Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan has announced he will be resigning at Labour Weekend.

He made the announcement at 6.30pm, via a Facebook Live, saying it was “not an easy” decision to come to, but felt the time was right as he was not seeking a fourth term.

“It’s really important to note that I’m not resigning at present because if that were the case it would trigger a by-election.”

Instead, he plans to step down from his position on October 26, which would mean it would be up to the Central Otago councillors to decide who the next mayor would be.

Mayor Tim said the timing also meant his departure would not interrupt the process of the upcoming 10 year plan.

“With the Long Term Plan (LTP) cycles, every three years we do a 10 year plan and that involves a lot of work, and it also involves leading that plan.”

That plan was usually done in the middle of a term, but as it worked out that plan would not be happening until June next year.

“It made a lot more sense to me for the council and for the community, for me to step aside before that time and allow a new mayor to step into the office and lead that LTP and, hopefully, to lead beyond that LTP into the next term.”

He understood the news had possibly come as a surprise to a lot of people, but it was a decision he had come to with the support of his family.

Mayor Tim ended the Facebook Live saying he believed he was leaving the council in good hands and would “talk later because this isn’t easy”.

He later followed that up with a post apologising for the “truncated ending to Facebook Live”.

“What I would have said had I not been losing it a wee bit was that, alongside being a father of a blended family and a husband, being the mayor of this district has been the greatest privilege of my life. It has been an honour and a pleasure to have been in this role for the last eight years,” he said.

“What I also would have said was the next bit, which is that we will be moving to Wellington. I will be taking up the role of Local Government engagement specialist at the Water Services Authority Taumata Arowai. I am looking forward to a new challenge, although leaving this magnificent place for a while is really going to hurt.”