The plaque is now installed at the Horseshoe Club, founded by members of the former Cossie Club. Photo: Emily Ireland / LDR
A Masterton council staffer sold a community relic to a scrapyard, despite it being entrusted to the archive, sparking an internal investigation.
The 34kg bronze plaque was commissioned in 1976 to commemorate the opening of the new Masterton Cosmopolitan Club building.
When the club closed in 2016, the plaque was entrusted to the Wairarapa Archive, which is managed by Masterton District Council.
In May last year, former members of the club found the plaque at a local scrap dealer and bought it back for $340.
"It's a part of Masterton's history which we need to retain," former member Paul Foster said.
When they asked the council for more information in June, the council had no record of the sale.
The council's community manager Corin Haines said "the matter was investigated and concluded over the course of a month".
The plaque had been sold to the scrap dealer in May by a council staffer for $160.
The transaction was recorded on council books in July after members had probed the council.
Information on the plaque's disposal timeline, requested by the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, was fully redacted.
Emails about the matter between council staff were also partially redacted.
Taxpayers' Union campaigns manager Connor Molloy said if people donated locally significant items to the council, "they should rightfully expect that it will be appropriately displayed and cared for, or politely declined if the council does not want it".
"Instead, we are seeing a community relic being sold off to a scrap metal dealer", much to the disappointment of local residents, he said.
"The council has acted with a surprising level of secrecy in relation to this incident, with large quantities of information redacted from public view and failing to elaborate how the mistake occurred.
"Council officials must front up and explain exactly what happened and what steps have been taken to ensure local residents can trust them to look after donated items."
Responses to official information requests were largely redacted. Photo: Emily Ireland / LDR
In a statement, Haines said the council had "resolved this matter with the staff member and we're confident that no other items have been disposed of in this manner".
"We have been clear that any items removed from the Archive collection are done so through an approved process and there will not be a repeat of this."
He said "a mistake was made regarding the correct process to follow in those circumstances".
The council confirmed approval to remove the item from the collection was not given by the library and archive manager, members of the club were not contacted before the plaque was sold, and the donation of the item to another suitable institution was not considered before it was sold.
These are all part of the correct process to follow.
The council has reimbursed the costs of buying the plaque back from the scrap yard.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
