Port Nicholson trust chief executive quits
Jason Fox has resigned as chief executive of Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust, a Maori trust with thousands of members in Wellington and Taranaki.
Trust chairman Wayne Mulligan confirmed the move, which was effective immediately, yesterday afternoon.
Fox, who had been chief executive for just over two years, was leaving ‘‘to pursue new opportunities’’, Mulligan and deputy chairman Peter Jackson said.
Fox had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Mulligan said the trust and its commercial business was focused on moving forward.
‘‘We would like to thank Jason for his leadership over the last two years. He has been instrumental in the process of rebuilding the trust and the business arm through very challenging times.’’
While the statement said it was ‘‘business as usual’’, the trust said deputy chairwoman Hannah Buchanan, who is also a trustee on the Wellington Tenths Trust, was taking a leave of absence from her trustee role to ‘‘step in as an interim trust manager to oversee the transition’’.
During the time that Fox was chief executive, the trust struck a deal with property developer Ian Cassels for a major redevelopment of its largest asset, a large block of land at Shelly Bay.
The buildings on the land, a former air force base, have been slowly rotting since the trust took ownership as part of its Crown settlement in 2008.
Initially members of the trust voted down the proposal. However, Fox and former chairman Neville Baker later proposed a similar deal – with the approval of the trust – which was not required to go to a vote of members.
Following the trust’s annual meeting in 2016, Baker lost his position as chairman. Ultimately, however, Mulligan and the new board opted to go ahead with the development.
Fox also indicated that the trust intended to pursue its former chairman, Sir Ngatata Love, in relation to transactions he undertook before stepping down in the wake of corruption allegations.
Love was charged by the Serious Fraud Office in relation to a number of transactions. Ultimately his trial covered a single charge related to defrauding the Tenths Trust.
Love was found guilty and is serving a 2.5-year prison sentence.