The new Invercargill City Council will have its inaugural meeting today under the leadership of Mr Clark, where he will formally amend the committee structure, shifting decision-making power back to the full council.
As part of the new structure four new committees will be formed — Risk and Assurance, Finance and Projects, Community Wellbeing, and Infrastructure — the last two being the main ones, he said.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday, Mr Clark confirmed mana whenua roles would be retained under the new structure but only at committee level.
They would have voting and speaking rights only at the committee level and would not sit or take part in debates on full council meetings, Mr Clark said.
"It is fair to say that there is some unease in the community around them being appointed to our committees —which previously were decision-making [committees].
"But I’ve decided that we still need to have a voice in iwi, so they continue to be appointed to two main committees [ Community Wellbeing and Infrastructure] so they still be attached to that and still have a voice, still have a vote," he said.
Since they’ve been appointed to the role last year , mana whenua representatives Pania Coote and Evelyn Cook were part of full council meetings.
They did not have voting rights as set in the law but sat at the table and took part in discussions.
However, Mr Clark said this would not be case this term, as he believed it was not good for the public perception to have someone speaking at council but not being able to vote.
"Definitely, it will change. Not everybody will be happy with it but by law they can’t vote. The issue is [if] they can participate in the discussions — and I am recommending to my colleagues that that not be the case."
"The issue is whether we hear their voice. It is not a matter of iwi influencing decision-making," Mr Clark said.
"The obligation under the Act is just hear what people have to say and make sure they don’t lose their voice."
He had asked all committee chairmen to ensure that when mana whenua made a contribution it was recorded.
Previously, this was not done, he said.
"People will see see they are contributing.
"But decisions are made by elected members only. This is what the community has asked me to do, but they [mana whenua] still have a voice."
The majority of councillors he spoke with were comfortable with the changes and he also spoke with both Awarua and Waihopai runaka, who understood the changes, he said.
"They ... were quite happy to have the relationship build on that."
The Otago Daily Times approached the runaka for comment, but a Ngai Tahu representative said it would not be able to make any comment by deadline.
