MEDIA RELEASE

New chief executive for Environment Bay of Plenty

For immediate release: Friday 2 December 2005

Environment Bay of Plenty today announced the appointment of its first new chief executive in 16 years.

Jeff Jones has led the regional council since it was formed in 1989 and will retire this year. His successor is Bill Bayfield, who has 20 years experience in regional government and is currently a general manager at the Ministry for the Environment.

Mr Bayfield was appointed after an extensive New Zealand and Australia-wide search which garnered an “extremely high standard” of applications, says chairman John Cronin. “We are extremely pleased to announce Mr Bayfield’s appointment and look forward to working with him. Bill has a broad background in environmental management and will bring very strong skills to the task of leading our council into the future.”

Mr Bayfield leads the Ministry for the Environment’s Sustainable Industry and Climate Change Office and is responsible for its strategic direction and programme delivery. He came to the Ministry from the Taranaki Regional Council where he was Director of Resource Management. He was convener of the Regional Council’s Resource Managers Group from 1999 to 2002.

“I am rapt to have the opportunity to lead an organisation like Environment Bay of Plenty,” Mr Bayfield says. “I’ve really enjoyed working in policy with the Ministry for the Environment for the past few years, but it will be great to get back into regional government again and to be working with real people with real problems.”

Mr Bayfield, who has a Bachelor of Science in Botany and Earth Sciences, has been accepted into the State Services Commission’s leadership development programme for future government sector leaders of New Zealand. He is married to Maggie and has two daughters, Rachel and Alexandra. He travels to Canada this month as part of the New Zealand delegation at the high-level segment of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Montreal.

ENDS

© Scoop Media