Lawyers Update:
On Monday 07/08 a discussion on the phone was had with Paul Cowey and Milly O'Brien at Parry Field Lawyers. Paul said we had a very good legal case with legal precedent and the options to proceed were discussed. Paul will draft his legal opinion in the next 2 weeks and provide it to us.
Paul suggests that with their help we Incorporate a Society in the name of the late wife of Roy Thompson. Roy gifted the land to Auckland Council for "the purpose of pensioner housing" as a memorial to his late wife and his parents. It seems fitting we name the society after her. The Parry Field Lawyers trust account can be used as the bank account of the Society for donations towards fighting for a change to the redevelopment that would see pensioner housing retained.
Note. We are not asking for donations yet. An incorporated society is a legal entity for a not-for-profit group or organisation. The organisation must have at least 15 members. Further, the organisation must have a purpose other than running a business for profit. An example of an organisation that can become an incorporated society is a sports club or charity.
The society would function to coordinate action in these legal proceedings including raising funds for coming legal action and interacting with media and other interested parties.
At this point posting our legal strategy in the open is not beneficial but there is a strong legal case to be made that other parties have not acted correctly upon the wishes stated clearly in the gifting documents between Roy Thompson and Auckland Council. Notable too is that legal opinion provided by Simpson Grierson Lawyers to Auckland Council at the time of sale of the land to Housing NZ (now Kainga Ora) did not even sight the original gifting document when preparing their legal opinion. Once Paul has released his legal opinion he has suggested we have another community meeting and discuss the way forward.
It was a positive and productive meeting. Thanks must be made to Paul and Milly for providing their expertise and time to us without cost at this stage. Also thank you to Paul Hughes - member of Blockhouse Bay who has been assisting me with this.
Council Update:
The council is close to finalising its report on the consent application. This report will recommend an outcome and as noted below, the duty commissioner will review the application and will make a decision on the council’s behalf, based on their interpretation of the application, specialist reports and council’s recommendation. No significant changes to the application were made in terms of reducing dwelling sizes or re-thinking the road.
The council recommendation is for a non-notified approval.
The council report summarises and discusses the community feedback received to make sure that the duty commissioner is fully informed.
Keep following for more updates. Please feel free to send me a message (benjinathan00@gmail.com) or leave any comments and continue spreading the word to see a change to this redevelopment to honour Tarby's wishes!