Raj Suppiah (left), the chief financial officer for the Tararua District Council, chief executive Blair King and Quentin McCarthy, the general manager of the lower North Island for Downer EDI.
Raj Suppiah (left), the chief financial officer for the Tararua District Council, chief executive Blair King and Quentin McCarthy, the general manager of the lower North Island for Downer EDI.
It's signed, sealed and now the roading alliance between Downer EDI and the Tararua District Council has to deliver.
"The focus will be on doing what is best for the asset and taking away bureaucracy," Cos Bruyn, the chief executive of Downer EDI in New Zealand, said on Thursday.
Mr Bruyn admitted the alliance model was "a pretty brave move by the council.
"(But) this will allow you to lower your roading costs and the alliance will find it easy to attract and keep good people."
Tararua District Mayor Roly Ellis admitted it had been a long road and not easy, as the council put out to tender its roading contract previously held by 66 per cent council-owned Infracon.
"This is something new for the Tararua and I'm sure it's going to be a good partnership and I'm looking forward to the future," he said as the contract between his council and Downer was signed in Dannevirke last Thursday afternoon.
"We've the second largest roading network in the North Island and it's not easy country," Mr Ellis warned Downer management. "I've seen some horror stories out on our rural roads and when the public gives me hell, it's been good for me to know what really happens out there.
SIGNED AND SEALED: The Tararua District Council signed a roading alliance contract with Downer EDI on Thursday. Back, Blair King (left), chief executive of the Tararua District Council, and Frank Aldridge, of the Integral Group, consultants for the negotiations. Front, Tararua District Mayor Roly Ellis and Cos Bruyn, the chief executive of Downer NZ. PHOTOS/CHRISTINE McKAY DAN17755
"This (new roading alliance) isn't a five-minute wonder and we've taken a lot of time over this.
"One or two other districts have taken on the same alliance model and it works for them.
"Consultant Frank Aldridge, of the Integral Group, has worked on this for nine months and there's been some controversial stuff along the way."
However, Mr Aldridge reckoned it had been an easy and smooth procurement project.
"It's been a collaborative and team approach and I'm delighted with the decision the council has made," he said.
Timeline Infracon
• October 2013: Darren Mason is appointed as the new chief executive of Infracon, tasked with turning the company around. • March 18, 2014: Tararua District councillors express their concerns over a review by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) of its funding for local roading. The review could have serious implications for the Tararua councillors say. Roading is the biggest cost for the Tararua District which has the fourth longest roading network in New Zealand - 1957km - with 1183km sealed and 773km unsealed. Money from the New Zealand Transport Agency's FAR (Financial Assistance Rate for Local Authorities) system make up most of that funding. ? June 2014: The Tararua District Council announces it will put its road maintenance contract, held by Infracon, out for tender and signals its intention to change to an alliance model. • Fears are raised over job losses at Infracon. • June 11: The Infracon board of directors resigns and is replaced with an interim board, with an independent chairman Peter John Rowell and directors from the Tararua and Central Hawke's Bay District Councils. • June 30: The Tararua District Council begins negotiations on an alliance agreement with Downer EDI. • July 2: Infracon's chief executive admits his staff are worried about job losses. • August 12: Interim chairman Peter John Rowell resigns from the Infracon board. • August 18: Three positions within the Tararua District Council's engineering department disappear under the alliance being negotiated with Downer. • August 21: Infracon staff are called to meetings and told liquidators were being called in. • The interim directors of the company, including acting board chairman and Tararua District mayor Roly Ellis, make the decision to place the company into liquidation, after Infracon's bank withdrew financial support. Infracon had suffered five years of losses, totalling almost $7 million and continuing losses were predicted for the next two years. • An investment of $5 million into the company would have been required to save it, the council's manager of strategy and development said. • August 25: Liquidators Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) are appointed to take control of Infracon, with security guards posted at the gates of the company's depots. • August 26: Liquidator John Fisk makes an initial review of the company and 98 workers, most Tararua-based, are made redundant. Another 113 work on a day-by-day basis under a liquidators contract. Redundant staff have a preferential call on up to $20,340 for wages, holiday pay and redundancy. • August 26: The Tararua District Council sets up a four-day worker's hub in Woodville where support is available. • September 3: Liquidators PwC put Infracon up for sale. • September 8: The Tararua District Council puts out to tender ground maintenance contracts previously held by Infracon. • September 11: The alliance contract between Downer and the Tararua District Council is signed.
