Former councillor Anthea Keenan banned from Westland council office for perceived threat
Friday, 5 April 2019
A woman was removed from a Westland District Council meeting by police after alleged threats made on social media.
Anthea Keenan, a former councillor and mayoral candidate, said she was trespassed from council offices for two years after she made comments on her personal Facebook page. The comment said it was time the army 'bombed' council to 'bring sense to their noggins'.
She later changed 'bombed' to 'blasted'.
The council said, in light of the Christchurch terror attack, Keenan's comments were taken seriously. Keenan said her removal from council chambers was 'dirty shirty stuff'.
READ MORE
* Westland District Council slated by Auditor-General for building flood wall
*** 'Emergency' $1.3 million stopbank built despite multiple warnings
* Funding granted for report into Franz Josef earthquake and flood hazards
* 'Too expensive' to protect West Coast town from another flood**
She has been a vocal opponent of council for many years, including what she says is a lack of transparency, bad management and leadership failures. She successfully lobbied Local Government NZ to investigate amalgamating Coast councils and has been objecting to the Westland District Council flying the Tino rangatiratanga flag.
Keenan attended an extraordinary council meeting on Thursday with the intention of hearing the debate on the council's Freedom Camping Bylaw.
She said council chief executive Simon Bastion asked to speak to her outside, then handed her a trespass notice and asked her to leave.
He told her she was being trespassed because of the Facebook comments that morning.
'I told him I wasn't accepting the notice and dropped it on the floor and went back to my seat. Then in came the police from behind.
'I stood up and got my bag and told councillors I was being trespassed and the police officer grabbed my arm and said 'leave out'.'
Keenan said the comments on Facebook had been taken out of context. She was referring to the army being in the district to help repair the Waiho Bridge after recent storms and hoping they could help sort out other issues in the district, which she blamed councillors and the mayor for.
A council spokeswoman said the council supported freedom of speech, but serious threats against staff would not be tolerated.
A police spokeswoman confirmed a woman was removed from a council meeting. No charges had been laid, she said, but enquiries were continuing.
Mayor Bruce Smith said he fully supported Bastion's actions in protecting staff.
Meanwhile, the council has ordered an independent review of its procurement policy after Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta expressed concerns an Auditor-General report into Smith's decision to build a stop bank at Franz Josef without full council approval.
The Auditor-General's report found the stopbank was built without consulting experts or conducting a proper procurement process. It also found councillor Durham Havill had used his personal contacts to procure a contractor but did not benefit financially from the deal himself. Smith and Havill has defended the decision as essential emergency work.
A briefing to Mahuta said there was a 'serious problem' with the council's procurement processes as well as a history of dysfunctional governance and management and non-compliance with statutory obligations.
It said there was a risk Smith could not follow proper process again because he had publicly stated he wanted to carry out more work on the Waiho River.
It said Mahuta could appoint a Crown Review Team or a Crown observer but recommended she request reassurances from council it had independently reviewed and was abiding by its procurement policy.
Smith said he would be taking Mahuta's comments on board and the council had already adopted a new procurement policy, which it was following.
* Comments on this story have closed