The cost of recruiting an out-of-town member to an Invercargill City Council committee has ballooned to almost double the amount previously reported.
By Matthew Rosenberg of Local Democracy Reporting
Last month, the council said it spent $12,268 landing Nelson-based Lee Babe for an independent member role on its water committee, noting that figure was to the end of February.
It has since revealed the final amount was $23,658.
The council did not comment further on the higher figure, saying manager governance and legal Michael Morris’ previous comment still stood.
Morris said recruitment agencies were used when roles were "very specialised", and the costs in this situation were not out of the ordinary.
He also noted the price tag included advertising for the role.
The committee has previously discussed changing its regular 9am start time to later in the morning so Babe could complete a same-day round trip.
On May 5, he attended his first meeting in-person at the regular start time.
The Nelson-based chartered director also holds governance positions at Parallaxx, Network Tasman Ltd, Agfirst Consultants Nelson Ltd and council-controlled Kaikōura Hurunui Water Services Ltd.
Invercargill City Council's water committee was established in November 2025, and Babe was officially appointed on April 28, 2026.
The council has previously indicated it would pay Babe between $30,000 and $35,000 a year.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
SHARE ME