being named a laureate of the Fairfax Media New Zealand Business Hall of Fame as a reason to be excluded from voting over the velodrome when he raised it.

"I did not think Peter Bos had a conflict otherwise we would get down to whether you have a sausage roll when you attend a function at the Perry Group."

Should Ms Hardaker exclude herself from the velodrome vote then, provided the councillors did not change their minds from last week, the decision would be split - with five councillors (Pippa Mahood, Dave Macpherson, Margaret Forsyth, Martin Gallagher and Maria Westphal) for and five (Angela O'Leary, Roger Hennebry, Gordon Chesterman, John Gower and Daphne Bell) against.

Ms Hardaker's exclusion from the meeting is also likely to give Deputy Mayor Gordon Chesterman, an opponent to ratepayers funding the velodrome, the casting vote.

As of late yesterday, Mr Chesterman had not been asked to stand in as chair for part of the meeting. Councillor Ewan Wilson is on leave until Monday.

Waikato Regional Council finance manager Mike Garrett said the council was aware some territorial authorities may not be able to formally ratify their submissions before the consultation process closing on Monday and had agreed to accept late submissions from them.