Wolfe accused of conflict of interest

Councillorcouncil Neil Wolfe says he will take no further part in setting the New Plymouth District Council's pokie machine policy after allegations of a conflict of interest.

Mr Wolfe's involvement in a trust responsible for distributing pokie grant money angered other councillors, after he voted on a pokie machine policy review last week.

Yesterday, councillor Andrew Judd said if Mr Wolfe continued to debate and vote on the review, he would lay a complaint with the Auditor-General.

Councillor Shaun Biesiek was also considering laying a complaint.

The council is considering a number of pokie machine policy options, including retaining the status quo or adopting a "sinking lid" policy to reduce machine and venue numbers.

Mr Wolfe is the chairman of the New Zealand Community Trust's Taranaki regional advisory group.

The NZCT was set up in 1998 and is focused on sporting organisations.

Mr Wolfe is also president of the Taranaki Rugby Football Union, which received $450,000 in grants from the NZCT last year.

But yesterday he told the Taranaki Daily News he would take no further part in the council's review process.

He said the vote he took part in last week was only about what to consult on, not the final decision on machine numbers.

"All I said was that there's a lot of money goes back to the community. I just wanted to make that clear," he said.

"I will be abstaining on any further vote because of the conflict of interest."

The issue caused a stir when Mr Judd tried to stop Mr Wolfe taking part in the council's debate and vote on which policy option to recommend for the review.

Mayor Peter Tennent overruled Mr Judd's objections and suggested if he had an issue, he should contact the Ombudsman or Auditor-General.

That decision meant a tied vote and Mr Tennent used his casting vote to rule the council would recommend the status quo, leaving Mr Judd unimpressed and contemplating following the Mayor's advice.

"I'm challenging the transparency, not the individual," Mr Judd said yesterday.

"This is a complex and far-reaching issue for the community.

"Council has to conduct itself in a completely transparent matter.

"I don't apologise for that. That's the reality. That's what people want us there for."

- © Fairfax NZ News