The Dunedin City Council provided a breakdown yesterday of court costs awarded to it relating to a parking dispute.
Cr Vandervis repaid the council $19,074.57 for High Court costs, $8401.17 for Court of Appeal costs and $2500.20 for Supreme Court costs after the conclusion of the legal process.
The money, adding up to $29,975.94 including GST, was collected after the release of the Supreme Court decision in September 2022, the council said.
Cr Vandervis was censured by the council after he was found to have breached its code of conduct in 2019 when he confronted a staff member about what he believed was an inadequate parking sign.
He argued an investigation into his conduct was flawed and the censure was unjustified.
Cr Vandervis went to the High Court to seek a judicial review, which was declined, and then his attempt to have the council’s decision set aside by the Court of Appeal was unsuccessful.
He then sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, but this was dismissed.
The council’s legal fees and costs relating to the investigation added up to more than $100,000.
Costs recovered from Cr Vandervis were connected to the part of the process that came after the council’s censure, which he challenged.
The court action was necessary to protect his reputation, he said in 2022.
Cr Vandervis was this week found by the council to have breached the code of conduct for comments he made about Māori.
The council requested an apology from him and asked that he participate in Te Pae Māori forum meetings.
It has yet to decide what might happen if Cr Vandervis declines to do so.
