The region’s first Citizens’ Assembly — on the subject of the future of Napier’s aquatic facilities — is already proving controversial with some ratepayers.

Given reaction to the initial article published by BayBuzz, we put some follow-up questions to the council about the subject matter experts and topics they would be presenting on.

Concerns centred around whether the NCC-sponsored Assembly would be a true opportunity for public input or would it be set up to green light a pre-determined outcome. Others worried it looked like a political stunt during an election campaign.

A spokeswoman for the council said that while the council was still working on the details, the Assembly would feature experts who could speak on the history and refurbishments of Napier Aquatic Centre – the Onekawa Pools – as well as what needs the region had for an aquatic facility and how it might be used. Experts would also speak about the type of location that would work for such a facility, and the Assembly would hear from people with experience building such facilities in other parts of the country.

The Assembly members can then request further information and presentations from those same experts, as well as independently selected ones. These would be brought into the second and third sessions.

While the format was still being confirmed, it was likely that the first session would be made up of individual speakers or panel presentations.

On the second day members will be given an overview of the regional aquatics landscape so they could see what else is already out there, before delving into what is needed for Napier in the future, looking ahead 10+ years.

The rest of the Assembly would focus on where the facility should go and to establish criteria for a suitable site. There will be people available to talk to the Assembly members about sites that have previously been identified.

BayBuzz also asked Mayoral candidates Richard McGrath and Nigel Simpson if they supported conducting the Assembly at this time.

McGrath said he had no issue with doing the Assembly, but would not have picked such a polarising subject for the first one.

“[I] made my feelings clear to Council on that. It seems to have opened a can of worms with the community with a few commenting about it as I’ve been out door knocking. With the $4m upgrade at the Onekawa Pools we have bought ourselves 8-10 years grace before we need to upgrade, surely there are more pressing questions that could have been answered,” he said.

Simpson said Assemblies were a legitimate form of public consultation and were used widely in other countries.

“However, these processes are expensive, conservatively about the equivalent of the annual cost of an elected member for a decision. Perhaps we could have more assemblies and fewer City Councillors?”

He said residents elected councillors to make decisions on their behalf and it was important that voters considered the competency and capability of each candidate, including prior governance experience and their ability to make complex decisions.

“If a city elects poor decision-makers on to their Council, it’s costly.”

He said public consultation for annual and long term plans could process a considerable number of decisions simultaneously and efficiently.

“If I were Mayor, the Aquatic Centre would have been decided years ago. In future if I were Mayor, Council and management would formulate preferred options, and the annual plan public consultation process or special consultation would be used, not an assembly,” Simpson said.