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This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
The Christchurch City Council has voted to inject another $ 12 million into an already inflated repair cost for the City Council.
The hall was severely damaged in the 2011 earthquakes. The original budget for the repair project was $ 127 million, but $ 164 million has been spent so far.
Vbase, the city-owned company in charge of the repairs, has run out of money and already owes the city nearly $ 10 million in arrears.
In August 2018, the council approved a capital injection of $ 45 million into the project; in December of the same year it allocated another $ 15 million.
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On Wednesday, the board voted through approval to buy up to $ 12 million of shares in Vbase in order to complete the project. The $ 12 million is part of the $ 15 million allocated.
Stacy Squires / Stuff
The Christchurch City Council underwent extensive repairs after the Canterbury earthquakes.
Councilman James Gough did not support the measure, saying they were “throwing away bad money after good.”
“This is the gift that continues to give; the original cost was $ 127 million, which then had a capital injection, and here we are doing it again.
“It’s a great facility, but the process was not good, and that said, my preference is for a stricter approach.”
He said that canceling Vbase’s debt would have been a better option.
“I understand that everything has an associated cost, but the problem is that the taxpayer continues to pay the bill.
“We should write off the $ 9.8 million and then pay for the rest of the repairs with capital savings, which keeps things much tighter.”
Councilman Sam MacDonald agreed.
“This project has continued to fail; we have to be smarter with our decisions. We need to be more disciplined and find more operational savings.”
MacDonald said the council needs to get to the point where it stops borrowing just for the sake of it.
Alden Williams / Stuff
Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel says the town hall’s repair project was poorly managed and a council team had to be brought in.
But Mayor Lianne Dalziel said taking another option would create more risk.
“The council staff have looked at all the options and this is the one they have suggested, and I agree that it is the best option.
“This project suffered from extremely poor management and, in part, a council team was put in place.
“We all agree that we got into this situation and we never want to see this again, but the council stepped in and stopped any further damage that could have been done had the administration been able to continue,” Dalziel said.
Dalziel noted that the room was used for the press leaders’ debate on Tuesday and was a large facility.
The council has recognized that the repair project suffered from inadequate governance and management.
Last year, Audit New Zealand reviewed the project and found that changes to the project scope may have contributed to the increased cost and delay in completion.
It also recommended that the council should conduct an independent external review to help identify lessons learned.
The council could not confirm whether it had commissioned a review.
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
