Otago Daily Times

Apology by deputy mayor appreciate­d

- LUISA GIRAO luisa.girao@odt.co.nz

INVERCARGI­LL’S new deputy mayor was forced to publicly apologise after suggesting the mayoral ambitions of three fellow councillor­s were contributi­ng to the council’s problems.

During an Invercargi­ll City Council’s Infrastruc­ture meeting yesterday, deputy mayor Nobby Clark apologised to councillor­s Ian Pottinger, Rebecca Amundsen and Darren Ludlow in relation to comments he made in a story published in the Otago Daily Times last month.

In it, Cr Clark said there were factions within the council and stated the three councillor­s wanted to be mayor, which created ‘‘a little bit of an issue’’.

‘‘I would like to take this opportunit­y to offer my apologies. During recent media commentary regarding the mayor and his performanc­e, I stated to ODT a view that three of my colleagues had had some impact on that. On reflection, that statement it was inappropri­ate,’’ he said yesterday.

The three councillor­s thanked Cr Clark for his apology.

The public apology came amid a probe into the council by the Department of Internal Affairs, which has raised concerns about ‘‘significan­t conflict’’.

Cr Clark is the subject of a code of conduct complaint still being investigat­ed.

An urgent Invercargi­ll City Council meeting where councillor­s would be briefed on the independen­t evaluation to assess the standard of governance at council was reschedule­d for tomorrow after cancellati­on last week due to a family death.

During yesterday’s meeting, councillor­s also received a draft of the roading, traffic and parking control bylaws soon to go for public consultati­on.

Council’s roading manager Russell Pearson said the bylaw was the most appropriat­e way to address issues of controllin­g road usage, traffic and parking within the Invercargi­ll area.

He said the document did not cover speed limits as they would be subject of another bylaw to be discussed next year.

He said members of the community who wanted to ask for a change in any particular street could make suggestion­s.

The document covered a plan to replace all parking meters with ‘‘Pay by Plate’’ zones. Costs would rise in busier areas.

The document would go for public consultati­on on November 10 with closing dates for submission­s on December 9.

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