Council Delighted with Calibre of Property Company Directors

Hastings District Council Appointments Committee chair, Mick Lester, is delighted with the outstanding calibre of appointees to the newly established Hastings District Properties Limited (HDPL).

Last week, Council approved the selection of four directors to the company board. They are independent directors Peter Snelling, David Mackersey and Rick Cranswick, and senior Council planner Mark Clews. Mr Snelling will chair the board.

“We couldn’t have wished for a better group of people to lead this new initiative,” Cr Lester says.

“This is a combination of development experience, commercial nous, planning skills and knowledge of what Council wants to achieve, together with a passion for Hastings and its people.”

“HDPL will initially focus on the development of Council’s surplus land to achieve desired urban outcomes. The commercial expertise of the directors will be used to manage risk and achieve positive financial results for ratepayers,” he says.

“The company’s first project will be to advance urban design improvements in Flaxmere and in particular facilitate the revitalisation of the Flaxmere town centre,” Cr Lester says.

In March, Council called for expressions of interest for local independent directors who had extensive experience and skills in development.

Councillor Lester says Council was overwhelmed with the strong interest in the positions from the business sector and was delighted with the response from many highly-qualified and experienced applicants.

All of these directors are outstanding business leaders in their respective fields with strong backgrounds in property development and commerce.

“The fact that this calibre of person has put their hand up is an endorsement of what the Council is trying to achieve, both with its urban planning and in bringing commercial expertise into our development process,” Cr Lester says.