Allan Birchfield said councillors had already leaned on him prior to their formal request, dated March 2, calling for an extraordinary meeting on March 28 to remove him as chairman.
"There had been some discussion — they tried to talk me into standing down but I said no," he told The Greymouth Star.
He has been on "gardening leave" from the council since December, and was due back at the council table at the end of this month.
A phone call yesterday morning from the Greymouth Star just as the monthly council meeting was about to start was the first he had heard of the coup.
He later found that their letter had been emailed to him at 9.45am on Tuesday — 45 minutes before the meeting was due to start.
"I honestly didn’t know that [the coup] was coming."
In a statement, the council said several councillors had tried to meet Cr Birchfield to discuss the issue and provide a "heads-up".
Cr Birchfield is now in his seventh term on the regional council, including its predecessor the Westland Catchment Board, and his second term as chairman.
Between now and the March 28 meeting, he intended to keep comment on his intentions to a minimum.
But he was "definitely not standing down".
The formal removal process instigated by the other councillors was "not clear cut".
"I’m going to play my cards close to my chest.
"We will be having the meeting on March 28, I will be there.
"I will be chairing it if necessary ... it’s not as cut and dry as you think."
Community support had flooded in since the news broke on Tuesday.
He had fielded a lot of calls "and they want me to stay".
"We recognise the work of Cr Birchfield through his many years on council. He is a stalwart of the community and his input around the table is always appreciated.
"This decision has been made with the best interests of the ratepayers, partner agencies and other stakeholders.
"Council is committed to carrying on with the significant work programme ahead of it."
First-term councillor Frank Dooley, of Westport, who has expressed concern at the council table about reputational risk, would not say if he had spearheaded the process to remove Cr Birchfield.
Cr Haddock had been delegated to address the collective action to remove the chairman, Cr Dooley said.
"I’ve got no comment. The only person to make comment from council is Peter Haddock."
He also declined to say if he was interested in standing as chairman.
"You’ll find out on the 28th."
Cr Haddock declined to comment on his interest in taking up the chairman’s role full-time.
- Brendon McMahon
Local Democracy reporter
