Review of Whanganui District Council’s CCOs under way, with first draft due next week

Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe. Photo / Bevan Conley

Organisations controlled by Whanganui District Council are currently under the microscope thanks to a review spearheaded by Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe.

After “reading the room” around the council table and speaking to members of the community, it was the right time to do it, Tripe said.

“The CCOs [council-controlled organisations] and subsidiaries, in general, had perhaps lost a clear purpose.

“Our [CCO] letters of expectation and statement of intent were very annualised, and with that, there was a tendency towards an immediate, post-Covid response.”

There needed to be more of a long-term focus, he said.

The CCOs are Whanganui District Council Holdings and economic development agency Whanganui & Partners.

The Whanganui Port Limited Partnership, the Whanganui Port General Partner Limited and the Whanganui Port Operating Company Limited are accountable to Holdings.

Subsidiaries of Holdings include the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy and GasNet.

Tripe said the organisations appeared to have complicated governance structures.

Decision-making and funding flows were “more convoluted” than they should be.

An independent contractor had been hired to run the review, working alongside council officers and Tripe.

“We’ve gone through a process of interviewing key stakeholders - including councillors - and members of each of the CCOs as well,” Tripe said.

“There is some great work going on with all our CCOs, but I think there is an opportunity for far more upside.”

He said CCOs, particularly Holdings, were the council’s biggest risk areas.

Money from CCOs was coming back into the council, but Tripe thinks “we can do a lot better”.

“That’s including setting up a PIF [private investment fund].

“That is a model that seems to be working around the country - having an investment portfolio which grows over time and releases some funds back to offset rates.”

The public owned the CCOs and he didn’t think there was enough clarity on what they were, how they worked and what was expected of them.

“I don’t think we can tell a coherent story right now.”

He said more directors meant more money being spent.

“If we need to carry on that cost or have a new structure and less directors, who knows?” Tripe said.

“Those kind of questions will be answered at the end of the review.

“We are in a position where we can tidy things up and simplify everything, so there is greater clarity at the governance level to make good decisions. There is also clear accountability.

“That’s not to say it’s broken, but it’s not optimised.”

Tripe said the first draft of the review was due on his desk next week.

“There are already lots of ideas popping up on simplifying things and giving the ratepayer a greater understanding about what we’re doing.

“From a commercial perspective, it’s about making a return on investment from our assets.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and 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.