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:

https://archive.today/LGHQY

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