The South Island iwi is taking legal action against the government - saying it has been shut out of discussions about the protection given to ecologically important land.
Photo: West Coast Regional Council
Birchfield is set to lose the leadership at an extraordinary council meeting next Monday in a coup led by his deputy Stuart Challenger.
The chair, who is a Greymouth goldminer, accused Challenger of being a member of the Forest & Bird Protection Society, which he said had repeatedly blocked productive industry on the Coast and appealed against council plans.
That affiliation was a conflict of interest and should have been declared by Challenger when he stood for council, Birchfield said.
Forest & Bird in Wellington had heard about the leadership coup almost before he did himself, leading him to suspect the organisation was backing the move, he said.
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