JOHN ELLIOTT: LOCAL NEWS

LOCAL NEWS JOHN ELLIOTT: ONE VERSUS SIX ON WAITEMAT

A LOCAL BOARD

The Waitematā Local Board has six City Vision members and one Citizens and Ratepayers member. I interviewed the ‘one’, Sarah Trotman, and asked her first how and why she got arrested for trespassing in the Western Springs Forest.

The felling of all 200 odd old pine trees in the forest has been a very controversial issue. The destruction during the felling of more than half the growing native understorey exacerbated the problem.

Trotman was called to the entrance to the forest by a concerned resident early one morning. She agreed to enter the forest early with the elderly constituent on the condition that the woman would not endanger herself by sitting on the dangerous arm of the digger, as long as Trotman stayed with her. They sat together on a large digger for nearly two hours. After the lengthy sit, Trotman called out to a security guard to get his attention (the forest was being guarded 24/7 at a cost to ratepayers of $50,000 per week) and Trotman was subsequently trespassed and the police called. Police arrested Sarah Trotman, put her in a paddy wagon and took her to Mt Eden Prison. She subsequently appeared in court.

Trotman told me her complaint was about ‘a lack of quality governance, not the environment’. She initially stayed on the digger to protect a constituent, and then used the platform to highlight misinformation, untimely information and incomplete information, which was constantly served up to board members, community liaison group members and the community.

Trotman was not alone in opposing the demolition of the forest. The board approved the resource decision, subject to an academic’s recommendation being implemented, “where legally possible”. The vote went four votes to three. Sarah Trotman had Alex Bonham and Adriana Christie on her side.

Sarah Trotman

Sarah Trotman seemed to me to be completely disillusioned with the Waitemata Local Board, so I asked her how much the 6-1 majority to City Vision was a problem.

She told me that right from day one she knew it would be difficult. Richard Northey told her during a tea break, that he was going to be chairman. She told him the board had not yet met to vote on chair person. “I didn’t want it, “ she assured me. Northey replied “The city vision team have caucused and decided.”

Although Sarah Trotman forced a discussion, it was the first of many battles she would lose, purely on the strength of the imbalance of the board.

Trotman says, “Local body politics shouldn’t be about left or right, it’s about what is right.”

She claims it is a manipulation of democracy, with Richard Northey setting the tone. City Vision repeatedly vote politically rather than following the result of due diligence after substantial discussion, Trotman asserts.

Sarah Trotman believes the community is giving up engaging with the board because they are not being engaged with in an authentic manner. There is a crisis of confidence in the Waitemata Local Board’s behaviour.

“Thank you for your views,” is the standard, unenthusiastic response to every submission, including some very well thought out and comprehensive presentations in recent times by the likes of Jo Malcolm, Deborah Manning, Alan Matson and Annie Coney. Many of these people give hours of their time to promote local issues, and they are largely ignored. Trotman claims good governance experience prior to her election to the board, and says her time on the board is proving valuable for her future ambitions, which include a council seat.

“I won’t stand again for the board”, she told me. “I have been bitterly disappointed in the poor governance and the political manoeuvrings.” She says the board is manipulated by a few powerful council staff. After requesting a meeting with Council CEO Jim Stabback several times, she then instructed a QC to write to try to get a meeting with him to discuss some examples. That request was declined.

Sarah Trotman confirmed to me that she will stand at the next local body elections for the Waitemata ward councillor’s seat, currently held by Pippa Coom.

She told me that Coom shot ‘an own goal’ by entering the harbour bridge to promote a cycle lane, giving media interviews at the top of the bridge, and there should have been consequences. “It was dangerous,” Trotman says, “and gridlocked commuters trying to get to the North Shore.”

I asked Sarah Trotman what she had learned from her time on the board. “The people of Auckland deserve a much better standard of governance. Good governance is not rocket science,” she asserted. “It is also about common sense and integrity. I needed to prove my competence to the community, and I think I’ve done that. You need to be fair, honest and diligent, and I have been that.”

Despite difficulties on the Waitemata Local Board, Sarah Trotman believes it is good preparation for a shot at a council seat.