For the next two years Brunner assisted in the laying out of the settlement, which was to be called Nelson. A drawback with the Nelson settlement was its lack of pasture and the colony began to appropriate more and more of the plains in the nearby Wairau Valley, much to the displeasure of local Māori. Several personnel of the company, including Arthur Wakefield, the senior official of the company in Nelson, were killed in the Wairau Affray in June 1843. The New Zealand Company was forced to look south for more farming land. Brunner was sent to scout the Motueka Valley but failed to penetrate far due to poor weather. From local Māori he heard of a large plain to the south and passed on his findings to Tuckett. In August 1843, Tuckett dispatched Brunner to confirm the reports. Brunner, accompanied by Kehu, a Māori he had befriended, was again defeated by poor weather.