Shore councillor Lisa Whyte doesn’t see the "conspiracy theory" that stopped the council signing a confidentiality agreement with regional water supplier Watercare.
Water privatisation fears meant the council last week voted against putting its signature on the document. Instead it plans to quiz Watercare about its motives.
But during debate Mrs Whyte said it was a standard confidentiality agreement that enabled council staff to work for Watercare on issues associated with the transition to a supercity.
"This gives protection to both parties," she said.
Mrs Whyte said she had signed many similar agreements in her working life.
Councillor Grant Gillon said he wasn’t a conspiracy theorist but the timing of the request worried him.
"I’m concerned that before the supercity is even an entity in its own right we will have lost public ownership of potable water and wastewater in the region.
"The only reason they would want confidentiality is if they’re up to something and they don’t want the public to know about it.
"If they’re up to something the public should know about it."
Councillor Tony Holman feared the agreement aimed to silence any whistleblowers.
He said Watercare hadn’t provided information about the agreement and it was natural people would come up with theories.
Watercare is a monopoly organisation and the public are suspicious of the motivation behind the move to an Auckland supercity, he said.
People had a right to feel that way after the debacle over Auckland City’s Metrowater, Mr Holman said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/north-shore-times/2567748/Whyte-dismisses-conspiracy-theory
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment