Gareth Rowe, Natalie Browning and Simon Stead seek re-election to CBH Group board of directors

Three CBH Group directors up for re-election next year look likely to retain their seats unopposed after the co-operative unveiled nominations on Thursday.

CBH today announced candidates for Districts 1, 3 and 5 in its member director elections, with all of the hopefuls opting to take part in the grain handler’s candidate assessment panel (CAP) process.

They are Gareth Rowe of Walkaway (District 1), Natalie Browning of Kondinin (District 3) and Simon Stead of Esperance (District 5).

The CAP process is mandatory for sitting directors and voluntary for new candidates to determine if they have the “desired skills and attributes” for the board.

The panel is made up of three people — CBH director Jeff Seaby and high-profile Perth corporate leaders Terry Agnew and Suzanne Ardagh.

Non-CAP candidates have until noon on Wednesday, January 3 to lodge their nomination.

A CBH spokesman said candidates were not required to have their main growing interests in the district in which they intend to nominate for election.

“Following the close of nominations for non-CAP candidates, and subject to receiving more than one nomination for a district, grower members in that district will be able to vote for the candidate of their choice,” he said.

“CBH is providing members with the option to vote online for these 2024 Member Director Elections.

“All eligible members will still receive paper voting packs in the mail, so they can choose if they would like to vote electronically or manually”.

The CAP process was introduced in 2021 as part of changes to how the board election process was run, at a time when CBH was trying to improve its corporate governance after a period of board turmoil.