Shock and concern among ECan staff at proposal to decimate regional councils

Thursday, 27 November 2025

ECan chief executive Stefanie Rixecker says staff do not know what the reforms will mean for their jobs.

Staff wellbeing is the number one priority for the chief executive of Environment Canterbury (ECan) following Tuesday’s announcement of substantial reform that may result in job losses.

“They're shocked and surprised, and they're also concerned,” said ECan chief executive Stefanie Rixecker.

“They don't quite know what it means for them at this point. And I think that's fair enough.”

Rixecker hosted an all-staff meeting online on Wednesday to discuss how the most significant reform of local government since 1989 will affect her 800-plus staff.

Environment Canterbury has more than 800 employees and manages $1.5 billion of long-term assets, including flood barriers.

“My focus today has been entirely about providing them with the information that I know, but also really highlighting how important they are,” she said.

The Government is consulting on reforms that will see ECan’s 14 elected councillors and two Ngāi Tahu-appointed representatives removed and potentially replaced by a committee of Canterbury mayors and possibly commissioners appointed by central government.

Most ECan staff will continue in their paid roles until a second phase of reforms, also being consulted on, happens in about two years.

ECan chairman Deon Swiggs said elected members still had a job to do “and we’re doing to get on with that job”.

That later phase may see departments from ECan combined with other local government departments. Jobs may go at that stage, but the province would still need expertise, for example in public transport and flood protection.

Staff “had lots of questions, as you can imagine”, said Rixecker.

A “fair and just transition” was needed for affected staff, said Duane Leo, national secretary of the Public Service Association.

ECan chairman Deon Swiggs, likely set to lose his job, denied there was a crisis at ECan. Rather, it was “all hands on deck”.

“The mood of the elected councillors is that we still have a job to do until we don't, and we're going to get on with that job”, he said.

Swiggs said he got home from work about 11pm on Tuesday after learning of the announcement 30 minutes before it was made at 5pm.

The government’s reform package “lacks detail and robust analysis of the problem it’s trying to address”, said the PSA, a union that represents some ECan employees.

'Whatever happens, there must be a fair and just transition for people working for councils, and strong engagement with their unions as this progresses,“ said national secretary Duane Leo.

By the numbers

ECan had 833 full-time equivalent employees, according to its most recent annual report, dated June 30.

Of those 518 earned less than $100,000, 354 earned more than $100,000 and 23 earned more than $200,000, according to the annual report. Chief executive Stefanie Rixecker is paid $479,206, a 9.3% increase on last year.

Changing ECan will have significant complexities. It manages $1.5 billion of long-term assets and $84.4 million of current assets. Flood protection and control works valued at $828.3m are the most significant assets.

Its Tuam St headquarters has a rating valuation of $47.3 million, not including vacant land in the vicinity.

At June 30, it held $30.3m in cash reserves and $6.6m in term deposits.

Its total borrowings were $96m, about $140 for every person in Canterbury.