Reshuffle at power trust due to illness

Ill health has forced a reshuffle of the team charged with steering Marlborough’s lines company.

Marlborough Electric Power Trust trustee Malcolm Aitken is standing down from his position, with Cathie Bell moving into the role on July 1.

Trust chairman Ian Martella said health reasons had led to Aitken’s resignation.

‘‘Malcolm has been on the trust since September 2014, and we have really valued his input,’’ Martella said.

‘‘He is a long-time Marlburian, moving here in 1960 with the air force, and then running a highlysuccessful restaurant business for 22 years, as well as being part of many community organisations.

‘‘Malcolm is a real community, orientated person, he’s very passionate about the community, so in that respect, it’s really sad to see him go.’’

The Marlborough Electric Power Trust held all shares of company Marlborough Lines and administered them on behalf of the power users of Marlborough.

Aitken was re-elected to the trust in February, and Martella said that the trust had appointed the next highest-polling candidate, Cathie Bell, to fill the position. Bell also ran in the trust election in 2016.

Bell said this week she was grateful for the opportunity, but was sorry for the way she had stepped into the role.

‘‘I’m very sorry to be coming in this way, with Malcolm Aitken stepping down because of ill health, I think that’s very unfortunate and I’m really sorry to hear that Malcolm is unwell and wish him all the best,’’ Bell said.

Bell, who is a communications specialist, moved to Marlborough from Wellington eight years ago.

‘‘I had a lot of high-level jobs in central Government, working in the energy sector and electricity regulation areas, so the energy sector is not unfamiliar to me,’’ Bell said.

‘‘Electricity is really important. Our lives run on it, our businesses run on it, it’s really important for Marlborough that Marlborough Lines is well run.’’

Bell said she would do her ‘‘utmost best’’ to carry out her duties for the community.

‘‘The first meeting I will be going to is on July 15, so at this stage I don’t have any extra knowledge of the trust’s workings than any other member of the public.’’

The announcement on June 19 that the Government had finally provided Sounds Air with some urgent funding was fantastic news.

They were first in line to receive funding from the Essential Aviation Transport Connectivity package. Sounds Air play a major role in keeping New Zealanders connected, and were too important to let fail. They will be an important player in the economic recovery of regional New Zealand and our aviation sector.

We would never have achieved this without the support of the people who signed the petition I started back in April. This received overwhelming support, with an astonishing 43,998 people signing it. With so much support, managing director Andrew Crawford, mayor John Leggett and I, among others, were able to pressure the Minister of Transport into providing this funding.

The importance of Sounds Air cannot be understated. It provides a much-needed