The aftermath of the Gore District Council meeting leak - independent review sought

Friday, 14 April 2023

Gore district mayor Ben Bell and cheif executive Stephen Parry entered mediation in December.

Gore district deputy mayor Keith Hovell has submitted a notice of motion seeking an independent review and advice on restoring confidence in the council’s governance leadership.

The notice of motion, which will be considered at a council meeting on Tuesday, will seek an independent review and advice on restoring confidence in the governance leadership, after the working relationship between mayor Ben Bell and council chief executive Stephen Parry broke down, and confidential information was leaked from an in-committee meeting.

Hovell submitted the notice of motion last week, and it was endorsed by eight other councillors - Richard McPhail, Glenys Dickson, Neville Phillips, Bronwyn Reid, Paul McPhail, Joe Stringer, Stewart MacDonell, and John Gardyne.

In the days after the meeting, Stuff was told that Bell and Parry had entered mediation in December, that their relationship had broken down, and they were still not speaking, an intermediary had been appointed to act between the pair, and that Bell had walked out of the meeting.

“The appointment of an independent reviewer, who will provide recommendations for future actions, is an important next step in giving confidence to the community that improvements will be made, and the distractions caused by recent events will be left behind,” Hovell said.

Cr Robert MacKenzie did not endorse the notice.

The council held an extraordinary in-committee meeting on March 28 to discuss the strained relationship between mayor Ben Bell and council chief executive Stephen Parry.

Gore district deputy mayor Keith Hovell submitted a notice of motion at a council meeting on Tuesday, seeking an independent review and advice on restoring confidence in the council’s governance leadership.

Bell walked out of the meeting, and councillor Richard McPhail was chosen to act as an intermediary between he and Parry on governance issues.

During the extraordinary meeting, a vote of no confidence in the mayor was discussed, but no vote was held.

Bell and Parry entered mediation in December, just a month after Bell was sworn in as mayor.

In early April, councillor Bret Highsted resigned from the council, as he found the whole situation “highly stressful and the levels of anxiety unsustainable”.

Highsted, who was the longest-serving councillor in the Gore district, had clashed with the mayor on several issues during the five months since the new council was appointed.