To'osavili Nigel Bickle when he was welcomed as Hastings District Council's new chief executive during a pōwhiri at Waipatu Marae, Hastings, on February 11, 2019. Photo / Paul Taylor

When To’osavili Nigel Bickle was preparing to move to Hastings he gave a simple description of what public service should achieve.

Quoting former Prime Minister Norman Kirk, Bickle said in his first media interview that people wanted “someone to love, somewhere to live, somewhere to work and something to hopefor”.

“That’s the essence of me.”

Bickle, Hastings District Council’s highly respected chief executive, died unexpectedly at his house on Saturday.

Tributes have been flowing since for a man remembered for encouraging his city and his district to be ambitious for its people.

His whānau described their “great sadness” in a statement released on Sunday.

“Nigel was a devoted husband, a treasured father and grandfather and koro (or as his moko Gigi referred to him – ‘Ko’), a much-loved son, brother and uncle, a respected colleague and a friend to many.

“Through his dedication to service and his deep love for and commitment to Māori and Samoan communities, Nigel touched the lives of many,” they wrote.

“His loss will be felt deeply by all who knew and loved him.”

Acting Hastings council chief executive Bruce Allan said for Bickle, public service was always about people.

Allan said during Bickle’s seven-and-a-half years at the helm of the city, those words could be seen in the work he helped lead and in the relationships he built across Hastings.

“He encouraged council to be ambitious for Hastings and its people, and he believed the benefits of economic success should reach the wider community.”

He said housing was one of council’s most urgent priorities when Bickle arrived in February 2019.

“The emergency housing list had risen sharply. Hundreds of people were living in emergency motel accommodation, many of them children, and Māori whānau were the most affected.

“Thousands of seasonal workers also needed somewhere to live, placing pressure on the stretched rental market.”

Allan said elected members made it clear council needed to be part of the solution.

“Council and iwi leaders raised the issue directly with then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during a visit to Waipatu Marae.

“Nigel brought urgency and connections to the work. He knew how government operated, who needed to be involved and how to keep organisations focused on a shared result.”

Allan said by the end of 2019, Hastings had become the country’s first pilot for a place-based housing approach.

Four years later, the number of people needing emergency housing had fallen from many hundreds to fewer than 60.

Bickle joined the council after leaving his role as head of the Provincial Development Fund within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

He was deputy chief executive of immigration with MBIE for eight years. Before that, he spent nine years at the former Department of Building and Housing and 10 years at the then Department of Social Welfare.

Hastings Mayor Wendy Schollum said in a statement that the council’s thoughts and aroha were with Bickle’s wife, family, friends and colleagues.

“This is devastating news for Nigel’s whānau and for the many people who knew and cared about him.”

Schollum described Bickle as a charismatic, visionary leader whose enormous energy was surpassed only by his even bigger heart.

“He was incredibly generous with his time, his support and his belief in people. He cared deeply about our staff, our community and Heretaunga Hastings, and that was clear in everything he did,” she said.

Schollum said Bickle was much more than the council’s chief executive.