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Home / New Zealand

Wellington Water woes: Extraordinary meeting to decide fate of chair

RNZ
9 Mar, 2025 06:58 PM3 mins to read

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Wellington Water chairman Nick Leggett faces calls for his resignation. Composite photo / Mark Mitchell insert, Jack Crossland

Wellington Water chairman Nick Leggett faces calls for his resignation. Composite photo / Mark Mitchell insert, Jack Crossland

By Nick James, RNZ

  • Wellington Water Board chairman Nick Leggett’s future will be discussed at an extraordinary meeting today.
  • Reports revealed high unplanned maintenance spending and poor contractor management by Wellington Water.
  • Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau and most councillors called for Leggett’s resignation, but not all leaders agree.

The future of the Wellington Water Board chairman will be discussed by the region’s leaders at an extraordinary meeting today.

The water provider released summaries of two reports last week, which showed its unplanned maintenance spending was far higher than four other comparative councils, and that it had not managed contractors well, with poor financial oversight.

Wellington Water’s shareholding councils – Wellington City, Greater Wellington, Porirua, Hutt City, Upper Hutt and South Wairarapa – make up the Wellington Water Committee.

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An extraordinary meeting to discuss the reports was called for the group, due to take place at 3pm today.

A letter to the committee on Thursday from Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau, supported by most councillors – aside from Diane Calvert, Nicola Young, Tony Randle and Nureddin Abdurahman – called for Wellington Water Board chairman Nick Leggett’s resignation.

The elected officials also said they did not have confidence in Leanne Southey – Wellington Water’s board member responsible for audit and risk.

If the committee did not agree on sacking Leggett and Southey, they want them to front up to the council, answer questions and apologise to ratepayers.

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But they do have the support of newly appointed Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty.

“He has taken on a huge challenge and, for the first time in years, we are getting straight talking and real action to improve things at Wellington Water.”

As well as Leggett’s resignation, the majority of Wellington city councillors wanted the following:

Not all council leaders support Wellington Water’s Board chairman stepping down.

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker has defended Leggett and said she was “pretty mad” when she read the letter.

“It’s like a vindictive try to just to go after one person,” she said.

“Why do you take down the head of the board, who has been in there and done the job you asked him, and then you don’t like the report? It sounds like children, the things they have written, it was just disgraceful.”

Baker said Wellington Water must be held to account, and the public needed answers, but Whanau and the councillors went the wrong way about it.

Leggett would not comment before Monday’s meeting with the shareholding committee “as is appropriate in these situations”.

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