Abrupt departure of Infrastructure Manager
Concerns have been raised after a new Horowhenua District Council infrastructure manager appointed in August 2018 was gone less than four months later.
Council's chief executive David Clapperton said Andrew Grant was employed as General Manager Infrastructure Services on 20 August 2018 and his last day of employment was the 14 December, 2018.
Questions that will be referred to the Office of the Ombudsman because Mr Clapperton has refused to answer them include: Was his resignation voluntary? If not, why did his employment with HDC end? What are the reasons? Was Mr Grant provided with a severance payment over and above his base salary and if he was how much did Mr Grant receive over and above his base salary?
Mr Grant has not responded to requests for comment.
The abrupt departure comes at a critical time as the Council is applying for long overdue resource consents for essential infrastructure services including storm water and waste water.
There are also challenges around provision of water services and essential service pressures from an explosion in land and property development.
In response to how confident the public could be that essential services are being properly managed Mr Clapperton said quarterly reports were presented to the Finance Audit and Risk Committee.
He said the reporting involves financial and non-financial reporting, including operational performance. "This information is publicly available and should provide confidence that established service levels are being delivered," he said.
Mr Grant's departure came less than four days after Mr Grant directly advertised to appoint an Asset Planning Manager with, "Sound understanding of asset management and knowledge of asset management systems."
Mr Clapperton said Rob Green will be the acting group manager Infrastructure Services while Council recruits another Group Manager Infrastructure Services.
Council said the role, "was advertised on our website, on SEEK and in the NZ Herald."
The previous Group Manager Infrastructure Services Gallo Saidy worked for the Council between 2014 and 2018.
The only qualification Mr Saidy has listed on his professional network Linked In profile is a Master of Business Administration in Business Administration and Management, General 2015-2017.
Mr Saidy was also acting chief executive at times when Mr Clapperton was away.
Poll: If we want to reduce speeding, what do you think actually changes driver behaviour? 🛻🚨🚓
In the Post's article on speeding penalties, the question is asked whether speeding fines are truly about road safety, or are they just a way to boost revenue for the Crown?
What do you think? Should speeding motorists receive speeding fines or demerit points?
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0% The sting of a fine (Money talks!)
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0% The threat of demerit points (Nobody wants to lose their license!)
SLASH BESIDE THE TRACK UP TO TRIG
I question the wisdom and the morality of an industry which creates so much waste, waste which is also a cause of widespread and devastating damage. So, I searched the internet for potential uses of slash. It was easy to find.
I recommend a visit to nzbioforestry.co.nz. I quote from the website:
OUR SOLUTION:
NZ Bio Forestry proposes to develop a sustainable renewable forestry model that increases the economic value of the NZ- Aotearoa forestry sector, simply by integrating bio-technologies augmenting the forestry, wood manufacturing, and petrochemistry industries into one model.
Specifically, our strategy is to utilise the whole tree and convert the tree’s sugars into bioenergy, biomaterials, and biochemicals. This means using slash, off cuts, pruning, and wood waste to produce biofuel via bio pellets and biochemicals. It means optimising logs through the whole process….logging, manufacturing freighting, and refining process to serve the many Asia-Pacific markets with high-value products….not just exporting raw logs to one or two large dominant markets! (End of quote)
NZ Bio Forestry then contrasts the financial return from the present exports of raw logs with the potential return from utilising the WHOLE TREE.
In US dollars, the return from exporting logs is between $50 - $140 per log.
Using the whole tree including the slash and other waste for wood processing would return $200 - $800 per tree, and,
Using the bio-refinery process to convert the wood waste into fossil-free biochemicals would return $2,500 - $11,200 per tree.
I can’t help but conclude that our current focus on exporting logs is a pitiful failure of industry and government policy compared with the potential benefits of processing THE WHOLE TREE. And to complete the argument, this not just theory. In Scandinavia, SCA, which owns Europe’s largest private forest with 2.7 million hectares, has built a well-invested value chain that maximises the value of each individual tree and all of the forestry’s resources.
A SUMMARY OF POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS:
Wood Pellets and Chips: Slash can be collected, dried, and processed into hog fuel or wood pellets for use in industrial boilers, as a replacement for coal, to generate heat and electricity.
Biofuel Production: Research is underway to convert forest residues into marine biofuel to help decarbonize the shipping sector.
Gasification: Advanced, small-scale, on-site processing plants can turn slash into renewable energy products like bio-oil, ethanol, and hydrogen.
Biochemicals: Specialized refineries can convert woody waste into sustainable alternatives to plastics, chemicals, and industrial products.
WAKE UP Aotearoa, New Zealand!!!
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
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