Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell is taking the city's council to the Ombudsman after he said they failed to give satisfactory answers to an information request over the contentious sale of the city's marine precinct.
Uffindell is also urging other residents unhappy with the council's transparency to do the same.
The council has received 20 requests for information under the Local Government Official Information And Meetings Act (LGOIMA) since April, asking for information about how the decision to sell the land came about.
Only one of these has been provided an answer in full.
Eleven had information partially or completely withheld while another five were told to find the information online from what had already been made public. The council was still working on three requests.
Uffindell was one of the 20 who asked for information and he said these figures were proof of his own concerns about the process.
The council at first directed Uffindell to the information already made public through other LGOIMA requests. Uffindell replied that he did not feel it answered his questions and then waited to hear back.
After 20 working days from his request, RNZ approached Tauranga City Council to ask if they were planning to respond to Uffindell. He received a response from the council two days later, refusing part of his request and pointing him to already public information for the remainder.
He said he was not happy with this response.
"I feel that it is pretty light touch, that they have put up a bunch of somewhat generic information... but to the substantive request I don't think it's been adequately addressed."
He said it felt like the council was giving out crumbs and hoping people will go away. He has had several voters come to him also complaining about the way their LGOIMA requests have been responded to.
As an example, he pointed to one resident's request for correspondence between key staff at the council and the developers who bought the land.
"[TCC] are refusing the request to provide this information [on the grounds] it is substantial. I find that really concerning. In fact, I find, with all the public criticism about the questions being asked, their unwillingness to be transparent about communication between senior council staff, including the chief executive, and the key developers, absolutely appalling," said Uffindell.
He said he was going to seek an investigation by the Ombudsman into the council's response to his request and he was telling constituents who complain to him to also approach the Ombudsman.
Uffindell has called for the mayor and councillors to demand the chief executive address the situation and he will be meeting mayor Mahe Drysdale today to directly raise this as a concern with him.
"TCC is doing itself a huge disservice, in my opinion, by not being more transparent and open with the public."
In a statement, the council's democracy services team leader Kath Norris said the council was happy with the way marine precinct LGOIMA requests were being responded to.
"Council is satisfied that all official information requests about the Marine Precinct have been responded to in accordance with LGOIMA and within the prescribed timeframes set in the legislation," she said.
Norris suggested that the problem was often with the request, not the way it was responded to.
"We note that when very broad requests are received, it is appropriate to ask for the request to be refined. Once the requester refines the original request, it is then treated as a new request, replacing the original one. This restarts the statutory time limit for LGOIMA."
Uffindell said it was really important that the public had a high level of trust in the council.
"My strong recommendation is for the mayor and councillors to call in the [chief executive] and made it very clear to him that he and his staff need to be absolutely upfront with the people of Tauranga," he said. 
Article: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/537093/tauranga-council-giving-out-crumbs-of-information-mp 

The proposed sale of the marine precinct took another turn last week when Tauranga City Council was served with judicial review proceedings and the High Court granted an interim injunction to prevent the sale from being completed.
RNZ has put together a timeline of the twists and turns involved with the sale.
2004: Tauranga council buys the marine precinct land. RNZ has asked the council what price it paid, however, we have been told an official information request will be needed to obtain that information.
2014: Council secured a $5 million grant from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council's Regional infrastructure Fund to develop the marine precinct into a facility to support the marine industry in Tauranga.
December 2020: Tauranga council is sacked by the government after internal dysfunction.
3 July 2023: Council obtained a valuation of the land, followed by a second valuation in December of that year. When including improvements to the land the midpoint valuation was $22.144 million.
August 2023: Council's chief executive Marty Grenfell met with developer Rupert Curry and discussed development opportunities in the city.
Christchurch developer Sam Rofe then made contact with council via Curry with a proposal to purchase the marine precinct. He had a vision for the marine precinct "to emerge as the premier superyacht refit destination, where luxury meets precision, and dreams are meticulously crafted into reality" (council was still under the management of commissioners).
The land was never advertised by the council as being for sale on the open market.
27 November 2023: In a closed-door meeting, the commissioners decided to progress negotiations to sell the marine precinct to Rofe.
27 March 2024: Council and Rofe signed a non-binding term sheet which set out the proposed commercial terms.
8 April 2024: In a closed-door meeting, the commissioners approved the key terms of sale. This included a sale price of $13m and a commitment by council to fund the cost of the development of an alongside wharf and a replacement of the existing Bridge Wharf.
After this meeting, the term sheet was formalised into interdependent agreements for sale and purchase for the marine precinct land and Vessel Works business.
Monday, 20 May 2024: In a closed-door meeting, the commissioners approved up to $29.2m for wharf redevelopment. In addition, council approved up to $7.8m to replace Fishermans Wharf.
Council's meeting agenda notes that there has been a reduction in the expected proceeds for the marine precinct from $33m to $13m.
20 July 2024: Tauranga city holds a local election, returning democratic power to councillors and the mayor.
23 October 2024: At an extraordinary meeting of the council several members of the public speak against the sale, including Mark Ngata, general manager of Moana New Zealand which operates at the port. Roger Rawlinson, who owns seven boats at the marine, jumped up and spoke outside of the public forum time, shutting down attempts by the mayor to remind him of meeting process. Video of this was spread widely online.
4 November 2024: Mayor Mahe Drysdale speaks out against abuse being suffered by council staff online, saying he was concerned it created an unreasonable situation for individual staff and the organisation.
12 November 2024: Tauranga-based ACT MP Cameron Luxton said he has written to the Auditor-General, raising concerns about the sale and requesting an investigation.
MP Sam Uffindell is among those concerned about the council's deal. 
14 November 2024: Local MP Sam Uffindell said [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/534387/the-deal-sucks-mps-question-tauranga-marine-precinct-sale
he went to see the auditor general] and asked that the sale be investigated.
15 November 2024: Mayor Drysdale said he had written to the Office of the Auditor-General to express full support for any review or investigation.
19 November 2024: RNZ asked the auditor general if they were planning to review the sale. A spokesperson for the Office of the Auditor-General confirmed they had received correspondence asking them to look at investigating this issue and are considering the issues raised.
21 November 2024: The High Court granted an interim injunction to prevent the sale from being completed after Sean Kelly, managing director of Pacific7 (a company currently based at the precinct) filed an injunction.
25 November 2024: Tauranga council holds an emergency closed door meeting to discuss the judicial review. Drysdale said the council was seeking further legal advice and information before an informed decision was made.
A court date to hear the injunction is yet to be set.
29 November 2024: Tauranga  community advocacy organisation, Lobby for Good, wrote to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) asking it to urgently investigate the sale of the marine precinct. It said the  lack of transparency in the deal suggested possible deliberate undervaluation or improper conduct.
3 December 2024: The SFO confirmed to RNZ that it has received a complaint in relation to Tauranga's Marine Precinct. It said it could not comment on whether an investigation is likely to eventuate. 

Original Article: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/535145/a-timeline-of-tauranga-s-controversial-marine-precinct-sale