Chief executive Langley Cavers signs off after 30 years with Hauraki District Council

Hauraki District Council chief executive Langley Cavers holds the WorkWell gold accreditation certificate, recently presented to the council’s wellbeing committee Ki Waiora, in recognition of its ongoing commitment to wellbeing in the workplace.

Summing up nearly 30 years of employment with Hauraki District Council, outgoing chief executive Langley Cavers says it is like “leaving his whānau behind”.

He plans to take a break, with no immediate plans, saying he will look for something else in the new year.

A Waihī Beach resident of 25 years, Cavers, in his “early 60s”, said he has no plans to relocate.

“I’m not at retirement age, still a lot of miles in the tyres.

“I have no idea of what I would like to do next, I am keeping an open mind, there is a lot going on in the local government sector at the moment; a lot of opportunities come in the new year.”

Cavers said he started his local government career with the Hauraki Catchment Board, which eventually morphed into the Waikato Regional Council.

“I cut my teeth doing water-related activities.”

Cavers started at the Hauraki District Council as the drainage and solid waste manager, undertaking the role for four years.

In 1999 he was appointed district engineer and moved to the chief executive role in 2001.

There had been a number of highlights throughout the years which included the Waihī streetscape project, a redevelopment of the town’s central business area.

“It was quite a unique streetscape.”

One of the more challenging periods was the Waihī house collapse event in 2001 following historic mining activity in the town.

A subsequent report identified numerous nearby properties which had been built on top of unfilled voids.

“This event and the subsequent hazard zone identification, community solution development and relocation of the effected residents stands out.

“We did not refer to it as compensation, no one was prepared to accept blame, what we worked out was a community solution, various parties contributed payments to homeowners, so they could move on, they had the option of relocating homes, all bar one took a monetary amount.

“People were made an offer jointly through the mine and the Crown; it was originally one home, it was then 14 homeowners, and in the following 12 months we identified another 27 homes, so they became part of the community solution.

“For the people who were affected it was terrible thing to have to go through; for us there was a challenge of coming up with a solution, I remember the story went around the world.”

In 2002, with a new Local Government Act in place, development of long-term community plans was required.

“You had to work with your community, it was a really neat process, we were engaged with the communities, it was joint programme, local and central government, we found most of the concerns were around safety, health and education.

“I enjoyed engagement with the community, there has since been a lot of infrastructure upgrades and there are now higher expectations around water and wastewater.”

Cavers said that while it was rewarding working for the community, it was a learning curve in a “trade off on a number of things”.

“We do a lot of stuff, and we have to make sure it is available, a good level of service, but affordable, everyone has their opinions, and it is important for Government to listen; you have to have an open mind.

“Part of our role is regulatory, we have to make sure people do things in accordance with rules, a balance with effects on environment.”

He said it was getting a lot harder for councils to keep control of their costs, “because we are subject to so much regulation”.

“Being a regulatory body, we can’t always give people the ‘yes’ that they want, so the job comes with its challenges, but fairness, approachability and fiscal responsibility have always been my driving motivations.”

He leaves his role on November 1, handing the reins to incoming chief executive, David Speirs.