The contract went to Journey Digital, an Auckland-based agency.
In a Facebook post, Wellington City Deputy Mayor Ben McNulty said the hefty price tag had left him lost for words.
“I found out about the existence of this website and its cost the day after the Council Grants Committee had met and been forced to decline $3 million in community funding due to a record volume of applications.
The council said the cost covered design, development and testing but it acknowledged concerns regarding spending. Photo / Master Builders
“I don’t have the words, at least ones that are publicly appropriate to convey my utter dismay,” he said.
Ben McNulty said $600,000 was ‘’an atrocious amount of money to be spent on this type of website”.
‘’A developer on Fiverr could have built something similar for 1/40th of the cost. I know this from first-hand experience having built and managed both websites and content management systems prior to joining council,” he said.
“Whilst I’m confident the message of value for money is making its way through the council organisation, we clearly have ways to go yet. I have no doubt that for those community groups who we said no to, these words will bring little comfort.”
In a statement from Wellington City Council, a spokesperson said it was unlikely a project similar to the library website would be approved today.
“We appreciate it represents a significant amount and that the current council has set very clear expectations that all spending must reflect the council’s current financial state along with the public’s expectations about careful cost control to keep rates rises as low as possible.”
It said the total cost covered design, development, website build, user testing and launch.
“A thorough procurement process was undertaken for this work, with final contract spend approved by the chief operating officer, and Journey Digital was the successful vendor.”
It said the separate website was to ensure the council is promoting the library and to drive as much visitation as possible.
The spokesperson said the library has attracted 350,000 visits since it opened 10 weeks ago.
The library was on track to reach 1.8 million visitors in its first year – or 4900 people a day – the spokesperson said.
– RNZ