The Hastings District Council has been described as "a pack of spineless people" by one of its own.
Councillor Sandra Hazelhurst's outburst came when the council met yesterday to decide whether it should ask for public feedback on a proposal to reduce councillor numbers from 14 to nine and introduce community boards to Flaxmere, Havelock North and the Heretaunga wards.
But it voted eight to six in favour of keeping the status quo and releasing that model to the public as part of a mandatory review it must conduct on its representation every six years.
Having wanted to see the plan for change go out to the public, Ms Hazelhurst said: "What a pack of spineless people. I have heard councillor [Wayne] Bradshaw rave on about how to better consult with people and here we have an option with a community board which would mean Flaxmere could have five or six representatives instead of two.
"It could mean Havelock North could have five or six instead of two.
"This is an opportunity to look at what we are doing and try to do it better. This is a model to take to the community and consult on. This is what we need to do, not protect our own patch."
The council set up a review committee in April which had extensively worked through the options and promoted a model which included fewer councillors in exchange for more community boards.
It met on July 19 to decide whether it should release the review committee's plan but some councillors opposed it and wanted more information on how community boards would work.
More council staff time was spent to nail down the details which were presented at yesterday's meeting.
Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule made a plea for change before the vote.
"The issue is about getting more community members to step up and be part of a leadership role. I think the future is probably a structure that has fewer people around this table and more people around the community making decisions for their community.
"If we look at the [erosion] issues at Haumoana and Te Awanga, if we had a small focus group who had the resources to work those issues, we would have got to a point quicker than what we have now."
Havelock North, Flaxmere and Heretaunga each has two councillors, and the review suggested cutting the numbers back to one each. The two rural wards would have also been reduced to one ward, with one councillor, with two other councillors elected at large across the district.
Councillor Simon Nixon suggested removing the two at large positions so Flaxmere and the rural wards could keep their two councillors.
Flaxmere ward councillor Henare O'Keefe said a community board would not meet the needs of the suburb and he advocated for the status quo, to keep two councillors.