New Plymouth District Council is seeking to exclude the public from an extraordinary meeting taking place this Friday 10 October, one day before voting concludes for the 2025 local body elections.
According to the agenda, councillors are set to sign off the annual report for the 2024/2025 financial year, then farewell speeches will be delivered from some retiring councillors, followed by a vote to exclude the public before appointing directors to an interim board for the new Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) for Water Services in the New Plymouth District.
There are two reasons listed in the agenda for recommending exclusion of the public, being: “To protect the privacy of natural persons” and “To enable Council to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities.”
Under the heading “Significance and Engagement,” the agenda continues “this matter has been assessed as being of some importance because the exclusion of the public is a statutory procedure that will have a little or no impact on the Council’s strategic issues.”
In a video released by mayoral candidate Max Brough, he questions the timing of this meeting and says it’s “not right.” He states many were caught by surprise having an extraordinary council meeting this late in the election cycle.
Deputy Mayor David Bublitz, also running for mayor, says the reason it needs to be approved now is “The Government want the first milestone for CCOs to be June 2026.” His running-mate has stated on social media “names of the appointees will not be released [publicly] unless and until Council approves them.”
What are your thoughts? Do you think a meeting this important should be open to the public, or do you agree with the reasons outlined above? And, being only one day prior to the closing of the election, should these appointments be made by the retiring council or left for the incoming council to decide on? Leave your comments below.
Here’s an image of the page referenced in the council’s meeting agenda document:
