‘Not quite yet brother-in-law,’ said Jen, glancing at Liam, who hadn’t overheard.
Lucy shrugged. ‘For all intents and purposes he is. Anyway, I’ll continue doing what I’m doing.’
‘And what’s that?’ asked Kate.
‘Disrupting the consultation process. To get approval to demolish the hotel he’s got to prove he’s consulted directly with immediate neighbours, local Maori, heritage groups, business associations and community groups.’
‘Goodness, that’s a lot of consulting,’ said Kate.
‘I’ve seen his proposal advertised in the local papers and on the council website for weeks now,’ said Sam. ‘So that’s the public notification period covered.’
‘Yeah, but he’s got to engage with people. I’ve checked the regs. He needs to hold at least two public meetings.’
‘In addition to an online submission portal, drop-in sessions — which he’s already done — and a written submissions period that’ll have a couple of weeks to run yet, I reckon,’ Sam added.
‘It’s the public meetings I’m going to focus on. He needs to engage with a minimum of twenty-five percent of affected residents.’
‘What’s “affected” mean? The whole village?’ Kate asked.
‘Unfortunately not,’ said Sam. ‘Probably within about a one-kilometre radius. But there’ll be a quota of individual submissions he’ll have to receive, and he’ll need at least fifty people at the meetings. And he’ll have to demonstrate that he’s considered the feedback.’
Lucy slammed her palm lightly on the table. ‘Damn. That’ll be what those altered plans were for. Changing them to incorporate community space. I’d thought…’ She swallowed the rest. She wasn’t about to admit she’d thought he’d done it for her.
‘A community room? For us to hire?’ Kate’s face brightened. ‘We could really do with that.’
‘Well, not for hire. He said it would be free.’
‘Oh my goodness. That would be wonderful.’
‘No,’ said Lucy firmly. ‘It would be terrible. He’s allocated the darkest room in the building, next to the bins. It was an afterthought. A sop. And we don’t want it.’
Kate opened her mouth as if to argue, then caught Lucy’s expression and thought better of it.
‘You’ve got to face it, Lucy,’ said Sam. ‘Oliver is quietly going through this process, ticking off the requirements every day. Last week, while we were checking into his background, he wasn’t wasting any time.’
‘So what do I have left to fight him with?’
‘It’s down to the public meetings. That’s where you’ll have most effect. That’s your best chance of stopping him.’
She nodded slowly. ‘You’re right.’
Jen cleared her throat. ‘So, how do you propose to stop people from attending the meetings?’
‘By fair means or foul.’ She left it at that. Her law-abiding family didn’t need to know that, right now, the “foul” options were looking most effective. Changing the time and place of the meeting wasn’t really foul, was it?
‘There is another way, you know, Lucy,’ said Kate.
The table fell quiet. All eyes turned to her.
‘What?’
‘You say that Oliver doesn’t understand the meaning of the word “community”. Then perhaps, rather than sabotaging his efforts, you could educate him.’
Lucy huffed.
Jen smiled. ‘Trust Mum to come up with a solution that involves education. But, you know, I think she’s onto something, Luce. Life is so full of anger and hostility. Why not try the softly-softly approach first? Educate Oliver about what MacLeod’s Cove is all about.’
‘It’s not a solution. Oliver wouldn’t be educated about anything. He’s far too arrogant. He thinks he knows it all.’
