By John McDonald (CityWatch NZ Editor and 2024 Hamilton East Ward By-election Candidate)
Back in 2020, Hamilton City Council Chief Executive Richard Briggs produced an article titled “No, Council is not destroying a bird park, despite what some say”. A local newspaper, the Waikato Times, published the Chief Executive’s article on Saturday 17 October 2020.
“The perception seems to be Council suddenly decided to put a road through private property without telling anyone. That we’re bulldozing the park. That we could save millions by moving the road. That we’re destroying pa sites. That we don’t care about the environment.
None of those things are true.
Council is not ‘destroying’ the park as has been claimed. It is building a section of a road network developed in consultation with the Shaws, other landowners, mana whenua and the wider public. This work has already been ongoing for years, across multiple Councils.
The road avoids most of the planting and ponds on their property and we are trying to negotiate with the Shaws to see what other steps we can take to support safe access to the property.”
Hamilton City Council Chief Executive Richard Briggs, “No, Council is not destroying a bird park, despite what some say” 17 October 2020
That article was from a time before the terms “misinformation” and “disinformation” became popular with bureaucrats and politicians. If that article was re-written today, I suspect that Hamilton City Council’s large contingent of well-paid PR staff would have made repeated mentions of “misinformation” and “disinformation” as they try to reshape the narrative about the situation at Shaw’s Bird Park.
Almost two years later we can see that considerable destruction has been inflicted on the Bird Park because of Hamilton City Council. Aviaries have been destroyed, many trees have cut down, access has been blocked, birds have been removed (in some cases seized and allegedly killed by the authorities), and parts of the park are in the process of being “bulldozed”.
Sure some native trees have been dug up and moved. However, many trees have ended up in the piles of woodchips and waste.
As Chief Executive Briggs mentions in his 2020 article, Hamilton City Council got itself into a “$290M funding agreement with Government” to build the new suburb and he was not going to tell his “…staff to throw away millions of dollars of ratepayer money” to move the road.
The destruction at the Bird Park has been fuelled by debt. Hamilton City Council borrowed over $100 million for the Peacocke suburb. The Council appears to be expecting developer contributions to pay back the loan. This is the “growth will pay for growth” mantra we hear in the Council Chambers.
“In 2017, we secured a $290.4 million funding package made up of a $180.3 million 10-year interest-free loan and $110.1 million of Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency subsidies. This gave us the funding we needed to make Peacocke happen and put in the strategic transport and essential services that new homes need…
…The majority of the Housing Infrastructure Loan will be repaid by developers through development contributions, with around 90% coming from development contributions and 10% through rates.”
Hamilton City Council Website, Strategies, plans, and projects > Projects > Peacocke, 14 August 2022 version
With Council taking on huge debts to fund the new suburb, and relying on future developer contributions to balance the books, they made a huge financial gamble with the City’s future.
Does massive debt fuel massive mistakes?
Did Council take on too much political and financial liability when they went ahead with this large greenfield development?
How much is this liability driving the trampling of private property rights around Shaw’s Bird park?
Over the years, the Shaws have helped the community and opened up their Bird Park. Both for the wider public to enjoy and for various groups in need of safe refuge.
At this time they need our support.
With help from the wider community, CityWatch NZ is involved in deeper investigations into saga of the Bird Park and Peacocke development.
It is an important story for the Shaws, the City, and has implications for communities around the country.
[The content of any Opinion pieces represents the views of the author and the accuracy of any content in a post labelled Opinion is the responsibility of the author. Posting of this Opinion content on the CityWatch NZ website does not necessarily constitute endorsement of those views by CityWatch NZ or its editors. CityWatch NZ functions to provide information and a range of different perspectives on New Zealand’s cities and local councils. If you disagree with or dispute the content, CityWatch NZ can pass that feedback on to the author. Send an email to feedback@citywatchnz.org and clearly identify the content and the issue.]
Further reading on this issue:
Shaw’s Bird Park, the road, and the Council: A bureaucratic nightmare in Hamilton
