Heathcote heat over ‘delivery’

Press, 12 April 1979, Page 4

Heathcote heat over ‘delivery’

Queries about a mysterious delivery allegedly made by Heathcote County Council staff to a councillor’s Cashmere property prompted a heated discussion among members of the council’s finance and administration committee last evening.

The incident was the subject of a special report by the committee’s chairman (Cr R. H. T. Thompson). The report, which Cr J. Richardson said “cast a slur” on three unnamed councillors, was submitted to the committee, but not officially received by it. Copies of the report, which described the alleged delivery, were put before reporters at the meeting but were later retrieved. Because the report was to go to the staff sub-

committee it was not availble to the press, Ct Thompson said. Cr Richardson said he had followed a truck to the house of another councillor. Cr Thompson’s report apparently followed complaints by council staff about the incident. “This is the third occasion you as chairman have cast aspersions on members of the council. This sort of thing should never have appeared before the council before the facts were known,” said Cr B. K. Roberts to Cr Thompson. Cr Thompson later denied this. The committee finally decided to pass Cr Thompson’s report to the staff subcommittee.