Independent review into RDC spending welcomed

We Welcome the Independent Review Into Council Overspending

The Ohakune Ratepayers and Residents Association fully supports the independent investigation launched into the Ruapehu District Council’s $700,000 overspend.

We’ve raised concerns repeatedly about the council’s lack of transparency and disregard for public input—especially around Teitei Drive. Council claims the social housing project has cost $280,000, yet nearly $54,000 of that was just to answer official information requests (OIA). We believe this figure is vastly understated, with documentation we’ve received showing consultancy fees from Ree Anderson alone exceeding $250,000.

Council has consistently attempted to hide the true extent of spending, and it has taken almost a year of back-and-forth OIAs to confirm what we already knew: ratepayers deserve better.

CEO Clive Manley has been at the helm during all of these incidents. He oversaw the decision to ignore councillors’ votes to “let it lie” and instead pushed Teitei Drive forward without proper public consultation.

Just today (29 April), the council admitted in an OIA response that they have no record of how much was spent on the ATMS project between 2020 and 2024:

“Ruapehu District Council did not separately monitor or record the costs related to the development and implementation of the ATMS.”

This response is alarming and further justifies the need for this investigation.

We strongly urge that the scope of this review include these examples of poor accountability and fiscal mismanagement. It’s time to uncover where the money has really gone—and demand accountability from those responsible.