Queenstown councillor Niki Gladding says losing her committee roles is "not a deterrent". Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
- A Queenstown councillor has been demoted after revealing a confidential council plan to discharge treated sewage into the Shotover River.
- Last week, Niki Gladding leaked the council's plans to pump at least 12,000 cubic metres of treated sewage into the Shotover per day using emergency powers.
- The mayor called an extraordinary meeting in Queenstown on Tuesday afternoon, with staff recommending she was removed from her committee roles.
- Mayor Glyn Lewers said it was a transparent and open decision that as backed by most of the councillors.
A Queenstown councillor stripped of her committee roles after revealing confidential information says she worries it will have a chilling effect on other elected members who want to speak out.
Niki Gladding leaked the council's plans to pump at least 12,000 cubic metres of treated sewage into the Shotover River every day and an extraordinary meeting was called today to remove her from her committee roles.
Speaking after the meeting, Gladding confirmed she would do the same thing again.
"Ultimately my responsibility is not to the organisation or the councillors, but to the people who elected me in, it's to the community," Gladding said.
"It's not a deterrent, put it that way, for me. But I worry that it will have that sort of chilling effect on councillors in the future."
Councillors met in front of a packed - and occasionally raucous - public gallery on Tuesday afternoon, with some of Gladding's supporters taping their mouths.
She addressed the council, saying it was unfairly failing to follow due process as there had been no complaint and her actions were not independently assessed under the Code of Conduct.
"Where elected members are declared to have breached the code without even going through the process, and that's what's happened to me here," she said.
"Everybody, staff, elected members have said 'you have breached the code and now you will face the punishment'."
Gladding told councillors the report was written by staff who were clearly frustrated by her choosing to speak out, before she left the table and sat in the public gallery to applause from her supporters.
The public gallery was packed with some people taping their mouths. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Deputy mayor Quentin Smith voted against stripping her of the roles.
"I'm disappointed in the actions that have lead to this. I think there is (a) very clear process where natural justice principles apply and independence, investigation applies and that's my preferred route in dealing with the matter," he said.
Councillor Cody Tucker said leaking the plan was damaging.
"The difficulty is when someone leaks information, it reinforces this narrative of conspiracy and can deepen the wound of mistrust," he said.
He acknowledged she was a hard working councillor.
"But the long term impact of that decision to undermine public trust is incalculable and does not warrant absolving (responsibility) in my opinion," he said.
"I've never received so many threatening emails or seen so much anger in the community."
Councillor Craig Ferguson said she admitted to breaking the rules.
"Public excluded is there to protect all stakeholders when required and from time-to-time that does include the community. There is a purpose for those rules that we govern by. For me, they have been broken and for me, there have to be consequences," he said.
Councillor Melissa White said she did not agree that members of the public were not given an opportunity to speak in a public forum.
Councillor Gavin Bartlett said there were clear reasons why the information was confidential and timeframe for when the public would be informed, but she ignored this.
Only two out of the 12 councillors voted against the decision to strip her of her roles - but Gladding abstained and another councillor was absent.
Mayor Glyn Lewers speaks to reporters after the meeting. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Mayor Glyn Lewers told reporters that was an open and transparent decision which had majority support.
"Of course, I'm disappointed. Look, no one wants to go through this process. But look as a group of elected members, we talked this over," he said.
"We felt that something needed to occur to release... legally privileged information in a publicly excluded setting. It was felt from the councillors that something had to be done."
Lewers believed the council was becoming more transparent, but said the leaking of information had impacted public opinion.
"I'll admit that that action has made us look like we're on the back foot but there was a genuine plan to release this to the public once we talked to the stakeholders," he said.
The council started discharging to the river on Monday.
Aotearoa Water Action - which Gladding is a member of - applied to the Environment Court for an injunction to stop the council from discharging into the river, but it was dismissed.
The council was expected to lodge a resource consent for the wastewater discharges before the end of the month.
Lewers said the ponding that was attracting birds and raising the risk for nearby planes would start to dissipate in the coming days.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
