The bottom line

No intention to mislead, says Parker

Parker has claimed the council rejected housing schemes on land vulnerable to quakes but developers overturned the decisions in the Environment Court

Cr Chrissie Williams said Parker's claims were "blatant lies", but Parker said he did not intend to mislead anyone

Williams said: "I have asked council to give me a list of these cases and they have said there are none.

"It bewilders me. There are other examples where Bob comes out with these very simple statements and he repeats them so much they become urban myth. They become fact, and that worries me.

"It is almost like

he is saying it to take the responsibility away from council."

The real story behind the quake starts to unfold as the man of the moment loses his lustre and is put on the spot.

Parker told Radio New Zealand at least twice that the Environment Court had overruled council decisions opposing development on certain soils.

"Council has resisted development in some of these areas. It has gone to the Environment Court and the ruling has gone against the advice of council," he said on September 13.

"I am saying we have over the years seen development take place on some soils that council would have preferred not to have seen development take place on," he said on September 10.

Planning documents show the residential rezoning that allowed Pacific Park was not opposed by the council.

In fact, the former Planning Tribunal reduced the area for housing development outlined by the council when environmental groups appealed against the decision.

As with any cornered politician, resorting to form, lying is the bottom line. "Only guilty of repeating ..." sounds just like "only guilty of helping..."