Fri, 27 Nov 2009 5:20p.m.
By Rachel Morton
Michael Laws is engaged in a fight with the city port company.
The Wanganui Mayor has sent an abusive email to its management as he tries to wrest back control of the port and a pool of money set aside for port maintenance.
The port is run-down and badly in need of repair. Mr Laws blames the port company, saying it has neglected the asset to the stage where it is dangerous and should be closed to the public.
But the port company says the council is to blame because it is withholding some endowment money which has been built up specifically to be spent on port maintenance.
"It's a 120-year-old structure, there are parts of it that are no longer used and parts of it that we are continuing to use safely," says River City Port Chairman Colin Cashmore.
The argument has turned nasty, with Mr Laws firing off an abusive email to port management.
“You are a lying shit,” he says in the email. “I don’t know if you’re simply a fool or a stooge. I look forward to exposing your lies and duplicity in the national media and have the paper trail to prove your villainy.”
"I think it's extremely disappointing for Wanganui that this sort of thing has to be taken across publicly. It's bad for Wanganui and I just think the guy needs help," says Mr Cashmore.
3 News approached Mr Laws for comment but he would not comment on camera.
“I don’t like TV3 as an organisation,” he said. “You only come to Wanganui for negative stories. You never do anything positive. You’re just a pack of vultures.”
The port issue is also in front of Parliament where National MP Chester Borrows has introduced a local bill which would strip the port company of its perpetual lease.
The company says the bill trashes its property rights and cuts off any court hearing it may seek. But it may also send a shiver through financial markets if Parliament is contemplating confiscation of property with compensation at the whim of the local council.
Both parties have been in mediation and that may resume on Monday, but whatever happens, Parliament may yet have the final say.
3 News