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Kavinda Herath/Stuff
The Gore District Council finally has its governance committees in place. (File photo)
The Gore District Council has appointed councillors to its governance committees, five months after the local body elections.
At an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday, councillors were appointed to committees and the terms of reference for each committee was accepted.
The meeting was held just half an hour before the first committee meeting was scheduled.
“Yay, locked in our committees, way to go guys,’’ mayor Ben Bell said when the motion had been carried.
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Cr John Gardyne will chair the assets and infrastructure committee, which will meet quarterly. Councillors Bret Highsted, Stringer, Phillips, Paul McPhail, McKenzie and McDonell were appointed to that committee.
Cr Stewart MacDonell will chair the audit and risk committee, which will meet bi-monthly. Crs Highsted, Reid, Stringer, Gardyne, Paul McPhail, Richard McPhail, MacDonell and Michael Chamberlain will sit on that
The community and wellbeing committee will be chaired by Cr Glenys Dickson and it will meet quarterly. Crs Highsted, Reid, Hovell, Phillips, Paul McPhail, Richard McPhail, and Cr McKenzie will sit on that committee.
Kavinda Kerath/Stuff
Gore district councillor Bret Highsted had been left off all committees in Bell’s first governance structure. (File photo)
Cr Keith Hovell will chair the policy and planning committee, which will meet quarterly. Crs Reid, Dickson, Richard McPhail, McKenzie and MacDonell will sit on that committee. A district plan sub-committee, consisting of Crs Dickson, Stringer, Gardyne and Phillips was also appointed, and a mana whenua representative is yet to be appointed.
Bell was appointed to all committees and the subcommittee.
At a meeting in December, the council voted that all councillors would sit on all four committees.
But at a council meeting earlier this month, Mayor Ben Bell said he was ‘’uncomfortable’’ with that model and proposed that councillors should be able to opt out of some committees – and he had prepared a list of which councillors he thought should be on each committee.
Bell’s first proposed governance structure failed to gain traction after the council estimated it would cost $300,000 more a year to implement.
It also left Highsted, who had 15 years of council experience and had previously chaired the audit and risk committee, off all the committees.
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