Council remains tight-lipped on who made call to spend $2m on Timaru gang properties, as asbestos delays work

Monday, 26 June 2023

The former Devils Henchmen gang headquarters in Timaru were demolished on May 16.

Gang properties purchased by the Timaru District Council are going to take a little longer to clear as asbestos has been discovered in some of the buildings.

Giving an update in the council’s Long Term Plan workshop last Tuesday, its chief executive Bede Carran told councillors there was a contract to clear the sites.

“There is a bit of work, because in some of them, there is a bit of asbestos,’’ Carran said.

While the council was willing to discuss this in an open forum, exactly who made the decision to spend more than $2 million of Timaru District ratepayer money, to buy a gang pad and three other properties linked to it, looks set to remain a City Hall secret.

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And despite the Timaru District Council saying police were involved in the exercise, police have issued a statement saying they had no involvement in the deal.

The former Devils Henchmen pad in Timaru’s Meadows Rd last week.

The council had been upfront about its reasons for buying the properties, saying it sent a clear message that gangs were not welcome in the district – but it was refusing to identify who was involved, citing protection of those involved “from improper pressure or harassment’’, and to maintain legal professional privilege.

On May 16 the council had announced it had purchased the property at the centre of flaring tensions between the Devils Henchmen and Rebels gangs. That same day, the diggers rolled in to demolish the fortified long-time headquarters of the Devils Henchmen.

Mayor Nigel Bowen explained the need for swift action at the time, saying the council had to move fast before the Rebels “had the chance to entrench themselves in the town”.

The council later confirmed it had spent $1.26m acquiring that property.

Tensions are high in May after the Rebels moved into the Devils Henchmen gang pad in Timaru.

It was later learned the decision to buy that property was not ratified by the council until a public-excluded meeting on May 30 – two weeks later.

On June 6, the council announced it had purchased not one, but four properties on Meadows Rd, as part of the plan to drive the gangs out of town.

The industrial-zoned properties at 76-80 Meadows Rd were purchased by the council for “capital value”. The capital value of 76 Meadows Rd (811m2) was $285,000, 78 Meadows Rd (820m2) was $270,000 and 80 Meadows Rd (814m2) was $305,000, making the total spent on Meadows Rd properties to be $2,120,000.

On May 17, following the demolition at 90 Meadow Rd, Stuff asked the council how much it had paid for that and who had made the decision to buy the properties.

The council was also asked to explain what had to happen behind the scenes to enable the purchase to go ahead so quickly, whether a meeting had been called and if it had fast-tracked a consent for demolition.

Timaru District mayor Nigel Bowen at the former Devils Henchmen pad on Meadows Rd, ahead of its demolition on May 16.

Under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 Act, the council had 20 working days to provide responses. On June 19, it answered some of the questions, but not all.

In his response, Carran said “representatives acting on behalf of council entered into an agreement to purchase the properties on Meadows Rd, and the agreement was ratified at a full council meeting’’.

The meeting was held two weeks after the purchase of the property, when the council went into public excluded to discuss the purchase.

A release was issued eight days after, telling the public it had spent more ratepayer money to buy three other “gang-linked’’ properties.

Carran said the council had “withheld some information which relates to individuals involved in the proceedings under section 7(2)(f)(ii) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the protection of such members, officers, employees, and persons from improper pressure or harassment, and section 7(2)(g) which is to maintain legal professional privilege’’.

He said a building consent was not required for the demolition of the property.

“A services consent which provides consent for the disconnection of water, wastewater and electricity was issued.’’

Announcing the purchase of the additional properties on June 6, Bowen said the purchase had the support of the police.

Diggers work on the former Devils Henchmen gang pad, in Timaru, on May 16.

When Stuff questioned police about its involvement in the takeover, a response from a spokesperson from its police media team said “this transaction involved two parties external to Police – we don’t have any comment to make’’.

In May, Bowen asked councillors to support him in writing to Police Minister Ginny Andersen outlining their concerns about an increased gang presence in the community.

That was supported. However, during the meeting last week Bowen said that action was “put to bed’’ after the council purchased the properties.

He said the police commissioner was coming to town next month and policing, customs and aviation security would be discussed.

Carran also told councillors last Tuesday that a sale and purchase document would be drafted up “where we will look to go and recover that through a competitively tendered price for those sections, and we’re getting professional support to draft the documents.

“But we will look at essentially running the sale process through council using professional support, but the next step is for us to put those properties onto the market and see what interest there is.

“We’re not proposing we will put them out largely as they are currently titled and allow for others to determine what they want to do.’’