David Smol, Sheridan Broadbent get short-term appointments

David Smol, Sheridan Broadbent get short-term appointments to NZTA board

By Paul McBeth

Feb. 1 (BusinessDesk) - Former Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment head David Smol and ex-Counties Power chief Sheridan Broadbent have joined the New Zealand Transport Agency's board after a rash of exits last month.

Smol and Broadbent both started their appointments today, which run until June 30, according to notices published on the New Zealand government's Gazette today. The appointments are interim so they can be aligned with the majority of the current board members which end in June, a spokeswoman for Transport Minister Phil Twyford said.

NZTA has gone through a rapid change at the board and management level after poor enforcement of transport regulations triggered a wide-ranging review into the agency.

Corporate restructuring expert Michael Stiassny took over the chair last year.

After the issues were discovered, Stiassny was tasked with cleaning up what Twyford described at the time as years of underfunding and under-performance by the department's administration of vehicle inspection and licensing.

Chief executive Fergus Gammie tendered his resignation in December, leaving the agency at the end of last year. Last month, directors Adrienne Young-Cooper and Chris Ellis and deputy chair Fran Wilde left.

Smol and Broadbent join geotechnical specialist Nick Rogers, professional director Mark Darrow, retired energy executive Leo Lonergan, and former Queenstown mayor Vanessa van Uden.

The next board meeting is scheduled for March 1.

(BusinessDesk)

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