Bob Cooke resigns from Keep Motueka Beautiful

November 30th, 2012
[by David Armstrong]

On a sad day for the Motueka community, Bob Cooke has resigned from the Keep Motueka Beautiful committee after a dispute could not be resolved over the use of his business hire equipment for the Inlet Walkway boardwalk project.

Bob has been the tireless driving force behind many of KMB's town beautification and walkway projects for some years, and his decision to resign now rather than see out the financial year and retire will leave a deep hole in the group's resources.

You can read our 2010 profile interview with Bob here.

Only two weeks ago Bob and his wife Nancy cut the ribbon to open the final leg of the Inlet Walkway, the Link Park to York Park boardwalk. (See our story here.)

It is understood that on the completion of this project, questions were raised in the committee about Bob's charging for the use of his business hire equipment at market rates in the construction work, while noting appreciatively that Bob had nevertheless contributed hundreds of hours of voluntary labour to this and earlier projects.

KMB chairman David Ogilvie tried for over a week in the background to persuade Bob to withdraw his resignation and at least retire at the next AGM, but Bob decided to resign as of today, from both his project manager role and the committee.

Four months ago Bob said he would work on one further project for KMB - a proper walkway along the foreshore between the saltwater baths and Old Wharf Road - before retiring. (See our story here.)

At least KMB has no further large-scale construction projects planned in the near term, with much of the work ahead being maintenance and incremental improvement of the wonderful facilities which Bob has played a key role in building over the past decade.

Comment by Lee Searle:
[Posted 1 December 2012]

Obviously Bob Cooke has made a tremendous contribution to the valuable work that KBM has undertaken over the years. However it is not a "good look" when the project manager is also one of the main contractors and the committee need to ensure that the rules KBM operates under preclude such a situation from reoccurring.

Voluntary organisations are just that, and no member should been seen to benefit financially from the activities of the said organisation.

Comment by Coralie & Trevor Smith:
[Posted 1 December 2012]

We hope that this isn't a case of sour grapes from someone on the KMB committee or a new person sticking their foot in their mouth before finding out the facts. And why shouldn't Bob Cooke charge full rates for his digger? The time and effort he has put in to KMB isn't measured in dollars. I know committees have to get quotes from outside the committee but sometimes you are better to just go with the best helper and get the job done.

It is such a shame that a man who has spent hours with KMB and promoted and built the walks that we have today should have to resign when questioned about his honesty. We are with you Bob and thankyou for your tireless work for Motueka. Enjoy your retirement and don't get caught up in the petty stuff.

Comment by Jim Butler:
[Posted 2 December 2012]

Bob Cooke's resignation is of course a disaster for Keep Motueka Beautiful. It is not only the loss of Bob's drive, it is the loss of his contacts and the loss of some of his helpers. He and these will not be replaced easily, if at all.

As a long time member of Keep Motueka Beautiful, its secretary for some years until I resigned earlier this year though health reasons, I know something about the background to this financial squabble, as similar concerns have been raised before.

In the early days of walkway construction, Bob approached TDC to purchase equipment for Keep Motueka Beautiful to carry out this work, pointing out it would be much cheaper than having to keep on hiring it all the time. TDC refused this request but an arrangement was made between TDC Community Services Manager and Bob for him to purchase the equipment himself. He could then hire it back to Keep Motueka Beautiful at market rates.

To show how keen Bob was, he took out a mortgage of over $30,000 to purchase this equipment and over the years has been paying it off through his hire charges. Bob's labour of course was free and in his years with Keep Motueka Beautiful, he would have put in between 8,000 to 10,000 hours work at least.

I presume the newer members of Keep Motueka Beautiful were unaware of this hiring arrangement and of all his efforts. Bob had signalled his retirement in the next year or so. No one can go on for ever. But it is a crying shame he has been forced out of Keep Motueka Beautiful early over a stupid squabble.

Comment by Peter Bailey:
[Posted 3 July 2015]

I was a Policeman in Motueka in 1977 to 1985 and this man was always inclined towards the right things. I would like to add my admiration for him.

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