Puketapu Hapu have complained to the NPDC - but where did the release about the Service Level Agreement actually come from ?
On Thursday 26th March a deputation by Peter Moeahu, on behalf of the Puketapu Hapu, laid a complaint to the NPDC, that sensitive information had been leaked by the NPDC about a contract with the Puketapu Hapu.
Te Pati Maori have provided an edited video of this deputation, which is attached at the end of this story.
The complaint raises that sensitive information has been brought out in the public arena and caused harm for the Puketapu Hapu.
So, how did this information get out to the public arena ?
On Thursday 19th March, on behalf of the Puketapu Hapu, Kelly Moeahu (listed as Puketapu Hapu Management) did a public deputation to the Te Huinga Taumatua Committee (the NPDC committee with Iwi and Hapu Representation).
He raised concerns in this deputation that “ for over 12 months of negotiations on a Service Level Agreement, there has been stalled deadline dates, and on the verge of signing, NPDC Governance has intervened and stalled negotiations”.
You can find the full deputation at this link – scroll down the page to find the meeting in the picture below – the deputation is on video 1 – and it starts around the 41.5 minute mark:
https://www.npdc.govt.nz/council/council-meetings/
The deputation was not listed on the agenda. Glenn McLean from the Daily News has confirmed on one of our Facebook Posts that:
“there was no mention of the service level agreement in the agenda because it was a deputation from Kelly Moeahu which wasn’t listed. Unfortunately NPDC do not update the deputation lists after they publish the agendas online.”
The public knew about the Service Level Agreement (SLA) because Kelly Moeahu raised the issue publicly with his deputation.
Stuff / The Daily News was aware of this deputation and they reported on it. Stuff tells their readers an alleged dollar amount, and in the deputation on Thursday 26th March, Peter Moeahu, on behalf of the Puketapu Hapu, alleges where the source of the dollar amount came from.
But the point to be clear on is Kelly Moeahu is the person, who on behalf of Puektapu Hapu, publicly in a deputation, raised the service level agreement for discussion. Kelly Moeahu brought this issue out to the public.
Mentions of Service Level Agreements (SLA's) raises a lot of questions for Ratepayers:
What is an SLA ?
How many SLA’s are in place ?
How many different organisations / companies have SLA’s ?
How much rates income goes to paying for SLA’s
Why do the public not know anything about the creation of SLA’s ? (These appear to have started back under the term of the last council).
How long have these been in place and who instigated them ?
Why do ratepayers know nothing about their rates income being used to pay for SLA’s ?
At the last election the community voted differently, they want openness and transparency. They want to know what decisions are being made at the NPDC and they want the detail of where their rates income is being spent.
New Councillors now sit around the NPDC table.
Kelly Moeahu for the Puketapu Hapu did a public deputation, in an NPDC public forum, and this brought the SLA arrangement to the attention of the public. Stuff / The Daily News made that information more widely available.
The officials you voted for, the officials you asked to bring about change, need the support of the people who voted for them.
The voters last October asked them to scrutinize how rates income is spent, we want them to reduce costs and we want to know what is happening at our Council. Before the Alliance (again) gets beaten up for being anti Maori - we want to know this about every organisation - and every aspect of how our Council operates – not just Puketapu Hapu.
If you support our elected officials asking questions about all contracts and all rates income arrangements, for all organisations they deal with, then please send them a quick note telling them you support them scrutinizing costs. Remind them that they have your support and this is why you voted for them.
If the people of New Plymouth don’t stand up and say enough is enough of the secrecy of how our Council operates, from the rates income we pay, then nothing will change.
Please share this story with others who you think will want to contact their elected officials to support their continued scrutiny of ongoing costs, and openness with information, by the NPDC.
If Peter Moeahu is unhappy the public knows about the SLA arrangements, then the first person he should be asking questions of is Kelly Moeahu from the Puketapu Hapu, for bringing this up publicly.
Te Pati Maori’s Video Link to Peter Moeahu’s Complaint is here:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1416454316628665
The list of emails for the NPDC elected officials:
Copy and paste these e-mail addresses into a new e-mail and send it to
Or, write a letter and drop it off at reception.
Posted: Sun 29 Mar 2026