Chief executive reflects on tenure as council delivers strong results

Published on 16 September 2025

Outgoing Whanganui District Council chief executive, David Langford, has tabled his final yearly report, reflecting on his time in the role and highlighting a year of strong organisational and financial performance.

Langford, who joined the council in March 2022, said he was proud of the progress made during his tenure in strengthening organisational culture, improving efficiency, and delivering on financial commitments.

“Delivering these results has not been a solo effort and I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to council staff and contractors for the dedication they bring to their work.”

Langford was instrumental in developing a six-point plan to keep rates affordable.

“This approach has been highly effective – not only did we deliver the lowest rates rise in the country this year at 2.2 percent, we have a significant operating surplus for the year of $1.972 million,” he said.

Langford says it’s important to note that the council has managed to reduce costs while increasing investment in core infrastructure.

“Over the last three years, the council has increased investment in core infrastructure such as roads, footpaths, water, wastewater and stormwater by 37 percent.”

Cost-cutting has focussed on reducing management costs and council overheads. “Staff numbers have been reduced slightly overall but we have bolstered the number of staff in frontline roles interacting directly with the community.”

Langford highlighted improvements in organisational culture, noting that staff engagement has increased year-on-year during his tenure and community satisfaction with council staff is the highest it’s been in ten years.

A focus during Langford’s time at the council has been generating non-rates revenue from property assets.

“Every bit of non-rates revenue we can bring in lowers the amount we need to collect in general rates to keep the district running. With the appointment of a commercial manager, our property portfolio has generated more than double the revenue it did a year ago – that gives the council an additional $1.08 million that doesn’t need to come from rates.”

He says property portfolio revenue is expected to soon increase by a further $240,000 with the recent signing of new leases, and income from council property assets will be a key success factor in keeping future rates increases affordable.

Looking ahead, Langford said a refreshed organisational strategy is close to being finalised, ensuring the momentum built since 2022 will continue.

“Whanganui District Council is in a stronger position than it was three years ago and I have every confidence that the organisation will keep delivering for our community in the years ahead.”