{"id":491297,"date":"2026-06-23T09:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/491297\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T09:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:31:10","slug":"majority-of-heart-of-the-citys-board-resigns-as-they-call-for-auckland-council-to-pull-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/491297\/","title":{"rendered":"Majority of Heart of the City\u2019s board resigns as they call for Auckland Council to pull funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

On May 20, Beck succeeded in an Employment Relations Authority (ERA) legal challenge<\/a> against the HOTC board after it found Beck had an \u201carguable case\u201d she was \u201cunjustifiably suspended\u201d. Beck then returned to her role as chief executive.<\/p>\n

In a statement released tonight, the HOTC board recommended that the council exercise its right to audit HOTC under the Auckland Council Business Improvement District (BID) Policy. <\/p>\n

HOTC receives slightly more than $5 million in funding through a targeted rate under the policy.<\/p>\n

The HOTC board has also recommended the council withhold funding \u201cuntil it is certain that the organisation is delivering value for money\u201d for the businesses and entities HOTC is responsible for as part of its BID policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe executive committee considers that, despite its best endeavours, the society cannot meet its legal, constitutional, contractual obligations without being compelled to invest an extraordinary portion of the public funding and resources intended for activities that contribute to the economic prosperity of the 15,500 businesses and 159,000 workers that make up Auckland\u2019s central city,\u201d the resigning executive committee members said in today\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

The HOTC board members who have resigned are McCracken, secretary Chand Sahrawat, Richard Hansen, Callum Mallett, Chamanthie Sinhalage-Fonseka and Brett Sweetman.<\/p>\n

The HOTC board said the resignations were the most responsible action given the use of public funding needed \u201cto resolve the society\u2019s governance challenges\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most significant issues identified is the society\u2019s non-compliant register of members, which renders the society incapable of knowing how many members it has. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn relation to this, we have taken advice from HOTC\u2019s lawyers, and based on the initial review of the information provided by HOTC staff, we have reluctantly concluded that, among other concerns, the membership register is not compliant with the Incorporated Societies Act 2024 and the Heart of the City Constitution, and the barriers faced internally mean we cannot see a pathway by which to get the organisation to a state of compliance. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been advised that this is not only an issue with legal compliance but also breaches the BID contract with Auckland Council.\u201d<\/p>\n

The HOTC board has also recommended that the council appoint a council officer as a non-voting member of the HOTC executive committee.<\/p>\n

Beck told the Herald news of the mass resignation came as a surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a difficult period for our team, who have continued to work hard on behalf of city centre businesses with professionalism and integrity. At all times, staff have acted openly and in good faith, engaging constructively with the Executive Committee. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain focused on delivering for businesses. 2026 is an important year, with exciting developments and opportunities that will bring a new dimension to the city centre.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Wayne Brown said there \u201cseems to be a systemic issue\u201d with HOTC.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn March, I raised concerns with the board over the performance of the organisation and its compliance with the council\u2019s BID policy,\u201d he told the Herald.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result of the mass resignation of committee members, I am seeking urgent advice from staff in response to this dysfunction. I want to be very clear that our CBD and its businesses deserve better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve Bielby, a HOTC member and owner of St James Theatre, has been representing a group of CBD landlords who had been mobilising<\/a> for months to call for a special general meeting (SGM) to challenge the board. <\/p>\n

He submitted a member\u2019s notice of motion to the SGM calling for all board positions to be vacated and be up for nomination and re-election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think it would clear up all the issues. I think [board members] need to reseek a mandate, and I just think it\u2019s the right thing to do given these questions. Let\u2019s have a nice, clean start,\u201d Bielby told the Herald in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, at the moment, there could be the accusation levelled that you have potentially defective members on the committee voting.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its statement tonight, the HOTC board said it unanimously voted on May 20 to hold a SGM to cover off matters raised by members.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same board meeting, the board also unanimously voted to bring its membership register into compliance, so that a legitimate SGM can be held.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was based on the society\u2019s lawyers\u2019 assessment, after an initial review, that HOTC\u2019s membership register appeared to be in breach of the Incorporated Societies Act and the HOTC constitution, and it appeared to have been the case for a number of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The HOTC board alleges the existing database did not present an accurate reflection of who is a member of the organisation.<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On May 20, Beck succeeded in an Employment Relations Authority (ERA) legal challenge against the HOTC board after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[74,806,3110,51,2372,138,3043,1550,3937,2199,13849,5205,6097,1122,3938,113207,2082,738,42,2862,12898,14575,27612,3234,43,1118,2961,17363,17218,106382,81566,223,8229,61,5911,40,38,41,39,143077,5977],"class_list":["post-491297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-after","tag-as","tag-association","tag-auckland","tag-board","tag-business","tag-call","tag-centre","tag-chief","tag-city","tag-citys","tag-council","tag-down","tag-employment","tag-executive","tag-exodus","tag-for","tag-funding","tag-headlines","tag-heart","tag-investigation","tag-majority","tag-mass","tag-months","tag-news","tag-of","tag-pull","tag-resigns","tag-stood","tag-subject","tag-temporarily","tag-the","tag-they","tag-to","tag-tonight","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-turmoil","tag-which"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}