Waikato Herald
  • Waikato Herald home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Rural
  • Lifestyle
  • Lotto results

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Lifestyle
  • Lotto results

Locations

  • Hamilton
  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Matamata & Piako
  • Cambridge
  • Te Awamutu
  • Tokoroa & South Waikato
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Weather

  • Thames
  • Hamilton
  • Tokoroa
  • Taumarunui
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Waikato News

Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate makes no apologies for discussing high interest topics in secret

NZ Herald
10 Jun, 2021 12:15 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate said public excluded meetings were necessary due to commercial and legal risk. Photo / File

Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate said public excluded meetings were necessary due to commercial and legal risk. Photo / File

Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate says she won't apologise for discussing topics of high public interest behind closed doors due to the legal and commercial sensitivities around them.

Hamilton City Council will today discuss 13 public excluded items including plans to drop the speed limit on busy commuter road Wairere Drive, plans for the new pool at Rototuna Village, purchasing land for the Peacocke Northern Sports Park and a proposal from the Hamilton Christian School.

There are also a number of public excluded minutes and briefing notes - from discussions previously held in secret - to be ratified.

The reasons given on the agenda for the secrecy around most of the high interest items was to enable council to carry out negotiations, while legal privilege was stated for the Wairere Drive discussion.

Southgate acknowledged some of the items such as the pool would be of high public interest, but said the council needed to shut the public out in order to have some commercially sensitive discussions which would otherwise jeopardise potentially good arrangements for the community.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I don't think the public has the right to know legal debate or commercially sensitive debate, no."

Once the council made a decision, it would then be made public, she said.

Southgate said basic conceptual discussions around some of the items had already been held in workshops that were open to the public to attend even if no one did.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I know there is this veil of secrecy so it appears, but I also believe that there is a place for private discussion with councillors where we can really ask the curly questions, talk warts and all. But I do believe once we've made discussions to a certain extent then the public has a right to know the decisions we've made and why we've made them."

Southgate said she went to great efforts to communicate with the public and once the council had been given the commercial or legal advice, all the details that could be made public would be. Councillors could also share their own views on them at this time.

The council had already spoken with the community about the proposed Rototuna Village Pool on "many many occasions", she said. The agenda stated agreements about the pool would be publicly excluded.

She expected the discussion around reducing the speed limit on Wairere Drive would happen in public once they had received the legal advice.

"I do believe as a council we are being more open to the public because there are more opportunities to engage with us."

Southgate said she relied on the chief executive and staff to make the right calls over what was public excluded, but would be discussing her expectations with staff to make the outcomes public as soon as practicable.

"There are some items in public excluded today that I do think will be of high public interest and I personally will be making sure they are able to be reported into public as soon as practical."

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Waikato News

Waikato Herald

Father vs son: Tractor feud tears family business apart

19 Sep 03:30 AM
Waikato Herald

Woman rescued by bystanders after ex forces her into car, strangles her while speeding

18 Sep 07:00 PM
Property

Olympic star’s renovated villa up for grabs - one year after $1.2m sale

18 Sep 06:15 PM

Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Waikato News

Father vs son: Tractor feud tears family business apart
Waikato Herald

Father vs son: Tractor feud tears family business apart

Justice ruled it was ‘improbable’ anyone but Lance Clark took the tractor.

19 Sep 03:30 AM
Woman rescued by bystanders after ex forces her into car, strangles her while speeding
Waikato Herald

Woman rescued by bystanders after ex forces her into car, strangles her while speeding

18 Sep 07:00 PM
Olympic star’s renovated villa up for grabs - one year after $1.2m sale
Property

Olympic star’s renovated villa up for grabs - one year after $1.2m sale

18 Sep 06:15 PM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Waikato Herald e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Waikato Herald
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP