Mayor Neil Brown used his casting vote twice in a stockwater closure decision to see a rare move to determine the outcome.
The proposed closure of 12,052 metres of stockwater race in the Anama area, near Mayfield, will now go to a hearing after the mayor used his casting vote twice at the final meeting of the council term.
In considering the request, council staff canvassed the landowners, which resulted in a 9-9 split on the closure, and two who said they would follow the majority.
That was then mirrored by the councillors, who had a 5-5 split over the motion to decline the closure.
The mayor then used his casting vote to decline the motion.
A new motion was then put forward by retiring councillor Stuart Wilson for the application to go to a hearing before a final decision was made.
Wilson said some of the “minor reasons” to oppose the closure were weak arguments, and he wanted a better understanding of the situation before making a decision.
The motion had another 5-5 split vote, with the mayor’s casting vote used again to determine whether the application would go to a hearing where all 20 affected property owners would be invited to have their say.
Brown said that as the landowner split didn’t provide a clear direction and a one-off hearing would provide more information to make an informed decision.
The councillors had no issues approving the closure of a 6739m section of stockwater race starting from Main Street in Methven.

• By Jonathan Leask