Buller mayor not sure about standing again

Buller District Mayor Jamie Cleine says he is undecided about whether to stand again for election in 2025.

The past 12 months had been tough, and not just for the Buller District Council (BDC), he said.

"It’s a tough time to be in local government, with so many changes in legislation affecting councils and so much uncertainty; I’m not sure even central government knows quite where it’s heading."

On the personal front, Mr Cleine had been under pressure as the defendant in a defamation case taken against him by the late Frank Dooley.

"Although we won, it was like a cloud hanging over us for most of the year. It was very stressful for everyone involved."

The impact of water reforms had also been weighing heavily on the mayor, in a district with dozens of small water supplies and nobody rushing to share the cost burden.

The scrapping of Labour’s Three Waters plan has left Buller, like other West Coast councils, casting around for partners in search of the water infrastructure savings allegedly to be had by joining forces with councils in other regions.

"We’re working with Tasman and Marlborough on a memorandum of understanding, to see if there’s any merit in working together."

The council would almost certainly have to set up a council-controlled organisation to manage water assets, and appoint non-elected professional directors, in order to borrow from the Local Government Funding Agency, Mr Cleine said.

Then there was the forensic audit of the BDC’s project management office — set up to manage funding from the government, but found to be lacking in senior leadership to manage its costs and consultants.

But on the plus side, the West Coast’s three mayors worked well together, presenting a united front in 2024, Mr Cleine said.

He said his council had stabilised under new management, with experienced chief executive Simon Pickford in charge.

And there was hugely important work to be done as construction on the multimillion-dollar Westport flood protection scheme began, Mr Cleine says.

Ring-fencing most of Westport with stopbanks will protect the CBD and much of the residential zone, but will heighten the flood risk for outlying areas.

"We have some challenging discussions ahead of us; we have to make sure people are aware of the impact on rates and there are some big grunty decisions coming up for our community."

All things considered, it might be worth sticking around, Mr Cleine said.

— Lois Williams, Local Democracy Reporter

— LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.