Tauranga City Council has appointed Mike Smith, a highly respected lawyer, former partner and now consultant at Holland Beckett as the new deputy chair of Bay Venues Limited (BVL), a Tauranga City Council Controlled Organisation.

Councillor Max Mason, chair of the CCO working group, welcomes the new deputy chair to the board.

'The appointment of board members to CCOs is one of the most important roles council has in governing its CCOs.

"The appointment of a highly qualified and experienced director of Mike Smith's calibre ensures that Bay Venues is well placed to continue to deliver and add further value for the residents and ratepayers of Tauranga, while helping us achieve our strategic goal of becoming an internationally competitive city.

'Our recent review of Bay Venues Limited found that it has continued to grow and make improvements since it was established and is now in extremely good shape and has delivered some pleasing results.

'We are looking forward to Mr Smith's contributions to further enhance the services BVL brings to our community.”

Bay Venues Limited Chairman Peter Farmer says when the panel appointed Mike Smith to the board of Bay Venues in 2017, they considered the potential for Mike to take on the role of deputy chair in the future.

'Mr Smith is chair of three subsidiaries of Craigs Investment Partners and deputy chair of New Zealand Golf. He also was a director of Port of Tauranga and chair of Bay of Plenty Regional Council's Quayside Group of Companies.

"This demonstrates Mr Smith's strong leadership and governance skills that augur well for the future governance of BVL."

Bay Venues Ltd. is a Tauranga City Council Controlled Organisation, operating venues including aquatic facilities, community centres and halls, ASB Baypark and the University of Waikato Adams Centre for High Performance. Council appoints directors to the board of BVL.