Cheap deal has big cost
The Waikato District Council wanted a cheaper deal for access to Hamilton city libraries, a move that axed the long running deal and caused an outcry.
District Council chief executive Gavin Ion told our sister site Tamahere Forum the Hamilton City Council didn’t agree with the proposed fee cut “so the negotiations ended unsuccessfully.”
But one city councillor maintains the district has ditched a good deal which was being subsidised by the city.
Negotiations over the annual $300,000 deal were instigated by the district council and took place from April to June between senior managers at both councils, Ion said.
“Each council’s elected members were involved as the decision makers,” he told Tamahere Forum.
But the Hamilton city councillor said the district council’s decision was highly questionable.
“The free access to any of the Hamilton libraries has actually been subsidised by HCC for some years,” said Hamilton councillor Dave Macpherson in a comment on this Tamahere Forum story.
A city delegation provided figures on the matter to Waikato’s Long term Plan hearing, he said.
“All HCC was asking [for] was a continuation of the same amount, despite inflation,” said Macpherson who lives in the Waikato district and is affected by the “silly decision”.
To continue reading, including about the new $3 million library for Pokeno, read this story.
