Wellington City Council meeting on Reading Cinema’s future held in secret

The Reading Cinema building on Courtenay Pl. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Wellington City councillors have met behind closed doors today about the future of the shut-up Reading Cinema building on Courtenay Pl, the Herald understands.

The building was closed in early 2019 after an earthquake risk was discovered. A carpark next to the cinema building was earlier demolished following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and nothing has been built on the site since.

It has become a symbol of the tired state of Courtenay Pl - a street that’s traditionally been a key part of the city’s nightlife and entertainment offerings.

A full city council meeting was held this afternoon with just one item on the agenda, titled “city activation project”.

It’s understood a multimillion-dollar deal, involving the council buying the land underneath the Reading Cinema, was under consideration.

It was discussed in a public-excluded part of the meeting. Reasons given for this included allowing the local authority to carry on negotiations, including commercial and industrial negotiations, without prejudice or disadvantage.

Following the announcement of the Town Hall's huge cost overrun, the Wellington City Council has just made a terrible decision in public excluded (vote: 10 for and 6 against). If the public knew the details of this decision they would be incandescent.

— Tony Randle - WCC Councillor (@Wellingtoncomm) October 4, 2023

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau said it was “getting really boring” that some of her councillors continued to speak to the media about confidential council meetings.

“It creates an environment where the public does not have the full picture and loses faith in our processes and decision-making,” Whanau said.

”I was elected with a strong majority on the platform of delivering critical infrastructure for the city and reviving the city centre to show we are open for business.”

Whanau said this required a bold approach to address the areas of the city that required rejuvenation.

“We have been working away at just that and I hope to have more detail in the coming weeks regarding the Courtenay Precinct, which undoubtedly is the area that most requires action.

”I will be speaking publicly about where we are up to once we have firm details to share, which is what locals deserve: a good process and the full picture, rather than undermining petty politics.”

Not all councillors agreed the deal should be discussed in secret, but they were overruled by their peers.

Cr Iona Pannett said at the beginning of the meeting she was concerned about the lack of transparency.

“It is not clear when the information will be made public. It does have an impact on the public for a number of reasons.”

She said it will have “very significant implications”.

Cr Nicola Young said the council needed to be open.

“I’m concerned that we are losing all credibility with Wellingtonians because of the unexpected happenings such as the Town Hall cost blowout.”

Yesterday it was revealed the cost of earthquake-strengthening and redeveloping Wellington’s Town Hall has rocketed from $182 million to a possible $329m.

The cost escalation will be considered and voted on at another full council meeting on October 25.

Cr Tony Randle also opposed today’s meeting being held in secret.

“This is an important decision that the council is making today and I understand fully the reasons why it’s in public excluded but I do have to say, I think that us dealing with this at this time is really a bad move for the council.”

Whanau, who chaired today’s meeting, disagreed because of the “commercial and sensitive nature of the deal”.

In June, Whanau said she hoped the council could soon make an announcement on the future of the Reading Cinema.

“That will be a very exciting thing,” she said at the time.

At a press conference yesterday about the Town Hall budget blowout, Wellington City Council chief executive Barbara McKerrow was asked what was happening with the Reading Cinema.

“We are working hard with the owners of Reading Cinema,” McKerrow said.

In an annual return filed in March this year, Reading Cinemas Courtenay Central Limited reported the company was re-evaluating the property for redevelopment as an entertainment-themed urban centre with a major food and grocery component.

“We are currently working on a comprehensive plan for the redevelopment of this property featuring a variety of uses to compliment and build upon the “destination quality” of this location.”

Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.