Who got that job?

By LIANE VOISEY

Were you one of the 100 people who applied for this job and wondered who got it?

Job title: Chief executive, Transfund New Zealand

After a career in civil engineering, contracting, local government and transport Wayne Donnelly, 54, joined Transfund this year, eager to tackle some high-profile problems.

The Government agency is responsible for allocating land transport funding and Donnelly believes the issues it faces have never been greater or received more attention. "The Government is determined to do something about it."

This is the first year of Transfund and Transit New Zealand's 10-year plans and "the transparency [the plans have] created has raised the whole debate about adequacy of funding long term", Donnelly says.

In Auckland, the major issue is a $2.5 billion shortfall in the money needed to complete the motorway network. The solutions, Donnelly says, are "funding and more effective use of management on the supply side and on the demand side". Legislation to provide new sources of funding is due by the end of the year.

Qualified with a civil engineering degree from the University of Canterbury, Donnelly believes his experience in designing or managing transport will serve him well.

Donnelly was previously chief executive at Rodney District Council for 2 1/2 years, "responsible for managing all the council's operations from service delivery, including water, sewage, parks, roads".

For 11 years before that, he held senior management positions at Auckland City Council, overseeing projects such as the southeastern arterial route, Viaduct Basin and the Britomart transport centre. Before this, he worked in the transport and oil industries in Britain and Hong Kong.

At Transfund, Donnelly is responsible for advising the board, helping it to develop Transfund's strategies and policies, implementing those strategies and for the general operation of the company.

"I'm really looking forward to working with all the different players that deliver transport services - from 74 local authorities and seven regional councils, to Transit New Zealand and other Government agencies."

His challenge will be, "To apply the Government's strategic direction for transport to what is funded".