Burke's future hangs in balance

BY MATTHEW LITTLEWOOD

Sir Kerry Burke is fighting for his political life after losing the first round of a bid to roll him as chairman of Environment Canterbury (ECan).

The controversial chairman of the regional authority and his allies fought hard to get a motion of no confidence in his leadership off the council's agenda yesterday, but lost the fight by six votes to eight at a tense and at times ill-tempered meeting in Timaru yesterday.

The loss has set up a showdown vote on September 24 when councillors will consider removing Sir Kerry as chairman and, if that is resolved, they will have to elect a new chairman.

The rebellion has been led by South Canterbury councillor Mark Oldfield who told yesterday's meeting that Sir Kerry lacked leadership and was a poor communicator.

He said the council had become dysfunctional because of a wide gap between urban and rural factions.

Mr Oldfield said the strain of working with Sir Kerry had left him physically and emotionally drained. There were complaints of Sir Kerry bullying other councillors and simply going through the motions.

Alec Neill, who narrowly lost the chairmanship race to Sir Kerry in October 2007, was among his critics.

"This is not about pettiness. The chair must lead by example. The chair must be the ringmaster. There are some business leaders in Canterbury who are baying for blood."

Carole Evans said ECan was an evenly split council and it needed a new leader to heal the rifts.

"We are a non-functioning seven-seven council. Please accept that this is not directed at you, but at all of us."

Deputy chairwoman Jo Kane supported the bid to get the motion of no confidence on the table next month. As deputy chair she felt the lack of confidence in Sir Kerry reflected a lack of confidence in her, and she should go as well if the next vote went against the existing leadership. "I feel I have let you down," she said.

"I take it on my own head." She said she would put her own position up for the vote if Sir Kerry was defeated.

She said Mr Oldfield had become increasingly disengaged in recent months.

In his defence, Sir Kerry said communication was a two-way process and he accused his detractors of pettiness.

The best chance for a change of leadership was at the next local body elections, and dumping a chairman part way through a term would be counter productive, he said. "I believe this should be stopped now. I ask you to stem this tide."

Sir Kerry loyalist Bob Kirk said the even division on the council reflected the urban-rural divide and was not a good reason to ditch the chairman. "I am a builder, not a wrecker," he said.

Every councillor took it in turns at the marathon meeting to put their views, but the numbers look difficult for Sir Kerry to overcome on September 24.

Sir Kerry's supporters included Bob Kirk, Eugenie Sage, David Sutherland, Jane Demeter, and Rik Tindall.

The councillors who voted to get the motion of no confidence on the table were Mark Oldfield, Ross Little, Angus McKay, Alec Neill, Bronwen Murray, Carole Evans, Pat Harrow and Jo Kane.

In spite of the opposition to Sir Kerry, not one councillor spoken to yesterday would say who was likely to be his successor.

Mr Tindall said it was unclear who could replace Sir Kerry. "Confidence can come and go. We leave this meeting with uncertainty. I have not seen a better representative [here] than our current chairman."

Should Sir Kerry stay or should he go? Post your thoughts below.

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