Whanganui District Council Holdings Ltd
Whanganui District Council Holdings Limited (WDCHL) is a Council Controlled Organisation (CCO). It has been operating since 2002 and is fully owned by Whanganui District Council.
Our role
WDCHL’s role is to manage and oversee the Council's commercial assets. We also advise the Council on new investment opportunities and the strategic management of assets.
The assets are:
WDCHL brings business experience, industrial expertise and an independent focus to the governance of the Council's commercial operations. We make sure that the assets we oversee are well-managed and provide the best possible financial and strategic returns to the Council. Financial proceeds from the assets are then directed by the Council into areas and activities that benefit the whole of the Whanganui community and our district.
WDHCL is accountable to the Council through an annual Statement of Intent, regular reporting to Council meetings and the publication of annual reports and financial statements. It also produces an Annual Report.
Our board
Carolyn van Leuven (Chair)
Carolyn is a former commercial law firm partner and deputy chief executive of large government agencies, with a strong background in a range of sectors including energy & resources, infrastructure, te Ao Māori, justice and the border sector.
She brings a sound, broad-based view of NZ government, business and community issues from her unusually varied experiences across the commercial, public and not-for-profit sectors, including a privileged 41⁄2-year period in the Beehive serving two Prime Ministers as one of a small group of non-partisan advisors.
Carolyn is of Te Atiawa o te Waka-a-Maui descent and a graduate of Whanganui Girls’ College and the University of Canterbury. She is an independent director and consultant and appointed to the Board in October 2020.
Declan Millin
Declan Millin has been a Chartered Accountant for over 20 years and held senior roles in public and private sectors including BP Oil NZ, CFO of a publically listed fishing company in Namibia, advised HM Treasury, UK, and had a variety of commercial advisory positions during his 15 years in London.
He has held various governance roles in the public and private sector and has extensive operational reporting experience with boards.
Previously a Trustee for Te Ngakinga o Whanganui Investment Trust (the investment arm of Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui) and a former member of the Ngā Tāngata Tiaki Audit and Risk Committee. Declan has whakapapa links to the Whanganui Awa, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Rangi and Te Atiawa in Taranaki.
More recently he has advised Crown on Housing projects and was general manager of Te Tumu Kāinga, a charitable housing trust administered by Te Tumu Paeroa, the Maori trustee and has extensive property development.
Declan has more recently worked on large scale infrastructure projects.