Oil Free Otautahi made its views on deep sea oil drilling off the Canterbury coast at the Christchurch City Council's first meeting for the new term.

Christchurch City councillor David East is the only council member who does not oppose oil exploration off the Canterbury coast.

A colourful crowd was present at the new council's first meeting since its inauguration.

Alongside Keep our Assets protesters were about 40 anti-oil campaigners, including two "Guardian Angels of the Earth" – a woman carrying a painting of a sea bird with "NO DRILL NO SPILL" scrawled across it, and a man carrying a small guitar with a "STOP TPPA" sticker on the front.

Joseph Johnson Siana Fitzjohn and Dr Paul Broady (second and third from right) made submissions on behalf of Oil Free Otautahi.

Dr Paul Broady and Siana Fitzjohn, representatives of lobby group Oil Free Otautahi, made a deputation at Wednesday's council meeting against the central government's proposed block offer for oil exploration.

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﻿The block offer is an annual process led by government agency New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals that lets oil companies bid for exploration permits.

JOSEPH JOHNSON/FAIRFAX NZ Oil Free Otautahi protesters attend a Christchurch City Council meeting to discuss oil drilling's impact on the environment and economy.

Fitzjohn said the group had spent a lot of intellectual energy opposing oil exploration over the last five years, "yet insanity continues to prevail".

Burning fossil fuels caused carbon dioxide (CO2) levels to rise, which in turn caused people to die by raising temperatures, sickness and starvation, and there was little benefit to balance out drilling in New Zealand, she said.

"There's a huge economic risk associated with oil spills, and those are borne by the state.

SUPPLIED Christchurch City Councillor David East says climate change is "very cyclical and has been occurring for millenniums".

"Our laughably low royalty rates ensure we would see pitiful rewards."

Fitzjohn said the oil industry was "in its death throes" and under threat from new technology.

The council voted to make a submission against the government's proposed block offer, continuing the annual tradition of the previous council.

Only East spoke out against the submission.

"I'm not at all supportive of political parties and activist groups using the city council as a platform for promoting a political viewpoint."

He said the council should consult with the public to ensure it wasn't representing a "vocal minority".

"I view this as a bit of an alarmist position. The probabilities are extremely low, and climate change in my opinion is very cyclical and has been occurring for millenniums."

Climate change caused by human activities, particularly burning fossil fuels, is a theory supported by the vast majority of environmental scientists.

East later said he wasn't a climate change denier, and that humans were "a factor" in climate change, but not the dominant factor.

East said Canterbury's core industries of tourism, agriculture, and horticulture were "totally reliant" on fossil fuels.

After the meeting, Fitzjohn said East's comments were "indicative of a lot of the attitudes we encounter".

"That is treating the old party line of 'economy, economy'. I don't think we should build on activities that cause harm to human beings, and I think he is part of a generation that's been emotionally insulated from the impacts of our behaviour."

Several councillors spoke in favour of the submission, including Mayor Lianne Dalziel and Crs Vicki Buck, Yani Johanson, Phil Clearwater, Glenn Livingstone, Andrew Turner, Sara Templeton, Aaron Keown, and Pauline Cotter.

Oil Free Otautahi co-organiser Charles Drace said he thought the protest and submission went "brilliantly" but was "not at all hopeful" it would have an impact on the Government's proposal.

He said the protest was about informing the public of the issue as "most people in this city don't know what's going on with these block offers".

Environment Canterbury (ECan) councillor Lan Pham was in the audience at the meeting. She said ECan had not decided as an organisation whether it would submit on the block offers, but she planned to raise the issue when it met on Thursday.

Pham said she would be in support of submitting "strong opposition" to the block offers.

"We need to send a message that fossil fuels are history, they're not part of our future, and we need to send that as clearly as we possibly can."