Notable events during Langford’s tenure include the reopening of Te Whare o Rehua Sarjant Gallery, the signing of a formal agreement between the council, iwi and hapū (Te Tomokanga ki Te Matapihi), a Civil Aviation Authority investigation into the New Zealand International Pilot Academy, central Government-mandated water reforms, and the lowest average rates rise in the country (2.2%) for 2025/26.
Last year, he oversaw significant restructuring in council staffing, with 31 roles disestablished and replaced with 10.
In March 2023, Langford imposed a pay freeze on himself, in a bid for efficiency savings.
Tripe told the Chronicle he and the chief executive’s performance review committee chair, Jenny Duncan, would work through a recruitment process for Langford’s replacement.
“Part of that process will be to identify specific skills we’ll be looking to emphasise,” he said.
Tripe, in his first term, said Langford was “one out of the box”.
“This was his first chief executive role, so he was in his early days as well when I started.
“We’ve been on a bit of a journey together, and we’ve had a very strong partnership.
“Whanganui has real momentum and we want a strong and stable council going forward.”
Langford’s previous role was group manager for planning and infrastructure with the New Plymouth District Council.
He was appointed as Whanganui council chief executive in December 2021, taking over from Kym Fell.
Tripe’s statement said Whanganui had been fortunate to have Langford’s talent “for as long as we have”.
“He has made a significant contribution to Whanganui over the past three and a half years, and while I am personally saddened to see him go, I completely understand and support his decision to take up this new opportunity.”
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.
