Council boss apologises after bollard blindside at Hakatere

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

Hakatere Huts residents have been blindsided by a decision that was hailed by Ashburton councillors as a compromise.

A working group focusing on issues at the Upper Hakatere reserve in Mid Canterbury was set up after locals protested the closure of the Upper Hakatere reserve to camping and the installation of bollards in February 2023.

Residents were shocked to discover the council recently made a decision on a recommendation they never agreed to.

Following questions from Local Democracy Reporting, Ashburton District Council chief executive Hamish Riach issued an apology, accepting a report to the council “contained a misstatement”.

“It stated that the working group had come to a recommended position on the bollards and camping ground at Upper Hakatere reserve and that I now know this isn’t true,” Riach said.

“The working group has thus far failed to reach a consensus point of view.

“Given council’s decision was based on the inaccurate report, we have decided to ask the working group to meet again and the outcome of that meeting will be relayed to councillors at a meeting in August.

“This will enable council to reconsider the current decision with full and accurate knowledge of the working group’s position.”

The council erected the bollards blocking vehicle access from the grassed area in February 2023.

Residents filed a petition earlier this year calling for the removal of the bollards and to restore the area as a campsite.

A working group - consisting of councillors Russell Ellis, Tony Todd, and Richard Wilson with Hakatere represented by Gary Clancy TJ Jonker, and Sheryl Hendriksen - met to find a solution and then held a site visit.

From those meetings, a recommendation to reposition the bollards to improve access to the picnic area but continue to prohibit camping was approved by the council last Wednesday.

The Hakatere trio that served on the working group were dumbfounded to learn the following day that a recommendation had even been tabled by the council.

Clancy said he was astounded to learn a decision had been made as the residents were under the impression the working group would meet again to finalise a proposal.

“We have been waiting for an invitation to another meeting so to learn of a decision is a bolt out of the blue.”

They had a verbal commitment they felt was “crystal clear” that there would be a follow-up meeting, but instead the process had been brought to a conclusion without their knowledge.

“It’s very disappointing and disgraceful the way the council had reneged on that commitment and gone ahead and decided without the courtesy of even letting us know a decision was being made”.

As far as the actual decision, the resolution was not what the majority of the residents were hoping for, he said.

The petition, signed by 94 residents, wanted the removal of the bollards and reinstatement of camping at the reserve.

“A reposition isn’t removal so we haven’t got anything we asked for.

“Vehicle access to the grass was the whole point.”

The resident's representatives on the working group were “never mandated to negotiate a compromise”, he said.

Following the decision on Wednesday, Ashburton mayor Neil Brown said the working group achieved its role of finding a solution, “which is always better than the alternative of no solution”.

Councillor Phill Hooper agreed it was “a fair compromise”.

Wilson said it was a difficult process but they knew they needed to come to a decision and he hoped the community could accept the resolution as “a good outcome”.