“We’ve got to ensure a high-performing council and deliver the Three Waters entity so it positions itself well for the future.
“You get elected on a platform of being nimble, creative and visionary.”
The council will join with Ruapehu District Council to form a council-controlled organisation for water delivery.
Joblin said it needed to be set up in a way to “give it the best chance to be effective”.
“Scale is important, but it all depends on the quality of the leadership.
“Going with Ruapehu gives us a strong degree of control over what it looks like, and that it will be high performing.
“Obviously, the catchment of the awa [Whanganui River] makes sense from a long-term perspective.”
There had been a good team of elected members over the last three years, she said.
“Everybody has got something to offer and I think we’ve worked well together.”
The housing entity was a “once in two or three generations opportunity”.
“Our pensioner flats were built in the 1940s and 1950s, and haven’t been touched since because they are ring-fenced, ratepayer funding hasn’t gone there,” Joblin said.
“We have to be careful and considered, because we have to get this right.”
Joblin, a chartered accountant and former chair of the Whanganui District Health Board, said her first governance job was with Gonville Plunkett 40 years ago.
“I went on to work with the Sisters of Compassion and the Sisters of St Joseph, another amazing group of women, that were way ahead of their time in terms of education and, more laterally, health.
“I’ve been really lucky to work with them and pick up their philosophies.”
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
