Third term district councillor Leen Braam will not restand at the local body elections in October.
Braam, 69, said he had enjoyed his time as a district councillor, but would not restand again due to his ongoing struggle with Long Covid.
‘‘The brain goes pretty well, but it’s just the connection in between the speech and the brain,’’ Braam said.
He said he had to ‘‘work hard’’ to keep this connection going, something he was used to for busy days of district council meetings.
Braam contracted Covid-19 in 2022.
For three days he was bedridden with fever, extreme headaches and coughing.
He started to feel better and thought it was resolved.
But he was later affected by a range of symptoms, from which recovery has been slow.
As well as speech problems, they included fatigue, weight loss, headaches, a chronic sore throat and shortness of breath.
Meanwhile two potential mayoral candidates are staying mum on whether they will throw their hat into the ring.
Both district councillors, Richard Wilson and Russell Ellis, say it is too early to say whether or not they will stand.
Wilson said on Tuesday he would definitely be seeking re-election as a district councillor.
He believed by next week he would have made his mind up on the mayoral role.
He was still trying to decide whether there was good enough representation among the current potential candidates (Ashburton resident Jeff Ryan and fellow district councillors Rob Mackle and Liz McMillan) to ensure whoever got the role would do a good job.
Ellis said he had made up his mind but would not announce his intentions until late next month.
‘‘It’s just a bit early,’’ Ellis said.
He has earlier said he will seek re-election as a district councillor.
Nominations for the election open July 4.
The election will run from September 9 to October 11.
Local body elections are run by councils every three years and held by postal vote.
