Watchdog ruling forces Fairfax director to resign

SYDNEY - Fairfax Media director David Evans has been forced to resign from the board after a ruling from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the company said yesterday.

The ACMA determined Evans could not serve on both the Fairfax Media and Village Roadshow boards.

Evans said ACMA informed him this was because "Village has a substantial shareholding in Austereo, which owns radio licences in some areas which overlap with radio licences held by Fairfax".

"As a result I have been forced to make the difficult decision to resign from Fairfax," Evans said.

"Fairfax is a wonderful company and I was looking forward to meeting the challenges with the other directors under the leadership of Roger Corbett."

The resignation is effective from Sunday.

Corbett, the Fairfax chairman, said he was "very sorry" Evans had to resign from the board.

"In the 4 years David has served on the board he has made a very valuable and insightful contribution," Mr Corbett said.

Evans, a non-executive director, was appointed to the board in 2005. He has been on the Village Roadshow board since 2007.

The resignation comes just before Fairfax's annual meeting in Sydney today. Corbett has been nominated for re-election as chairman, while directors Ron Walker and Julia Kind are stepping down.

Steve Harris, Stephen Mayne and Gerard Noonan have been nominated as directors.

- AAP