NZTA hit by three resignations
Board members Adrienne Young-Cooper and Chris Ellis have left the NZTA unannounced and Dame Fran Wilde plans to leave at the end of January, according to a recent report by Radio New Zealand.
Transport Minister Phil Twyford told Radio New Zealand that the agency was going through a massive change process and it was understandable there might be some movements on the board.
This follows the sudden resignation of NZTA's chief executive Fergus Gammie late last year when it was revealed that the agency had not been enforcing its transport regulations properly. This neglect has led to many businesses in the transport sector flouting regulations and - specifically - about 25,000 needing warrant of fitness (WOF) retests.
Timeline of events
- Late August: Dargaville Diesel Specialists suspended – 1,956 vehicle owners urged to get WOFs rechecked.
- Late September: NZTA hires law firm Meredith Connell to review its open-compliance files and regulatory function.
- October: Orient Motors – 3,494 affected owners.
- October: Te Aroha Automotive – 613 affected vehicle owners.
- November 23: Westland Mechanical and Tyre – 3,721 affected vehicle owners.
- November 30: Auckland’s Jet Tyres and Wheel Alignment – 993 affected vehicle owners.
- November 30: Onehunga’s Church Street Motors and Tyres – 4,053 affected vehicle owners.
- December 4: El’s Auto Services in East Tamaki – 3,783 affected vehicle owners.
- December 5: Super Cheap Tyres and Auto Services in St Johns – 2,443 affected vehicle owners.
- December 10: NZTA chief executive Fergus Gammie announces his resignation.
- December 14: Stephen Upson and Sunnybrae Auto Services - 747 affected vehicle owners.
- December 20: Sayad Hussein and Frankton WoF and Tyre Station - 2,836 affected vehicle owners.
- December 21: Patrick Chu of Transport & Structure Ltd – numbers of potentially impacted vehicles yet to be confirmed.
- December 21: NZTA appoints former Chorus CEO Mark Ratcliffe as interim chief executive until a permanent replacement is found.
- December 21: Consulting firm Martin Jenkins hired to provide support for the Ministry of Transport’s review into the NZTA’s regulatory function.
- January 25, 2019: NZTA extends expiry date of all unused vouchers
