Environment Canterbury’s part-time councillors likely to get 16% pay rise
Tuesday, 9 December 2025
Environment Canterbury (ECan) councillors will likely get a 16.4% pay rise this year - whether they want it or not and even though they face redundancy.
Their base pay will rise from $74,107 to $86,284 for what is a part-time job.
Base pay for ECan councillors is largely determined by the Remuneration Authority, a central government body. Well before October’s election, the authority determined that ECan councillors would split $1.1 million between them, with the councillors left to decide how to carve up the pie.
If the advice of staff is followed, the councillors will decide to split it evenly this year, as they did last year, at Wednesday’s council meeting.
This even split would not give committee chairs and deputies extra money for their increased workload.
A councillor’s job is “not a full-time one” and they do not have fixed weekly hours, said an ECan spokesperson.
In 2015, an RA consultant estimated a councillor’s job required 20 hours a week. A 2018 RA survey of elected councillors found a “huge variation in hours worked”, including whether they had significant committee roles, whether constituency work on behalf of voters was counted and whether travel was counted.
Some ECan councillors live south of Timaru and must drive more than two hours to attend meetings in person in Christchurch.
Two weeks ago, the coalition Government announced a vigorous shake-up of regional authorities like ECan. Among other things, the councillors that govern the region will probably lose their jobs and be replaced by a forum of Canterbury mayors.
The timing and nature of that switch remains unknown. Consultation is underway.
ECan chairperson, Deon Swiggs, is not paid out of the RA pool. The RA sets the salary for that role and determined it warranted base pay of $206,541.
Last year’s chairperson, Craig Pauling, earned $190,604 in total.
In practice, base pay for councillors, chairs and deputies does not include various allowances, such as for travel, that are paid out.
The two Ngāi Tahu appointees to the council are not paid out of the RA pool either. But one of them, Iaean Cranwell, is deputy chair and ECan staff recommended he get an extra 12% in recognition of his additional duties. His base salary will be $137,695, if staff recommendations are approved.
The RA insists that ECan spends the entire $1.1m pool on salaries. Councillors can not refuse the increase.
Councillors’ employment and salary status runs from the October election, not the financial or calendar year.
The Remuneration Authority has said it will invoice ECan almost $11,000 for setting remuneration of ECan’s council.
The RA still has to approve how the councillors divvy up the pie.