Board of Management - South Coast NRM

The South Coast NRM Board of Management is a skill-based board that is supported by committees and reference groups. This enables an inclusive approach to community engagement, and the efficient use of time, technical and skilled input.

While it is very important to have a strong board, South Coast NRM recognises that close working relationships with the South Coast community are vital to our ongoing success.

Board of Management profiles

Alex Campbell AM - Chairman
Alex has been farming at Narrikup since 1976 and has been involved in a range of organisations including WA Farmers Federation, State Salinity Council, Land and Water Australia, and CRC for Plant Based Management of Dryland Salinity. Alex currently chairs the UWA Albany Centre, is a director of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, and chairman of the South Coast NRM Board of Management.

Bill Hollingworth - Deputy Chair

Bill has lived and farmed in the Mt Barker/Albany region for most of his life apart from a time involved in forestry in WA. He established a plant production business, Bandicoot Nursery, near Mt Barker in 1985 and developed it to grow seedlings for landcare, plantation and revegetation projects across southern Australia. The nursery expanded to include wetland plants grown at Green Valley Nursery near Albany. A Churchill Fellowship in 2005/06 allowed Bill to examine integrated farming and Casuarina plantation production in several countries. Bill is actively involved in several community groups such as Regional Development Australia Great Southern, Wilson Inlet Catchment Committee, Rotary Club of Mt Barker and the Qantas Wineshow Committee, as well as industry groups such as Australian Forest Growers. Bill was a Councillor for the Shire of Plantagenet between 2005 and 2009 and remains committed to local and regional development.

Rhonda Williams - Director

Rhonda and her husband Ross farm properties at Gairdner and Many Peaks. Rhonda is a member of the Fitzgerald Biosphere Group and South Coast NRM’s Finance and Audit Committee, while also serving as a bookkeeper for the South Coast Management Group. A former high school business education teacher, Rhonda was a member of the South Coast NRM council for four years and a member of the Interim Board of Management from October 2008 to October 2009. She served as a Shire of Jerramungup councillor for nearly eight years and was a member of the Great Southern Area Consultative Committee and the Bremer River Catchment Management Committee.

Rod Hedderwick - Director
Rod is a licensed surveyor and managing director of a consulting firm based in Albany, Bunbury and Busselton, which has provided surveying, town planning and development consultancy services to regional WA since 1974. Rod is a member, and former secretary and executive member, of the Australian Spatial Industry Business Association, and a former chair of the Albany Primary School board for a period of six years. He is currently and executive member of the Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Ellen Milne - Director

Ellen runs Eventuate, an event management and communications business working with corporate business and not-for-profit organisations across the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Farming at Borden with her husband and two children, Ellen is heavily involved in rural community issues and events in Borden and surrounding communities. She is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and sits on the AICD Great Southern Committee.

Richard Ball - Director
Richard is the managing director of Keston Technologies Ltd, a consulting company with offices in Albany, Perth and the UK, specialising in innovation, strategic and business planning, regional development and international trade facilitation. He is also the managing director of MCPA Software Ltd, a UK-based company that owns, develops and markets software in the area of complex chemical modelling. In addition, Richard is a director of Atticus Digital, a world-leading company focused on the communication of complex project concepts to a range of stakeholders. Richard also enjoys working as an adjunct senior lecturer at the University of Western Australia. Richard is pleased to join the South Coast NRM Board to help the organisation evolve in its crucial role in the region.

Ray Hirst - Director
After a career in banking spanning 33 years of which 16 years was spent managing various branches of Bankwest, Ray had a change in direction and managed a large medical practice in Albany for eight years. During this time he was a board member of the WA branch of AAPM. Ray has been a member of Rotary since 1982 and a Past District Governor. He is in his second year as a member of the NRM Finance and Audit Committee and has been the President of the Albany Branch of Make-A-Wish Australia for the past four years.

Rob Edkins - Director and Chief Executive Officer
Rob has been the CEO of South Coast NRM and its former incarnation SCRIPT since 2004. He was the first CEO to oversee the development and implementation of the regional delivery model for NRM, which he developed and championed in previous roles with the Avon Working Group (now Wheatbelt NRM), the former Water and Rivers Commission, and the Department of Agriculture. From his days working the family farm at Arthur River, Rob has maintained strong beliefs in community involvement in the management of the natural environment and the need for transparent governance and accountability. He is actively involved in the Australian Institute of Company Directors Great Southern Committee as chair, is the chair of the NRM Regional Leaders Group CEOs, and represents the six Western Australian NRM group CEOs at a national level.