Board consolidation for port, airport and holding companies
The Nelson City and Tasman District Councils have decided to consolidate the boards of Infrastructure Holdings Ltd, Port Nelson Ltd and Nelson Airport Ltd into a single board from the beginning of 2027.
Infrastructure Holdings Ltd is a Council Controlled Trading Organisation that is jointly owned 50/50 by Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council. Port Nelson and Nelson Airport are owned by Infrastructure Holdings Ltd.
“This new single-board structure best ensures we maximise the performance of these companies and improves the accountability to the Councils and public who own them. The simplified board structure also provides clearer accountability for the management of the port and airport companies and minimises conflicts of interests and compliance costs,” said Nelson Mayor Nick Smith and Tasman Mayor Tim King.
“We want the management of Port Nelson and Nelson Airport to report to a single governance board rather than the duplication of answering to both their own board and the Infrastructure Holdings board. We also want only one degree of separation between the Council shareholders and the operational boards of the port and airport,” the Mayors said.
The single board of the three companies will replace the interim structure put in place when Infrastructure Holdings Ltd was constituted in 2023. It was established with a board made up of an independent Chair and two directors from each of the subsidiary companies for the airport and port.
A review was initiated in 2024 and the decision to consolidate to a single board was made by a joint meeting of the two Councils on 30 June 2026. The new structure will mean a move from 12 directors to seven or eight.
“The purpose of establishing Infrastructure Holdings Ltd was to enable access to lower-cost finance through the Local Government Funding Agency. This has proved successful with a net saving of about $2.5 million since it started on 1 July 2023. One of the objectives of the simplified structure is to generate further savings for the businesses and Council shareholders,” the Mayors said.
“Councils have no plans or intention to merge the port and airport companies or management. They both provide important transport infrastructure for the region but the management skillset to run a seaport and the industries it serves is quite different from an airport.
“We will be ensuring we have the right set of board skills to provide good governance to these three companies. The next step will be the Joint Shareholders Committee determining the skills matrix, criteria and recruitment panel for the new consolidated board. We are engaging professional support in this process and will be publicly advertising for the new consolidated board in October. The intention is to finalise the makeup of the new board in December to take effect on 1 January 2027.
“We have appointed Paul Steere, the former Chair of Nelson Airport Ltd, as an interim Chair of IHL until 31 December 2026 to assist in this process. He will not be a candidate for the new board and will help enable a neutral process in the selection of the new consolidated board.
“Our port and airport are crucial assets for the region and particularly for our export and tourism sectors. Our goal for these companies is for them to be commercially successful, provide quality services and support the region’s economic development,” the Mayors said.
