Tauranga City Council chief executive Marty Grenfell has today resigned from his role following the release of a damning review that found the Mount Maunganui landslide tragedy was preventable.
Grenfell's last day would be on October 2 after the council accepted his resignation, Mayor Mahé Drysdale said this evening.
"We respect Mr Grenfell's decision and thank him for his unwavering commitment to public service in our city over the past eight years.
"During this time, Mr Grenfell has helped lead Tauranga City Council through periods of significant growth, change, and challenge. I thank him for his contribution and wish him all the very best for the future.”
Grenfell had faced calls to resign after a report by former High Court judge Paul Davison KC, released last month, said: "This tragedy was, in the end, preventable."
It continued: "The central conclusion of this review is sobering in its simplicity. This was not a hazard that was unknown, hidden, or beyond the reach of foresight.
"For more than two decades, one competent consultant after another identified the landslide hazard to the campground, located it on the very slope that failed, and explained – sometimes in stark terms – what the consequences of a landslide occurring could be."
Tauranga mayor Mahe Drysdale said he has apologised to the families for the "failings" of his council. (Source: 1News)
Six holidaymakers were killed in a slip at the council-owned Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park in January 22.
Davison found the landslide risk was known by the council and the organisation missed opportunities over 27 years to take actions that could have prevented the deaths.
He attributed this to systemic failures and found no individual accountable for the tragedy. Davison made 10 recommendations to the council for systemic change.
In a meeting outlining the report and its recommendations, Grenfell said Davison’s findings were clear, the organisation accepted them “without qualification” and it was committed to implementing every recommendation.
The day after the report was released, Grenfell told Breakfast he was "determined and motivated to address the issues of this organisation and implement these recommendations".
"I'm accountable for the performance of the organisation. My focus, and task, and my commitment is to implement these recommendations and drive the change that this organisation needs to address these issues.
"Whilst this has been described as a systemic failure, it's not epidemic across the organisation. We need to be laser-focused. We failed to manage the risks appropriately in relation to the campground. We need to address that."
Drysdale said the council would appoint an interim chief executive, with a recruitment process for a permanent replacement beginning as soon as possible.
"There is a lot of work to be done, and we will be looking for a leader with the experience and expertise to help us drive significant change within the organisation as we appropriately respond to the Davison review and multiple other inquiries and investigations currently underway," he said.
"My councillors and I will continue to demand of the interim CEO and senior leadership team that we see tangible, verifiable evidence of an overhaul of systems and processes through the Organisational Improvement Programme currently in progress."
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