Whanganui District Council’s commercial arm confirms new directors for port

Number 1 wharf at the Whanganui Port. Photo / Bevan Conley

After wading through 50 applications, Whanganui District Council Holdings’ board has decided on three directors for its port operations.

Hayden Turoa and Nick Wareham, plus current member Mark Petersen, will fill roles vacated by former mayor Hamish McDouall, Whanganui Land Settlement Trust chairman Ken Mair and Whanganui District Holdings director Declan Millan.

They will serve as directors for the Whanganui Port General Partner Limited (Port GP) and its subsidiary Whanganui Port Operating Company Limited (Port Op Co) for a three-year term.

Port GP is a council-controlled organisation (CCO) owned by Holdings, the council’s commercial arm.

Holdings chairwoman Carolyn van Leuven told a council CCO committee meeting the three were currently going through pre-employment checks.

“The terms of the current directors are due to expire next month.

“We had 50 applications and six were interviewed.”

She said Turoa’s appointment would be deferred slightly while issues with his other roles were worked through. Mair would continue as an alternate in the meantime.

Foxton-based Turoa, currently the Te Pūwaha port project director, said that role was a fixed-term contract that was coming to an end.

“The purpose of the role was to embed Te Awa Tupua into all aspects of the project and with all partners working alongside Te Mata Pūau - this has become integral to the culture and ethos of Te Pūwaha.”

Te Pūwaha covers projects from the district council, Horizons Regional Council, Q West Boat Builders and the Whanganui District Employment Training Trust at the port and surrounding areas.

Hayden Turoa's time as Te Pūwaha project director is coming to an end. Photo / Bevan Conley

Te Pūwaha project chairwoman Kahureremoa Aki said Turoa’s role wouldn’t be filled.

It was to manage four originally discrete, but related, projects into a single project for expediency and efficiency across governance, partners, operations, contracting, regulation and community engagement, Aki said.

“Over the past two years, Te Pūwaha has achieved the outcomes sought around a singular focus and a way of working that is consistent with Te Awa Tupua and has also prioritised communication, efficiency and indivisible thinking.

“The appointment of a new project director is not required, as the challenge of maintaining progress for Te Pūwaha on this basis is now shared across the leadership and operations of the project.

Turoa and Wareham are new faces at Port GP and Port Op Co, with Petersen already a member of both.

The pair will be paid $35,000 per year, with the chair - Petersen - receiving $55,000.

Wareham, based in Lower Hutt, has held senior executive positions across ports, airports, forestry and commercial property.

Council’s contribution to the Te Pūwaha project includes upgrading 450m of wharves and construction of a hardstand and runway for Q West Boat Builders’ mobile boat hoist.

Concrete Structures Ltd won the $13.5 million tender for the hardstand and runway section - phase one - and work is set to begin in the next few weeks.

CCO committee co-chairman Rob Vinsen said he was pleased to support the appointments.

“We have been waiting for quite a period of time.

“This port project is a very, very important one for this community, probably one of our biggest commitments going forward.”

Mayor Andrew Tripe said from a council perspective, CCOs were its “biggest risk area”.

“We need to have continuity and we need to ensure we don’t drop the ball on anything.

“It’s known and noted that we are undertaking a council-controlled organisation review across all our CCOs and their entities.

“It’s still to be refined but we’re getting close.”

The first board meeting for the new directors is on Friday, September 15.

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.