But unlike elsewhere in the South, no investigation was launched into the performance of the elected members.
Chairman Andrew Noone, who replaced Cr Hobbs, said last week the council had received informal feedback and suggestions from the department to improve governance and decision-making.
Mr Noone said the council accepted it had been through a tumultuous period, but now it was operating in a more unified manner.
After the tumult ended he wrote to Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta on behalf of all councillors to outline what had and had not been completed with respect to the council’s contentious freshwater plans.
He also outlined professional development undertaken by councillors.
The council wanted to keep the minister informed of how it was tracking, because there was a fair bit going on, he said.
Mr Noone said the department began watching the council when there was considerable division around the table about how to meet its responsibilities for managing freshwater, and in particular the recommendations of Environment Minister David Parker.
The division largely ended after Mr Noone was elected chairman of the council at an extraordinary council meeting in July.
However, after Mr Noone confirmed the department had taken an interest in the council in a statement last week, Cr Hobbs said it was when Dr Parker decided the disputed freshwater plans would be called in and heard at the environment court that the turmoil had largely ended.
Cr Hobbs said she continued to take issue with local government in general if elected officials did not take the advice from specialist civil servants in the same way as their central government counterparts would.
Mr Noone said though, the council was functioning better now there was shared leadership at the governance level, with councillors accepting individual areas of responsibility.
More decisions were to be made on freshwater before the council notified its land and water plan by the end of 2023.
The Department of Internal Affairs launched an investigation at the Invercargill City Council in August, in response to concerns raised there about the performance of its mayor, Sir Tim Shadbolt, and councillors.
