Whanganui District Council appoints independent members to CCO committee

Paul Bayly will chair the council's newly named CCO and ED committee.

Whanganui District Council has appointed two independent members to oversee its commercial companies.

Paul Bayly will be the independent chairman of the newly named council-controlled organisations and economic development (CCO and ED) committee, with Andrew Turner selected as an independent member.

The move follows the axing of Whanganui District Council Holdings in March.

GasNet, Whanganui Port companies and the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy will now report directly to the committee.

Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said Holdings’ directors had performed well in overseeing the council’s commercial companies, but removing that layer of governance was forecast to save ratepayers about $200,000 a year.

It would also “establish a more direct line of reporting and accountability back to the council for continued oversight and commercial rigour”.

The CCO and ED committee will have seven members, including the two independents, with Tripe as deputy chairman.

Previously, the CCO committee included all elected members, with councillor Josh Chandulal-Mackay as chairman and councillor Rob Vinsen deputy chairman.

The four councillors to sit on the new committee are yet to be named.

Bayly will be paid $20,000 a year and Turner will get $15,000, inclusive of travel, accommodation and external training costs.

Whanganui-born Bayly, an international recovery and infrastructure development consultant, worked alongside the council in 2020 as part of the Integrated Recovery Team established to respond to Covid-19.

He is a former merchant banker and retired army colonel who served as chief executive of the Recovery and Development Agency in the British Virgin Islands and the permanent secretary for Infrastructure and Transport in Fiji.

Turner was on Christchurch City Council from 2010 to 2022 and was deputy mayor for six years.

He was the chairman of the council’s finance committee and a board member of Christchurch City Holdings.

He is the chairman of Wellington City Council’s Community Housing Trust and the independent chairman of SmartGrowth in Western Bay of Plenty.

“I’ve spent a bit of time in Whanganui, so I know the place reasonably well,” Turner said.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know it and its assets a whole lot better.”

Tripe said as well as overseeing existing companies, the committee would advise the council on the strategic management of assets and new investment opportunities.

“The aim is to generate financial returns that can be put towards reducing the amount of rates and to put strategic improvements in place to benefit the Whanganui community.

“With the disestablishment of the Holdings board, it was important to create these independent roles so the committee has the necessary commercial acumen to successfully oversee the council’s commercial operations.”

Bayly and Turner brought “a breadth and depth of business experience to the committee”, Tripe said.

“I have confidence that with their independent advice, our commercial assets will be in good hands.”

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 Whanganui District Council.