When the mandates came in and many were denied access to cafes and the usual gatehr ing places people started having picnics in Farndon park
Farndon is half way between Napier and Hastings and the people who met there are all inclusive some vaccinated some unvaccinated all seeking support and friendship without a political agenda.
The group is not defined by any manner or means or membership its simply random members of the public who enjoy the company of other random people , it is a life save for many and fabulous friendships have formed.
Out of the blue at the end of january Mr Gavin Ashcroft approaches a lady who has done much to introduce the people to each other and foster friendship . he leaves it uncertain as to what is happening and she writes to him requesting what rules, laws, etc are around the use of the park and Gavin Ashcroft replies as shown here
Believing that it is very wrong for the public to be charged for using a public park I sought information through FYI Terms and conditions for using Farndon park
as can be seen by the response they provided us with the memorandum of agreement setting up the management committee
I discovered that the councillor who has oversight of the committee is ann redstone and communicated my concerns to her
she passed it on to the General Counsel who obviously did not have the information at his finger tips, referred it to democracy services and eventually we got the minutes of the committee the correspondence with counsel is here
the most significant documents are the minutes of 15 february 2022 and the MOU
I would have expected to have seen mention of the invoice dated 11 February in the minutes or discussion with regards to setting the rules as per the mou which specifically state”to make rules for the use of the Domain and its facilities, subject to first obtaining the prior approval of the Council“
Why was there no mention in the correspondence and why was there no mention in the treasurers report and who is the entity which holds the bank account into which the funds were paid.
Councils are required to operate in a open transparent manner see section 14 local government act 2002
The reserve is a public reserve and the reserve act applies and specifically states in section 17 “the public shall have freedom of entry and access to the reserve, subject to the specific powers conferred on the administering body by sections 53 and 54, to any bylaws under this Act applying to the reserve, and to such conditions and restrictions as the administering body considers to be necessary for the protection and general well-being of the reserve and for the protection and control of the public using it:“
Must be time for a refund and an apology .
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