Ex QLDC Veolia manager silent on $800,000 deal

Editor's Note: Crux published this story on Substack for paid subscribers on Friday March 14. We are now publishing this article without a paywall due to the high levels of public interest. Many comments on social media focused on why we used an informal social media image of Mr Warren. The answer is that Mr Warren has not published or shared any formal photos of himself online - just the blurry LinkedIn image that we have used today (March 15). It is noteworthy that both Mr Warren and Mr Lawrence have either deleted or cleaned out their facebook profiles in the last 24 hours - removing references to each other. When you read the story below we believe the informal photo of Mr Warren (used below) is editorially relevant as that is the image he prefers to feature online (and still does) but there is next to nothing about him (no images) online that is business focussed. Finally - we'd like to note that while Mr Warren might have been popular at the Queenstown Lakes District Council he is now the most senior local manager for Veolia - an International conglomerate that is contracted by QLDC to run most of our water systems - including the failing Shotover plant. Why wont QLDC, Mr Warren or Veolia answer questions about how he was hired - and more importantly, how and why he contracted a person who is apparently a close friend to build a consented $800,000 wall that is now collapsing and will need to be 100% rebuilt - all, we have to assume, at the cost of local ratepayers. The Otago Regional Council measured "clean" sewage that flowed from a wall collapse last year at 2,500,000 cfu's pr 100 ml - 9,000 times the safe or consented level. Our mayor, deputy mayor and local MP all are saying the water from the walled disposal field is "clean" - could they be influenced by the Government's 6,000 fast tracked houses that won't get built if this sewage plant is officially declared unserviceable or not fit for purpose?

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In parallel with our coverage of the first of a series of employment actions taken by former Veolia Queenstown managers , we have been looking at how a QLDC manager (Marcus Warren - image below - Facebook) appears to have suddenly become the Regional Manager for Veolia - and who then can’t explain how a local contractor was used, and paid, to build a controversial wall at the failing Shotover sewage plant – without resource consent.

Veolia operates and manages the Shotover sewage plant for QLDC. The plant has been issued with two abatement notices and ten infringement notices since 2021 by the Otago Regional Council relating to various non-consented sewage discharges from the plant into local rivers. The plant is currently the subject of an Environment Court action by the ORC that seeks to force the QLDC (and contractor Veolia) to take a number of urgent remedial measures to contain illegal discharges from the plant.

There have been calls for all Queenstown development to halt while the plant is fixed – a process that could take at least five years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Marcus Warren still lists himself on LinkedIn as a Senior Project Manager for the Queenstown Lakes District Council, but he appears to have been working for Veolia in their most senior local role for at least the past 12 months.

No mention of Veolia on Marcus Warren’s LinkedIn profile - even though he’s now their Queenstown Regional Manager.

We sent the following questions to Mr Warren using his Veolia email on Wednesday March 12, 2025, with a 5.00 pm deadline for the same day.

What was the detailed recruitment and employment process for you to leave QLDC and join Veolia? Was the regional manager position advertised publicly? Were other candidates interviewed?
Are you personal friends with Garth Lawrence of Beaver Contractors/Construction? Did you holiday together at any stage? Were you together in Sri Lanka at the end of December 2024? Any other times?
What was the exact Veolia procurement process for Garth Lawrence and Beaver to be contracted to build the earth bund around the Shotover disposal field? Was this cost (how much) met by QLDC and did Veolia add a mark up to the Beaver price (how much)?
What was the QLDC procurement process for this bund project by QLDC - did they sign this off? Who signed it off at QLDC?
Why was the bund built without resource consent?
Who is liable for the cost to rebuild of this bund structure now that it is collapsing and the ORC is asking for it be consented and re-designed and re-built?
Can you please provide us with the auto-sampler results post UV for the past two years - all values - as an Excel spreadsheet.
Does Veolia take responsibility for the toxic effluent now pooling alongside the Twin Trails public bike trail? The effluent is also escaping underneath the bund - producing a higher risk of collapse? Will you fix this problem and how?

The only reply we got, later the same day, was from Veolia’s Chief Legal Officer in Sydney.

Confidential

“Dear Peter

I refer to your email to Mr Marcus Warren of Veolia earlier today.

Please note that Mr Warren will not be providing any responses to the questions contained in your email. As I trust you understand, most of them relate to information that is confidential to Veolia and / or QLDC.

Please also note that Veolia reserves all of its rights at law in the event that your publication publishes any unverified or untrue allegations or statements directly or indirectly related to the subject of your questioning.

Kind regards

Jane

Jane Sandilands

Chief Legal Officer

VEOLIA AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND”

On Facebook this appears to be a post from Garth Lawrence in late December 2024 in Sri Lanka showing Sarah Lawrence (left) Marcus Warren (centre) and Garth Lawrence right.

Mr Warren only appears to have one business focused image of himself online - a blurry image on LinkedIn (used above - although it does not match technical requirements for digital publishing).) . This remains his favourite image and his his current Facebook post profile image.

Marcus Warren - the only online high resolution image that we can find.

We also sent the following questions to Garth Lawrence on March 12 with a 5.00 pm same day deadline - he is now CEO at Beaver Contractors, replacing his father in law Grant Hensman. Mr Lawrence has previously admitted to Crux that his company built the sewage plant wall and has referred all further questions to Marcus Warren, saying Mr Warren commissioned the work

Are you personal friends with Marcus Warren of QLDC then Veolia? Did you holiday together at any stage? Were you together in Sri Lanka at the end of December 2024? Any other times?
What was the exact Veolia procurement process for yourself and Beaver to be contracted to build the earth bund around the Shotover disposal field? Was this cost (how much) met by QLDC and did Veolia add a mark up to the Beaver price (how much)? How much were you paid?
What was the QLDC/Veolia procurement process for this bund project - who signed this off? Who signed it off at QLDC?
Why was the bund built without resource consent?
Who is liable for the cost to rebuild of this bund structure now that it is collapsing and the ORC is asking for it be consented and re-designed and re-built?
What other work has Beaver been commissioned to do for Veolia or QLDC?
Does Beaver take responsibility for the toxic effluent now pooling alongside the Two Trails public bike trail? The effluent is also escaping underneath the bund - producing a higher risk of collapse? Will you fix this problem and how?