Northland Age
  • Northland Age home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
  • Opinion
  • Kaitaia weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northland Age

Meeting closed - in disarray

Northland Age
1 Oct, 2013 01:35 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The Far North District Council held its last meeting on Thursday, signing off with the usual mix of informality, acerbic asides, humour, verbal assault and occasional chaos.

The final session of the triennium began with a session of the audit and finance committee, which shaved $1.2 million from the 2013/14 budget, partly by putting off non-essential spending, the meeting proper starting with a quarterly report from Far North police area commander Wendy Robilliard, before Mayor Wayne Brown gave a Roberton Island land owner a grilling for wanting the council to waive a requirement for public access to Cook's Cove in exchange for island residents' conservation work.

"You can forget about that, mate," Mr Brown glowered. Cooler heads prevailed and the decision was deferred while negotiations continue.

A presentation by the NRC on plans for future boat moorings in the Bay of Islands was unusually cordial, while a young staff member's presentation on a new signs policy descended into a debate about when a mural became a sign and vice-versa.

The community board chairmen presented their final minutes and a handful of councillors filed their monthly activity reports, but the most entertaining moment came during a discussion on election signs policy, which, rarely if ever enforced, bans election hoardings from public land.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

When one councillor asked if candidates could be disqualified for breaching the policy, Mr Brown, with a glance in Cr Sally Macauley's direction, wondered whether candidates could be disqualified for using billboard photos that were more than six months old. Cr Macauley stormed to Mr Brown's seat in mock outrage, offering to provide a dated receipt for the photo session.

Mr Brown's last official words of the 2010-13 term were: "Meeting closed in disarray."

Meanwhile, councillors farewelled Tom Baker, who is retiring after 12 years in local politics. The long-time Kerikeri representative said he had been bombarded with requests to join other organisations, but was also keen to travel.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The only other councillor not seeking re-election is Tracy Dalton, who now lives in Whangarei.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northland Age

Northland Age

Watch: Smokefreerockquest Regional Finals 2025 - Northland, Auckland, Manawatū, Whanganui, Hawke’s Bay

11 Jun 11:00 PM
Northland Age

Public input sought on Far North's long-term waste strategy

11 Jun 07:00 PM
Northland Age

News in brief: Donate blood this Blood Donor Week, Tui clean-up

11 Jun 06:00 PM

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northland Age

Watch: Smokefreerockquest Regional Finals 2025 - Northland, Auckland, Manawatū, Whanganui, Hawke’s Bay

Watch: Smokefreerockquest Regional Finals 2025 - Northland, Auckland, Manawatū, Whanganui, Hawke’s Bay

11 Jun 11:00 PM

Behind the scenes action and talented performers captured in this week's webisodes.

Public input sought on Far North's long-term waste strategy

Public input sought on Far North's long-term waste strategy

11 Jun 07:00 PM
News in brief: Donate blood this Blood Donor Week, Tui clean-up

News in brief: Donate blood this Blood Donor Week, Tui clean-up

11 Jun 06:00 PM
Northland wetland case highlights RMA challenges amid reforms

Northland wetland case highlights RMA challenges amid reforms

11 Jun 05:00 PM
It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home
sponsored

It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northland Age e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to The Northland Age
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northland Age
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP