Hutt City councillor David Bassett has resigned.
The move will trigger a byelection in Lower Hutt's Central Ward, which is expected to cost $50,000.
Bassett is an independent councillor and has been on council for almost 14 years, for nine of those years he was the city's deputy mayor.
But since Ray Wallace lost the mayoralty to current mayor Campbell Barry, Bassett has not been given positions of responsibility like being a committee chair.