A Wellington web designer has slammed the city council’s decision to spend $600,000 on a new library website being developed by an Auckland-based company, describing the move as “insulting.”
Documents released under the Official Information Act show Wellington City Council spent $595,801 on a new website for Te Matapihi, Wellington’s central library, awarding the design and build contract to Auckland-based company Journey Digital.
The site is separate from the existing library website, which allows users to become members, reserve books, and access the library catalogue.
According to the council, the new website was developed to raise the profile of Te Matapihi and drive increased visitor numbers to the library.
“I was blown away. I was literally incredulous, I couldn’t believe it,” Wellington City mayor Andrew Little said when asked about the cost.
He has also launched an independent investigation into the matter.
“Are you sure that’s right? Surely that must involve other things?’, but no, that was the website cost.”
“Then when I went to have a look at the website itself and saw how frankly simple it was, it didn’t add up,” Little said.
Wellington-based web designer Iona Elwood-Smith, who owns Grow My Business, said the council’s decision “adds insult to injury”, given the central library’s status as an iconic city landmark and the years it has taken to rebuild.
“It’s been such a missing part of the heart of Wellington, and then to find out that the website was built from outside Wellington is just insulting.
“That our local council would make those kinds of decisions … it’s like, feed your family first, mate,” Elwood-Smith said.
“What would make them make such an insulting, stupid decision? We would feel a whole lot better about $600,000 if it were coming back into the Wellington economy,” she added.
While acknowledging that the website had some “really cool” elements, Elwood-Smith said the overall design appeared to be the product of committee-driven decision-making and fell short of what would be expected for the amount spent.
Meanwhile, Little said he was keen to get to the bottom of how the project was commissioned, what process was followed, how it was managed, and whether the council was ultimately getting value for money.
Wellington City Council said all staff, particularly budget managers, have been reminded of the need to save money and that a similar website would not be commissioned under current conditions.
The council’s chief operating officer is responsible for the expenditure, which is delegated under the council’s delegations policy, which states that the executive leadership team is able to approve spending of up to $750,000, and the council said that for major projects such as the library redevelopment, it is standard practice for the chief executive to delegate spending authority to the senior responsible officer.
Wellington City Council said the expenditure did not need to be signed off by the chief financial officer, as this was not required under its policy, and that the website was delivered through a staged procurement process.
“Whilst Wellington companies were amongst those invited to submit a proposal, the preferred supplier was Auckland-based, as [they] met the evaluation criteria more closely.”
“Whilst being Wellington-based was one criterion that was considered, ultimately Journey was selected, as they most closely matched the experience needed and could deliver the website in the required timeframe.”
“Visitor experience, specialist creative spaces, an integrated service model, cultural design and mana whenua partnership were confirmed as core design principles of Te Matapihi and were reflected throughout the approved project scope.”
“These were not discretionary additions but part of delivering a civic facility that reflects Wellington’s identity and commitments.”