HBRC names James Palmer as new chief executive

The Hawke's Bay Regional Council has appointed James Palmer as its new chief executive. Photo / File

The Hawke's Bay Regional Council has appointed its group manager strategic development James Palmer its new chief executive.

The position became vacant on March 31 this year, when former chief executive Andrew Newman resigned, and has been filled in the interim by Greg Woodham.

Although they tried to hold off on the official announcement until the livestream of their meeting was all set up, corporate strategic committee members yesterday let the cat out of the bag when discussing other items.

This led to Mr Palmer discussing his intention to take a holiday before starting in the role in a few weeks time, the date to be confirmed shortly.

Chairman Rex Graham then took charge, and said he was delighted to welcome Mr Palmer to the position.

"We have very high expectations of you and you have high expectations of yourself.
"As chair I am very keen and enthusiastic to work alongside you - some of the challenges and hurdles we have as a community are huge, and community expectations are high for us and the new CEO."

Mr Graham said Mr Palmer's experience and approach were an excellent fit for the council.

"His appointment means we can now focus fully on delivering council's new strategic direction."

Mr Palmer thanked the councillors for their confidence in him and said he was under no illusions as to the scale of the challenges that lay ahead.

Mr Palmer joined the council in January 2016, and prior to that was deputy secretary, sector strategy at the Ministry for the Environment for three years, responsible for the strategic direction of New Zealand's environmental management system.

In this role, Mr Palmer had specific policy responsibility for the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act, the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf Act, Marine Protected Areas, NZ's international environmental commitments, oversight of the Environmental Protection Authority and national-level state of environment monitoring and reporting, a statement on his appointment said.

Before this he held various positions at the Ministry for Primary Industries, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and between 2005 and 2008 he served as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity.

In the early 2000s he was an adviser and senior private secretary to the deputy Prime Minister.

Mr Palmer had "extensive experience in policy and regulation of matters related to environmental and natural resource management, energy and climate change, and primary production and innovation", the statement said.

A graduate of Otago University with a Bachelor of Arts in 2003 Mr Palmer was awarded a Chevening Scholarship by the British Government to attend the London School of Economics and intern in the British Prime Minister's strategy unit.

Born and raised in Hawke's Bay, Mr Palmer now lives near Haumoana with his wife Mel and three children.

His community contributions had included his being former chairperson and trustee of the Eastern and Central Community Trust, two terms as a trustee of the Hawke's Bay Power Consumers' Trust, and he was once a director of Esk Hydro Power.