A new Invercargill City Council code of conduct has been approved in the hope it will slow down any issues that might be escalating.
Councillors yesterday voted to replace the existing code with a draft version from the government which aims for earlier intervention and resolution.
"This is quite a significant step forward and will enable council to hopefully resolve issues short of having to engage an independent investigator each time," council manager Michael Morris said.
Following that investigation, Invercargill Mayor Tom Campbell posted on social media its "ridiculous" cost should have been avoided. He said council staff had been asked to work on a modified code of conduct.
Elected members yesterday voted unanimously for change.
The new code is a draft version of a national code of conduct from the Local Government Commission.
A report prepared for the council meeting said the new code was designed to minimise escalation and protect governance integrity at councils.
Although there was more scope for resolving issues without an investigation, that did not mean formal investigations should not happen, the report said.
Since 2020, the council has spent more than $125,000 on code of conduct complaints. Two in 2024 against former mayor Nobby Clark cost more than $63,000 combined.
• LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
