{"id":495168,"date":"2026-06-25T17:13:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T17:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495168\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T17:13:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T17:13:19","slug":"review-launched-into-wellingtons-600k-library-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495168\/","title":{"rendered":"Review launched into Wellington’s $600k library website"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wellington City Council has launched an independent review into the website of the newly re-opened central library, following criticism from elected members and the public. <\/p>\n

It was revealed earlier this month<\/a> that the Council paid an Auckland company almost $600,000 to design and build a website that would promote the library and increase visitation. <\/p>\n

Wellington City Council chief executive Matt Prosser said there was considerable public interest and concern about the website’s cost. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have therefore commissioned an independent external review of the process to help understand better what happened and to identify lessons that can be applied.”<\/p>\n

The review is said to evaluate a number of widespread concerns, including whether the website was established in the most efficient and effective way, and if the costs and scope were defined, tracked and understood. <\/p>\n

\"Wellington<\/p>\n

Wellington central library (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Technology expert and former ANZ chief operating officer Colin MacDonald QSO has been appointed to lead the review. <\/p>\n

He offered to conduct the review free-of-charge, but the Council insisted it would cover any reasonable expenses he incurs. <\/p>\n

Prosser said Wellingtonians are entitled to know how the website project came at the cost it did. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am clear that a value for money lens must be placed over every decision and expenditure the council puts in place. This was a decision made in a different time, and we are already on the record as saying that such a project, if proposed today, would be unlikely to get approval. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis review will look for ways to strengthen decision-making processes so that we can continue to improve how council serves the Wellington public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Findings will be reported back to Prosser and the Council before mid-September and are expected to be made public soon after. <\/p>\n

The Central Library reopened in March after the building was restored and strengthened for $217 million. <\/p>\n

Mayor Andrew Little had previously said he was shocked at the cost for the website, which was separate to an existing one where people can become a member, reserve books, and check the catalogue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wellington City Council has launched an independent review into the website of the newly re-opened central library, following…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39,52],"class_list":["post-495168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-wellington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495168","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=495168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}