Northland Regional Council by-election needed after councillor resigns over Māori constituencies

John Bain, in blue jersey, resigned from Northland Regional Council last month over Māori constituencies. A byelection is needed to replace him at a cost to ratepayers. Photo /Susan Botting

Northland Regional Council is being forced into a by-election after long-serving councillor John Bain resigned over Māori constituencies.

Former Northland Regional Council (NRC) deputy chairman John Bain resigned and walked out of NRC's October council meeting during debate on Māori constituencies. He said he could not support the 'broken democracy' of their creation.

The roughly three-month long by-election process will see a new person elected in NRC's Whangārei urban constituency by mid-February.

NRC chief executive Malcolm Nicolson said he could not say how much this by-election would cost, at this stage.

A 2017 Whangārei District Council by-election cost $35,000 after then councillor Jayne Golightly had to resign because she was not a New Zealand citizen.

Bain presented his shock resignation letter to NRC chairwoman Penny Smart at NRC's October 21 meeting.

But she would not accept his resignation at the meeting, instead saying it would 'lie on the table' for two weeks. That would have been up roughly at the end of this week.

Bain's letter wasn't valid however. Under the Local Electoral Act it needed to be sent to NRC chief executive Malcolm Nicolson. He delivered an updated letter to Nicolson yesterday.

Nominations for a new councillor in the Whangārei urban constituency open on November 24 and close on December 22.

Voting opens on January 26 and closes on February 17 with results announced publicly a few days later.

The last NRC by-election was in 2015 after the death of Kaitaia councillor Dennis Bowman.

Bain chaired the Northland regional transport committee – the region's most heavyweight local government sector entity after individual councils themselves.

Nicolson said councillors would hold informal discussions about who would helm this committee – and others on which Bain had sat – before making a formal decision on these positions at NRC's November council meeting.

Bain was an NRC councillor for 14 years.

Electoral officer Dale Ofsoske said a by-election was a statutory process that had to follow designated timelines under the Local Electoral Act and Local Electoral Regulations.