Invercargill City Council has selected two External Appointees with broad community governance experience to guide the organisation through its response to a recent Governance Review.

The appointees are Jeff Grant and Lindsay McKenzie. They will have a wide-ranging role to support elected members and Council staff through the implementation of an Action Plan to address governance issues.

The detail of the Action Plan, which is based on the three key areas of addressing the council’s governance foundations, strengthening the team and measuring progress, was agreed by Council this week. The inaugural meeting of the Project Governance Group was also held this week – this is the Group which will oversee the implementation of the recommendations from the Governance Review.

Council’s Chief Executive Clare Hadley said it was pleasing to secure External Appointees of such high calibre.

‘We have a lot of work ahead to address the issues raised in the Governance Review and establish robust processes and practices that ensure our Council is well-placed to focus on leading our city and supporting growth.

‘The experience the two appointees bring offers significant value to the Council as we refocus and prepare for the future. We have been liaising closely with the Department of Internal Affairs since the issues were raised and we are confident in their support of this way forward.’

Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt said: ‘We are committed to focusing on the future and working together to overcome previous obstacles.

The important thing, now, is that we push ahead and achieve real progress on the major issues facing our City. The role of our appointees is to work with us to make that happen’.

Jeff Grant
Jeff has strong governance and director experience across a range of roles with a focus on primary industries.

A former Chairman of AgResearch, Jeff was appointed in 2018 by Beef + Lamb NZ and the Meat Industry Association to manage the sector’s response to Brexit and has held a range of chair or director roles across the agriculture and primary industries.

For eight years until 2018, Jeff was the Independent Chair of Southland Shared Services.

Lindsay McKenzie
Lindsay is an experienced executive and director with a history of working in the public and more recently the private sector. Lindsay is a former Chief Executive of Environment Southland, Gisborne District Council and Tasman District Council.

Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Government, Environment, Health and Safety, Corporate Governance, and Strategic Planning.

Strong professional with a natural resource science background and Post Grad. Cert. in Business/Commerce, General from Monash University, Melbourne.