13 06 05

Te Whanau O Waipareira loan costs ratepayers nothing so penalty payments part-refunded

Waitakere City Council today part-refunded penalty interest payments, made by Te Whanau O Waipareira Trust, on a loan from the Council in 1998. The loan was to assist to the trust to buy land for a whananga.

The Council’s Finance and Operational Performance (FOP) Committee heard that all the Council’s outstanding costs had been met from penalty interest paid by the trust, with $35,577 left over.

Councillor Derek Battersby moved that the $35,577 should be refunded to Te Whanau O Waipareira Trust. The motion was carried seven to six.

“The bottom line on the deal in 1998, was that the loan would not cost the ratepayers anything and we have achieved that,” says Cr Janet Clews chairman of the FOP committee.

“The trust paid half a percent on top of interest, from the start, to cover the Council’s administration costs. The capital was repaid in December 2004 as was interest and penalty interest. All l outstanding costs have been met from the penalty payments made by the trust, so this has cost the ratepayer nothing,” she says.

“In the meantime, the trust has entered into a new social project. A portion of the land is being used by Housing New Zealand to build affordable housing, including housing for the elderly.”

“If the trust’s substitute project had been purely commercial we probably wouldn’t have made the refund, but the housing project is for the public good,” says Councillor Clews.

ENDS

© Scoop Media