TE AWAMUTU NEWS | 1
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2023
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Dyet: a run to the finish
By Roy Pilott
Waipā District Council chief Garry Dyet will effectively be sprinting to the finish line when he finishes at the end of June. The chief who started work as health inspector for Waipā County Council in 1980 – nine years before the formation of the district council – announced his departure date this week. He has been planning the announcement since the middle of last year when he shared his plans with a select few, including me. But having not had a day in 15 years where he hasn’t been bound in some way to work calls or emails, a change is due - ahead lies a decent holiday with wife Donna, and then further work in local government. “I’m really interested in anchor institutions and managing risk – councils are
He’s one of our own
big and complex businesses,” the father or two – and grandfather - says. “You manage in three dimensions. There is the governance section, the staff section and then there is the issues ratepayers have. It’s a pretty pressured environment, so being able work on future policy issues would dial back to a pace which is more sustainable.” Dyet has been a highly active chief who has empowered his senior staff, but he grins at being told he has also maintained a low profile. His inbox is constantly filling though, and he has no qualms when it comes to responding to criticism by picking up the phone. When he has had issues with stories in The News, it is almost always to come to the defence of the best leadership and executive team he says he has worked with.
Back to the sprint. Dyet, lauded at the Celebrating Waipā event by his mayor Susan O’Regan for his service last week, has unfinished business in the form of a hugely challenging long term plan – plus key performance indicators. There will be no jogging to the finish line. He wants to leave the council in a place where his successor can hit the ground running. “A big part of this year is about setting up the council for the future of local government – and though three waters is being repealed, they still have to plan for what life might look like – the status quo is not an option and councils will have to look at business cases for what a different entity will look like. “Waipā has been a passion of mine for 45 years so fundamentally I need to leave it in a really good place.
“We also want to land our first spatial plan, Ahu Ake which has been a really good process engaging with the community.’ Ahu Ake is council’s planning blueprint for the next 30 years. “The other piece of work is setting Waipā up as an anchor institution.” Anchor institution – such as universities, hospitals and councils - invest in their communities as a way of doing business. For the district council that would involve “taking steps to keep money local where, now, least-cost service delivery through a tender process often sees money go out of the district and in some cases offshore”. Dyet is a champion for the anchor model which he has studied overseas – Preston in England being cited as a good example. It would involve
Stephen Burrows has been in the news in recent days following the unveiling of a revolutionary new plane. He is pictured pointing to a photo in Papua New Guinea of the plane’s forerunner by Mary Anne Gill – who reveals Burrows’ Te Awamutu background on Page 3 today.
partnering with anchor institutions in the wider district to deliver on community objectives identified through the spatial plan. • Dyet found his first job at the council “soul
destroying” but realised he loved planning – and the council enabled him to pick up a planning qualification and subsequently a master’s degree in public policy
Continued on page 2
Boots ‘n all
When Te Awamutu Intermediate’s all-star kapa haka group was at the Celebrating Waipā event at Karāpiro last week it was hard not to notice year eight student Pokaia Heke. Pokaia has been recovering from a bad ankle injury and, says teacher Matiu Paraone, often performs without her boot. Last week the ankle was clearly giving her a bit more pain – but boot ‘n all, the Year 8 student stepped up. She’s great kid,” Paraone told The News. • Celebrating Waipā – See page 7
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