A coastal mayor says a climate change declaration is just “a bunch of words on a piece of paper”, despite a high court judge ordering the council to reconsider signing it. In a judgement released from Hamilton High Court on Tuesday, Justice Matthew Palmer quashed the Thames-Coromandel District Council's decision not to sign the Local Government New Zealand Declaration on Climate Change as “unlawful”. About 67 mayors and chairs of local councils have signed the declaration, where they urge responsive leadership on the issue and pledge to outline their key commitments to climate change. TOM LEE/STUFF Thames-Coromandel Mayor Sandra Goudie and chief executive Rob Williams in 2019. Goudie said she wants to do "real work on the ground” for climate change, rather than sign declarations.