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Buller Appointee Sworn In As West Coast Regional Councillor
Westport surveyor Chris Coll is now one of two Buller representatives on the West Coast Regional Council.
Mr Coll was appointed by the council last month to fill the seat left vacant by the sudden death of Cr Frank Dooley in December.
He was sworn-in at yesterday’s council meeting, held for the first time - by iwi invitation - at the Maakawhio marae in South Westland.
Council chair Peter Haddock announced Mr Coll would serve on five council committees: Operations, Resource Management, Risk and Assurance, Corporate Services and the Westport Rating District Joint Committee.
Councillors welcomed Mr Coll on board, with the exception of Cr Allan Birchfield who was opposed.
Speaking after the meeting, Cr Birchfield said he believed it was undemocratic to appoint a councillor.
The job should have gone to the next highest polling candidate in the last elections, Reefton’s Dave Hawes, Mr Birchfield said.
“I also objected because we now have an unelected member with full voting rights serving on all the committees I was kicked out of."
Cr Birchfield was censured , deposed as Chair and removed from the committees in 2023 after a stand-off with the former chief executive and allegations of leaking confidential information.
Regional council chair Peter Haddock said at the time that the council was not required to fund a by-election, because the next elections were less than a year away.
Mr Coll had extensive experience of West Coast rivers and Westport issues, and continuity was vital as the council embarked on major flood protection projects, Mr Haddock told LDR.
Cr Birchfield said he had not yet decided if he would stand again for the Regional Council at the elections this spring.
-LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Local Democracy Reporting
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