Whanganui District Council closing another council controlled organisation

The Whanganui Port company, a subsidiary of Whanganui District Council Holdings, will now report directly to a council committee. Photo / Bevan Conley

Another Whanganui council-controlled organisation is set to close.

Whanganui District Council Holdings has GasNet, Whanganui Port companies and the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy (NZICPA) as subsidiaries.

Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said the subsidiaries would now report directly to the council’s council-controlled organisation (CCO) committee.

“Including the $118,000 saved from the Whanganui & Partners decision and a reduction in the number of directors at the port companies, we’re now looking to save about $380,000 per year as a result of these moves to simplify and streamline our CCOs,” he said.

The current CCO committee is chaired by councillor Josh Chandulal-Mackay, deputy chaired by councillor Rob Vinsen and includes all elected members.

It was announced earlier this month that economic development agency Whanganui & Partners would be brought in-house at the council, with the company and board of directors being disestablished.

The council made the decision on Holdings at a closed council meeting on Tuesday, after completing a CCO review which began last year.

Tripe said the review aligned with the council’s six-point plan to keep rates increases affordable.

Appointing one board of directors to oversee both port companies had already saved ratepayers $63,000, he said.

The Holdings board is made up of chairwoman Carolyn van Leuven, Richard Briggs and Lucy Elwood.

“We’re looking at growing Whanganui’s population, improving efficiency, looking for alternative funding for projects, cutting council services, selling assets to repay debt and identifying sources of non-rates revenue.

“The council has already locked in $700,000 of service level cuts across other council services as well as another $1 million of efficiencies from the council’s back office functions, bringing the total savings to more than $2 million so far.

“We are also about to start public consultation on our Long-Term Plan 2024-34 and will be seeking feedback from the community on additional service cuts that could be made to reduce costs and minimise rates increases.”

One recommendation from the review was for the council to ensure its investments were delivering enough of a financial return to be worth the associated investment risks, Tripe said.

“Higher-risk investments should have a higher return on investment.

“We’ll need to ensure NZICPA [New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy] stabilises and starts to return to profit after the disruption of Covid-19 which interrupted the flow of international students to the academy.

“The report found NZICPA has a positive impact on the Whanganui economy, and when student numbers increase it will support nearly 100 jobs and provide $9.8 million of GDP per year into the local economy.”

He said GasNet had consistently delivered dividends to its shareholders but the council needed to balance receiving dividends with a need to reinvest in the development of the business.

Holdings chairwoman Carolyn van Leuven has been contacted for comment.