A former Southland chair says he has “great concerns” for the community after being freshly ousted from the top job.

On Monday evening, Colin Smith was removed as the chair of the Oreti Community Board at a fiery public meeting which drew an abnormally large crowd.

More than 100 people turned up to Winton Memorial Hall, with a vocal crowd showing its support for Smith.

Former Oreti Community Board chair Colin Smith at Monday's meeting, one which turned out to be his final in the top job. Photo: Matthew Rosenberg/LDR

Speaking to Local Democracy Reporting, Smith said the response was “overwhelming”, while acknowledging the group had its work cut out going forward.

“It’s pretty obvious last night . . . the community has no trust in the community board, and we need to try and build some of that trust.

“It’s going to be a very difficult task.”

Despite no longer being chair, Smith promised to stay on as a member and see out his second term.

He had already ruled out a third term, joking that his wife had told him he was headed for divorce if he stood again.

“One good thing about all this now is I can spend all my time on the community now, I don’t have to worry about what the board members are up to. I can just get on with what I’m here for.”

Smith’s departure came on the back of a July request from four members that a meeting be held to remove him from office.

With the recent departure of former member Karen Maw, those four formed a majority on a seven-person board, sealing Smith’s fate four votes to three on Monday.

The Oreti Community Board has experienced well-documented dysfunction of late.

In June, it voted against CCTV upgrades, going against the community’s wishes and a recommendation from Police.

Smith earlier said there were “other agendas” on the board, and that he only stood for a second term in 2022 after seeing some of the nominations.

Southland Mayor Rob Scott showed support for Smith at Monday’s meeting, telling those gathered he always had the community’s interests at heart.

Scott told Local Democracy Reporting he was prompted to speak for two reasons: the importance of the community board’s role, and to stand up for Smith who he said had done a “really good job”.

“I just hope that the new chair and the rest of the board actually do focus on their purpose and why they’re there, and make sure they are representing their community properly going forward,” Scott said.

Katie Allan was voted in as Smith’s replacement last night, but did not respond to a request for comment.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air