The council will meet on Tuesday for an extraordinary public-excluded meeting at which it will choose a tender for its forestry land for sale.
About 456ha of the council’s forestry land was put on the market two months ago. Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan said the sale was debated extensively by the council. He told the Otago Daily Times at the time the land went on sale there was "strong support" among the council for the sale.
Because Cr Bruce Vollweiler, who could not attend last week’s swearing-in ceremony, would be sworn in before the public-excluded meeting, the possibility of a public forum was opened up and Mr Cadogan expected some members of the public would make submissions then on the forestry sale.
"I’m picking, if they do turn up, it will be pretty sparky."
Members of the South Otago Farm Forestry Association have expressed their "outrage" at the forest land sales at previous meetings.
"There was enough contentious statements last time but it’s just part of the process," Mr Cadogan said.
He believed some farmers might speak at the public forum.
He wanted the process to be as transparent as possible and was open to hearing what the public had to say.
The council is making its decision in private so it can "continue its negotiations without prejudice or disadvantage".
