Work gets underway in 2020 to build a pipeline bringing bore water to Kaitāia's treatment plant. Photo: Peter de Graaf
A Far North District councillor says he's "bitterly disappointed" by the failure of his second attempt to secure a judicial review of the controversial Sweetwater project.
The project, to drill into the aquifer north of Kaitāia and pipe the water to the town's treatment plant, started in 2010.
Water only started flowing in February this year, by which time the total cost had blown out to around $18 million.
Frustrated by what he saw as a lack of answers about where the money went, at May's meeting Councillor Mate Radich called for a judicial review.
However, due to the hefty cost, Radich agreed instead to call for an independent review.
The resulting report, showing a total cost of $18,016,070 and putting much of the blowout down to a lack of planning, was presented at the council's July meeting.
Radich, however, was unimpressed.
At last Thursday's meeting in Kaikohe, he told fellow councillors it was supposed to be an independent, external review.
"So what did we get? An internal review, by council staff. The complete opposite of what was required," he said.
He said the internal review also lacked the required detail with, for example, "professional services" cost at $1.439m with no further breakdown of who the money had been paid to or what for.
Radich again put a motion calling for a judicial review.
Chief executive Guy Holroyd said his recollection of the May meeting was that the council had agreed to carry out an internal review and get it externally audited, "in the interests of streamlining the process and saving costs".
Holroyd said the review was "definitely not" done internally to hide any financial information, as alleged by Radich.
He also questioned whether a judicial review would get Radich the answers he sought.
Judicial reviews examined whether decisions had been made properly, whereas Radich was seeking detailed financial information.
"We're still struggling with this … It's not a judicial review that's required. There's no actual decisions to form the basis of a judicial review. It's a financial review that needs to be done."
Holroyd said the council could "press on" and get an audit firm to review the report and underlying data.
However, Radich would not change the wording of his motion calling for a judicial review.
It was voted down by five votes to four with one abstention.
Mayor Moko Tepania said he was not comfortable voting for a judicial review that could cost "five or six figures" without providing the required answers.
What councillors had sought in May was a comprehensive and transparent breakdown of the costs.
"The money's been spent, right? How do we show what has been spent and why, and also how this organisation is learning from that project and will ensure it never happens again?"
Tepania called on staff to instead "look into a forensic external audit of the project for full cost transparency and learnings".
Radich told RNZ he was "bitterly disappointed" for Te Hiku ratepayers.
He was convinced the project had cost more than $18m.
"But no one's going to be held accountable. All I wanted was for everything to be itemised, then we'd have the truth."
The council has been contacted for comment.
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