Napier City Council CEO Wayne Jack has a added a naval support role to his work roster. Photo / File
Napier City Council CEO Wayne Jack has a added a naval support role to his work roster. Photo / File
After 14 years steering the role of the Royal New Zealand Navy's regional naval officer for Napier, Neville Smith has decided to hand over the helm.
The role goes to former navy man and current Napier City Council chief executive officer Wayne Jack, who said he was basically tapped onthe shoulder to take on the volunteer role.
It was a "passing comment" from the Chief of Navy David Proctor, who is from the Bay, and it was a well-earned approach as Jack did 22 years service in the navy and served on several ships — among them HMNZS Endeavour which Chief of Navy Proctor also served on.
While he had a high workload with council, he was keen to take on the support role as the navy's link here as he wanted to ensure the "great relationship" between the service and Hawke's Bay continued strongly.
Jack said he was especially keen to explore the Limited Service Volunteer programme which is run by the New Zealand Defence Force to assist young people in learning skills and to gain motivation — which could see them take on a role in the services.
After 14 years as the navy's regional officer in Napier Neville Smith has stepped down. Photo / File
He will take on the title of Commander and said Smith had done a "great" job of building the link between the region and the navy through the years.
Smith said he had relished the opportunity to represent the navy and during his stint had achieved some remarkable results, with one of the many highlights being the organising and staging of a special appeal dinner to assist in the wake of the Christchurch earthquake.
It drew the Chief of Navy to attend and it raised $108,000.
He had also worked to get Napier to be the home port for both HMNZS Rotoiti and HMNZS Te Kaha — and as a result Hawke's Bay is the only region in the country to have two ships home ported.
Smith was also responsible for ensuring there was always a major navy presence, including the navy band, in Napier for the annual Art Deco Festivals.
Supporting local schools was also a major part of his approach and Hastings Boys' High School, Napier Girls' High School, Napier Boys' High School and Taradale High School have each received grants of $2000 each year under the HMNZS Te Kaha Education Grants.
The grants scheme also assisted Kaikoura High School after the earthquake there as well as providing a $7000 grant to Tonga to buy water tanks after a major cyclone hit.
There has also been $12,000 raised for vision impaired children of Hawke's Bay and $5000 for Hohepa, which is Te Kaha's nominated charity.
Smith also saw to it that organisations like the City of Napier Cadet Corp Unit and 13 Squadron City of Napier Air Cadets received annual support.
Around each year $16,000 was raised and handed out to charities and schools.
One of his last "missions" was to help establish a Napier Sea Cadet unit called MV Veronica which is a step up from Sea Scouts.
"I really enjoyed the role and what has been achieved but after 14 years it was time to go and hand it over."
City of Napier Cadet Corp Unit spokesman Harley Benton said Smith's devotion to providing donations to the unit had been "outstanding".
"I'm sure I speak for all when I say thank you so much for all that you have done for the City of Napier Cadet Corp Unit and other cadet units here in Hawke's Bay," Benton said.
"It is the commitment and dedication from people like Neville that makes New Zealand such a great place to be in."
On behalf of 13 Squadron City of Napier Air Cadets Wanda Douglas said she wanted to thank Neville "for your positive support and enthusiasm in promoting the NZCF within our local community".
She said the effort and hard work he had put in, especially behind the scenes, had been "massively valuable" and had allowed a number of young people across the three services to experience opportunities outside of the norm.
