Seven senior staff members signed resignation letter to Timaru District Council

Thursday, 23 March 2023

Timaru’s CBay aquatic centre. (File photo)

Seven senior staff at Timaru’s CBay aquatic centre signed a resignation letter to the Timaru District Council following a Christmas opening hours dispute in December 2022, it can finally be revealed.

The information is contained in the cover letter of a resignation email sent to the council’s chief executive, the mayor and councillors, on December 12.

The email is one of several documents released to The Timaru Herald under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA), and follows information released last week which showed the council’s chief executive Bede Carran apologised to staff at the centre with an admission from their boss the council “got it wrong”.

Carran’s apology email was sent two minutes before the council responded to The Herald’s request for information after it was leaked the letter, on the same day, from staff at CBay, that cited petty bullying, micromanagement and dangerous behaviour for staff resignations.

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The cover letter said “please find attached a resignation letter from seven of your most senior staff here at CBay’’.

“Within the letter is an explanation as to why seven of your senior staff feel that resignation is the only course of action they are able to take,’’ it said.

Around 48% of Kiwi kids currently don’t attend swimming lessons, according to a new report from Swim Safer.

It also asked for “some form of response by end of play today as this situation is extremely serious and affecting staff wellbeing throughout the facility’’.

Minutes from a meeting held on December 20, 2022, at 2pm, which were heavily redacted, showed a meeting between team leaders and Carran.

Key discussion points show Carran told the meeting there would be an inquiry following the letter “outlying their concerns”.

It also said Carran “has high expections of SLT [senior leadership team] and wants our team leaders to feel valued, respected and safe’’.

CBay Aquatic Centre has suspended squad swimming training after a swimmer tested positive for Covid. (File photo)

Team leaders were advised they would be given some terms of reference to review but what that was redacted, with the goal of providing that to them the week of January 9, 2023.

The minutes showed Carran was asked why “he couldn’t just do it and advised it is best practice for a neutral party to complete the inquiry’’.

Carran confirmed the council’s director user experience and community engagement Beth Stewart-Wright would be their acting general manager in the interim until the inquiry was complete.

In another email, sent on December 22 at 5.21pm to Paul Cooper, Carran, Symons, and Craig Motley, Stewart-Wright introduced herself as “stepping in to guide and support the team towards the resolution of some key issues which have been raised of late’’.

“It hasn’t been an easy year and I want to acknowledge the incredible efforts of the team who have stepped in, worked huge hours, shown flexibility, commitment and support to keep the doors open during some pretty challenging times.

“I am keenly aware of the fatigue that comes with that, and I am committed to working with you as we navigate some of these choppy waters.’’

Seven senior staff members had written a resignation letter to staff at Timaru’s CBay in December last year. (File photo)

She acknowledged the team efforts to keep CBay open over the summer holidays, “and it is not lost on me just busy you’ll be now that Timaru opens for business, really for the first time in 2 years’’.

“These will be big days ahead, so please make sure you take rest where you can and restore yourselves where possible.’’

She then went on to say she was going on leave but had scheduled time to meet with team leaders on her return more than three weeks later on January 17.

Another email, on December 23 at 10.47am, showed council acting director of engagement and culture Erik Barnes providing Carran with “some thoughts to help start shape the email and conversation in the new year with CBay’’.

“Over the past few weeks, I have been heartened by our constructive and open conversations.

“This has allowed me to understand better the situation at CBay and the depth of the issues more thoroughly.

“We have identified some operational improvements and established a plan to work through them.

“I also appreciate you working with us to keep CBay services running through the holidays, and I recognise that your full commitment to remain employed with us will be based on our actions in both showing progress on delivering the operational actions but also looking into the specific concerns you have identified in your resignation letter.

“Regarding the specific concerns you raised in the resignation letter, I take these matters extremely seriously and, as you are aware, have moved the management oversight of the recreational operations to Beth while we look into these matters.’’

Barnes also suggested Carran says there are several ways to look into the concerns raised in the resignation letter.

“With this in mind, I would like to meet with you to discuss the best way forward, help you understand the process, and seek your input into how we proceed.’’