Environmental advocates are criticising the Hawke's Bay Regional Council's decision to hold a meeting on a controversial water issue behind closed doors.
The site where the failed Ruataniwha dam project was proposed for. Photo: SUPPLIED / Isthmus Group
Water Holdings Hawke's Bay, which holds the consents for the Ruantaniwha dam that was canned five years ago, has applied to extend the consents to 2030.
Some in the community are worried it could bring back discussions on the dam, which was blocked by the Supreme Court.
Local leaders have said bringing the Ruataniwha dam up again was "giving mouth-to-mouth to a rotten corpse".
Today, one of the council committees were going to discuss "charges" for Water Holdings Hawke's Bay.
No more detail is available on what these charges are, but the Water Holdings Hawke's Bay's website says the company's only major expense is the payment of annual science charges/consent fees which are about $58,000.
In 2020, the Central Hawke's Bay District Council paid these via a grant, to much disappointment from environmentalists.
Today, the Hawke's Bay Regional Council have excluded the public due to grounds under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act to protect people from "improper pressure and harassment".
But Forest and Bird freshwater advocate Tom Kay asked if this was necessary, as it was an important local issue.
"I'm all about keeping people safe and not having members of the community and leaders harassed but I think there's a lot of options for keeping this open. It's a question of transparency and accountability that the public can be allowed to witness this discussion.
"There's ways of doing it safely, right? We've had a lot of meetings that have been recorded or streamed online."
A council spokesperson said councillors would discuss today if and when the information should become public.
