Strada Corporation, the roading company 80% owned and controlled by the Waikato District Council has lost the contract for maintaining Raglan and other Waikato District roads. Waikato District Council announced on Tuesday May 12th, that it had confirmed Downer New Zealand as its preferred partner and will continue discussions regarding the make-up of the alliance to provide district wide road maintenance services. The Council said that this final stage of a three stage process, begun in January, has been subject to full probity audit. Final details are expected next week.
The current Waikato District road maintenance service contracts expire 30 June 2015. The current contractor is Strada Corporation. The WDC received a subvention payment on account of profits of $429k in 2014 and a dividend of $400k in 2013. The net profit after tax for Strada was 12% in the same year. In the past Strada has provided services to Waikato District Council and some other clients. In Raglan, Strada operates from its depot in Manukau Rd.
Raglan 23 asked WDC about the Council’s position on Strada. A spokesperson said, “The current five-year road maintenance service contract, held by Strada, expires on 30 June 2015. The incumbent didn’t secure this work going forward however Strada Corporation will continue with other contracts and remains a valuable Council Controlled Organisation (CCO). We acknowledge Strada’s work in the district over the past five years of the contract and look forward to Strada’s continuing support of the network through to 30 June 2015. The selection of Downer as the preferred alliance partner follows an open tender process and, in conjunction with NZTA, a full evaluation and analysis of both traditional and alliance scenarios for the road maintenance services.”
I am unable to understand the logic in this council decision – are they setting the scene for corporatising water….
Hi Linda. The Alliance is a roading infrastructure contract and is not connected to the water activity.