New DoC manager seeking wider help

Connie Norgate

The anxiety level has dropped at Wanganui's Department of Conservation office as the dust settles after its last restructure.

There are still a few uncertainties, but area manager Connie Norgate said morale had improved.

"Everybody is just looking forward to getting into their work." Staff will begin their new roles on September 2.

For what is now called the Whanganui District, the overall effect of the department's restructure will be to lose one of 23 staff positions across offices in Wanganui, Taumarunui and Pipiriki. Most of Wanganui's current staff will still have DoC jobs, either there or elsewhere.

The other change is for each district to have two sets of managers, with no single overall manager. Services managers will manage the work of pest control, biodiversity and recreation. Partnerships managers will manage community relations, concessions, planning, volunteers and education, and seek sponsorship and other help from community groups.

Miss Norgate said the department already got help and sponsorship from the community, but more was needed to halt the decline in New Zealand's biodiversity.

"It's not just a job for the department to manage. We can all be part of growing conservation."

In the Whanganui District the new services manager will be George Taylor, managing 14 people across Taumarunui, Pipiriki and Whanganui.

The partnerships manager will be Miss Norgate, who will be in charge of a team of four - three based in Wanganui and one in Pipiriki.

The Whanganui District has a third manager, because it also has two kahui kaupapa atawhai/Maori liaison staff. Kemp Dryden is that manager, with Melanie Nelson helping.

The three district managers will work together, with common conservation goals, Miss Norgate said.

Wanganui staffer Rod Smillie is moving, but not far. He is to be the new services manager for the Lower North Island Region, based in its large Palmerston North office.

The Whanganui District now falls into the Central North Island Region, which also includes Tauranga, Rotorua, Taranaki and Tongariro, and its head office will be in Taupo.

That will be headed by Damian Coutts, as partnership manager, with Meirene Hardy-Birch managing services.

The department also has a new director-general, appointed for a three-year term. He is Lou Sanson, the former chief executive of Antarctica New Zealand.