Councillor pulled up over ‘gas' comments
A Gore district councillor was told off by his mayor and deputy mayor this week after saying an environmental committee he sat on was "only adding to the greenhouse effect by the amount of gas they talk".
It came after a report was presented by the Murihiku Southland Regional Climate Change Working Group at a council meeting on Tuesday.
Working group chairman Phil Morrison was presenting the Regional Framework for Action on Climate for Murihiku Southland, a co-operative grouping of the four Southland councils for a "shared yet flexible platform for regional climate action".
After the presentation, Cr Stewart MacDonell spoke about his six years on the Mataura Catchment liaison committee, led by Environment Southland, and said most of the discussions were simply hot air.
"Action isn't a word they understand. It's not in their dictionary. They need to actually do something," he said.
"Having endless, endless reports does nothing, and I think they're adding to the greenhouse effect by the amount of gas they talk."
Mayor Ben Bell warned Cr MacDonell over his comments.
Deputy mayor Keith Hovell also took umbrage, and while he would not call a point of order, he said it was "completely out of line".
Mr Morrison said the framework was about collaboration without partisanship, with practical work.
"Our role is not to pander to either extreme, but to lead with evidence, listen to our communities and act within the mandate.
"This framework doesn't assume certainty over what climate change will bring, it acknowledges uncertainty, and knowledge, not ideology, is the main asset,"
The framework was initially brought to council in a report in April, when the room was divided about even receiving the report.
If the initial meeting was met with scepticism, the second meeting followed suit, with many questions and comments, one of which skirted the line of proper conduct.
Cr Andy Fraser said such frameworks were counter-intuitive , as New Zealand only contributed 0.7% of the world's carbon footprint, and would not have a significant impact.
He said it would scare away business and as such, he would not support such a framework for council.
Cr Fraser called the issue a responsibility of central government, stating they had "passed the buck down" in terms of cost.
Mayor Ben Bell said he agreed to a certain extent, stating the focus on mitigation to be "kind of pointless" and pointed out certain aspects which could be costly, such as regular measurements of organisational emissions.
Chief executive Debbie Lascelles, in defence of the council's involvement, stated there were legislative responsibilities they had to adhere to, as well as certain trade agreements requiring emissions to be monitored and regulated to export products.
Mayor Bell called for a division, which was not put forth, however four councillors — Joe Stringer, Fraser, Gardyne and MacDonell voted against the adoption, with it passing.
gerrit.doppenberg@alliedmedia.co.nz
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