Nobby Clark Looking To The Future

Deputy Mayor Nobby Clark said the way forward for the city of Invercargill was not to be caught up in personalities but getting things done.

Both Nobby and Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt were criticised in the Department of Internal Affairs review on council, but already the deputy was ready to move on.

“It was a bit of a challenging read for me but that’s water under the bridge now,” he said.

He admitted the deputy Mayor position was not one many people would want right now, but he had a good level of resilience through his various responsibilities over the years as a civil servant.

“There was some unease about my appointment so at the first meeting I put my cards on the table.   I said if they (councillors) wanted to take me out of the role let’s do it now, not three months down the track when we have to open old wounds again.”

But nobody moved his motion so Nobby took that as a mandate to carry on.

He was now focusing on getting the museum re-opened, as well as the water tower, making sure the work was completed at Rugby Park and also helping find a good tenant for Anderson House.

“And that’s what we have to focus on.”

He said the public didn’t like it when councillors argued because it took away from the job of getting things done, but he also wasn’t going to sell his soul to make it happen.

“I have pushed some things along like the cycle trail to Bluff and Rugby Park,” he said.

The DIA report said Nobby was both capable and polarising in his approach as a councillor and sometimes aggravated his colleagues and council staff.

Nobby admitted his relationship with council’s chief executive Clare Hadley was a work in progress, but at the end of the day they both needed to be able to work together.