The future ownership of Enable is under consideration by Christchurch City Council, with Mayor Phil Mauger confirming councillors will examine a range of options at a confidential briefing on Tuesday.

Asked by chrislynchmedia.com whether selling all or part of the council owned fibre company was among the options being considered, Mauger said there were “a whole lot of options”.

“Christchurch City Holdings have done their bit. They look at the future of Enable and they’ve given it to us, and we are now looking at it ourselves.”

Mauger said Christchurch City Holdings Limited would not attend Tuesday’s briefing.

The discussion will take place behind closed doors because of potentially commercially sensitive information.

“I don’t really know what it is yet because they’re going to tell us tomorrow, but there’s going to possibly be a bit of commercial sensitivity around some of it and on how they work out who owns what and what happens.”

Asked whether the review was aimed at raising money for other council infrastructure, reducing debt, or determining whether continued ownership of Enable made commercial sense, Mauger said all three were expected to be considered.

“I would be fair to say that we will look at all three of those at least tomorrow.”

Mauger also defended the level of confidentiality surrounding Lyttelton Port Company’s $821 million expansion, which includes $300 million in equity from CCHL.

Asked whether he was comfortable with key financial information underpinning the investment remaining outside public view, Mauger said he was.

“CCHL have done their homework, and if it wasn’t going to work, if it didn’t stack up, they weren’t going to do it.”

He said releasing commercially sensitive information could provide competing ports with valuable information.

“Why would you put stuff like that out in the public, and then all the other ports like Tauranga or Timaru can read it and see what the hell you’re up to? So I think keep it close to our chest.”

On building consents, Mauger said Christchurch City Council’s performance had improved significantly, although he accepted problems remained.

“On the whole, things are one hell of a lot better than they ever were. And as problems come in, we’ll address them. We’ve just got to make it better and better.”

He said the council would continue operating its consenting unit under its existing model while the implications of Government reforms became clearer.

“At the moment, we’ll just keep going as we are until the base laws change. And if we have to change with it, we will.”

Mauger also expects Orana Wildlife Park to return to the council seeking longer term financial support despite councillors approving further funding last week.

The park is planning a fundraising and philanthropic campaign, but Mauger said its future council funding would be considered through the Long Term Plan.

“If they get a lot of dough, which is good, we don’t have to give them as much. But I’m sure they’ll be there at the Long Term Plan, and if we have to help them out, we’ll have a discussion and do it.”

Mauger said he believed there was strong public support for keeping the wildlife park operating and pointed to financial support provided to zoos by councils in Auckland and Wellington.

“I’m convinced in my head that a lot of people actually want to keep it.”

He said closing the park would itself be a significant undertaking because of the animals in its care.

“You don’t just turn the tap off and all the animals fly over the fence and go somewhere.”