4 Jul 2013

Former mayor doubts Parker did not know about consents problem

7:04 am on 4 July 2013

Former Christchurch mayor Garry Moore says he finds it hard to believe that incumbent Mayor Bob Parker did not know about a report detailing major problems with building consents until Tuesday.

International Accreditation New Zealand says the council has granted consents for a number of buildings where there's no evidence they meet the building code and are potentially dangerous.

A report containing that information was sent to the council on Monday, triggering a series of events culminating in Christchurch City Council chief executive Tony Marryatt being placed on leave and a Crown manager being installed to sort the crisis.

Mr Parker has ordered an investigation and said on Wednesday Mr Marryatt bears ultimate responsbility for keeping him in the dark.

But Mr Moore is questioning that saying Mr Marryatt would have kept Mr Parker in the loop.

Mr Marryatt is now on leave.