Trust Board for Mercury Bay medical facility project
Trust Board for Mercury Bay medical facility
project
A Trust Board has now been
established, that will guide the next steps towards the
development of a Mercury Bay medical facility in
Whitianga.
Made up of local representatives from the
Mercury Bay Area, with strong professional backgrounds in
either the health, business or community support sectors,
the Mercury Bay Medical Facility Trust Board met for the
very first time.
The Board members are:
Murray McLean
- Mercury Bay councillor for the Thames-Coromandel District
Council. Murray moved to Whitianga permanently 15 years ago,
but proudly has history dating back to 1865 when his
forebears arrived here as settlers. Murray has been
self-employed in the building industry, got his Masters of
Business Administration (MBA) when he was 40 and is also
involved in the Masonic Trust, whose Board is responsible
for managing $20M in assets. Murray is also a former
MP.
James Scott. MDS [Otago], F.R.A.C.D. After graduating
in dentistry in 1960, he served in the Royal New Zealand
Navy and Royal New Zealand Dental Corps for 17 years before
entering into private practice in Auckland as a Specialist
in Restorative Dentistry. After 40 years' dentistry, he
retired to Matarangi, where he has been secretary of the
Matarangi Ratepayers Association since then.
Kevin Pringle
- ONZM, M.B., Ch.B., F.R.A.C.S: After completing his degree
at Otago School of Medicine, Kevin went on to practice
paediatric surgery at Melbourne, Chicago and Iowa, where he
became Associate Professor of Pediatric Surgery, before
returning back to NZ. Kevin currently has a 0.2FTE academic
appointment - Professor of Paediatric Surgery with the
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, UOW (University of
Otago, Wellington). He has on-going research collaboration
with Professor with Hiro Kitagawa, Head of the Department of
Pediatric Surgery at St Marianna University School of
Medicine. Kevin is a Whitianga resident.
Alison Henry -
A Cooks Beach resident for the past 15 years and is a former
Chair of the Mercury Bay Community Board. As well as having
a background in community social work, Alison worked for the
Department of Conservation in Auckland in the 1990s. She has
completed Resource Management Commissioner Training, and was
a member of the TCDC District Plan Review Committee. She
continues to be involved with Kauri 2000 as well the local
Mercury Bay arts community.
Merv George - Born and bred
in Whitianga, Merv has owned a plumbing and drainlaying
business in the town since the 1970s. He has been the fire
chief of the Whitianga Volunteer Fire Brigade since 1984 and
past president of the United Fire Brigades Association of
New Zealand. (UFBA). Merv was also awarded a Queen's Service
Order (QSO) honour in 2010 for his contribution to the fire
service.
“While these Trustees have been appointed, we
still want to hear from people throughout the community who
want to be involved,” says Murray McLean, who has been
elected as Chair of the newly formed Trust Board. “Our
next step will be establishing a business case for the
development of the project, which will involve a series of
public meetings, and will also help the Trust with stop/go
points along the way.”
In Council’s 2016-17 Annual
Plan, $250,000 seed funding was approved from the Mercury
Bay local rate to go towards the setting up the Trust,
which, with these funds, will now be responsible for the
delivery of a business case for the development of the
facility.
The business case will include a detailed
implementation plan, detailed design plans, cost estimates,
resource consenting requirements, strategies for securing
funding, working with the medical practitioners and health
authorities, determining on-going operation and management
structures along with communications.
“We are in
discussions with an organisation, that has a proven track
record in the development of medical facilities, who will be
coming back to the Trust Board with a Business Case proposal
which we then plan to share with the public.”
To find
out more about the project and the proposed site for the
facility go to www.tcdc.govt.nz/mbhealthfacility.
Draft concept of the new Mercury Bay medical facility project