D-day for West Coast Regional Council chairman Allan Birchfield

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:

Tomorrow is D-day for West Coast Regional Council chairperson Allan Birchfield as all six of his fellow councillors move to sack him from the role.

An under siege Birchfield has been on leave from the council in December, returning only this week to an extraordinary meeting that seeks to remove him from the chair. The regional council chair is selected around the council table, not at large.

His leave of absence at the time was explained as being due to health reasons.

The formal process to have him replaced as chair was initiated on March 3, signed by every other councillor. It was not publicly disclosed until minutes before the council meeting on March 14. Birchfield did not know about the move until contacted by Local Democracy Reporting.

He did reveal however that council members had previously leaned on him to resign as chairperson.

"There had been some discussion -- they tried to talk me into standing down but I said no," Birchfield said at the time.

However he said he was "definitely not standing down" and the move to remove him was "not clear cut".

On Monday, acting chairperson Peter Haddock said the meeting tomorrow was going ahead as scheduled.

As far as he was aware Birchfield's position had not changed, "unfortunately".

"We haven't heard a word from anyone."

Chief executive Heather Mabin said the matter was for the elected council to oversee.

As of Monday she assumed nothing had changed from the formal motion she had received on March 3 to call an extraordinary meeting to remove Birchfield.

"Any decision that was made on the matter has been done in isolation of the executive and the CEO," Mabin said.

"This is a conversation that the councillors have had themselves. We will respect whatever the outcome is."

However, she said she believed Birchfield had been a significant contributor to the West Coast in his role.

"Allan has contributed incredibly towards this community, and that needs to be acknowledged."

Birchfield's leave of absence followed a turbulent period at the regional council.

This pre-dated his re-election as chairman for a second term following the local body elections last October.

An accusation of conflict of interest emerged almost immediately after the elections about the relationship of Birchfield's company Birchfield Minerals Ltd to the council-owned business unit VCS Ltd.

This was to do with a deal brokered eight years ago by VCS Ltd on behalf of Birchfield Minerals to reconsent and sell Birchfield's Grey Valley gold dredge.

The $157,025 cost of that borne by VCS - and only to be repaid when the dredge eventually sold - has remained on the council balance sheet ever since. It was first highlighted in a Greymouth Star investigation several years ago and then re-emerged after the last elections.