Social media statement on BDC public-excluded meetings
Theo Morra made this Official Information request to Buller District Council
The request was partially successful.
From: Theo Morra
Dear Buller District Council,
I am making this request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.
This request concerns the Buller District Council meeting held on or about 27 May 2026, including the public-excluded section of that meeting.
The request is made in the context of a public Facebook post by Debby Hingston in the Facebook group “Westport The Good The Bad And The Ugly Uncensored”, available at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/51538739...
An archived copy of the post is also available here, in case the original post is edited, deleted, or made unavailable:
I have included both the live Facebook URL and the archived copy so Council can identify the post being referred to, and so there is a preserved public record of the wording that gave rise to this request.
The post, dated 27 May at 6:58 PM, stated:
“Let’s hope the public excluded part of the council meeting tonight, (which I get) that the job goes to a local company”
In replies to that post, Ms Hingston stated:
“they were in the meeting when I posted it and only know what was said in the public viewing on u tube, they said they were going to a public excluded meeting. So not seeing how I know more than you.”
I understand Ms Hingston to be the spouse of the Mayor. I am not making this request to seek private family information. The relevance of the post is that it appears to refer to a public-excluded Council item and a possible job, repair, works, contract, procurement decision, or award to a local company. That creates an obvious public-interest concern about what information was publicly available, what information was confidential, and whether any public-excluded Council information was disclosed, discussed, or understood outside the authorised Council process.
Please provide the following information:
1. The public agenda, amended agenda, minutes, attachments, livestream/video link, recording, transcript, and any public meeting notes for the Council meeting held on or about 27 May 2026.
2. The public-excluded agenda, public-excluded item titles, public-excluded minutes, reports, attachments, officer recommendations, decision papers, procurement papers, scoring/evaluation documents, and resolutions for any item concerning a job, repair, works, contract, procurement decision, supplier selection, or award to a local company.
3. The resolution used to exclude the public for the relevant item or items, including the exact LGOIMA ground or grounds relied on.
4. Any record showing what was said in the public portion of the meeting before Council moved into public-excluded session, including whether the public was told that the public-excluded item related to a job, repair, works, contract, procurement process, supplier award, or local company.
5. The name of the successful supplier or contractor, the contract value or estimated value, the nature of the work, and the date the decision was made, if a decision has now been made.
6. Any conflict-of-interest declarations, register entries, recusals, abstentions, notes, or advice relating to elected members, staff, contractors, suppliers, or tenderers involved in the relevant item.
7. A list of all persons who were present for the relevant public-excluded item, including elected members, staff, advisers, contractors, or any other attendees.
8. Any record showing who had access to the relevant public-excluded papers, including distribution lists, agenda access records, email distribution records, or document-management access records, where held.
9. Any Council-held emails, text messages, Teams messages, memos, notes, briefings, complaints, internal discussions, or other records referring to:
* Debby Hingston’s Facebook post;
* the Facebook discussion linked above;
* whether public-excluded information may have been disclosed outside Council;
* confidentiality concerns arising from the post;
* any discussion of the relevant public-excluded item with family members, spouses, associates, or other persons not authorised to receive public-excluded information.
10. Any Council-held communications involving the Mayor, elected members, the Chief Executive, governance staff, or relevant officers concerning disclosure, confidentiality, or discussion of the relevant public-excluded item outside the public-excluded meeting process.
11. Any Council policy, standing order, code of conduct provision, elected-member guidance, staff guidance, confidentiality reminder, induction material, or written instruction dealing with:
* public-excluded information;
* confidentiality obligations;
* disclosure to spouses, family members, or associates;
* conflicts of interest;
* procurement confidentiality.
12. Any record of whether Council has considered releasing the relevant public-excluded material now that the meeting has occurred, and whether any commercial sensitivity, negotiation sensitivity, or confidentiality concern has now passed.
For clarity, I am not seeking unrelated private personal information. I am seeking information about Council business, Council decision-making, Council procurement, Council confidentiality controls, and any Council-held records concerning possible disclosure of public-excluded information.
If Council withholds any information, please identify each document or category of information withheld, state the specific LGOIMA section relied on, explain the harm Council says would result from release, and explain how Council has considered the public interest in transparency, accountability, procurement integrity, and public confidence in local government.
Please release any reasonably severable information with redactions rather than refusing whole documents.
Yours faithfully,
Theo Morra
From: BDC_Lgoima
Buller District Council
Dear Mr Morra
Thank you for your information request. Under The Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA), your request must be dealt
with as soon as is reasonably practicable and in no case later than 20
working days after the day on which the request is received. 20 working
days excludes Saturdays and Sundays, Public and Provincial Holidays and
the period between 20 December and 10 January inclusive. On this basis,
we calculate a response to your request received on 3 June 2026 is due by
1 July 2026, at the latest. We shall of course endeavour to process your
request as quickly as staff resources allow.
For requests that are likely to involve substantial collation and/or
research, there may be a charge for staff time. Under our charging
policy, staff time for the first hour is free of charge. Thereafter this
will be charged at the prescribed rate of $40 (GST inclusive) per half
hour. We will provide the information electronically, however should you
wish a hard copy, there will be photocopying charges at 20c per sheet,
with the first 20 pages being copied free of charge. Under section 13(4)
of LGOIMA we do have the ability to request the amounts due are paid in
advance of the release of information. Please be assured that if a
charge is likely to apply you will be notified ahead of the request being
processed so that you can decide if you wish to proceed. At that time you
will also be given the option to refine your request.
Please note that it is our policy to proactively release our responses to
official information requests where possible. We do not publish
requesters’ personal information. Please contact [1][email address] if
you have any questions about this.
Kind regards
Buller District Council | Phone 0800 807 239 | www.bullerdc.govt.nz
PO Box 21 | Westport 7866
Community Driven | One Team | Future Focused | Integrity | We Care
Email Disclaimer: This correspondence is for the named person's use only.
It may contain confidential or legally privileged information or both. No
confidentiality or privilege is waived or lost by any mistransmission. If
you receive this correspondence in error, please immediately delete it
from your system and notify the sender. You must not disclose, copy or
relay any part of this correspondence if you are not the intended
recipient. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual
sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them
to be the views of Buller District Council.
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From: BDC_Lgoima
Buller District Council
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Dear Mr Morra
We refer to your official information request dated 3 June 2026 requesting
information around the council public excluded meeting held 27 May 2026.
The information you have requested is attached /marked below in red.
1. The public agenda, amended agenda, minutes, attachments,
livestream/video link, recording, transcript, and any public meeting notes
for the Council meeting held on or about 27 May 2026.
Please see link below:
· [1]https://bullerdc.govt.nz/your-council/ag...
2. The public-excluded agenda, public-excluded item titles,
public-excluded minutes, reports, attachments, officer recommendations,
decision papers, procurement papers, scoring/evaluation documents, and
resolutions for any item concerning a job, repair, works, contract,
procurement decision, supplier selection, or award to a local company.
This is withheld under the Local Government Official Information and
Meetings Act under Section 7 (2) (h). (See below Q 3.)
3. The resolution used to exclude the public for the relevant item
or items, including the exact LGOIMA ground or grounds relied on.
As per public agenda page 168
4. Any record showing what was said in the public portion of the
meeting before Council moved into public-excluded session, including
whether the public was told that the public-excluded item related to a
job, repair, works, contract, procurement process, supplier award, or
local company.
Please see link to YouTube recording:
· [2]Ordinary Council Meeting - YouTube
5. The name of the successful supplier or contractor, the contract
value or estimated value, the nature of the work, and the date the
decision was made, if a decision has now been made.
This information is withheld under section 7 of LGOIMA. However, the
decision will be announced once the contracts have been signed.
6. Any conflict-of-interest declarations, register entries,
recusals, abstentions, notes, or advice relating to elected members,
staff, contractors, suppliers, or tenderers involved in the relevant item.
Please see attached Conflict of Interest declarations forms – Attachment 1
7. A list of all persons who were present for the relevant
public-excluded items, including elected members, staff, advisers,
contractors, or any other attendees.
Elected Members: Mayor Chris Russell, Crs Paul Reynolds, Rosalie Sampson
(departed the meeting at 6:55pm), Ray Curnow, Dave Hingston, Toni O’Keefe,
Dave Hawes, Deputy Mayor Shayne Barry, Crs Colin Reidy and Phil Rutherford
attended via electronic link.
Staff: Simon Pickford (CEO), Caitlin McDonald (Governance Advisor), Jorja
Brazil (Governance Assistant), Jess Curtis (Manager Capital Works),
Anthony Blom (Group Manager Infrastructure Services), Simon Bastion (Group
Manager Regulatory Services), Krissy Trigg (Group Manager Community
Services), Lesley Crichton (Group Manager Corporate Services)
8. Any record showing who had access to the relevant public-excluded
papers, including distribution lists, agenda access records, email
distribution records, or document-management access records, where held.
All Councillors via the council’s secure agenda management system, Docs On
Tap.
9. Any Council-held emails, text messages, Teams messages, memos,
notes, briefings, complaints, internal discussions, or other records
referring to:
* Debby Hingston’s Facebook post;
* the Facebook discussion linked above;
* whether public-excluded information may have been disclosed outside
Council;
* confidentiality concerns arising from the post;
* any discussion of the relevant public-excluded item with family
members, spouses, associates, or other persons not authorised to receive
public-excluded information.
This is refused under section 17(e) of Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act as no such document/s or information exists.
10. Any Council-held communications involving the Mayor, elected
members, the Chief Executive, governance staff, or relevant officers
concerning disclosure, confidentiality, or discussion of the relevant
public-excluded item outside the public-excluded meeting process.
This is refused under section 17(e) of Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act as no such document/s or information exists.
11. Any Council policy, standing order, code of conduct provision,
elected-member guidance, staff guidance, confidentiality reminder,
induction material, or written instruction dealing with:
* public-excluded information;
* confidentiality obligations;
* disclosure to spouses, family members, or associates;
* conflicts of interest;
* procurement confidentiality.
· BDC Standing Orders -
[3]BDC Standing Orders 29 October 2025
· Code of Conduct for Elected Members 2023
https://bullerdc.govt.nz/media/a1jp1xth/...
· The staff Conflict of Interest Policy 2024 -
- see Attachment 2
12. Any record of whether Council has considered releasing the
relevant public-excluded material now that the meeting has occurred, and
whether any commercial sensitivity, negotiation sensitivity, or
confidentiality concern has now passed.
The Council resolution only will be released once all due diligence has
been completed and the contract awarded.
Please see Attachment 3 - page 10 of the public excluded report dated 27
May 2026. This is redacted under section (2)(h) of LGOIMA
The information/documentation attached represents our best efforts to
locate material relevant to your request. However, the search process is
by no means an exact science. It is possible that there may be other items
of relevance that have been unintentionally missed in the search.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
[4]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact
the Buller District Council by return email to [5][email address].
Please note that it is our policy to proactively release our responses to
official information requests where possible. Our response to your request
will be published shortly at
[6]https://bullerdc.govt.nz/district-counci...
with your personal information removed.
Kind regards
Simon Pickford | Chief Executive Officer
Buller District Council | Phone 0800 807 239 | [7]www.bullerdc.govt.nz
PO Box 21 | Westport 7866
Community Driven | One Team | Future Focused | Integrity | We Care
Email Disclaimer: This correspondence is for the named person's use only.
It may contain confidential or legally privileged information or both. No
confidentiality or privilege is waived or lost by any mistransmission. If
you receive this correspondence in error, please immediately delete it
from your system and notify the sender. You must not disclose, copy or
relay any part of this correspondence if you are not the intended
recipient. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual
sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them
to be the views of Buller District Council.
[8]Draft RMP Email Footer (consulting).jpg
This email has been filtered by SMX. For more information visit
[9]smxemail.com
References
Visible links
1. https://bullerdc.govt.nz/your-council/ag...
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-XJ69Tw...
3. BDC Standing Orders 29 October 2025
https://bullerdc.govt.nz/media/d5llipdk/...
4. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
5. mailto:[email address]
6. https://bullerdc.govt.nz/district-counci...
7. http://www.bullerdc.govt.nz/
8. https://letstalk.bullerdc.govt.nz/draft-...
9. http://smxemail.com/
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