Board of Trustees

Kia ora, my name is Laura Coll McLaughlin and I am the Chair of the Homebuilders West Coast Trust Board.

I returned to Westport in 2008 after studying in Christchurch and Dunedin, putting an end to a decade of homesickness. Every day, I thank my lucky stars that I am able to live and work on Te Tai o Poutini/West Coast.

 I am a Licensed Cadastral Surveyor and planning consultant with Chris J Coll Surveying Ltd. I live rurally with my family. 

I have served on the Homebuilders West Coast Trust Board since 2016 and as its Chair since 2019.

 I do not believe that the importance of the Trust’s work in our community can be overstated. We have experienced tremendous, heartening highs and testing, turbulent lows during my time on the Board. Throughout it all, the commitment of our staff to the communities of the West Coast has never wavered. It is my great privilege to support our people in their work through my governance role.

I am a result proven team leader whom works for the Buller District Council managing infrastructure delivery across the Northern West Coast. I have skills in strategic planning, financial forecasting, budget control and asset management. I enjoy working with others to achieve common goals and success. I have experience in governance board business cases, approval statements, budget management, working through design challenges, and in a work capacity the tendering and delivering via construction contracts. I am a graduate from the Development West Coast leadership & governance programme. This has given me a background in organisational governance leadership across the many sectors of the community, from commercial board directors to local government, not for profit community-based organisations, school boards and sporting associations. 

I have lived on the Coast for twenty years, the last fifteen of which have been in Westport. Together with my partner Imke we love seeing our children grow in our community. We enjoy being part of the Westport community and have settled here and enjoy being part of its future. We have a strong connection to the Netherlands and understand what it means to families to have a multi-cultural environment that is supportive of children’s growth, learning and development.

I believe in the well-known proverb: “It takes a village to raise a child”

Hello, My name is Eyvonne Diskin. I enjoy being part of the Homebuilders team as a board member.  I joined the board in 2003 at the formation of Homebuilders West Coast Trust Charitable Trust.    I have lived in the Buller area all my life and was born at Waimangaroa.  I completed my enrolled nursing at Buller Hospital.  I have three married sons who have produced nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren for me to spend much of my spare time with.  I am now retired after owning my own retail business and spend much of my leisure time tending to my gardens & keeping active.  I have a great interest in outdoor pursuits which includes netball, tramping & running.  I also endeavour to follow my children’s sports and spend the left over time with my husband Ross.

Hi, my name is Brett Avery and I joined the Homebuilders Board in August 2020. I like to give back where I can, so I am an active volunteer, coach and committee member.
Everyone deserves opportunities in life and, as a community, we need to support those who need a bit more help. It is important to me that the services that Homebuilders offers are provided locally by people who care about our community and are a part of it. I’m lucky to have family and good friends here in Westport and I really enjoy sport and exercise – on land and water – so I love living here.
I bring skills and experience in project and financial management and a down to earth approach to the board table.