Lawrence Yule appointed as Crown Manager to Wairoa District and Hawke's Bay Regional council

AI-generated image of a digger working on a riverbank

Former Hastings District Council Mayor, National Party MP, and president of Local Government New Zealand Lawrence Yule has been appointed as a Crown Manager to both Wairoa District and Hawke’s Bay Regional Councils in order to oversee flood protection works for the town of Wairoa, with central government having invested $70 million in the vital infrastructure work.

The move to appoint a Crown Manager doesn’t come as a surprise, as Local Government Minister Simeon Brown had publicly given notice of his intention in late July following concerns about the delivery of the Crown funded works being expressed by both councils. That intention was announced only days after a review was deeply critical of many aspects of Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s work around flood prevention in relation to the Cyclone Gabrielle disaster and Wairoa’s Mayor Craig Little launched a broadside against the regional council too.

The appointment of a Crown Manager is one of the more high-level interventions available to the Minister for Local Government under the Local Government Act, with the individual appointed having the power to direct local authorities to undertake work within the terms of reference of their appointment. Local authorities are also required to implemented those directives. At the end of their term of appointment, the Crown Manager produces a report for the minister that details both their work, as well as recommendations about further work or interventions that made be required.

Depending on the terms of reference, a local authority and its governing body can usually continue to go about most of what it would normally do provided it complies with the directives of the Crown Manager in respect to their specific area of focus. While Yule’s terms of reference aren’t immediately available, Brown’s press release indicates his remit will be narrowly focused on flood planning and protection work for Wairoa. This likely means both councils can likely go about business as usual for most of their work, with Yule only directing the ship in relation to the $70 million in work that will be undertaken.