The Office of the Ombudsman has upheld a complaint against the Carterton District Council, after a complaint from a local residents' association. In 2009 Carterton Residents and Ratepayers Association presented a 2,000-name petition opposing an expensive new Town Hall and calling for a referendum on the project.

The Council refused to undertake a referendum on the basis that one quarter of the petitioners were disallowed. However when Carterton Residents and Ratepayers Association asked to see those names Council officers refused to reveal them, citing "privacy" as the reason. The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered that the Association be shown the 500 names that were disallowed, although it is too late now to force the referendum and construction on the $6 million project will commence in September.

The Association intends to contact each of the 500 disallowed people to see how they felt about being labelled ``invalid'' by the Council. Carterton District Council CEO Colin Wright is reported by the Wairarapa Times Age to have said that it did not matter how many people had signed the petition because a quarter of the names were invalid. You can find out more on the Office of the Ombudsmen, including how to lay a complaint about a local authority, here.