Auckland Council-controlled: Eke Panuku's middle managers earn an average of $143,000 a year

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown started his first day of his term earlier this week. Photo / Michael Craig

By RNZ

Auckland Council-controlled organisation Eke Panuku has 50 middle managers earning an average of $143,000 a year.

That average excludes the company's nine top managers from its Executive Leadership Team who earn more than $200,000 each, according to information provided to Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance.

New Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has been critical of the organisation and publicly called for its chairman to resign.

Brown also called for the entire board to go.

Eke Panuku board chairman Paul Majurey has told staff CCOs report to the council, not the mayor, and any call for change will have to come from the full council.

Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance requested the information about the organisation's managers' pay.

Its campaign manager Josh Van Veen said Eke Panuku needed to prove it was value for money.

"It is absurd that when you have an organisation of around 200 staff, you have 50 managers as well as nine members of an Executive Leadership Team, that does seem excessive."

Eke Panuku has a total of 203 employees and 15 temporary staff.

The alliance supported the mayor's calls for resignations, Van Veen said.

In a statement, Eke Panuku said: "Our mahi needs skilled people for it to be delivered. We employ people from a range of professional services, including urban design, architecture, property and development management, Māori outcomes, sustainability and climate change, engagement and strategic planning, with highly sought-after skills.

"Eke Panuku has a team of senior subject matter experts, which we refer to as people leaders. It appears the Auckland Ratepayers Alliance are mistakenly referencing these SMEs as middle managers.

"Eke Panuku has a fairly flat structure, particularly for our urban regeneration work, which gives our leaders the flexibility to pull together different teams of people to best use the talents of our staff across multiple locations and projects."