Former Chief Executive To Return To Western Bay Council

Wednesday, 19 February 2025, 9:43 pm
Article: Alisha Evans - Local Democracy Reporter

Western Bay of Plenty will have a familiar face leading its council with the appointment of Miriam Taris as interim chief executive.

Taris will replace John Holyoake who resigned from the Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s top job on January 20.

Taris started at the council in 2008 spending six years as its manager of corporate and planning services then became chief executive from 2014 to 2021. Holyoake took on the role after her resignation.

The council appointed Taris to the interim role at its meeting on February 18.

She would take up the position on March 31 and was expected to keep the role until early 2026 when a new chief executive was found.

The recruitment process for a new chief executive would begin following the local body elections in October.

Since 2021, Taris has held several interim chief executive roles in local government, including at South Waikato District Council, New Plymouth District Council and with Taituarā - the professional body for local government professionals.

She is currently assisting in a senior role at Wellington City Council.

Mayor James Denyer said he was looking forward to Taris returning to the Western Bay.

“Miriam has a wealth of experience both from her time at Western Bay previously and from the wider perspective she has gained having worked at other councils more recently,” he said in a statement.

“Council is very pleased to welcome her back as interim chief executive until a permanent replacement is found after the elections.”

Holyoake would remain as chief executive until the end of March when Taris started.

Denyer thanked him for his contribution to the council and the district.

“He leaves council in a good space to continue to serve our communities.”

In January, Holyoake told Local Democracy Reporting he had been thinking about resigning for a while.

In December, he spoke to Mayor James Denyer about his plans and was initially going to leave mid-year but re-evaluated things during the Christmas break.

“There’s never a right time to do it so in the end I decided to do it for me.”

Holyoake joined the council in July 2021 and having never worked in local government before, he said was expecting to walk into an organisation that had an “old school” culture.

“It’s just not. The people here are incredibly passionate about their communities and everything they do, whether that’s core infrastructure through to community well-being.

“They are true public servants, they love what they do.”

It wasn’t always appreciated how much council did for communities outside of core infrastructure, Holyoake said.

“Whether it’s economic or other social outcomes, we’re all striving for the community groups that we support and work with, [and the] relationships with mana whenua who are critical in that space.”

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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