Our Directors

Three of the four directors of PEECE, from left to right, Peter Rufford, Steve O'Rourke and Geoff Webb

The Board met in Hobart on 28 September 2019 for its Annual General Meeting. Click here for the Chairman's report.

The Chairman highlighted the work that PEECE had undertaken this financial year in the domestic market that consolidated the company's financial position. He also recognised the role that Geoff Webb had played in opening up opportunities for ARRB in China.

The PEECE Board comprises its four owners and an independent chairman, namely:
Peter Rufford - Executive Director and Secretary
Steve O'Rourke - Director and Treasurer
Geoff Webb - Director
Jeff Roorda - Director
Phil Hawley - Non-executive Chairman

Peter Rufford is a specialist in transport planning with extensive experience as a transport policy and road planning engineer. He has worked as a consultant since 1990 (initially with Travers Morgan Australia) and more recently as the Executive Director of PEECE. He has project managed numerous regional road planning and project feasibility studies for local government over the last twenty years. Peter has also provided contract services to clients including the Australian Local Government Association, the National Transport Commission, the Metropolitan Region of the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads and Lake Macquarie City Council.

Steve O’Rourke is a Chartered Professional Engineer and is on both the National and Queensland Professional Engineer’s Register. He has extensive experience in civil construction, environmental engineering and risk management and has broad consulting experience in servicing local government. He is a qualified Value Management consultant, a critical component in the pre-construction planning of most infrastructure projects.Steve was involved in the assessment of the impact of the LNG industry on the major road network in central and southern Queensland. He has been used extensively in recent years by the NSW Roads and Maritime in the gateway reviews of major road investment in NSW.

Geoff Webb is a specialist in pavement technology, infrastructure asset management and maintenance management. He also provides training in these disciplines through his association with the Centre for Pavement Engineering Education. In 1998 and 2008 he was commissioned as Maintenance Auditor for the Maintenance Contractor for the Tasmanian Long-Term Performance Based Road Maintenance Contract for the Tasmanian State Government. More recently he has undertaken reviews of the maintenance effort on Victorian roads for the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria and the Victorian Auditor Generals Office. He has built on this experience to become one of Australia’s foremost engineers in road maintenance management. He is a member of the Road Engineering Association of Asia and Australasia (REAAA) and the Australian Asphalt Pavement Association (AAPA).

Jeff Roorda is a specialist in asset management, information technology and training. He has worked in asset and facilities management for over 20 years with a background in information technology and project management. He consults in an asset management mentoring and consulting capacity with a range of infrastructure asset clients and regulators in Australia, USA, Canada and Asia. He has lectured at Post Graduate Level at a number of Australian Universities for the past 10 years and involved in developing the training and implementation for the IPWEA’s International Infrastructure Management Manual. He has been a mentor, facilitator and trainer for over 50 Councils over the past 15 years.

Phil Hawley has worked as an engineer in local government for several NSW councils over a period of 30 years prior to commencing consulting practice in 1999. Phil has a broad engineering background, including design, construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, buildings and other community infrastructure. He has developed quality, environmental and OH&S management systems as well as a strong track record in contract development, contract management, contract administration, project management and business analysis and planning. He has a particular interest in environmental management and sustainability.