Whanganui and Partners manager Adrian Dixon will be leaving in four months' time. Photo/ file
Whanganui and Partners manager Adrian Dixon will be leaving in four months' time. Photo/ file
After two and a half years managing Whanganui District Council's economic development body, Adrian Dixon has resigned.
He will be leaving at the end of November after a comprehensive handover, said council chief executive Kym Fell.
Mr Dixon did not want to comment about his resignation from Whanganui and Partners,a council-controlled organisation. But Mr Fell and its board chairman, Myles Fothergill, both said he had other opportunities to pursue, including resuming his Value Added Management consultancy.
Mr Fothergill has been working with him on his impending resignation for two weeks, and said Mr Dixon also had his personal reasons.
Whanganui and Partners has been through a lot of changes this year. There's been a restructure, new staff members and a new board.
In June the staff and board came up with goals and measures for its performance, which were adopted as a Statement of Intent. They were to grow average domestic product by 2.5 per cent by 2020, increase population by 4500 by 2025 and increase employment 5 per cent.
"The team and the board wrote those goals together, so obviously we thought they were do-able," Mr Dixon said.
At that time Mr Fell said Whanganui and Partners had been "floundering for six months". He now says Mr Dixon's passion and enthusiasm have been appreciated, and that he has formed excellent networks that will provide lasting value for the region.
Mr Dixon has worked hard to get the organisation to this point, Mr Fothergill said. He told Mr Fothergill he's leaving at a good time, with Whanganui and Partners in good heart, a new board and a business-focused council.
"We have got a council now that's the most business-focused and economically-driven council that we've had since I can remember," Mr Fothergill said.
Mr Dixon is to be replaced, and one other staff vacancy filled, and Mr Fell expects Whanganui and Partners to go from strength to strength. He said he was impressed with the board's ability to challenge mindsets and think outside the square.
These shiftings are "the normal dynamics of an operation", Mr Fothergill said. He adds that Mr Dixon will be a loss, he will be missed, and he will be replaced.
"I think in local body politics you are going to end up with dynamics from time to time."
