Porirua City Council is saddened to learn of the death of long-time councillor Ken Douglas ONZ.

Mr Douglas represented the Western Ward from 1998 to 2016.

Chief executive Wendy Walker says Mr Douglas had mana around the Council table.

"He had a towering intellect and add that to his life experience - it made him someone who represented his community very effectively as important decisions about the city needed to be made," Ms Walker says.

"While I was appointed in 2015, only a year before Ken stood down as a councillor, I was quickly struck by the respect and integrity he held within the Council chamber and among the community. When he spoke, you listened, but while Ken had the ability to command a room, he always had regard for what his Council colleagues were saying as well.

"He was an extremely good orator who could form his arguments constructively, keeping his colleagues and Council officers on their toes. Ken had the ability to see complex things and offer solutions.

"He will be sorely missed."

Along with his role as a councillor, Mr Douglas was perhaps best known for his career with the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, serving as president, along with positions in other international trade union bodies. He served on numerous other bodies in his lifetime, including the Air New Zealand and New Zealand Rugby Union boards, while locally he was elected to the Porirua Licensing Trust and Capital & Coast District Health Board.

Mr Douglas was a long-time member of the Titahi Golf Club and at the forefront when Titahi Bay and Porirua rugby clubs merged to form Northern United in 1990.

In 1999 he was appointed a Member of the Order of New Zealand.

Mr Douglas has a road named after him in the suburb of Aotea, reflecting his service to the Council and Porirua.

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