Council hiding development contributions information
The Ombudsman is being asked to investigate the Auckland City Council’s refusal to release any information about its development contributions policy to the Property Council of New Zealand.
Wednesday, June 13th 2007, 9:05AM
by The Landlord
Connal Townsend, chief executive of the Property Council, described the city council’s decision to withhold all information as “undemocratic and secretive”.“The Property Council, on behalf of its members and thousands of aspiring property owners, is seeking to investigate the development contributions policy of Auckland City Council.”
“We want to ensure that it is obeying the law.”
If the city council adopts its draft Annual Plan without amendment, the Property Council says, it could “grab in excess of $700 million over 10 years in extra levies on the purchasers of new homes and other buildings”.
The city council’s proposed development contributions policy “bumps up the levy on apartments in the CBD from around $7,000 to over $40,000 – a five-fold increase”.
A recent High Court declaratory judgment regarding the North Shore City Council’s 2004 development contributions policy undermined the legality of some development contributions policies pursued by territorial authorities.
The Property Council then requested information from the city council including documents developed in response to the judgment, which it declined to release.
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