Ian Walker - Chair

Ian was appointed as Director to Centralines in July 2013, and then as Chair in October 2020.

Ian moved with his family into the district over 38 years ago, working as a veterinarian for Vet Services (Hawke's Bay) Ltd until March 2016, and subsequently obtained a good knowledge of the geography of the distribution area.

Ian is directly involved with a family sheep, deer and beef farm, and is also involved in several community sporting and cultural groups.

Ian was the Chief Executive of Veterinary Services (Hawke's Bay) Ltd for 14 years, retiring in March 2016. He is a Director of Kilgaren Farm Limited, Director DeeResearch Ltd, and Chairman of Deer Industry New Zealand.

Derek Walker - Chair of Audit and Risk Committee

Derek joined the Centralines Board in August 2016. He is a widely-experienced director and is presently Chair of Speirs Group Limited and Director of The Factory NZ Limited.

Derek’s previous directorships include Palmerston North Airport Limited, NZ Windfarms Limited and Quotable Value Limited.

He is also a Principal of the business consulting practice, Third Bearing Limited. He has an honours degree in electrical engineering, a business studies degree, and has extensive management, governance and consulting experience in the electricity sector, including 11 years as Chief Executive and Managing Director of the electricity distribution company, CentralPower Limited.

Fenton Wilson

Fenton was appointed to the Centralines board in 2018. He was previously a Hawke’s Bay Regional Councillor/Chairman and has a good grasp of the issues and opportunities in Central Hawkes Bay.

He is currently a Director of OSPRI New Zealand Limited, which manages National Animal Identification and Tracing  and the TBfree program. He is also a director of QRS, the roading business owned by Wairoa District Council.

A passionate community advocate, Fenton is Chairman of the Predator Free New Zealand Trust which encourages community scale pest control and enables community groups and schools to increase biodiversity in their communities.

He farms a 235ha sheep and beef property in Wairoa and has a distinctly rural background. He sees Centralines as a key contributor to the CHB community in a time of real growth.

Sarah von Dadelszen

A strong advocate for the local community and wider agricultural sector, Sarah joined the Centralines board in November 2020. She lives with her husband Sam and three teenage boys near Takapau, where they are sheep and beef and dairy farming.

Currently on the Ballance Agri-Nutrients and FMG boards, Sarah’s previous roles include being a Trustee of AGMARDT and Independent director of NZ Young Farmers. She was the previous chair of the CHB Consumer Power Trust which enabled her to gain a good understanding of the power industry as it was then.

Sarah has completed several governance and leadership forums including the international INSEAD governance programme in Singapore and France, along with the IOD directors programme and chairing the board. She has also spent time at Stanford University with a NZ leadership group.