Northland Regional council's new chair has described a move to take over the executive as a way to protect farmers.
A tense, roughly two-hour council meeting on Tuesday saw councillor Geoff Crawford ascend to chair while Tui Shortland, who resigned as the council chair last week, has taken deputy.
The 5-4 vote also saw dissenting councillors stripped of a raft of council and inter-council committees on which they previously had leading roles.
Chair Geoff Crawford spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
