NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE VOL 51 • OCTOBER 2014 • $8.95
BOOM TOWN
RATES
The case for regional royalties p16 SHAKY ISLES
HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
CRAIG STEVENSON
NIP IT IN THE BUD
Quake laws: too much at stake p25 How to get and keep happy staff p28
Top council customer service p32 Resolving conflict p39
IN THIS ISSUE NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
P8
IN THIS ISSUE P28CONTENTS
P4
REGULARS
FEATURES
2 Editor’s Letter 4 In Brief 12 Around the Councils 14 Events 45 LGNZ
16 BOOM TOWN RATES
The case for regional royalties 22 COUNTING THE COST
What the earthquake building bill could mean to councils 25 SHAKY ISLES
COLUMNISTS
Too much at stake
40 Jeremy Elwood: On the Funny Stuff 41 Scott Smith: On Sustainability 42 Linda O’Reilly: On Legal Issues 43 J eremy Sole: From Civil Contractors
New Zealand 44 Lawrence Yule: From LGNZ
32 HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
Top council customer service 36 ROADING GETS A NEW ROUTEMAP
The new One Network Road Classification 38 VIEW FROM THE TOP
Ports of Auckland’s high-flying women 39 NIP IT IN THE BUD
Best ways to resolve conflict
MY VIEW 28 CRAIG STEVENSON How to get and keep happy staff
ON THE COVER Boom Town Rates: The case for regional royalties. See page 16.
P16 OCTOBER 2014 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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EDITOR’S LETTER NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
Playing for high stakes If nothing else, general elections show just how many people are prepared to put their reputation and career on the line in support of their beliefs. They’re playing for high stakes in a game in which there must inevitably be winners and losers. It remains to be seen, and opinions will vary, as to whether National’s return to power will prove beneficial or otherwise for local government. Among their many other dealings with the sector, the “new” central government will have to deal with the two high-stakes issues of paying a share of royalties to regions where extractive industries are operating, and deciding on exactly how tight to make regulations for earthquake-prone buildings. Local Government Magazine is closely tracking both issues. The vexing matter of the awkwardly-named Buildings (Earthquakeprone Buildings) Amendment Bill has been on the agenda for some time now. In its current form the bill could place such impossibly high demands on building owners that they will, literally, walk away from the problem. The end result could be empty properties throughout New Zealand and abandoned main streets in many smaller towns. It’s true to say that, slowly but surely, market forces are providing some solutions. But the private sector alone will never be able to produce the full answer to a problem potentially enshrined in new legislation. Local government sources remain confident the bill will
PUBLISHER Contrafed Publishing Co. Ltd, Suite 2.1, 93 Dominion Rd, Mount Eden, Auckland 1024 PO Box 112 357, Penrose, Auckland 1642 Phone: 09 636 5715, Fax: 09 636 5716 www.contrafed.co.nz GENERAL MANAGER Kevin Lawrence DDI: 09 636 5710 Mobile: 021 512 800 kevin@contrafed.co.nz EDITOR Ruth Le Pla Mobile: 021 266 3978 ruth@localgovernmentmag.co.nz BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Peter Corcoran DDI: 07 825 7557 Mobile: 021 272 7227 peter@localgovernmentmag.co.nz CONTRIBUTORS Jeremy Elwood, Paul Glucina, Linda O’Reilly, Anne Scragg, Scott Smith, Jeremy Sole, Lawrence Yule ADMINISTRATION/SUBSCRIPTIONS admin@contrafed.co.nz DDI: 09 636 5715 PRODUCTION Design: Jonathan Whittaker design@contrafed.co.nz Printing: PMP MAXUM
be softened in coming months to ensure a workable outcome. Even before the general election, many signalled this was likely to be a bi-partisan issue unaffected by decisions around which party would end up with the casting vote in parliament. With National now back in power and the status quo of the previous six years maintained, we remain hopeful of a good outcome for the local government sector and, by extension, for communities throughout the country. There’s too much at stake for anything else. Ruth Le Pla, Editor ruth@localgovernmentmag.co.nz
CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME Please contact the editor before sending them in. Articles in Local Government Magazine are copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher. DISCLAIMER Local Government Magazine is an independent publication owned and produced by Contrafed Publishing. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of any of its shareholding organisations.
ISSN 0028-8403
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LOWER HATEA RIVER CROSSING WHANGAREI McConnell Dowell celebrates the outstanding leadership role local government plays within communities and the strong impact projects driven by local authorities have on community, infrastructure and economic development.
SUPREME AWARD - COMMERCIAL PROJECT OF THE YEAR Judges’ comment: “A tour de force of creative procurement, inspired design, and superbly managed construction.” To find out more please contact Rory Bishop, phone +64 9 573 5891; email rory.bishop@macdow.co.nz
www.mcconnelldowell.com New Zealand | Australia | Asia | Pacific Islands | Middle East
IN BRIEF
New effluent WOF supports council programmes The council within the most intensively farmed region in the country is welcoming the launch of a voluntary effluent assessment programme for dairy farms. The Effluent Warrant of Fitness (WOF) programme has been developed by DairyNZ, and is now available to farmers throughout the country. Waikato Regional Council special projects manager Rob Dragten says the Effluent WOF programme provides an excellent industrydriven tool which complements the council’s own compliance programmes. DairyNZ’s programme consists of a voluntary independent inspection of a farm’s effluent infrastructure and practices, and is available to farmers and rural professionals wanting to ensure a property’s effluent management system and procedures meet compliance standards. Council’s Dragten says there’s a growing realisation among farmers that while most effluent systems are okay when conditions are good, many aren’t able to cope when the weather gets more challenging. “Programmes such as the effluent WOF help support councils’ own compliance activities, and farmers are often more trusting of advice from rural professionals with farming expertise, and therefore more likely to act.” Waikato Regional Council has focused its monitoring approach on farms with high-risk soils and finds around nine percent of dairy farms are still significantly non-compliant. Most of the problems concern over-irrigation causing ponding or runoff, or discharging or overflowing
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effluent holding ponds. The cause of this can be either insufficient infrastructure or perhaps poor irrigation decisions on the day. DairyNZ’s team leader for sustainability management Dr Theresa Wilson says the programme promises the same peace of mind as getting a WOF for the family car or farm ute does. She says there was a need to develop a programme that delivered a consistent method for assessing an effluent system, to ensure it was fit for purpose on a particular farm. A WOF assessor looks at the farm’s entire effluent infrastructure. “They will point out areas of risk and suggest practical actions a farmer can take to ensure the system is capable of being compliant 365 days a year.” The three to four hour review by a certified assessor covers the farm’s effluent consents and permitted rules, storage capacity, effluent nutrient loadings, soil risk, irrigator performance, off-pasture infrastructure, and general health and safety requirements. Dragten says the Effluent WOF is in tune with Waikato Regional Council’s longer-term vision of building capacity in the rural sector so farmers can manage their farm’s environmental footprint and sustainability themselves. “In our view the Effluent WOF is exactly that,” he says. “Anything that helps lift performance in the rural sector has to be a good thing. And if farmers can access an independent professional service to get good quality advice, that lets council staff focus on other things where they are more needed.”
Pooling resources “Kristin’s commitment to the facility, the aquatic industry, and to continuous learning, makes her stand out amongst all other lifeguards,” says Jury. “She’s constantly looking for ways to increase her own knowledge, to save money for the facility, lessen our environmental impact or to add a little flavour to a staff member’s day.”
PHOTO: JEN CURTIS.
Kristin Raynes, a longstanding employee at Upper Hutt Council’s H2O Xtream aquatic centre, is named the 2014 National Lifeguard of the Year at the recent NZ Recreation Association aquatics awards. Recreation services manager Rachel Jury praises Raynes for her passion and drive to see H2O Xtream become the best facility in New Zealand.
Kristin Raynes
Roads online
The Road Controlling Authorities Forum (New Zealand) has just gone live with its new website: www.rcaforum.org.nz Wayne Newman, executive officer of the RCA Forum Research & Guidelines Steering Group, says the website provides a resource for roading asset owners and managers and is intended to be the place where they can find guidance on the many issues that confront the sector. Road Controlling Authorities Forum is a closed, non-political incorporated society
of road asset managers and roading professionals from all territorial local authorities (except the Chatham Islands Council), the Department of Conservation and the New Zealand Transport Agency. It provides information and updates on sector working group activities, proposed legislation, new standards and guidelines, highway and procurement strategies, and other issues relevant to road controlling authorities and the other member organisations.
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OCTOBER 2014 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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IN BRIEF
BIG TOYS HEB Construction and NZ Transport Agency staff pitched in with road awareness lessons during a recent visit to Ng¯a Whare Maha Te Kohanga ¯ Reo in Rosedale, Auckland. They showed the children how they keep people safe during construction with the help of some big toys. Designated activity stations allowed the children to experience different aspects of road construction, from traffic management to bridge building. The big machines were the crowd favourite and the children couldn’t wait to get up close to the traffic attenuator and front end loader. The children learnt that the flashing lights on the attenuator tell motorists where to drive and road cones tell us to watch out for danger. Not far from the big toys was the traffic management station, where bike traffic was directed by a kāti/haere sign. A lesson in bridge building was held in the sandpit using timber offcuts, while inside was a colouring-in table with pictures of heavy plant labelled in te Reo Māori and a PPE dress-up box. The PPE was such a hit that HEB donated the high-visibility vests to the Kohanga ¯ to keep the children visible on the road. To continue the road safety message, HEB created a bike circuit by painting arrows on the concrete paths to avoid accidents.
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ON THE MOVE
NEW LAND FOR HOUSING INQUIRY
HAMILTON CITY COUNCIL appoints its chief financial officer Richard Briggs as its new CEO. Briggs takes over from Barry Harris who earlier this year signalled his desire to step down from local government in order to return to focus on his private sector directorships. Briggs was selected from 36 applicants from New Zealand and Australia. Prior to joining the council executive management team, Briggs was a senior manager with Fonterra for eight years including time spent working in the United States as USA finance manager. At Fonterra he was involved in both commercial and financial areas, and as an export manager. Earlier in his career, Briggs spent nine years with Audit New Zealand. Hamilton City Council is now recruiting for a CFO. CENTRAL OTAGO DISTRICT COUNCIL chief executive Phil Melhopt shifts back to his home town of Timaru to take up his new role as PrimePort’s chief executive. The move is scheduled for December. Port of Tauranga’s recently-retired commercial manager Graeme Marshall will act as chief executive until Melhopt takes up his new role. OPUS says Hugh Morrison is its new director of international growth, picking up the reins from Alec Webster who retires at the end of 2014. Morrison has extensive infrastructure sector experience in senior management and directorship roles. He was recently group CEO and director of Arrow International Group.
The government has asked the Productivity Commission to investigate ways to improve the way local authorities regulate to make land available for housing. The work will build on the commission’s 2012 inquiry into housing affordability. It will focus on improving the supply and development capacity of land for housing in New Zealand cities, especially in areas of high population growth. The commission will identify leading practices in planning and deciding about making land available for housing, and providing for necessary infrastructure. It will also look at ideas from cities overseas. The commission will publish an issues paper outlining its proposed approach to the inquiry and a preliminary list of questions to be addressed. Interested parties will be invited to make submissions. There will be consultation to gather a wide range of views and experience. Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) welcomes news of the enquiry. President Lawrence Yule says local government wants to see a good supply of housing delivered at an affordable price and that requires effective regulation, planning and the right sort of incentives. “The overall legislative and regulatory framework at both a central and local government level is cumbersome and does not enable agile planning,” says Yule. The commission’s final report to government is due on 30 September next year. Anyone interested in the topic can subscribe to regular updates from the commission: www.productivity.govt.nz/subscribe-to-updates
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32 BRANCHES NATIONWIDE OCTOBER 2014 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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IN BRIEF
Rebuild sparks strong project skills Christchurch takes pride of place at the recent Project Management Institute of New Zealand [PMINZ] Project Management Awards 2014 with two city council managers taking out top awards and Beca’s work on the city’s transitional cathedral bagging the big prize.
PMINZ PROJECT OF THE YEAR The Transitional Cathedral – Beca, Christchurch Beca project manager Johnny McFarlane dedicates his company’s award for work on Christchurch’s transitional cathedral to cathedral dean Lynda Patterson who died in July this year. PMINZ says his work demonstrates an ingrained holistic approach to project management which is critical to delivering complex, bespoke and novel projects. “The technical difficulties, challenges, pure muscle and hard work needed to deliver this project are significant in themselves,” they say. “But the true outcome is one of the first steps on the way to rebuilding Christchurch. The ‘flagship of the Canterbury rebuild’ is a story of faith, leadership, bravery, and the significance of delivering truth and beauty for a recovering city.”
Switch off and power down ICT-driven sustainability in New Zealand has declined in all areas over the past two years, according to a new Fujitsu report comparing local activities with those in other parts of the world. The New Zealand ICT Sustainability Benchmark Report, launched at the Sustainable Business Council offices in Wellington recently, paints a grim picture of declining use of ICT to identify efficiencies and reduce global emissions. Mike Foster, chief executive officer, Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand, recommends organisations bring their ICT and sustainability or environment teams together to look at ways to drive sustainability. He says ICT as an industry is thought to be responsible for around three percent of the world’s total global emissions. “While this may seem insignificant, to put these figures in perspective, ICT’s emissions are comparable to those of the total global aviation industry or the total annual emissions of New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia combined,” he says. “At current growth rates, experts estimate total emissions will rise to six percent – or in some cases 10 percent – by 2020. In short, ICT’s impact on the environment is of growing concern.” While the report does not single out the local government sector, its suggestions for improvement would apply equally across all sectors. When working with end-use computers, for example, it suggests organisations:
• remove screen savers; • power down PCs when not in use; • install power management software for accurate metrics; • print to tablets to reduce paper consumption; • use a power meter to measure actual versus claimed power consumption;
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ICT Sustainabilty:
New Zealand Benchmark 2014
• consider using softphones, thin client/virtual desktops or low-watt PCs; • ensure the IT department is accountable for energy usage and spend. When procuring and disposing of ICT equipment it recommends organisations:
• implement a policy with rigorous environmental standards; • ask vendors about their end-of-life take-back policy and downstream processes to quickly eliminate disposal risk; • utilise standards such as Energy Star, EPEAT and 80+; • recognise that in many cases a more efficient and environmentally-sound option does not necessarily mean a price premium; • conduct lifecycle assessments on ICT equipment to understand where it all comes from, what components are used and how they are disposed of; and ask questions of vendors and recyclers. And when it comes to measuring overall ICT sustainability, it suggests organisations:
• work out ICT energy use per employee; • use a power meter to test actual versus claimed power consumption; • have a separate ICT sustainability or green IT budget; • ensure IT managers are accountable and cognisant of energy consumption in the business; • and create environmental benchmarks for the organisation and, specifically, the IT department that are measured monthly. More information from: tinyurl.com/p2b52nm
ENTITY GROUP EMERGING PROJECT MANAGER OF THE YEAR Marcy McCallum, Christchurch City Council Marcy McCallum wins the award for her work on two Port Hills projects: parks and tracks reopening; and land damage assessment, monitoring and management. Her work on these post-quake emergency response and recovery projects focussed on risk mitigation for geohazards in the Port Hills following the Canterbury earthquakes. Her nomination notes that “this programme of work adopted a specialist approach for assessing and defining risk which literally broke new ground,ts which could be applied”. PMINZ says McCallum’s p as there were no applicable New Zealand standards or precedenrojects are non-standard and she has demonstrated she is both adaptable and open-minded. “Marcy has worked, and thrived in often difficult and high-pressure situations. We believe she has the potential to make a difference in the profession.”
PMINZ PUBLIC SECTOR PROJECT OF THE YEAR South Brighton Community Centre Transitional Facility, Christchurch City Council Council’s Lincoln Blair receives this award for his contribution as project manager for the South Brighton Community Transitional Facility. His nomination highlights the dedication that went into the project, saying
it “could not have been achieved without the open, trusting and community-spirited teams of people and companies who did little complaining and lots of work, to deliver this community facility once again to the residents of the east”.
SWAYPEOPLE PROJECT MANAGER OF THE YEAR Mercedes Santos - NZ Transport Agency, Hamilton The woman driving one of New Zealand’s biggest roading projects is named project manager of the year. Mercedes Santos, a senior project manager with the NZ Transport Agency in Hamilton, has been a member of the project services team for more than three years and has managed the Ngaruawahia, Hamilton and Huntly sections of the Waikato Expressway. The $200 million Ngaruawahia section opened on time and under budget late last year. Santos has also overseen major alterations to the $420 million Huntly section and managed to get the project ready for tender – another major undertaking. The judges describe Santos as a “true team player”. “Mercedes has demonstrated her wide range of capabilities and willingness to take on any challenge that arises,” they say. “She has proved herself to be a capable leader and a very highly competent professional who has successfully delivered projects through all phases, receiving very positive feedback from clients, end-customers and colleagues.”
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OCTOBER 2014 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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IN BRIEF
Making Waves Water New Zealand president Steve Couper welcomes government’s increased focus on how freshwater is managed. Speaking at his organisation’s annual conference in Hamilton recently, he says he’s especially pleased to see the recently-revised National Policy for Fresh Water Management being promulgated. “For the first time we have a national objectives framework and some bottom lines set for managing our water,” he says. “While this was 20 years overdue, it is at least a step in the right direction.” In a direct reference to the Resource Management Act, he calls for the “experiment of planning and environmental protection” to be reviewed. “We continue to operate as a nation under an act that has a philosophy to offset social, cultural and economic factors against the environment,” he says. “This drives regulators to deal with issues on a case-by-case process. While regulators are obliged to consider effects in isolation rather than across a catchment or nationally, we will never have consistency. And, in my opinion, we will never be clean or green.”
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY OCTOBER 9 - 10 SOLGM Local Government Communicators Forum. James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor, Wellington www.solgm.org.nz/ 10 Media, Disasters and The Public: A Communications Workshop for Natural Hazards Researchers, Scientists and Engineers. Royal Society of New Zealand, Wellington www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/disasters/ 20 - 23 WasteMINZ Annual Conference and Expo 2014. TSB Bank Arena & Shed 6, Wellington www.wasteminz.org.nz
NOVEMBER 3-4 SOLGM Funding and Rating Forum. James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor, Wellington www.solgm.org.nz/ 3-4 Environmental Compliance Conference 2014. Mercure Hotel, Wellington jason.greiving@planning.org.nz 12 - 14 SOLGM Annual Summit 2014: Risky Business. The Dunedin Centre, Dunedin www.solgm.org.nz/ 16 - 19 A Place to Live ... for a Life Worth Having. Wanganui War Memorial Centre, Whanganui www.aplacetolive.org.nz/ 20 - 21 2014 Auckland Transport Summit. SKYCITY Convention Centre, Auckland www.conferenz.co.nz/ 23 - 26 2014 International ALGIM Conference & Awards. Smarter Local Government. The Langham, Auckland www.algim.org.nz/algim-events/ Would you like us to include your event in this calendar? Please email details to ruth@localgovernment.co.nz
OCTOBER 2014 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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COUNCILS
Around the councils CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL ratifies its Housing Accord agreement with government and decides to set up a new structure to address the city’s shortage of social housing. Council staff will now investigate details and options for the entity’s structure and provide further advice to council as soon as possible. Under the Housing Accord, the government will work with the non-profit entity to attain the status of a registered community housing provider, to qualify for the government’s Income-Related Rent Subsidy (IRRS). The government has also agreed to invest $75 million through a new Christchurch Housing Accord Fund, and the council will contribute up to $50 million worth of land and other assets from its social housing portfolio.
WAIPA DISTRICT COUNCIL and NZTA are jointly funding a $450,000 revamp to ensure a temporary roundabout becomes a semipermanent fixture on State Highway 1 (SH1) in Cambridge. The move is in response to calls from local residents who much preferred the roundabout to the previous T-intersection. The current roundabout was built to ease traffic congestion while work to repair Cambridge’s high-level local road bridge was underway. Improvement work at the intersection of SH1 and Shakespeare Street in Cambridge will start this summer.
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“ANTHORNIS MELANURA 2” BY ASHLEIGH THOMPSON
FEDERATED FARMERS
HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL votes to approve a $3.1 million advance to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Investment Company Ltd (HBRIC Ltd) to cover the period until financial close on the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme. Financial close is now thought likely to be around 31 March next year and not the end of September this year as has been suggested earlier. All investment funds contributed by the council in this development phase are part of its overall financial contribution to the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme. Council had resolved in June this year to invest up to $80 million, subject to HBRIC Ltd meeting certain conditions.
PALMERSTON NORTH CITY COUNCIL scores another award for its initiative to harness GIS technology to improve the city’s rubbish and recycling system. The project won the Eagle Technology Excellence in GIS Award at the recent New Zealand Esri Awards. Council uses GIS technology to work out the best routes for the recycling trucks so they don’t overlap. The new approach reduces right-hand turns in each route to make the drive smoother and safer, and limits the number of streets missed during collection. Residents can check an online database for information about rubbish collection for their address. The same project won the 2014 GIS Project of the Year Award in April this year.
A male bellbird has been spotted feeding in trees in a Hamilton gully, sparking a call from Hamilton Halo project partners for residents to report sightings. Bellbirds (korimako) are endemic to New Zealand but, until recently, had been virtually unseen in Hamilton. The bellbird was found in AJ Seeley Gully at Claudelands. WAIKATO REGIONAL COUNCIL set up Hamilton Halo with Landcare Research in 2007 to bring tui, and then bellbirds and kereru, back to the city. The project involves pest control at targeted sites in a 20km ‘halo’ around Hamilton. In its largest single staff cut to date AUCKLAND COUNCIL is axing up to 90 jobs in its planning and strategy department and shaving spending by up to $14 million. Around 500 people currently work in the department. Council will start to cut 50 jobs in the next few months. Another 40 are expected to go over the next two years. Council has already cut jobs in its research unit and transferred some economic development functions to its agency Auckland Tourism Events & Economic Development (ATEED). It also recently dropped 38 roles and shaved more than $4 million from its communications and marketing budget. AUCKLAND COUNCIL mayor Len Brown and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith announce a fourth tranche of 17 Special Housing Areas that together could yield more than 8000 new homes across Auckland. This latest tranche brings the total number of Special Housing Areas in Auckland to 80, with a potential yield of 41,500 homes.
QUEENSTOWN LAKES DISTRICT COUNCIL gets the thumbs up from residents and ratepayers in its latest annual customer satisfaction report. Independent survey company Carte Blanche says, overall, 66.9 percent of the 800 people it surveyed are satisfied with council staff performance. This is up from 53.4 percent last year and the highest level in the past five years. The highest levels of satisfaction with facilities and services are with parks, reserves and gardens (92.3 percent) and trails, walkways and cycleways (91.7 percent). Even public toilets are hitting the right note, with more people than ever before (71.9 percent) signalling their satisfaction: and a drop in dissatisfaction to an historic low of 7.7 percent. Infrastructure services also rated more highly with respondents than last year, as satisfaction levels with wastewater (sewerage), water supply, sealed roads and street cleaning all topped 70 percent.
The Waste Resource Advisory Group (WRAG), administered by BAY OF PLENTY REGIONAL COUNCIL, picks six local waste reduction projects to receive funding. The WRAG scheme supports projects that make the most of the region’s waste resources. The projects are: Community Resources Whakatane ($15,000) – setting up a construction waste and demolition waste collection service, purchasing a trailer to take around building sites. Waste will be sorted into re-useable items and sold at their yard. Good Neighbour Aotearoa Trust ($15,000) – Tauranga Food Rescue began in February, collecting waste food from supermarkets and food stores. The group plans to provide 257,000 meals a year from ‘rescued’ food and distribute them to community groups and the Tauranga Food Bank. Their funding will be used to employ professional staff to grow the volunteer-staffed organisation’s work. Tauranga City Council’s organic waste diversion project ($12,000) – a collection system for used coffee grounds from cafes to be composted. This will divert an estimated three tonnes of coffee ground waste from each cafe each year, saving businesses disposal costs, space in landfills and creating a high-quality coffee compost which can be on-sold as soil conditioner. Gourmet Night Market ($4165) – funding waste education facilitators to provide public education workshops at Gourmet Night Market events over the summer months in Mt Maunganui. The aim is to influence waste behaviour change both at public events and in the home. Para Kore – Zero Waste on Marae ($4165) – region wide, Para Kore will use WRAG funding to purchase a trailer to transfer and deliver waste minimisation bins and tools to marae around the region, reducing the large amount of compostable and recyclable waste that is disposed of to landfill after hui and events. Rotorua District Council ($4165) – Community worm farming workshops, providing participants with all they need to set up their own worm farms, creating home compost and reducing food waste to landfill. OCTOBER 2014 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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EVENTS Building a Better New Zealand Conference, Auckland 1. Eco design advisers: Nelson Lebo (Palmerston North City Council), Ian Mayes (Hamilton City Council), Sarah Firth (Hutt City Council), Keiron O’Connoll (Invercargill City Council), Richard Popenhagen (Nelson City Council), Richard Morrison (Kapiti Coast District Council) & Eion Scott (Auckland Council). 2. Hutt City Council eco design adviser Sarah Firth & Michael Donn (School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington). 3. Eco design advisers Richard Popenhagen (Nelson City Council), Nelson Lebo & Eion Scott (Auckland Council). 4. Eco design advisers Eion Scott (Auckland Council), Richard Popenhagen (Nelson City Council) & Nelson Lebo (Palmerston North City Council). 5. Kapiti Coast District Council eco design adviser Richard Morrison.
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Harrison Grierson opens its new Christchurch offices 1. Ron Clarke (Christchurch City Council), John Thompson (One Four Ltd) & William Blake (Knight Frank). 2. Bill Horncastle (Horncastle Homes), the Hon Gerry Brownlee MP & Dale Sutherland (Horncastle Homes). 3. Margaret Devlin & Glen Cornelius (both Harrison Grierson), Karleen Edwards (Christchurch City Council) & Steve Finnemore (Harrison Grierson). 4. Wengkei Chen & Ron Clarke (both Christchurch City Council). 5. Stephen Gardner (Environment Canterbury); Rob Rimmer (Harrison Grierson) & Doru Hozias (Christchurch City Council). 6. Margaret Devlin (Harrison Grierson), Karleen Edwards (Christchurch City Council) & Steve Finnemore (Harrison Grierson).
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ROYALTIES
Boom Town
Rates
Why the regions need their share of royalties
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Local authorities are pushing to receive part of the royalties gained from the oil, gas and mining activities in their areas. They need the money to help pay for upgrading infrastructure and smooth out boom-bust economic cycles.
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aihi resident Anne Marie Spicer says it’s easy to forget that for your average person, councils and mining corporations can be “very scary”. So suggest developing a mine beneath local houses and tempers are likely to flare: even in tiny Waihi whose history and economic viability track the rise and fall of mining activity in the region. Waihi residents’ exposure to the boom and bust of mining spans three centuries. Hauraki District Council mayor John Tregidga says the most recent three decades of downtime starting in the 1950s left the Waihi community struggling for economic survival. Infrastructure investment was pared to the bone as people thought the town wouldn’t exist without the mine, he says. Then in 1985 when mining kicked back into life, councils had to put in a “huge” amount of infrastructure – and even then some was just a temporary fix. “We’re only just now doing a $1.8 million upgrade for their water supply,” he says. “We acknowledge now Waihi is there for good. It isn’t going to go away even if mining finishes.” In Spicer’s case, concerns about councils and mining corporations are being addressed through the Waihi Community Forum: a nine-person body comprising community, council and Newmont Waihi Gold representatives. (See box story “Bridging the Gap”.) Waihi’s situation is being played out across the country on an ever-increasing scale. At a recent presentation in Wellington, Tregidga points to a map showing current extractive activity in New Zealand. Its grey shaded areas are totally dwarfed by the yellow highlights showing where potential future activity could take place. “When we look at places like Northland – which has a huge potential for mineral resources – or Gisborne,” he says, “significant infrastructure needs to be put in place to handle the increase in activity. And we don’t think that cost should be met by existing ratepayers.” If TAG Oil gets to extract its projected 14 billion barrels of oil from the East Coast Basin, for example, that could result in around $1400 billion in gross revenue and hundreds of millions in royalties. But as Gisborne mayor Meng Foon says, “for the mining industry to be successful, Gisborne’s roads and bridges need to be updated and water tables improved. And who will pay for that?” In the deep south, too, the huge Canterbury Basin gas prospect could transform the South Island economy: a fact that hasn’t gone un-noticed at both Dunedin and Invercargill councils. OCTOBER 2014 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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ROYALTIES SHARE The New Zealand government currently receives hundreds of millions of dollars in royalty payments for oil, gas, coal and mineral extraction. In the five years to 2012, $1.69 billion was paid to the Crown in royalties from petroleum production and $49.85 million in royalties from mineral production including coal. Yet the regions where extraction occurs do not receive a direct share of these funds. Instead local authorities are required to pay for the local roads, bridge strengthening, wastewater, water treatment and other services and amenities that enable extraction and support these industries. While extractive industries do contribute some funds to local authorities through a variety of other mechanisms, councils say this does not fully cover the costs associated with the additional pressure placed on community infrastructure.
LGNZ president Lawrence Yule says local authorities also face environmental management costs for consenting, compliance, state of the environment monitoring and plan making. Importantly, they’re also expected to be able to build a future for their regions beyond the end of mining. In Waihi, for example, Newmont’s activities currently contribute about 26 percent to the town’s GDP: which is all well and good until resources inevitably run dry and the town must once again look for alternative income streams in order to survive. LGNZ is now pushing for a policy change for the distribution of a share of royalties from mineral, oil and gas extraction to the communities where the activity takes place. It is not asking for extractive industries to pay more money: simply that some of the existing amount flows back to the regions directly affected. LGNZ
is open to exactly what percentage of the total take that may be but points out that New Zealand is an outlier in the western world in not passing back at least some proportion. In Western Australia, for example, extraction royalties now make up a quarter of the state’s annual budget. Newmont’s Asia-Pacific external relations manager Kelvyn Eglinton says the scheme, administered by the Government’s Department of Regional Development, has been running since 2008. By next year it is estimated there will be 2500 royalties for regions funded projects across the state.
BUST Buller District Council chief executive Paul Wylie says his community is now taking a battering as mining activity shrinks, taking the region’s economic prospects down with it. That’s a far cry from as recently as November
BRIDGING THE GAP Anne Marie Spicer recommends any New Zealand council facing the boom and bust of mining should set up a robust mechanism for direct dialogue with community members. Spicer is one of five community representatives on the Waihi Community Forum. They’re working alongside two representatives from Hauraki District Council and two from Newmont Waihi Gold: the company whose Correnso underground mine will next July likely mean production blasting starts directly beneath some local residents’ homes. “As you can imagine, the views on Correnso have been very mixed,” says Spicer. “We’ve got pro-mining groups, antimining groups and every other opinion in between. It became very clear during the public consultation process that there was a need for better communication from both Newmont and council. More transparency was required and more constructive
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involvement from the community.” Spicer says the forum’s purpose is to contribute to a thriving and sustainable community for residents living in an area affected by mining. Its duties include administering a $4 million property purchase fund and the Streets Ahead scheme which may lead to the creation of a community green space. “I can’t over-stress the importance of having an approachable and constructive group that’s really in touch with the community and whose only agenda is to make the best out of the current situation,” she says. “A group like this bridges the gap between the corporation, council and the host community.” Spicer says forum members are happy to share ideas with other people in similar circumstances. Anne Marie Spicer, Waihi Community Forum.
www.waihicommunityforum.co.nz/
2011 when Wylie first arrived in Westport to find a booming Buller district economy. According to Wylie, from the council’s perspective, the biggest future risk at that time was speed wobbles. “We wondered how we would cope when Bathurst opened their planned mines and up to another 400 jobs would come into being. Things were looking good. “Then, a few months later, Solid Energy hit the wall, while Forest and Bird continued to bleed Bathurst dry, successfully preventing any new mines coming into operation,” he says. For Buller district, the boom started to became a bust... again. Wylie says his council accepts that one day coal mining will come to an end. “We argue that we need to start on the solutions now if there is to be something left when we come to that point”, he says. “It’s time for central government to
FAIR’S FAIR 1 Where extractive industries occur, and they meet all applicable environmental rules, the regions that provide that benefit should share in it. Currently they don’t. It’s only fair that they should. 2 We are happy for there to be independent governance of any regime that pays back some royalties to the regions. This is not a blank cheque to councils. This is about delivering value-add to the regions that create it. 3 We are prepared to be reasonable on the quantum. We are not asking for 55 or 65 percent of the total. We recognise the amount has to be reasonable and applicable. That’s part of the conversation.
4 The reality is that the rest of New Zealand will continue to gain the lion’s share of any of the royalties. But we need to cover the real costs of extraction that are imposed on communities and, more importantly, we need to give a future to these regions beyond the end of mining.
Source: Malcolm Alexander, chief executive, LGNZ.
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members specialist training, conflict coaching, facilitation, mediation and a complaints hub. Contact Jenny Rowan to find out more about how we can help. Phone 0800 77 44 04 jenny.rowan@fairwayresolution.com www.fairwayresolution.com
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ROYALTIES “For the mining industry to be successful Gisborne’s roads and bridges need to be updated and water tables improved. And who will pay for that?” “The New Zealand government currently receives hundreds of millions of dollars in royalty payments for oil, gas, coal and mineral extraction.” “Local authorities are required to pay for the local roads, services and amenities that enable extraction.” “You have to understand what these ebbs and flows do to communities.” “The boom / bust pattern of development causes uneven spikes in rental prices with a simple four-bedroom house in Hawera recently commanding $700 a week.” “This is just the start of a much larger conversation.” 20 l www.localgovernmentmag.co.nz
commit to a serious discussion about the possibility of a royalties for the regions scheme for New Zealand. The West Coast has previously offered itself as a pilot region to test such a scheme,” he says. “And that offer remains open.”
BOOM Even in the wider Taranaki region – which many see as the poster child for optimising the benefits of oil and gas production through downstream value-added industries – there are inequities. According to South Taranaki District Council chief executive Craig Stevenson, extraction activity is spread across the wider Taranaki region but the benefits are not equally shared. Every day 700 to 1000 workers commute into the South Taranaki council’s area to work on oil and gas activities, he says. “Then they take their wages home and spend them somewhere else. They have little
social investment in the area.” And the boom / bust pattern of development causes uneven spikes in rental prices with a simple fourbedroom house in Hawera recently commanding $700 a week. “We know we’re blessed with the resources sitting in our backyard,” says Stevenson. “Taranaki is not saying we want it all to ourselves. We understand NZ Inc owns that and has a right to the benefits from it. All we want is a little bit of consideration of the impacts it has on our communities in extracting them.” Meanwhile, LGNZ chief executive Malcolm Alexander is making no bones that this is just the start of a much larger conversation. “We’re not going away,” he says. “We’re going to engage with this. The need to develop the regions of New Zealand is a growing issue. Some [political] parties don’t seem to have their head around it yet but they need to and we will continue to press until our communities share in the benefits.”
KEEPING THE WHEELS TURNING Buller District Council chief executive Paul Wylie says that in his region’s case he knows any royalty payment from extractive industries would not be a big amount by metropolitan standards. “In fact it would probably only buy a metre of motorway, or the front wheels on a commuter train. But to us that small amount, accruing on a regular basis, will make all the difference in the world to our small communities.” Alongside Holcim’s activities, mining is currently the region’s mainstay. Wylie acknowledges his region needs to make the best of mining operations while it can.
“We know we need to diversify but that will not be easy. It will take time and [we] will need support.” You have to understand what these ebbs and flows do to communities, he says. “One moment in time you are high and dry and on top of everything and the next, the tide is eating away your foundations and your future.” Illustrating the peaks and troughs of relying on mining, Wylie says that “while nobody in Auckland or Wellington noticed” Buller was actually the top performing area in New Zealand in economic terms
for 2010 and 2011. Since then mining cutbacks have been hollowing out the local economy. “Estimates vary as to the number of jobs that have evaporated over the last 18 months,” he says. “There were about 1200 people dependent on the Stockton Plateau at its peak. I understand the current numbers are under 700 and we may not have hit the bottom yet. “Bathurst has survived, but at great cost, and their entry into the sector will now be slow and entirely dependent on improved coal prices. The outlook is not good.” LG
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BUILDINGS
COUNTING THE COST What the proposed earthquake legislation could mean to councils. Any one got a spare $10 billion? That’s the estimated cost of work on buildings throughout New Zealand if the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill gets the go-ahead in its current form. Many individual councils outlined the estimated costs to assess, repair or upgrade buildings in their areas in submissions to parliament’s Local Government and Environment Select Committee. Here are just a few.
WAIPA DISTRICT COUNCIL
RANGITIKEI DISTRICT COUNCIL
An independent report by Rationale modelling the potential scale and costs of implementing the legislation highlights the following key findings for Waipa District: • 2596 building to assess • $3.27 million to assess buildings (over five years) at council’s cost • 556 potentially earthquake-prone buildings • $125 million of strengthening costs to building owners • Administration costs $100 / building / per year. $1.2 million at council’s cost.
Opotiki estimates that approximately 135 buildings in the wider township will require some level of upgrade. A very rough order of cost to repair these buildings would be approximately $13.5 million. Council says this legislation has the potential to destroy many small communities.
Rangitikei commissioned research to better understand the implications of undertaking seismic assessments and the strengthening of those buildings identified as earthquakeprone. That research, based on property data held by Quotable Value, estimated that 1716 buildings in the district would need to be assessed, at a cost of $2.161 million. The study then estimated the extent of strengthening which would need to be done, having regard for the age, location and structural materials used. This work suggested 1059 buildings (or just over 60 percent) would need strengthening, at an estimated cost of $136 million – which included an assumption that 10 percent of the identified earthquake-prone buildings would be demolished. Council notes that the regulatory impact statement for the bill recognises such massive costs. But putting them in the context of a rural district with a small and declining population (currently less than 15,000) and a weak property market suggests that the bill’s proposals are unaffordable and need fundamental reconsideration.
NEW PLYMOUTH DISTRICT COUNCIL
WANGANUI DISTRICT COUNCIL
The new requirement to assess buildings constructed before 2005 will mean New Plymouth District Council has to assess an additional 350-450 buildings constructed between 1976 and 2005. The cost to council is estimated to be $420,000 to $500,000.
Wanganui is particularly heavily implicated by the proposed bill due to the high number of older unreinforced masonry buildings that exist within a community struggling to afford the extra costs associated to retrospectively upgrade its building stock. Wanganui has 10 percent of the national earthquake-prone building problem but only one percent of the population to pay for it. Wanganui has approximately 1100 potential earthquake-prone buildings by the new definition for which it has received 118 initial seismic assessments under the council’s current policy requirements. The likely cost to seismically upgrade this stock is likely to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars for Wanganui alone. The cost to have all the potential earthquake-prone buildings initially assessed as a territorial authority is likely to be between $600,000 and $1 million. This is a significant imposition on ratepayers for a provincial district the size of Wanganui.
OPOTIKI DISTRICT COUNCIL
RUAPEHU DISTRICT COUNCIL Council says rural and provincial New Zealand will bear a disproportionate burden of the impacts of these proposals. This is because there are a large number of older potentially earthquakeprone buildings but insufficient economic growth to fund upgrades. Raising rents to recover the costs of work required is not an option. The end result of the bill could be owners abandoning buildings, demolition and the gutting of some town centres, rather than improvement in the building stock.
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WAIKATO MAYORAL FORUM As the proposal stands, a typical rural district with, say, two towns with some associated smaller communities, with the usual rural public and community buildings, faces estimated assessment costs in the order of $3 to $4 million with additional annual administrative costs of $1.2 to $1.5 million. It is estimated that of those buildings assessed, about 20 percent are potentially earth-quake prone. Affected building owners in such a typical rural district face potential upgrade costs estimated to be more than $100 million. For Hamilton City the costs will be significantly more. For each district the added burden to ratepayers is seen as disproportionate to the perceived risk. The Waikato Mayoral Forum comprises of: Hamilton City Council, Hauraki District Council, Matamata Piako District Council, Otorohanga District Council, South Waikato District Council, Taupo District Council, Thames Coromandel District Council, Waikato District Council, Waikato Regional Council, Waipa District Council and Waitomo District Council.
PALMERSTON NORTH CITY COUNCIL If council is required to complete a seismic capacity assessment for every building in the city this will require a significant increase in funding. Taking the city centre as an example, the building stock is estimated at 1532 buildings. Based on the assumption that a seismic capacity assessment will be of equivalent cost to an initial evaluation procedure (IEP), this would require almost $1.2 million to complete just the city centre building assessments. OCTOBER 2014 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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BUILDINGS
JOINT SOUTHERN COUNCILS
WAITAKI DISTRICT COUNCIL Analysis suggests that the cost of strengthening upwards of 695 earthquake-prone buildings in Waitaki could be as high as $180 million. This is a staggering number, even if, say, out by 30 percent. Council doesn’t anticipate a great deal of variability in terms of cost of strengthening between metropolitans and regions. However, the ability for a property owner in Oamaru to recover the cost of strengthening from a tenant is limited.
CENTRAL OTAGO DISTRICT COUNCIL In Central Otago the list of potential earthquake-prone buildings contains 360 buildings and currently excludes farm buildings. If assessments are contracted to engineers, it is likely to cost $3,000 per assessment. The total cost would be $1.08 million which would equate to a rates increase of 7.5 percent. This is unaffordable in Central Otago and would contravene the financial strategy. For this work to proceed, other prioritised projects may need to be delayed, for example water and waste water upgrades necessary to comply with government standards.
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This joint submission represents approximately 380,000 residents, or a population greater than Christchurch or Wellington. These communities are characterised by a greater proportion of pre-1976 buildings (56 percent of building stock compared with 33 percent nationwide) and rural buildings when compared with the rest of New Zealand. The joint southern councils estimate they would need to carry out in excess of 22,000 seismic assessments within five years. This will require a large amount of new resources and have a negative impact on ratepayers unless user pays mechanisms are developed. Outside of areas such as Queenstown Lakes District Council, many communities are struggling with issues such as a challenging demographic profile (both in terms of a declining population and age profile), withdrawal and change to government services, the challenge of maintaining large and in many cases aging infrastructure, and changes to government funding. Many property owners (particularly of buildings that are underutilised and uneconomic) will be unable to recover the cost of strengthening from increased rentals. Where there is insufficient rental return on re-building costs to justify redevelopment, tenants will simply move on, leaving a heightened risk of demolition and non-replacement of buildings. This will lead to the further decline of rural and provincial centres. The Joint Southern Councils comprises of: Buller District Council, Central
Otago District Council, Clutha District Council, Dunedin City Council, Gore District Council, Invercargill City Council, Mackenzie District Council, Queenstown Lakes District Council, Southland District Council, Timaru District Council, Waimate District Council, Waitaki District Council and Westland District Council.
SHAKY ISLES Too much at stake Four years after the first Canterbury quakes, councils and consulting engineers continue to ramp up their efforts to ensure buildings are safe and affordable. Proposed new legislation is making it that bit harder.
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f the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill sees the light of day as a fully-fledged act, many councils predict abandoned buildings and empty main streets in many of our smaller towns. That’s if the bill keeps its current form. As it stands, the bill with the clunky name will bring clunky new measures into play for councils and private building owners alike. For many building owners, its stringent demands will simply be unaffordable. That much is well known. Councils the length and breadth of the country have already voiced their concerns in no uncertain terms in submissions to government. Of the 120 submissions to parliament’s Local Government and Environment Committee earlier this year, 31 were from local authorities. Several were from combined groupings such as the 11-council Waikato Mayoral Forum or the Joint Southern Councils whose submission represents 13 councils spanning a huge chunk of the South Island. (See separate story “Counting the cost: What the proposed earthquake
legislation could mean to councils” on page 22 of this issue.) Now, those close to central government say any decisions on legislative changes are on a long slow boil. It could be anything from three to six months before decisions on the final shape of the new legislation are made clear. They also say local authorities must keep a close eye on the issue and continue to push for changes to the proposed legislation. There’s too much at stake to do otherwise. The time lag is partly due to the need to allow the dust to settle after the general election. It may also be due to a general softening of government’s stance on the original proposal whose “one-size fits all” approach ratchets up standards and gives territorial authorities five years to assess non-residential buildings, and owners a further 15 years to strengthen or demolish earthquakeprone buildings. Talking with NZ Local Government Magazine prior to the general elections, LGNZ president Lawrence Yule says Building and
Construction Minister Nick Smith has indicated that while the bill is important, he’s not going to be rushed “because we have to get this right”. Yule advises local councils to keep two main ideas top of mind. Firstly, he says all councils need to be very mindful of the time frames and standards they’re going to be working towards. Secondly, he advises them to keep a weather eye out for extra funding that may be made available to help pay for building upgrades: particularly for heritage buildings. On a very pragmatic note, hope lies in scaling down the focus of any new legislation to home in on verandas and parapets. Yule says these appear to have caused a significant number of deaths in the Christchurch earthquakes “and it may be that if you can make them safe that might be the first and most practical thing that should be done”. Any upgrades for the rest of buildings might be done over a longer time frame, he says. Meanwhile, at the Building a Better
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BUILDINGS New Zealand conference in Auckland recently, Minister Smith announced the latest, and eleventh, tranche of the National Science Challenge: an initiative that BRANZ chair Dr Helen Anderson later applauded while also issuing a call for “a clear line of sight” between industry research and better lives for New Zealanders. The Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities Challenge will research new technology and long-term solutions for New Zealand’s building environment. Among its five key goals, it aims to provide solutions for cost-effective upgrades to existing building stock. Minister Smith told conference delegates this will include the issue “that is causing some concern in the local government sector” of the costs and practicalities of dealing with earthquakeprone buildings. Council representatives are invited to join potential challenge participants, sector groups and iwi in workshops to define the final scope of the resulting 10-year research programme. Meanwhile, irrespective of what the final wording of
the new legislation may be, market forces are favouring buildings with higher seismic strength. And some innovative work and thinking is going into providing solutions. Harrison Grierson structural engineering manager and technical director Andrew Thompson says his company recently started working with one of the Bay of Plenty councils on a cooperative approach to building strengthening. Mindful that most building owners do not have the resources to engage an engineer on their own, they are inviting them to work cooperatively and negotiate a group deal for a series of maybe 40 buildings. “That approach is going to be more and more common in smaller towns,” says Thompson. “And the larger consultancies can do this work when we’ve got 30 or 40 buildings all together.” Harrison Grierson has discussed similar ideas in other parts of the country. In the absence of clear guidelines from the legislators, such pragmatic approaches are one step closer to making matters easier and more cost-effective.
ONE STEP AT A TIME For any building owner, seismic strengthening involves a delicate balance of costs and benefits. They must consider the initial financial outlay and ongoing maintenance costs, regulatory compliance, business continuity, commercial matters, heritage value, benefit to society and public safety. Professional services consultancy Beca takes a pragmatic approach. “Put simply, seismic risk can be described as a combination of hazard (a function of the location) and vulnerability (of the structure),” says project director Helen Ferner. “Different buildings have different characteristics and functions,” she says. “So we look at the full picture, and then recommend a course of action that will offer an appropriate improvement to the seismic risk for a given set of circumstances.” In practice, this often means taking a staged approach to
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provide a progressive improvement in seismic risk mitigation over time. Top priority is given to the most cost-effective and highvalue strengthening from a risk reduction perspective. Additional strengthening is added later to further raise performance as funds, priorities and opportunities allow. Substantial improvements in seismic risk reduction can be achieved relatively cost effectively by focusing on the most vulnerable aspects of the structure first and mobilising the existing structure of the building – as opposed to replacing, or introducing new, structural elements. In the Christchurch earthquakes most fatalities (with the exception of the CTV and PGC buildings) were due to unrestrained parapets and external facades of unreinforced masonry buildings. Strengthened heritage buildings performed their life safety function well.
RESILIENT DESIGN Seismic engineering expertise from Opus has helped New Zealand’s oldest purpose-built working public library gain a new lease of life. Carterton’s heritage-listed iconic public library building has been strengthened and refurbished in an awardwinning project that sees it revitalised as part of the Carterton Events Centre, with a new 300-seat auditorium and a variety of community amenity areas. The centre, which is owned by Carterton District Council, now also has dedicated space for Plunket, a toy library, Red Cross and St John. And a refurbished youth centre provides a hardwearing facility for scout and other youth groups. The new centre’s limited ductile plywood shear walls are built on new foundations hidden behind the original linings, providing strength and reducing damage potential. The original subfloor framing has been replaced after 130 years of heavy duty service: also on new piles with code-compliant ground clearance and ventilation.
The original timber internal, external and structural fabric remains in place without any visible sign of strengthening and now provides a suitable and safe environment for many more years of community service. The building’s Pres-Lam system timber shear walls rock in an earthquake, absorbing energy as they move and returning the building to a near-vertical position once the shaking stops. Opus was one of the first consultancies in New Zealand to use the Pres-Lam structural system, a damage-resilient timber technology. It had earlier been the first consultancy in the world to design a building base isolated with lead rubber bearings: an innovative low-damage solution in the event of an earthquake. Opus says the timber shear walls are constructed from locally-grown and manufactured MSG10-rated laminated veneer lumber (LVL), showing innovative timber engineering design is not only the preserve of high-strength engineered wood products. LVL billets were glue-laminated into large vertical shear walls held in place with internal post-tensioned high-strength steel rods. The integration of resilient design technology, in the form of the mild steel dissipaters, provides ductility and energy absorption during seismic events. Opus says the construction of the auditorium, featuring the Pres-Lam system, has created a lot of interest locally and nationally, particularly in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes and increasing public awareness of damagelimiting construction philosophies. “More importantly, the joint collaboration of Opus and the University of Canterbury made this advanced technology an economic construction option.”
Eighty year-old St Michael’s Church in Remuera, Auckland, has been seismically strengthened.
Ferner says “relatively easy fixes” such as tying walls to the floor and roof, bracing parapets, and securing ornaments and chimneys can significantly mitigate key vulnerabilities of these very low-rated buildings, and for a relatively low cost. Beca understands the relationship between cost and improvement in seismic performance is not a straight line. Focussing on the most significant vulnerabilities first typically yields the greatest benefits in risk reduction terms, and can often be achieved relatively inexpensively. Two recent Beca projects demonstrate this concept. An historic church in Auckland was upgraded to reach 50 percent New Building Standard (NBS) at a cost of $400/m2 while it cost $3,600/m2 − or nine times as much − to strengthen another historic building (also in Auckland) to 100 percent NBS.
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MY VIEW
CRAIG STEVENSON On how to get and keep happy staff South Taranaki District Council is known for its strong organisational culture and has got the gongs to prove it. Craig Stevenson tells Ruth Le Pla how he focuses on training, pushes staff to respond fast and what it’s like to have worked his way up from the rubbish trucks.
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outh Taranaki District Council’s chief executive Craig Stevenson would have to change some of his management practices if I worked for him. Not that he’s offered me a job, of course. It’s just that he has this idea of holding open-door sessions for any staff member first thing in the morning at work. And I’d be rocking up there every day just for a good old chat. I’ve thought a lot about how to describe him and I’ve settled on affable. He’s very easy to talk to. At least he was when we spoke in Wellington recently. That’s all the more impressive given that we were both boggle-eyed with tiredness at the end of a day in which we’d travelled from our respective parts of the country, weathered back-to-back meetings and a press conference, and just emerged from a four-hour, 11-personpresentation session on royalties. He says he’s not well prepared for our chat. But I’d caught him in one of the tea breaks asking my previous interviewee, Tararua District Council chief executive Blair King, for tips on being profiled by me. And, anyway, we both know the big topic is employment stuff because that’s what other councils travel to South Taranaki District Council to check out. Stevenson’s region may be naturally blessed with the black and white gold of oil / gas and dairying. But he’s been able to add on the man-made blessing of a strong organisational culture and that – as any public or private sector leader knows – is priceless. The proof lies in the consistently strong ratings the council enjoys in the nationwide IBM Kenexa Best Workplaces programme. New Zealand’s largest employee climate survey, the programme
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lets people working in public, private and non-profit organisations secretly spill the beans on what it’s really like to work where they do. Last year 39,000 employees across nearly 300 organisations laid it on the line. Results are categorised by the size of the employer, which means South Taranaki District Council goes toe-to-toe with large – and presumably much better resourced – private sector employers. “Our claim to fame,” says Stevenson, “is that we’ve made the final top 10 in our category for the past five consecutive years.” Stevenson’s a bit bashful about his council being seen as a role model. “We pride ourselves on being reasonably humble about this,” he says, which in a jumbled kind of way sums it up quite well. Every year two or three councils plus other organisations – which have included NZ Police, and gas and electricity giant Powerco – trek off to South Taranaki to pick up clues on how to get, and keep, happy staff. “These organisations come along and ask why our people are so engaged,” Stevenson says. “And we say staff engagement is a by-product of an organisational culture so we work on that rather than on engagement as such.” It’s hard to define organisational culture without sounding like a robot reading from an employment manual. Still, Stevenson makes a decent fist of it by saying South Taranaki’s organisational vision is to be “New Zealand’s most can-do council”. This, he says, sets up a clear expectation of what his council expects staff to strive for.
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MY VIEW We both know the big topic is employment stuff because that’s what other councils travel to South Taranaki District Council to check out.
It’s hard to define organisational culture without sounding like a robot reading from an employment manual.
Too many councils are too cumbersome, bureaucratic and slow.
Staff often get a harder deal than their counterparts around the country.
The Stevenson apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree.
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BEING CRAIG STEVENSON Chief Executive, South Taranaki District Council 2004 – Present Prior roles include: • Deputy Treasurer • Information Services Manager •C orporate Services Manager & Community Services Manager, South Taranaki District Council 1985 – 2004 Clerical roles within treasury, Palmerston North City Corporation 1978 – 1985
“Too many councils are too cumbersome, bureaucratic and slow,” he says. “There are still too many people within our sector who, it seems, are looking for reasons not to do stuff. As a sector we need to be far more nimble.” In practice, this means Stevenson encourages his people to jump-to, be prepared to think and act differently and take the odd risk. And he backs them if their good efforts are misconstrued. Not surprisingly, one of the sidebenefits of the Kenexa seal of approval is it’s easier to get, and hold on to, good staff. Stevenson says his council typically runs single-digit turnover rates, and in recent years has doubled – and in some cases tripled – the number of people applying for most jobs it advertises. “I used to get 10 or 12 applicants for a group manager’s role: now we get 25 or 30,” he says. “And we received 98 applications for the last contact centre position we advertised.” In the wonkish world of employmentspeak it’s actually the inverse measurement of staff engagement that pleases Stevenson most. He says he’s most satisfied with the low number of disengaged people at his council. Currently just 2.9 percent of staff are “statistically disengaged” he says, which in a council of his size means that’s just four people and I can’t help thinking he must know exactly who they are.
Stevenson contrasts this with the average 16.1 percent of total local government sector staff found to be statistically disengaged over the past two years: which, no matter how you look at it, sounds like a worryingly large number of people. A key plus-point for South Taranaki District Council staff is a learning and development scheme which sees every single person benefiting from eight core training modules. For selected staff there’s also a comprehensive three-tier leadership development programme. These days accredited in-house trainers deliver most of the teaching which, Stevenson says, goes down a treat as most staff members particularly like learning from council’s own people. Still, Stevenson’s keen to dispel the idea he holds on to staff because they get an easy ride. “People from within the sector, residents and even some of my elected members are quite suspicious of the engagement levels we’ve been able to maintain,” he says. “And I’m often asked whether we are paying too much, have overly-generous terms and conditions, or are spoiling staff in other ways.” The reverse, he says, is true and staff often get a harder deal than their counterparts around the country. (For more on this see box story “Doing it tough”.) Stevenson knows all about doing it tough himself. He started his 38-year
local government career working on a council rubbish truck in the Naki. As a 17-year-old with lots of energy to burn, he says he learnt a lot of bad habits, took up smoking “and all the other things that go with working with a bunch of hard-bitten labourers” and “got to the end of the year with no money, a magnificent Norton Commando and a whole lot of other assets that I’d wasted my money on”. He headed off to Palmerston North, got a job in the local council’s treasury department and entered the “Gliding
On” world of walk shorts, cardigans and cash accounting. It was a far cry from today’s local government sector, he says, and lagging public perceptions of the huge changes since then appear to rankle. In any case, it’s true that the Stevenson apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. His father was Hawera Borough Council town clerk. “Even though I didn’t realise it at the time, that had a significant impact on my values and public service ethic that I’ve developed over the years,” he says.
Stevenson believes local government remains full of people who “have a genuine passion for what they’re doing, are very hardworking and totally committed to serving their local communities”. His Mum, now 81, remains “an avid local government fan who probably knows more about the sector and who’s where than half the people who work in it,” he says. “She was very proud when I got into the sector.” LG
DOING IT TOUGH Working at South Taranaki District Council is not about the perks. According to CEO Craig Stevenson, his organisation is probably tougher on its staff than many other councils. Yet, somehow it seems, they’re a happy bunch.
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South Taranaki District Council (STDC) has less sick-leave than the standard annual allowance, pays slightly under the market median and doesn’t allow council vehicles to go home at night. There are no vehicles attached
to remuneration packages at any level so everyone is expected to get themselves to work. “I have never been a fan of expensive vehicles sitting around the council office in named car parks,” says Stevenson, “it’s a bad look and quite unnecessary.”
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I n recent years STDC stopped providing staff with council-paid mobile phones. It makes exceptions for a small number of staff on call. T here are no free drinks. Stevenson says it’s never appropriate for ratepayer dollars to fund alcohol for staff. “If our people are attending a conference or dinner somewhere, they are welcome to have a drink but it’s always self-pay. Even our elected members pay for the drinks they have after a council meeting."
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tevenson says if people aren’t S happy, council tries to work with them and make changes where they have a valid point. “But sometimes it just isn’t working. Life’s too short to be in a job or organisation where you are unhappy so it’s in all parties’ interests for these people to move on. We’re not afraid to have courageous conversations with disengaged staff. We will say, ‘it’s become clear this is not the organisation for you. Can we help you find another job?’"
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ALGIM CONFERENCE
HOW CAN WE HELP Top council customer service ALGIM’s recent Customer Service Symposium helps councils focus on their customers. Over 120 customer service specialists from local authorities around the country gathered in Hamilton recently to share their ideas.
NO FRILLS OR THE WORKS? Hamilton City Council’s Jason Dawson calls on councils to take the lead from Air New Zealand and consider offering more choice. Dawson, who is general manager customer relationships, says customers do not have an alternative to dealing with local councils. “But we need to start looking at what choice they have once they’re with us.... then it’s the customers who are deciding what type of service they want from us.” He suggests Air New Zealand’s four options – from a no-frills approach right up to the full works – provide a good model, and that some citizens and members of the business community are
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already asking why they cannot opt to get a premium service if they pay more. “We’ve designed processes for years about what works for us,” says Dawson. “But we haven’t ever, in our organisation, had processes with customer-centred design.” Dawson says many council processes centre around legislation. “Thirty working days and you’ll get your permit or your official information request. Unfortunately, someone might only have two hours and they need something now.” “We need to look at what works better for the different types of customers that we have.”
YOU?
COLOURFUL THINKING Coloured balloons fill the room as Wayne Goodley shows how every individual has their own preferred way of thinking and councils can leverage all styles to deliver outstanding customer experience. Goodley, director of Herrmann International New Zealand, says “whole brain thinking” taps into the full spectrum of thinking available in an organisation: from analytical to organisational, strategic and interpersonal. Seventy percent of Fortune 500 companies currently use Hermann’s Whole Brain Thinking System and its associated Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI). Goodley, who was director of city services for Manukau City Council for 20 years, says councils wanting to meet the “infinitely adaptable and flexible” customer expectations in 2014 and beyond need to meld the diverse mind sets of every stakeholder within their organisation. He says a number of issues make delivering strong customer experience very challenging for local government. “The extent of the diversity of thinking is demanding. It takes a huge effort to recognise, let alone attempt to meld, the thinking into a definition of customer experience in your city or district. “And often the passion, the vision, the plan and the analysis are in conflict [with each other] out of alignment, or simply confused.” He adds that citizens, customers and communities all have different expectations of what they want their experience with local government to be. “And finally, we have the conflicting nature of local government which must be both rule maker and service provider.” Goodley says the whole brain model enables councils to capture appropriate responses for each citizen, customer or community service.
KEEP IT SIMPLE Horowhenua District Council chief executive David Clapperton calls on councils to identify “moments of truth” that can make or break customers’ perceptions of their interactions with councils. These may often be surprisingly easy to fix, he says. Clapperton recalls that when he worked in banking his organisation discovered the simple thing that made all the difference in the minds of customers was whether or not the pens at the counter worked. “So every single morning we made sure they did.” The “moment of truth” for many dog owners around the country, he says, is being able to do their annual registration
online. While some councils make this possible, “as a sector local government is behind the eight-ball in using technology to meet customers’ expectations”. Clapperton urges local authorities to pool their technologies and ideas, saying each council does not need to create its own different online dog registration system, for example. The simple desire to be kept informed is another common moment of truth, according to Clapperton. He says residents in his area inconvenienced by an extra eight kilometre drive due to an eight-week road closure just wanted to know what was going to happen, how much it was going to cost and when the closure would
finish. Their simple moment of truth was communication “that’s all they wanted”. Clapperton also says when it comes to understanding their customers, councils should see their work as no different to that of the private sector. “In my view I’m running the biggest business in town.”
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ALGIM CONFERENCE
NEW ALGIM TOOLKIT ALGIM launches its Local Government Customer Service Toolkit, an interactive web-based resource to help councils manage and improve their customer service. The toolkit provides a platform for councils to share best practice and eliminates the chance of customer service departments reinventing the wheel. ALGIM CEO Mike Manson says the toolkit, which has been several years in the making, is the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere, if not the world. Councils can use it to get ideas and inspiration for projects, find out what others are doing and communicate through the toolkit’s online forums. The first two modules are now available. These include the foundation “best practice” module which includes a tool for assessing how mature, or otherwise, a council’s approach to customer service may be. ALGIM consultant Suzee Sinclair says the resulting report provides customer service staff with the ammunition to discuss necessary future customer activity plans with management. The module also provides councils with access to the online forum. A second module looks at how to meet customer needs. Three other modules will be released shortly. These focus respectively on: people – looking at ways to develop customer service professionals; access and delivery – how to make services accessible to customers; and knowledge and technology. Working parties made up of representatives from different councils from around the country helped develop the toolkit which is costed out to councils on a sliding scale depending on their size and the number of modules they buy. For more information email lgcstoolkit@algim.org.nz
THREE KEY AREAS Hamilton City Council chief executive Barry Harris shares his “view from the departure lounge” on next steps for customer service in local government. Harris, who steps down from his role this month, says customer service is crucial to the success of local government and calls on the sector to focus on three main areas.
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Culture. Harris says local government remains heavily focused on correct process, legal compliance, consistency and safety of decisions. “All of those things are really important – don’t get me wrong – but that’s not what our customers are looking for,” he says. “They’re looking for speed and flexibility. They want solutions that fit their particular needs. And there’s currently a big disconnect.”
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Relative importance. Harris says few people working in local government have run commercial businesses, worked in community groups or lived in many of the other “worlds” of the people for whom they’re providing services. “So we don’t genuinely understand what’s important to our customers.” Harris says he does not mean to be “insulting” about this “because we put a lot of work into [trying to understand] and we do a lot of surveys”. He adds that it was interesting to see how he had a different set of perspectives and priorities when he was running businesses. “People in local government often don’t understand cash flow issues or things like that that are really focusing you.”
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Focus. According to Harris, local government often assesses issues, and provides solutions and services, based on what they mean for council. “This is a biggie for me,” he says. “When an issue comes up we think... is it going to cost us money? Will we have to put in extra staff? We might have to build some roads or put some pipes in.” Harris suggests a better approach would be to first focus on providing outcomes for the city “and then deal with the other challenges”.
BUILD IT & THEY WILL COME Wanganui District Council’s Jason Simons urges council customer service staff not to hold back on delivering online services. Simons says a key take-out for him from a recent conference in Australia was the idea that banks did not ask their customers if they could provide online service: it was just expected. Simons, who is the council’s manager information services group, says there’s some aspect of ‘provide it and they will come’. “We need new thinking about how we provide services in ways we haven’t used before,” he says. “Quite often now we’re getting customers new to the area saying they can’t find how to do a specific service online and we have to go back to them and say, sorry, we don’t do that online. The expectation is already there. This is not something new.” He suggests that when council customer service staff develop a new business case they don’t need to labour whether customers are asking for it [to be online] or not. “It’s more the fact that they expect it to be online.”
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“Instead of being mindful we are mind-full.” Wayne Goodley, director, Herrmann International
L to R: Jason Dawson (ALGIM executive member & general manager – customer relationships, Hamilton City Council); Kali Maharaj (contact centre team leader, Wellington City Council); Carol Timmins (senior consenting admin officer, Wellington City Council); Fiona Dermondy (contact centre team leader after hours, Wellington City Council); Annabelle Atkins (LIMS team leader, Wellington City Council); and Mike Manson (ALGIM CEO).
“The busier you are, the more time you have.” Angela Hirst, customer service team leader, Hastings District Council and recipient of the 2012 ALGIM Customer Service Professional Development Award
THE BEST OF THE BEST Wellington City Council bags the 2014 ALGIM Ultimate Customer Service Award for initiatives which included setting up dedicated phone lines for specific types of customer enquiries. Contact centre team leader Kali Maharaj says the previous structure often gave the impression of council being “jack of all trades and master of none”. “Now we’re master of most,” she says. Specialist customer service phone lines now include enquiries about dogs, building consents and compliance, and parking services. The system enables staff to focus on specific areas, and share more knowledge and expertise with customers. Judges say they’re impressed by the list of benefits, including positive staff involvement, faster response time, a more consistent level of service, enhanced reputation for both the overall council and the customer service team, and better career progression opportunities for customer service representatives within council. Auckland City is the runner up for its work creating a distributed virtual contact centre designed in collaboration with its service centre staff. Judges praise council as an example of continuous improvement and how old habits can be broken.
OTHER AWARDS:
“Brand is the promise. Customer experience is the delivery.” Sue Atkins, director, Connections
“Empathy drives customer service.” Rory Christie, communications advisor, Waimakariri District Council
2014 ALGIM Local Government Customer Service Manager of the Year Award Winner: Nina Gobie, Far North District Council 2014 ALGIM Local Government Customer Service Representative of the Year Winner: Punawai Posinkovich, Far North District Council Runner up: Nicola Anderson, Wellington City Council 2014 ALGIM Local Government Customer Service Team Leader of the Year Winner: Bryan Bunz, Christchurch City Council Runner up: Carol Daly, Auckland Council 2014 ALGIM Local Government Customer Service Team of the Year Winner: Customer Service Team, Hastings District Council Runner up: Service Centres West, Auckland Council LG
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ONRC
ROADING GETS A NEW
ROUTEMAP Local government is entering a new era for road maintenance and construction. But the new One Network Road Classification isn’t the only thing that’s ringing in the changes, says Paul Glucina.
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ocal government, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and a number of interested parties including road safety and other advocate groups have been meeting over the past 12 months to develop the One Network Road Classification (ONRC). At more than 35 meetings throughout the country, close to 800 attendees first developed the ONRC categories, then worked on what levels of service road users could expect in each category, and finally how the performance of the network would actually be measured against those service levels. The ONRC will become an integral part of local government asset management planning in the transport area. Having this nationally consistent set of standards in place is likely to lead to a much more consistent approach to asset management and contracting. It will also give road users more consistency and certainty about what standard and services to expect on the national road network.
Why change? New Zealand’s land transport delivery model has remained essentially unchanged since the local government amalgamations of 1989. The
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expenditure to meet New Zealand’s growing transport demands and increasing levels of service escalated significantly between 2003 and 2010. This pattern of growth was not financially sustainable. The global financial crisis of 2008 and the continuing economic impacts following in its wake forced governments worldwide to challenge their expenditure. The 2009 Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport Funding flatlined the total funding available for road maintenance and renewal activities. What’s more, it is probable that these financial constraints will continue into the foreseeable future and beyond. As a consequence the NZTA, together with Territorial Local Authorities (TLAs) and industry representatives, investigated options for improving the delivery of land transport activities in what was called the Road Maintenance Task Force (RMTF). The RMTF identified opportunities to derive better value and performance through collaboration, asset management and the consistent classification of roads and the related levels of service. Governance and implementation structures were set up jointly between the NZTA and
TLAs to pursue these opportunities. In 2012, the Road Efficiency Group (REG) was formed.
Road Efficiency Group REG is a collaborative initiative by local authorities and NZTA focusing on three key areas: • A One Network Road Classification to standardise data and create a classification system which identifies the level of service, function and use of road networks and state highways; • Best practice asset management to share best practice planning and advice with road controlling authorities; and • Collaboration with the industry and between road controlling authorities to share information, staff and management practices. The work is expected to create a number of benefits. It aims, for example, to encourage uptake of best practice models by road controlling authorities, as well as better collaboration and flexibility between road controlling authorities. Importantly, by providing the tools for a more holistic, collective way of maintaining and operating state highways and local roads in the
regions, local authorities and the NZTA can prioritise investment on the roads that need it most. REG has established working teams which offer learnings and best practice tools to local authorities. These tools are available on the REG website at www.nzta.govt.nz/reg. REG also promotes collaborative initiatives with the industry and between road controlling authorities to share information, staff and management practices. A number of practical collaborations are underway, and practice guides have been published on the REG website to offer meaningful advice for those wanting to set up collaborative initiatives.
Pressure’s on A number of factors influence local government’s roading investment and maintenance decision. From changing demographics (urbanisation and an ageing population), land-use changes such as forestry harvesting and the intensification of dairying, increasing costs of input such as materials, labour and equipment to the ageing of existing pavements and bridges and the increased stresses due to increased traffic volumes and heavy vehicles. On top of that are the ever-increasing levels of service expectations of road users – they expect a high standard of roading, and they expect to know what kind of road they will be getting if they take a certain route. From the transport infrastructure perspective, ongoing (and probably increasing) financial constraints will demand a change in thinking. It will require more sophisticated asset management and decision-making along with the use of increasingly complex technologies to improve productivity and the delivery of customer outcomes. The ONRC will be an invaluable tool for local authorities as they engage with communities over the investment decisions outlined in their activity management plans and long term plans. LG •P aul Glucina is director of the Road Efficiency Group.
IN A CLASS OF THEIR OWN The One Network Road Classification (ONRC) involves categorising roads based on the functions they perform as part of an integrated national network. It standardises data and creates a classification system which identifies the level of service, function and use of road networks and state highways. The ONRC was developed by a working group consisting of local government and NZTA representatives. After a year of engagement at workshops throughout New Zealand, the Road Efficiency Group (REG) signed off the ONRC and it was subsequently adopted by NZTA, replacing the State Highway Classification System. THE ONRC SPECIFIES THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES: • National – Roads meeting at least three of the criteria above the national thresholds. (A high volume sub-category has also been identified. In addition to meeting the national criteria, these roads also have volumes of heavy commercial vehicles and/or typical daily traffic above the high volume thresholds.) • R egional – Roads with at least two of the criteria above the regional thresholds. • Arterial – Roads with at least two of the criteria above the arterial thresholds. • Primary collector – Roads in this category must meet one criteria above the primary collector threshold. • Secondary collector – Roads in this category must meet one of the criteria above the secondary collector threshold. • Access – All remaining roads (including a low-volume sub-category of access roads). The ONRC is supported by a set of fit-for-purpose customer levels of service and related performance measures. Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) has set up a road transportation unit to assist local authorities to adopt the ONRC. Extensive information on the ONRC is available on the REG website at www.nzta.govt.nz/reg
The Road Efficiency Group’s Best Practice Asset Management working group, from left to right: Matt Grant (REG AMP project manager); Julie Muir (Central Otago District Council); Gene Ollerenshaw (Dunedin City Council); Siri Rangamuwa (Auckland Transport); Dawn Inglis (Waipa District Council); Bernie Cuttance (NZTA); Janice Brass (NZTA); Rui Leitao (Wanganui District Council); Gordon Hart (NZTA); Tony Lange (NZTA); and David Darwin (NZTA).
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DIVERSITY
VIEW FROM THE TOP An aptitude for altitude Ports of Auckland’s diversity policy is helping women reach new career highs.
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t just 21, Johanna Hofmann is thought to be the youngest female portainer crane operator in the world. She’s one of a growing number of women taking on new roles at Ports of Auckland Ltd (POAL) as part of a recent push to tap into previously hidden talent. Curious about why it had so few women in its operational area, POAL − an Auckland City council controlled organisation – had aptitude-tested all its staff for crane driving. Many people were surprised when it found its women were far more suited to the job than most men. Now, Hoffmann says she can see the sunrise and sunset from her new place of work. “And it’s a beautiful view even when it’s raining.” Hoffmann says she likes to push herself at work to learn new skills. “There’s always something you can do better and I like being better than my old self.” Hoffmann’s role is part of the reason why POAL was recently named as an Empowerment Award finalist at the ANZ Diversity Awards 2014. Presented by the Equal Employment Opportunities Trust, the awards celebrate the country’s best workplace diversity initiatives. POAL started rethinking how it rewards and advances its people back in 2011 when a new chief executive and executive team were tasked with turning the organisation’s future around.
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At the heart of that change was leadership and renewed strategic direction: including the recognition that improving diversity within the workforce was essential for growth and sustainability. Port and marine operations have always been male dominated, not just in New Zealand but in most parts of the world. POAL believed that injecting more female perspectives into its workplace could significantly impact culture to gain competitive advantage. Traditionally, the very physical requirements of the jobs meant ports were male-dominated domains. Women tended to be in administrative and support roles rather than in operational or senior positions. When women did reach senior positions they were often limited to corporate areas such as finance and communications. Before 2011 POAL had never employed a female executive. Now, the need for physical strength at ports is reducing as technology advances. With this in mind, POAL identified a new set of core competencies for each job. Statistical, logistical and problem-solving skills, with innovative and customer-focused thinking are now the key skills required. By previously overlooking women in the recruitment process, POAL realised it was reducing its potential choice of skilled workers by 50 percent. POAL addressed this skills gap by upgrading its recruitment, selection
and progression processes. It developed a new skills matrix and changed its career progression model to remove barriers to women for roles such as straddle and crane driver. The organisation also looked at leadership, appointing people to management roles based on competency. Moving away from the traditional “tap on the shoulder” promotional systems, staff members were invited to apply for the newly-defined roles. As a result, POAL appointed three women into key management positions. POAL has set up a number of programmes to support and nurture its women, for whom life in a still very maledominated environment can sometimes be a challenge. The range of initiatives has opened up career opportunities for many women in an industry where before it was not possible. Twenty women now work in POAL’s stevedoring area. While this is still a low percentage of the total stevedoring workforce, the women have already made their presence felt and productivity has risen almost 50 percent over the past three years. Women are now represented at every level of the organisation, accounting for almost a quarter of management positions and half of identified highpotential staff. POAL still has a long way to go before reaching full gender diversity, but progress so far demonstrates its topdown commitment to addressing past imbalances and the potential outcomes for the journey to come. LG
CONFLICT
Nip it in the bud
Facilitation This aims to get disputing parties to fully understand each other’s position in an effort to resolve a dispute. Mediation The aim of mediation is to get disputing parties to reach a mutually agreed outcome.
Early resolution of conflict generally results in better outcomes, says Anne Scragg.
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onflict is a fact of life in most customer-facing organisations and in nearly every workplace – in reality wherever there are people with different goals and needs. This does not necessarily spell disaster. As long as conflict is resolved effectively it can lead to improved professional relationships and organisational growth. Early resolution of conflict generally results in better outcomes because parties are not so entrenched in their positions and may be more willing to accept an outcome that meets all parties’ needs. Poor communication is often at the heart of conflict. As Boulle, Goldblatt and Green note in their text “Mediation Principles, Process, Practice”, parties in conflict tend not to communicate accurately, comprehensively or constructively, and poor communication can cause disputes to occur or escalate.
This is where a trained facilitator or mediator can add value by assisting the parties to communicate and negotiate more constructively, efficiently and productively. An independent third party such as a mediator can also assist the parties in problem solving and in reality-testing different settlement options that parties put on the table. Nevertheless, in mediation it is the parties themselves who solve the problem and very often in a creative way which satisfies their needs and interests. Sometimes parties agree on outcomes that could never be achieved through court action. However, not all disputes can be resolved consensually. Some disputes are better suited to resolution through arbitration or litigation. A dispute resolution specialist will have the skills and experience to help parties select the most appropriate resolution path for their dispute. LG
Conciliation This is a form of mediation where the conciliator may express opinions and if parties agree, will suggest settlement options. Arbitration The arbitrator is retained to decide how to settle the dispute and the decision is final and binding on the parties. It is the arbitrator, not the parties, who renders the terms and conditions of the dispute resolution. Parties in conflict often look to independent third parties to resolve their disputes. Wherever possible, however, parties should first attempt to resolve their disputes themselves (with or without external facilitation) as this has the potential not only to resolve the dispute at the lowest possible cost but also to improve relationships by satisfying the needs and interests of all parties. The conflict resolution process is not a soft option. Real commitment, patience and respect are required to make it work.
• Anne Scragg is general manager: professional excellence & innovation at FairWay Resolution.
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JEREMY ELWOOD / ON THE FUNNY STUFF COM E DIAN, ACTOR AN D WR ITE R. jeremy@jeremyelwood.com
Bravo to the theatre Oh council people, please cherish the arts.
B LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVIDES THE DAY-TO-DAY SUPPORT WHICH ALLOWS PEOPLE LIKE ME TO HAVE TRODDEN BOARDS FROM KERIKERI TO INVERCARGILL.
y the time you’re reading this, the general election will be over and the shape of our government should be decided for another term. That is, unless Winston Peters is back, in which case you may well have no idea. Either way, it means we can return to our regularly scheduled programming for the last months of the year, and for a comedian such as myself that means performing. And that means finding venues in the towns and cities of New Zealand. Thankfully, that isn’t too difficult. There are many fantastic venues scattered around our country, ranging in size, age and style from the magnificent to the modest, the state-of-the-art to the quirky. There are the grand dames such as Auckland’s Civic or Wellington’s Opera House, and then there are local gems like Tapanui’s Community Centre and Queenstown’s Memorial Hall. I have played many, many parts of New Zealand that I would have had no reason to ever visit if it wasn’t for their local performance venue, and some of them I’d even happily go back to. Venues are what bring artists to your locality, and the one thing most of them have in common is that they wouldn’t exist without the direct help of local government. When councils aren’t actively managing, operating or owning their local theatres, community halls or art spaces, they are more than likely their most important source of funding and material support. Whilst our national (note the small “n”; at the time of writing, I don’t know how the election went) government has its arts policies, and contributes to the likes of Creative NZ and NZ on Air, local government provides the
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day-to-day support which allows people like me to have trodden boards from Kerikeri to Invercargill, in spaces as opulent as Dunedin’s recently-renovated Regent Theatre right through to a thrown-together space inside Whangarei’s Old Library. But the aforementioned Regent is one example of a venue that very nearly ceased to exist a few years ago. Reeling from the final bill for their stadium, Dunedin City Council ummed and ahhed over how, or if, to fund the makeover that their jewel of a theatre desperately needed. Thankfully, common sense prevailed. The money was found (from a number of contributors) and Dunedin avoided having a huge hole in the Octagon which, if New Zealand’s history with historic places is anything to go by, would likely have been filled with a foodcourt attached to a carpark. And that brings me to my point. Whenever a community comes under financial duress, often the first suggestion of where to cut spending is to look at the arts, specifically venues. BATS and Downstage in Wellington, the Fortune Theatre and the Regent in Dunedin, the Town Hall in Christchurch – all of these wonderful spaces and more have either faced the threat or reality of funding cuts leading to closure or diminished use. With the surreal election cycle theatre behind us, and the curtain finally closed on its mix of drama, farce and, (depending on who you voted for), either triumph or tragedy, it’s worth reminding ourselves that real theatres, music venues, concert halls and community spaces are the backbone of the arts scene in New Zealand. Without them, artists cannot produce art and audiences cannot produce applause. They should be cherished. LG
SCOTT SMITH / SUSTAINABLITY M ECHAN ICAL E NG I N E E R – SUSTAI NAB I LITY R ESEARCH & DEVE LOPM E NT, AECOM.
Too important to ignore Local government can no longer treat sustainability in design as a cost.
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LEGALLY, THE CONCEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE HAS PASSED THE THRESHOLD FOR REASONABLENESS IN TERMS OF IT BEING AN OBLIGATION TO CONSIDER.
n a recent legal case in Australia, the known impacts of climate change were applied to an application for building development. The tide is turning. If it’s happening in Australia, it won’t be long before it’s happening on our shores. Climate change is fast becoming a design and build component too important to ignore. We know identifying a long-term and wideranging perspective on a project’s social, environmental and economic impacts can feel like an uphill battle. It can be difficult to reconcile capital and operating costs, and analysing a project’s broader impacts equitably can seem a near-impossible task. Often we end up creating metrics and applying systems to the problem that represent the best solutions as additional costs. This is the state of sustainability in New Zealand. Less well considered, though, is the cost of ignoring sustainability. It is likely that closing your eyes to the long-term impacts of design decisions and ignoring how your project affects society and the environment will result in large costs at the back end of that project. Cost constraints mean designers are often forced to rely on central and local governments to deliver this broader context around social initiatives, and to act as the foil for purely financial outcomes. This is most expressly presented through legal requirements and much of our project risk mitigation relies on this. When we frame sustainability as ‘risk management’, however, we start to see it in a different light. We also start to see it as a legal risk. This was highlighted in Australia last year, where the Queensland Environment Court disallowed a large integrated resort and residential community from being developed. The decision was as a result of the lack of mitigation measures around sea level rise and storm surge associated with climate change predictions for the site. It highlighted
the need for projects to consider long-term impacts and to provide mitigation measures as part of any development proposal. More importantly, the decision highlighted the fact that the knowledge we now have around climate change leaves little room for climate change denial. Legally, it’s a concept that has passed the threshold for “reasonableness” in terms of it being an obligation to consider. If you start thinking about climate change in the same way we think about tobacco, you start to see how considerable the legal risk becomes. In the future, people might ask, “was it reasonable for us to know the impacts of our decisions, and in light of this, what decisions did we make?” This means that, right now in New Zealand, we need to take a moment to apply a similar question to every project; have we been considerate enough? This is what sustainability is really about – being considerate. What matters now, what matters in the future, what matters within the boundary of your project and what matters in the broader context – it’s risk management across generations and across systems. Climate change was one of the key drivers of early sustainability thinking. While science has, perhaps ironically, had to withstand a concerted effort to discredit it, it is again climate change and the burgeoning legal obligation to develop resilient solutions that will change how we think about sustainability. Our financial, natural and social systems are interconnected and interdependent. When we support functional natural systems and healthy, resilient communities, we create a stable environment that minimises risk while protecting our visions and investments. Having a long-term perspective on development and a focus on sustainable outcomes is no longer the reserve of well capitalised projects. The risks are too high. And too real. LG OCTOBER 2014 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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LINDA O’REILLY / ON LEGAL ISSUES PARTN E R AT B ROOKFI E LDS LAWYE R S. oreilly@brookfields.co.nz
Yet to be tested Recent legislation raises questions on development contributions.
T THE NEW DEVELOPMENT CONTRIBUTIONS REGIME IS LIKELY TO GIVE RISE TO YET MORE WORK FOR THE LEGAL FRATERNITY BEFORE IT IS FULLY ASSIMILATED.
he changes to the development contributions regime introduced by the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2014 are substantial. The regime has been substantially amended. And there is now a stated purpose, which is to enable territorial authorities to recover a fair, equitable and proportionate part of the total cost of capital expenditure necessary to service growth over the long term from developers. This purpose is bolstered by a set of principles in new section 197AB that fills in some of the gaps in the legislation as it stood, and which will provide guidance in the context of development contribution policies and their application. By and large, the principles cover issues that local authorities have to date had to resolve by implication from the legislation, or from the fairly scant case law available. Principle (b), for example, says contributions should be determined in a manner that is generally consistent with the capacity life of the assets for which they are intended to be used. Whereas this may have been assumed as a consequence of the consideration of the financial management principles in section 101(3) of the Act, clarification is now provided. However, the principles are in themselves not necessarily clear-cut. The principle at paragraph (g) allows territorial authorities to group together certain developments by geographic area when calculating and requiring contributions, but subject to the proviso that, “grouping by geographic area avoids grouping across an entire district wherever practical”. Many local authorities currently use a mix of district-wide and limited geographic catchments. In some cases their rationale for district-wide catchments may be questionable. But in other cases there may seem to be good reason for a district-wide catchment – for example an integrated wastewater reticulation system across an entire urban area – and it is unclear whether the “practical” test is met. Other types of development are even more problematic. Community infrastructure is often provided as destination venues to serve
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the population growth of an entire district. Is it “practical” to avoid a district-wide network in favour of separate location-based catchments in these circumstances? There is also the interesting question of whether, and if so how, local authorities demonstrate having taken into account the principles in the preparation of a development contribution policy. These comments go no further than the opening section to the development contribution provisions, but we expect many other amendments to give rise to questions as amendments are made to development contributions policies to give effect to the new provisions. Not least of the areas likely to give rise to difficulties are sections 199A to 119P introducing a statutory regime for reconsideration of development contribution requirements, and objections to the assessed amount of a development contribution. These provisions impose a heavy administrative burden on local authorities, and will require extreme care in their application from a procedural point of view. Nor will they necessarily avoid the threat of judicial review in respect of development contribution requirements. Objections will be determined by independent development contribution commissioners. The right of an objector to apply for judicial review of a decision by a development contributions commissioner is protected, as is the interesting possibility of a territorial authority applying for judicial review of such a decision. There is also a ton of work for territorial authorities in complying with the schedule of assets required under section 201A, notwithstanding our view that such information ought already to have been collated and used in the preparation of existing development contribution policies. The new regime is undoubtedly more complete, and hopefully more robust, than previously, and the inclusion of specific provisions for private development agreements is welcome. Even so it is likely to give rise to yet more work for the legal fraternity before it is fully assimilated. LG
JEREMY SOLE / FROM CIVIL CONTRACTORS NZ EXECUTIVE OFFICE R, CIVI L CONTRACTOR S NZ. jeremy@civilcontractors.co.nz
Dollars down the drain Together we can break the sad cycle of lost opportunity.
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TODAY’S PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT ISSUES – AND TODAY’S MAINTENANCE AND CONSTRUCTION OUTCOMES – ARE FACTORED INTO TOMORROW’S TENDER DOCUMENTS, BIDS AND PERFORMANCE.
ere’s a riddle for you. What goes down the drain and has nothing to show at the other end? Well, there are lots of possible answers to this one but the one I’m looking for is money wasted on poor procurement practices. On closer examination, I guess there are actually some things coming out the other end and they are poor relationships, a lack of trust, and unnecessarily expensive maintenance and capital works costs. This is a perennial problem for the civil contracting industry and it costs local authorities, contractors and ratepayers tens of millions of dollars every year for no good reason. While it has been inferred that this problem is a function of council size and inability to secure appropriate expertise as a function of scale, we often find this is not the case. Two of the most significant procurement problems we are dealing with at present are flowing from the other end of the scale – and one of the best in the business is a relatively small provincial council. The problem often stems from a lack of awareness that contractors, consultants and councils live in a more or less closed ecosystem where cause and effect can be immediate and have long cycle times – and the connections are not always obvious. What I mean is that the stuff mentioned above that comes out the other end of the drain is also the next cycle’s input. Or, put in other words, today’s procurement and contract management issues – and today’s maintenance and construction outcomes – are factored into tomorrow’s tender documents, bids and performance. Each party needs to understand this system dynamic and to understand the others’ quirks and internal
dynamics if this ecosystem is to function cleanly and be self-regenerating. I was very much heartened recently when the NZTA state highways team approached us to contribute to some workshops on commercial acumen being run for their regional teams. These workshops came out of industry surveys last year where the contracting industry suggested that if the procurement and contract management people better understood the commercial aspects of running a contracting business, they would be more likely to structure their own interventions and activities in a way that worked for all the stakeholders without disadvantaging themselves. Our experience is that this alone can save as much as two percent on procurement costs – and has subsequent flow-on effects in terms of lower bids at the tender box as a result of better understanding and trust. (As an aside, my spell check just tried to change tender box to tinder box.) Our organisation is always working with a range of councils in the procurement space and we always find that developing a trusting relationship and openness between client councils, contractors and consultants paves the way for healthy and innovative processes and outcomes. You’ve probably read my columns many times as I bang on about this topic but it is important. Things are definitely improving in many local ecosystems but there is still a long way to go. My advice, and my plea, is that local authorities and contractors remain proactive in working towards a clean and healthy capital works and maintenance procurement and delivery environment for the benefit of everyone. LG
OCTOBER 2014 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE
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LAWRENCE YULE / FROM LGNZ PR ESI DE NT OF LOCAL G OVE R N M E NT N EW Z EALAN D (LG NZ). lawrence.yule@hdc.govt.nz
What’s reported gets done Why audit and risk committees are so important.
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HAVING AN AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF GOVERNANCE SETS THE TONE FOR AN ORGANISATION – IT HIGHLIGHTS WHAT’S IMPORTANT
ike most people, I was very surprised to hear recently of the long-term fraud at Dunedin City Council regarding the unauthorised sale of council vehicles. This unfortunate activity highlights the criticality of having effective financial processes and procedures. But for me the biggest take-out is the stark need to ensure every council has an audit and risk committee at its highest levels of governance. Why? Because this sets the tone for an organisation – it highlights what’s important. Here we need to consider the old adage: what gets reported gets done. Dunedin City was in the process of tightening up its governance structure when the fraud was discovered. It had agreed in late 2013 to set up an audit and risk committee, which it sought independent membership for, and was in the process of improving its processes such as segregation of duties, contracting oversight, conflicts of interest and other matters. In August this year, the results of a three month-long independent investigation by accounting and advisory firm Deloitte revealed that 152 council-owned vehicles had been sold and fraud worth more than $1.5 million had taken place over a decade. While fraud can occur in any business or organisation, that such a thing could happen over so many years and go undetected was mind-boggling to me. It was heartening to see that in response, Dunedin City Council acted swiftly to strengthen audit and risk processes. The council updated its whistleblower policy and reviewed its risk management framework. It introduced a new audit and risk subcommittee with an independent chair, and is in the process of appointing a dedicated risk and internal audit manager. All tenders
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awarded are now published on its website for increased transparency, and it is launching a fraud awareness campaign including training for all staff. As well as being an ethical requirement for local authorities, appropriate audit and risk is also a legal requirement. The Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) requires a local authority to manage its revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities, investments and general financial dealings prudently and in a manner that promotes the current and future interests of the community. LGNZ has a strong focus on audit and risk as part of our work to strengthen governance and performance across the sector. It’s one of the key reasons we formed a partnership with the Institute of Directors. Earlier this year, we published the Local Government Audit & Risk Management Guide which explains the duties of audit and risk committees in plain English. LGNZ’s training arm KnowHow offers a high-level workshop on audit and risk committees, roles and functions. Having up-to-date and effective audit processes in place is vital and we need to ensure best practice is followed. To assist councils, we have put in place services through our Centre of Excellence EquiP that provides hands-on assistance in establishing an audit and risk committee and embeds best practice audit, risk and financial reporting. With correct governance in place, a cornerstone of transparent and successful local government is solid financial reporting. With staff and elected member awareness, appropriate processes in place and adherence to best practice, audit and risk can be strengthened. It is vital all areas of local government prioritise this, to ensure the chance of something like this happening again is minimised. LG
Sustainable funding for communities across all of New Zealand One of LGNZ’s key policy priorities is developing a sustainable funding model for local government. The sustainability of local government funding has become an increasingly important policy issue in the face of demographic and economic change. In response, LGNZ is undertaking a review of local government funding to identify new funding options and alternatives that can complement councils’ current funding tools. More than half the population growth in New Zealand during the five years to 2013 occurred in Auckland, while large parts of the South Island experienced little or no growth. Christchurch faces its own unique economic and demographic challenges while the city is rebuilt. The Royal Society of New Zealand’s publication Our Futures Te Pae Tawhiti states that areas with flat demographic trends will become more common in future. A number of factors contribute to the changing populations of regions, including where jobs are located. Changes in industries can have significant impact on regions. “…a few years ago Tauranga was expected to become essentially a retirement location, not a major port and service centre,” The Royal Society of New Zealand’s report says. “Havelock North and Ashburton were regarded similarly, but the wine industry and dairying respectively have changed their current circumstances dramatically. Dairying has similarly changed Southland’s prospects.” Rapidly growing areas may face large, lumpy infrastructure demands. However, there may be other councils which do not have a sufficient rating base to maintain an
acceptable level of services and infrastructure for their communities in the medium to long term. A lack of property wealth can mean less ability to fund services to levels of expected standards. A number of reasons contribute to a region’s sustainability being at risk in the medium to long-term including a low population or small base to spread costs over. Low population density will mean that infrastructure costs tend to be higher per capita, and low or negative projected population growth means that these situations are unlikely to improve. Where populations are flat, declining or ageing, councils have smaller and low income populations over which to spread the cost of infrastructure maintenance and renewal. New Zealand’s regions need to be places that are attractive for investment, where businesses can see the potential for growth in the longer term. LGNZ Chief Executive Malcolm Alexander says low incomes, property values and economic growth relative to the rest of the country all contribute to a lack of sustainability. “Individual ratepayers within a district may struggle to afford rates, including those who
are asset rich but with low cash incomes such as retired people and those with large landholdings. Higher than average rates as a percentage of the local median income and low realisable assets per person held by the council are also significant factors,” Mr Alexander says. Strong local government governance and financial performance plays a big part in regional sustainability, as councils need to enact responsible stewardship of assets and services. Councils need to make prudent financing decisions for intergenerational assets, use innovation in procurement practices and utilise assets well to provide better results for communities. The LGNZ Local Government Funding Review is looking at new funding options and alternatives that can complement councils’ current funding tools, with a focus on developing a strategy and model that is sustainable in the long-term. It will consider demographic trends, infrastructure needs and environmental risks that are likely to affect the resource base of local government and the life of existing infrastructure. The Review’s Working Group’s consultation paper will be published in November.
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Strengthening Sector Performance Road Transportation Unit EquiP’s Road Transportation Unit has experts on hand to provide councils and their leadership teams around the country with customised assistance for best practice around roading. The Unit was formed out of the partnership between EquiP, LGNZ’s Centre of Excellence, and the NZ Transport Agency to embed best practice in road asset management. It aims to give councillors, chairs and mayors the knowledge that their council is planning for, and delivering best practice in activity management planning and that value for money is being delivered with fit for purpose levels of service. Activity management plans are required under the Local Government Act and provide a planning framework for councils. The Road Transportation Unit supports with both governance and management as councils implement transitional activity management plans. Roading Efficiency Group member David Fraser says that the Road Transportation Unit service is an excellent resource for local engineers and council staff. “It allows people to tap in to tailored expert advice and resources
Who’s sharpening the tools of our sector?
for best practice guidance around planning, procurement and the successful stewardship of local roads,” Mr Fraser says. EquiP has commissioned proven roading engineers and economic modelling professionals to offer councillors and management hands-on support to assess their readiness to implement the One Network Road Classification. These experts offer peer-to-peer style mentoring to review and update a council’s infrastructure plans and activity, to ensure a fit for purpose roading network and economic development modelling is in place. Supporting e-learning, webinars and online tools will be available as the service develops. “EquiP saw a need among councils to have expert assistance when updating activity management plans to the high standard the local government sector wants. Good activity management plans that will serve a community into the future are complex and look at a number of different factors,” EquiP Manager of Business Solutions Dr Steven Finlay says. “They need to look at how transport demand is assessed and how the condition of roading assets is monitored. They need to detail procedures a council has in place for procurement, asset maintenance, renewal and replacement, and show what estimated costs are and how these will be met. The Road Transportation Unit can help with all the finer points of submitting activity management plans.”
Transitioning to sector best practice EquiP’s Road Transportation Unit assists the implementation of best practice to deliver results in: • Infrastructure planning and management; • Investment business case tools; • Land use changes; • Valuing depreciation; • Whole of life optimisation; • Leveraging emerging best practice; and • Operational cost savings.
< EquiP saw a need among councils to have expert assistance when updating activity management plans. > 46
Designing systems and processes for managing conflict and disputes Conflict can occur in any business or organisation and it usually results in productivity being dragged down. EquiP is working in partnership with FairWay to help local government better manage conflict – enabling councils to improve capability and build trust in relationships for stronger governance and performance across the sector.
Advising staff in conflict
Building capability
Customer complaints handling systems
Working with KnowHow, FairWay has designed a training programme for local government to build new ways of negotiating, communicating and working with stakeholders, to reduce conflict.
Customer concerns and complaints provide a valuable opportunity for councils to engage with their customers and improve customer advocacy as well as a critical source of intelligence for continuous improvement.
The module topics are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Working with complaints, complainants & difficult people – half day Conflict communication and constructive conversations – half day Facilitation and mediation – process and skills – full day Negotiation – local government and stakeholders – full day Designing systems and processes for managing conflict and disputes – full day Personal safety is not an accident – strategies for working with stress and emotion – half day
The first workshop, working with complaints, complainants & difficult people, is being run on Thursday 20 November in Wellington, Tuesday 25 November in Auckland and Wednesday 26 November in Christchurch. Registrations can be made via the KnowHow calendar of events. Mediation of disputes FairWay and EquiP believe there is real opportunity for specialist mediation services to be provided in earlier stages of the council planning processes, where earlier intervention can provide parties with the opportunity to at least narrow the issues – if not resolve them – therefore reducing costs, saving time and making the process much less stressful. We have identified the best specialist Resource Management Act and local government mediators in New Zealand and invited them to join a panel set up specifically for local government work. FairWay’s extensive experience managing similar panels of mediators means councils can rely on a seamless, high quality mediation service. Facilitation of meetings Having independent facilitators managing the interaction between councils and communities – or even intra-council meetings – is becoming more important as critical issues become more complex. Whether the forum is a public meeting where the purpose is to communicate council policies, or whether it is a senior management team strategy planning session, the value of a well-briefed, independent facilitator should not be under-estimated. Facilitators bring skills in helping parties declare their interests early, communicate constructively, find creative solutions and resolve conflict early.
Conflict coaching is a one-on-one service that will help council staff to understand conflict, and to quickly build the skills and competencies to manage conflict effectively. The conflict coaching model provides a future, results, and goal-oriented approach that combines coaching, and conflict management principles. It is designed to help reduce the confusion that people often experience when in conflict and gain increased confidence and competence to engage more effectively at these times.
Yet research has shown that customers don’t complain because they think it’s not worth the time and effort, they don’t know how or where to complain, or they believe the organisation would be indifferent to them. As a general rule, less than 2 per cent of customers register complaints, despite 25 per cent feeling dissatisfied. For councils, this adds up to public disengagement, and potentially voter apathy. EquiP and FairWay can help mitigate these outcomes.
Upcoming KnowHow workshops 7 October: Getting the Most out of your CCO’s / Wellington Successful CCOs (Council Controlled Organisations) can help your local authority make a more valuable contribution to your area’s economic development. However, the divisions between local and corporate governance are not always straightforward and the responsibilities of a director can be complex. We’ll familiarise you with different legislation and review the role of a director of a CCO. 15 October: Financial Governance 101 / Rotorua Your local community rely on you to make wise financial choices, but local government finances can often be difficult to interpret and manage. This workshop helps you navigate often complex financial jargon and gives you the confidence to question and inform financial decisions. We use your own council’s Long Term Plan as a basis for the training, so you get a greater understanding of your local situation. 16 October: Decision-making / Auckland Making clear and informed decisions is a critical part of your role as an elected member. You need to understand the decision-making process, so that you can make the right decisions for your local community. We cover a full range of issues in this workshop. Topics include decision-making and the law; principles, practices and protocols for decision-making; decision-making roles and responsibilities. To register for KnowHow workshops please visit www.lgnz.co.nz/equip-and-knowhow/
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The Final Word The importance of planning ahead for economic cycles When business is booming for industries, surrounding communities benefit. Although industrial activity can place pressure on community infrastructure, an upside of booming businesses is that they usually employ local residents. This results in downstream benefits as workers in turn line the pockets of landlords, restaurant owners and local retailers in the community where they live and work. However, economic cycles that have ups will also experience down periods. When downturns hit as business dries up or companies shift direction, communities can suffer as a result. Locals may find themselves unemployed, and that creates a wider problem for the region of how to create and retain a vibrant community in the long term. Extractive industries are an example of businesses that have a strong impact on communities. In Waihi, gold mining contributes 26 per cent of the region’s GDP. Hauraki District Council Mayor John Tregidga says that if the Newmont Waihi Gold Mine were to close, the community would take a hard hit. “When extractive industries are doing well, it’s a boom situation and everybody’s doing well. But at some point they can close or a company decides to move on, and there are many reasons for that, not just the end of the minerals, a number of mines around the world are closing due to strong adjustments in the price of gold,” Mayor Tregidga says.
< LGNZ is advocating that a share of the royalties paid to central government should go towards supporting the communities where extraction occurs. >
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“Communities need some resilience so that when that happens, they don’t fall over and there is opportunity for those communities to continue on. It is important to plan ahead for changes in the economic cycle.” In Waihi, a community group uses funds from the Australian-owned mining company towards projects such as improving areas impacted by mining and creating green spaces, to support a thriving and sustainable community. However, these funds are paid at the mining company’s discretion and would end when extraction stops. During the 19th century gold rush in Otago, funds from mining contributed to building Otago University which continues to have a strong positive impact on the regional economy today. Waihi has built a Gold Discovery Centre as a major attraction that will benefit the town long term, funded by council and a $1.8 million special contribution from central government. Royalties payments could have contributed towards funding this and other similar projects for the community. In Taranaki, more than 5,500 jobs exist as a direct or indirect result of mining. South Taranaki has long enjoyed a relationship with oil and gas. South Taranaki District Council Chief Executive Craig Stevenson says that the region is heavily impacted by the boom and bust nature of extraction. “Every year, hundreds of workers fill hotels and restaurants, but there are also some downsides. It’s great for the hotel owner but not if you’re trying to organise accommodation for a visiting sports team or family reunion. Rental spikes from demand are great if you’re a property owner, not if you’re renting. This kind of boom bust type cycle is very difficult to plan for,” Mr Stevenson says. Local government is responsible for infrastructure, local roads and community assets throughout the changing stages of economic cycles so it is vital the sector plans ahead. LGNZ is advocating that a share of the royalties paid to central government should go towards supporting the communities where extraction occurs. This will assist in long term planning that will help regions attract new projects, industries and investments in future, for vibrant communities in the longer term.
Photo: Newmont Waihi Gold Mine
REFLECTIONS ON UPSTREAM ENERGY IS THE MAGAZINE FOR ALL UPSTREAM ENERGY INDUSTRY SECTORS. OIL & GAS IN FOCUS
The upstream energy industry’s only print magazine is now published four times a year and each issue has a distinct commercial theme.
Vol.8 No.2 2014
Summer (January) PERSPECTIVES
An annual report on the country’s upstream energy sectors written by selected association chiefs, expert commentators and industry representatives, who reflect on the previous year and ‘forecast’ the coming year. Described as the ‘primer’ for the country’s upstream energy scene.
Autumn (April) OIL & GAS IN FOCUS
An annual review of our petroleum and hydro-carbon industry, with a focus on large projects and activity sites around the Taranaki region, and exploration and future plans in other prospective regions.
INNOVATIONS & TRENDS Vol.8 No.2 2014
Winter (July) INNOVATIONS & TRENDS
Looking at upstream energy sectors in terms of innovations and trends in project design, plant building and project operations. We cover equipment, technology, software, methodology, operational trends, and look at what’s around the corner for our future.
Spring (October) AUTOMATION
A wide review of automation processes in all upstream energy sectors. AUTOMATION Vol.8 No.2 2014
New subscribers Make sure you get every issue of EnergyNZ magazine. Email admin@contrafed.co.nz with all your details including your name, address, postcode and EnergyNZ in the subject line. An annual subscription only costs $30 (including GST and postage within NZ).
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