The councillor at the centre of the matter has now decided to speak out, saying she is well-equipped to deal with the perceived conflict of interest.
And Cr Jim O’Malley, who picked Cr Sophie Barker for the role, said her selection was "a positional appointment, not a personal appointment", but she was a good choice regardless.
Otago Housing Alliance strategic lead Aaron Hawkins, a former mayor of the city, raised concerns about the appointment of Cr Barker to the hearings panel for plan change 1, which will later this month address the Dunedin City Council’s proposal to protect 146 more heritage buildings.
Mr Hawkins argued Cr Barker’s ongoing advocacy of heritage matters should concern those opposing the council’s proposal to add restrictions to their properties and "puts the integrity of the process at risk of legal challenge".
The three-person panel consists of Crs Barker and O’Malley as well as independent commissioner Rob van Voorthuysen, its chairman.
After Mr Hawkins’ concerns were reported in the Otago Daily Times, Cr Andrew Whiley took umbrage.
"Pity Mr Hawkins doesn’t appear to remember his own actions," he said.
And there were times he had believed there was "direct conflict" with Mr Hawkins’ previously stated views, including issues that were associated with the district plan (2GP) process in which Mr Hawkins was heavily involved with as a 2GP commissioner, Cr Whiley said.
Cr Whiley said he went so far as to complain privately to the council chief executive in 2019, Sue Bidrose, about an apparent conflict when Mr Hawkins was appointed to chair a hearing regarding high-class soils despite having "repeatedly made his views known on the issue".
Cr Whiley noted the chairman for the upcoming plan change 1 hearings, Mr van Voorthuysen, had sought and obtained an independent legal opinion after Mr Hawkins first raised his concerns in March.
And Mr van Voorthuysen had now stated publicly he was satisfied Cr Barker did not have a conflict of interest, and that she would bring an open mind to the panel.
"Cr Barker is an extremely hard-working councillor who has great integrity and is across all the issues facing heritage, housing and development across the city.
"More importantly, she is not chairing the hearing and there is another experienced councillor (Cr O’Malley) sitting on the panel.
"Both councillors are also experienced RMA commissioners working with an experienced hearing chair."
Cr Whiley later suggested Mr Hawkins was raising the issue because he was eyeing a return to local government after having been voted out as mayor in 2022.
He said the example Cr Whiley used from 2019 was not the same as the present situation.
"This isn’t comparable to assessing the merits of a landowner wanting to undertake activities contra to planning rules.
"A higher bar should be set for decision-makers where council is proposing restrictions that aren’t supported by the landowner," he said.
"It’s bizarre to suggest that people who made decisions on planning rules should be somehow restricted from implementing them.
"The RMA is not a ‘both sides’ political instrument."
Cr Barker had a sustained involvement in advocacy on heritage issues that should disqualify her from the panel, especially because a higher bar should be set for proposing heritage-building restrictions "that aren’t supported" by the landowners.
When the ODT first raised Mr Hawkins’ concerns with Cr Barker she referred comment to the hearings panel chairman.
Now, she said she had a lot of experience in managing perceived conflicts of interest and had "always dealt with them".
"I come to the hearings and decisions-making space with an open mind, no preconceived outcomes and am eager to hear expert advice and weigh up the evidence when I am presented with the information during the process.
"I am very aware that an RMA commissioner’s role is quasi-judicial and the responsibilities that come with that role, the training and gravitas that that role entails," she said.
Cr O’Malley said he selected the panel along with staff help and due to the nature of the hearings, which included changes to the district plan beyond heritage as well, he appointed himself because he was chairman of the infrastructure services committee, and Cr Barker because she was the chairwoman of the strategy, planning and engagement committee.
And Mr van Voorthuysen was chosen because of his experience.
Cr O’Malley’s selections were then ratified by a council vote.
"A well-trained and experienced commissioner such as Cr Barker knows full well that the pre-eminent position a commissioner must take is that natural justice is served and in doing so place the process above any personal views," he said.
