Ā mātou tāngata Our People
Creating amazing spaces for Aucklanders needs a team of skilled, dedicated and passionate people, who share a vision for the future of Tāmaki Makaurau.
Under the guidance of our board, who between them bring experience in urban development, residential and commercial property, Māori outcomes, architecture, building, industrial health and safety and human resources, the Eke Panuku team is helping to future proof our city.
With a broad range of backgrounds and skill sets, on behalf of Auckland Council we bring much needed regeneration to town centres and manage billions of dollars of council assets united by our desire to make Auckland a better place to live.

Paul Majurey
Chair
Paul is an iwi leader, experienced governor and nationally recognised environmental and Treaty lawyer.
He has chaired three iwi collectives, comprising some 30 tribes.
He chairs various statutory entities and companies, including Eke Panuku Development Auckland, the Tūpuna Maunga Authority and Te Pūia Tāpapa (the Māori Investment Fund).
Paul has appeared as senior counsel before the Privy Council, Supreme Court and specialist environmental and Treaty courts. He has also served on Ministerial technical advisory groups and is a co-author of the leading environmental law textbook.
Paul is of Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Whanaunga, Ngāti Pāoa and Ngāti Tamaterā (Marutūāhu) descent.

David Kennedy
Eke Panuku Director
David is an experienced director and chief executive. He has held CEO roles with Ngāi Tahu Property, The Eden Park Trust and St Lukes Group/Westfield NZ. David has also held senior executive roles with SKYCITY Entertainment Group.
He now concentrates on board directorships and some advisory consulting work. David has significant experience in the property and building sectors, and also in the entertainment sector.
David is on the board of Naylor Love Construction and The New Zealand Housing Foundation. David is Chair of Kaha Ake GP Ltd and Chair of Beachlands South GP Ltd (both roles as an independent Director/Chair on behalf of The New Zealand Superannuation Fund). He is also Chief Executive of Kaha Ake Project Delivery Ltd (the entity charged with delivering Canterbury’s new multi-use arena).

John Coop
Eke Panuku Director
John Coop is Managing Director at Warren and Mahoney.
Throughout his career, John has spearheaded major design projects and has been a pivotal player in developing thought leadership in the wider architecture industry.
John is passionate about creating enduring projects that reflect the shared identity of the communities they serve.
Through Warren and Mahoney’s role as a signatory to the Diversity Agenda Accord and the development of Te Matakīrea (Warren and Mahoney’s Indigenous Design Unit), John is committed to making the architectural industry inclusive for all.
John is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA), was formerly President of Auckland Architecture Association and Chair of the Auckland City Advisory Board.

Susan Huria
Eke Panuku Director
Susan Huria (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi Tuahuriri) is the Chair of Leaderbrand and Gisborne Covered Production. She is a director of Ospri, the Royal College of General Practitioners and Accessible Properties. Susan is also a Trustee of Construction Health and Safety New Zealand and a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors.
She is the Independent Chair of the New Zealand Rugby League board appointment panel, a member of the Rhodes scholarship panel and the Te Ao Māori Community Governance group.

Kenina Court
Eke Panuku Director
Kenina is a Fellow Chartered Accountant. She has had a 30+ year career in both the commercial arena working through to CFO level and in public practice where she has built two (and sold one) accounting firms. She has extensive experience in property investment through both residential and commercial property and uses this knowledge to help her clients today build long term sustainable wealth.
Kenina is on the boards of the Oceania Career Academy, which works with Pasifika youth to provide them with learning pathways into careers within the construction industry, and the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, the dispute resolution scheme for New Zealand’s banking industry.
Kenina is a New Zealand-born Samoan.

Jennifer Kerr
Eke Panuku Director
Jennifer Kerr has been a full time non-executive Director for the past four years. She is the Chair of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and the Deputy Chair of Callaghan Innovation. She is also a Director of Waipa Networks Ltd, the Board Advisor to Mediaworks and a member of the NZ Police Assurance and Risk Committee.
Jennifer has previously held senior executive roles in New Zealand, North America and Europe in Human Resources and Health & Safety, as well as Stakeholder management roles. She is a member of Global Women and holds degrees in Arts and Social Sciences from the University of Waikato.
Jennifer is of Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama descent.

Steve Evans
Eke Panuku Director
Steve has led Fletcher Building’s Residential & Development division for the last seven years. This includes Fletcher Living, delivering new housing communities such as the award-winning Waiata Shores and Kowhai Ridge developments, and partnering extensively with government and iwi across New Zealand. Delivering up to 1000 homes a year across numerous sites across Auckland, including terrace housing and apartment buildings, Steve is a leader in urban renewal.
Steve also has extensive experience with residential housing and mixed use developments across multiple geographies including Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the UK. He was one of the founding directors of First Base, a London residential developer focused exclusively on providing mixed-tenure housing solutions in inner and greater London, including developments that won UK planning and architectural awards. He is also a founding board member of the Urban Development Institute of NZ (UDINZ), was until recently a member of MBIE’s Building Advisory Panel, and a steering group member of the Construction Industry Accord. He has five children and lives in East Auckland.

David Rankin
Chief Executive
David has spent most of his career working for the people of Tāmaki Makaurau.
Originally a law graduate, he joined Auckland City Council in 1989 where he worked in various roles including Industrial Relations Manager and Finance Director before being appointed Chief Executive in 2005. Following the Auckland Council amalgamation in 2010 he became Chief Executive of Auckland Council Property Limited before Eke Panuku Development Auckland’s establishment in 2015.
As a life-long Aucklander, he enjoys seeing transformation across the city. He works with significant private and public sector partners to deliver high quality, well designed public spaces, homes, and thriving, well-connected town centres.
David has worked on urban regeneration throughout his local government career. He has been part of the transformation of the city centre since the mid-1990s, including the Britomart precinct and the waterfront.
He has led on strategic change initiatives, driven commercial and financial results, and been responsible for the care of long-term infrastructure and property assets along with continuous exposure to a complex stakeholder environment.

Alaina Cutfield
Head of People & Culture
As Head of People & Culture Alaina works closely with leaders at all levels to support the development and implementation of strategic people initiatives. A specific focus for the Eke Panuku People & Culture team is workforce planning, leadership, talent, culture and engagement to drive towards Panuku’s strategic objectives.
Alaina is a seasoned human resources professional - a trusted advisor, coach, partner and leader. She has worked in both private and public sector organisations and has been with Eke Panuku since 2016. Alaina is passionate about creating an environment that enables people to be their best, delivering on our people promise and ensuring a collaborative, capable, diverse and thriving workforce.

Gyles Bendall
General Manager Design & Place
Gyles has a background in landscape architecture with extensive experience in strategic planning, project management, master-planning, urban development and all facets of public realm design and development.
The Design and Place directorate is responsible for the delivery of quality urban design with an integrated place-led approach to regeneration. The team works across the organisation and extensively with the wider council family, mana whenua and local communities.
Gyles is highly proficient in local government including legislation, operational requirements and the political landscape.
During his time at Auckland Council he prepared the City Centre Masterplan and was heavily involved in a range of projects that supported the transformation of the city centre to realise its vision. This included being Auckland Council’s lead on Te Ara I Whiti – Light Path, which was a bold and collaborative project between NZTA, Auckland Transport and council.
Gyles believes that Eke Panuku has a great opportunity and privilege as a regeneration agency to work closely with communities to create a better quality of life and to realise Eke Panuku’s vision of creating spaces that Aucklanders love.

Angelika Cutler
General Manager Community & Stakeholder Relations
Angelika has worked in public relations and senior executive roles in both the private sector and local government in New Zealand and Singapore. She has broad experience in corporate strategy, strategic communications and stakeholder relations, crisis management, internal communications and project management.
As General Manager Community & Stakeholder Relations, Angelika is focused on how the organisation can work with key partners from Central Government and the private sector, locally and internationally to support urban regeneration in Tāmaki Makaurau. Angelika believes the biggest challenge for Eke Panuku is to strike a balance between achieving commercial outcomes for the benefit of its shareholder (Auckland Council), while ensuring that Eke Panuku continues to create amazing places.

Carl Gosbee
Chief Financial Officer
The Chief Financial Officer ensures that Eke Panuku has effective and efficient internal control mechanisms, processes and systems to support the safe delivery of projects and business functions.
Carl Gosbee has over 25 years’ experience in corporate financial management for property, regeneration and housing companies.
He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, and has held executive financial roles in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Carl has extensive experience leading high performance teams within the back office, property investment and customer service arenas.
Carl joined Waterfront Auckland in early 2012 as Chief Financial Officer. In September 2015 Carl was appointed his current role as Chief Financial Officer.

Brenna Waghorn
General Manager Strategy & Planning
As General Manager Strategy and Planning, Brenna leads a small team focused on setting the strategic direction of the organisation and ensuring that the plans are in place to enable the urban regeneration of town centres. This includes the consenting strategy for Eke Panuku projects, plan changes and business cases to enable programme delivery, as well as our Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) commitments and practices, operational policy and corporate strategy.
Brenna has worked in local government for many years and has a wealth of experience in urban regeneration, strategic planning, housing and intensification, sustainability and climate change, research, policy development and stakeholder engagement. At Waterfront Auckland, Brenna led development of the Sustainable Development Framework and provided significant input to the development of Wynyard Quarter. At the Auckland Regional Council, Brenna led a wide range of projects including reform of the Unit Titles Act and evaluation of the regional growth management plan. In London Brenna was involved in the spatial planning for the South East England, waste management and airport development.
Brenna believes that Eke Panuku has an opportunity to provide leadership as the council’s urban regeneration agency. Facilitating new housing choices, including affordable housing and responding to the climate crisis are key areas of focus.

Marian Webb
General Manager Assets & Delivery
Marian is responsible for managing Auckland Council’s non service property portfolio including land, buildings and marinas. Marian has wide-ranging experience in both property management and property development in New Zealand and Ireland, including over 20 years’ experience leading teams in local government.
At Eke Panuku, Marian has been responsible for identifying new business opportunities and providing strategic commercial property advice. She sets the strategic direction of the property portfolio in order to optimise returns while building and maintaining it to deliver long term value. She also facilitates development and investment across the region.
Marian utilises her comprehensive knowledge of Eke Panuku’s property portfolio, strong commercial acumen and strategic thinking to realise Eke Panuku’s vision of creating spaces for Aucklanders to love.

Ian Wheeler
Chief Operating Officer
Ian Wheeler oversees the leadership, planning and delivery of our regeneration programme across each of our priority locations. He’s focused on working with Eke Panuku’s team of skilled professionals, stakeholders and partners across the region to establish plans and programmes designed to achieve the vision and goals for the places and communities we work in. An important part of this role is to ensure we perform our lead agency role effectively across the council group and create the right blend of commercial strategy, public good investment (such as town squares and green spaces) and placemaking.
Prior to joining Eke Panuku, Ian held senior property management and development roles at Auckland Council and Housing New Zealand Corporation. At Auckland Council, his role as General Manager Property covered the management of a large and diverse multi-billion-dollar property portfolio including office, recreational, community and residential assets. Prior to working in New Zealand, Ian was the Chief Executive of an affordable housing company in South Africa, Durban.
Ian has been involved in various industry bodies including the Construction Clients Group and the New Zealand Green Building Council. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the property industry covering management and governance roles within the private, public and not-for-profit sectors in New Zealand and abroad.

Allan Young
General Manager Development
Allan Young’s team is responsible for directing the successful delivery of development projects. The team works right across the organisation and with partners and stakeholders, throughout the lifecycle of a project Allan Young’s team is responsible for directing the successful delivery of development projects.
Allan has a successful history of working in both the private and public sectors. Extensive experience in residential and commercial property development in brown and green field locations. Skilled in undertaking complex large scale property transactions. Some examples include Development Agreements at Hobsonville Point, Ormiston Town Centre, New Lynn, Avondale and Wynyard Quarter.