Field 'amazingly relaxed, excited about future'

BY SUE FEA IN QUEENSTOWN

Queenstown Lakes District Council chief executive Duncan Field is hanging up his suit and hitting the road, fishing rod in tow.

After 12 years at the helm of one of New Zealand's fastest growing district councils, Mr Field's coffee table will no longer be graced by hefty district plan documents and consultant's reports.

Instead, they have been replaced by a full library of 200 Best Walks, 450 Best Mountain Bike Trails of New Zealand, 200 Best Fishing Spots, a guide to the country's four-wheel-drive trails and a New Zealand wine guide.

"I'm off on a road trip, from the bottom of New Zealand to the top of New Zealand," a beaming Mr Field said.

His wife, Claire, will join him in Christchurch once their youngest child Michael gets settled into his hall of residence at Canterbury University later this month.

"We'll see how far she lasts up the West Coast, fishing and four-wheel driving," he says with a grin.

IN a surprise move, the Queenstown Lakes District Council announced in December that Mr Field's contract would not be renewed, voting instead to replace him with British-born 58-year-old Debra Lawson, who takes up her new role next month.

But Mr Field, a father of three, is relaxed about the future.

"We (Claire and I) thought long and hard about whether I applied or not (for the position) ... the kids are off our hands. I've still got no clue what I will do, there are jobs in local government, some friends have talked about job options."

However, he is sure he and Claire will keep their Arrowtown home.

"We've had some good comments; people see us as part of the community now."

A keen four-wheel-drive club member, Mr Field has always guarded his weekends from the demands of his 60-hour-a-week job.

"I was fair game during the week when the kids were around, but I've always tried to avoid weekends – that was my time for the kids and now Claire."

MR FIELD is proud of the achievements of the council and its staff during his time in charge.

His quietly spoken, patient manner has seen Mr Field maintain his cool through many a fiery council debate, sitting alongside, firstly colourful mayor, Warren Cooper, a former National Party cabinet minister, then sitting mayor Clive Geddes.

At his community farewell function this week, Mr Geddes paid tribute to Mr Field's knack for resolving unseen conflict, saying he had gone beyond the call of duty to minimise damage to the community, and the structure and operation of the council.

Mr Field said during his time as Wellington City Council general manager of service delivery, for-mer Wellington mayor Fran Wilde once told him there was a line between the mayor's office and the chief executive's office – either one could go back and forth across it but you've got to know which side of the line you're standing on.

"I would describe myself as apolitical – my role was to give the council the best advice to make its decisions."

He first arrived in Queenstown in 1998, fresh from his Wellington role overseeing 1400 staff.

A former lawyer, he started his local government life with what is now Local Government New Zealand, moving to Dunedin City while Cliff Skeggs was mayor, then on to Wellington.

Mr Cooper was mayor and the council had already decided to contract out council services.

There were many growth issues surrounding the central Queenstown business district, the old Four Square superette was still in Queenstown Mall and the debates were arising as to whether the Freshchoice or New World supermarkets would open.

"In those days the council was very keen to keep the supermarket in town."

Casinos were the hot issue of the day, with arguments being presented before the Casino Control Authority as to why Queenstown should have two of them.

Mr Field found himself, along with former district councillor Chris Blackford, a local police officer, appearing before the authority, having never dealt with casinos before.

THEN in 2001 came the "Sam and Warren Show", when the battle lines were drawn over more liberal carving up of rural areas of the Wakatipu basin, as demand increased for lifestyle blocks. Mayor Cooper believed everybody should be entitled to a slice of paradise, while actor Sam Neill and other environmental lobbyists vehemently disagreed. It was a public media battle that reached the international stage.

The key to Mr Field's role in Queenstown has always been about managing growth, he says, but he does not believe anybody expected the enormous extent of that growth – it far outstripped all expectations.

As a result the council was caught up in many Environment Court battles as it worked to manage those growth boundaries effectively so as not to spoil the district's unique landscape.

What Mr Field will miss most is the "can do" attitude in Queenstown.

"This is a tremendously entrepreneurial community. There are disproportionately large numbers of people taking on the risk of running their own business."

"What I will miss least are those with more money than sense – the number of people who throw money at the Environment Court to frustrate their neighbours is unbelievable and they drag the community in to defend its district plan."

The council has spent $1.4 million a year during the past three or four years defending that plan.

"Land and the rights people have under the district plan are so valuable (here) that people are prepared to spend money fighting for what they want."

The November 1999 floods and the devastating effect they had on the district and council services will remain firmly etched in Mr Field's memory.

He has heard some passionately held views expressed around the table, but the most impressive argument he ever heard was between former Queenstown Airport Corporation chairman John Davies and former director Ian Farrant.

Queenstown is fortunate to have the high calibre of people it has in community leadership roles, he says.

BUT one of Mr Field's best memories would have to be the sewage spill of the decade.

A pump had failed and the council called in a contractor to suck the sewage out, but it was accidentally poured into a stormwater pipe instead of a sewer pipe.

"All sorts of unmentionable stuff was floating in the lake ... and there's Marty Black (harbourmaster) with a colander leaning off his jetski scooping it up ..."

"One of the best things about this job was that if I'd been working too hard, Marty would ring me and say `come for a quick spin on the jetski' and I'd walk down and meet him on the town pier."

Some major public projects have been undertaken and successfully completed during Mr Field's reign, all at a cost.

The council had earmarked $400 million of new projects in its 10-year plan, many of which have had to be postponed to manage debt levels. But projects such as the Queenstown Aquatic Centre, Project Pure in Wanaka, improvements to halls and 25 kilometres of new walkways and trails have all been undertaken.

Development contributions have helped shoulder some of the growth load, but the council now carries a debt of about $100 million. It has an $80 million operating expenditure and capital works of about $40 million a year.

"We spent 10 years understanding what the community wants and what the Government is imposing on us in terms of new water quality standards."

MR FIELD says he's proud of his team of staff and their ability to act.

He is confident the council is able to manage growth and ensure it gets something back.

He has taken his fair share of flak for the council.

He probably won't miss the lineup of frustrated developers and landowners with hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake descending on his office to present their arguments – well, maybe he'll miss just a few.

And he assures he definitely won't miss "debating signs every Wednesday", but he will miss the dedication of people committed to the local community.

In true Duncan Field style, he has stepped aside graciously, urging his staff, councillors and the community to fully support his successor and the fresh ideas she brings to the job.

"What's happening in this situation goes with the job ... I'm amazingly relaxed and quite excited about the future," he says.

- © Fairfax NZ News