Educating through engagement at North Island Trade Days

The third week of November 2020 saw Fencing Contractors NZ tour the North Island with a series of Fencing Trade Days (now to be called Best Practice Days), which saw high attendance levels and plenty of interest from the wider fencing community.

Our North Island based Board members turned out in force – their presence really strengthens the engagement between FCNZ and its members (and potential members) but also between FCNZ and our corporate partners as well, so we are grateful to Debbie White, Shaun Davies, Shane Beets, Phil Cornelius and Donna Upton for the time and effort invested in attending.

HEALTH & SAFETY

Health and Safety was at the forefront of all activities, with Matt Andrews from Rural Safe attending all three days. We were also lucky to have Debbie Robertson and the full Rural Safe team join us at the Reporoa day. It was great to have Rural Safe instigating conversations about incorporating good health & safety practice into daily habits, from Toolbox meetings with staff, to Start Up checks on tractors and post drivers.

John Noakes in demonstration mode, Huntly

Another theme to the days was the benefit and availability of NZQA qualifications to the fencing industry. FCNZ and NorthTec are working hard to get a pathway for qualification implemented and commenced in 2021 and it was a good opportunity to share with those in attendance the plans for NZQA Certificate in Fencing Level 3 and Level 4 and discuss why and how having an education pathway will raise the professionalism of the trade and ultimately benefit the fencing industry as a whole. We are grateful to NorthTec for attending (especially Melissa Bayley who was suffering horrendous toothache!).

Special thanks go to our host John Noakes, who always does an excellent job keeping these events flowing and engaging, and to our Demonstrators for each day, who have donated their time (and often several members of their team’s time) to co-ordinate and deliver each of these successful days.

Craig Shortall in action, Halcombe

Trying out the Stockade tools, Reporoa

CONTOUR FENCING

Tony White and the team from White Fencing put on a fantastic demonstration of the various issues to consider when fencing to contour in Huntly. Neil Robertson of Fensin (with assistance from Board member Shaun Davies) created a wonderfully interactive day in Reporoa (in between sheltering from the downpours), with plenty of engagement with attendees on the fence line and testing out tools. Craig Shortall from Shortall Fencing and former FCNZ President Mike Billinghurst also did a great job demonstrating the installation of a netting fence to a hillside line and the challenges that can create, with plenty of collaboration from partners and attendees at Halcombe.

Huntly Pre-Start discussion led by Tony White, Matt Andrews and John Noakes

Practicing the art of wire-tying, Reporoa

PERMAPINE TOUR

In Reporoa attendees also had the opportunity to tour the PermaPine site, and hear about the challenges and opportunities the business faces in its every-day business, and the initiatives being undertaken to improve the production and environmental impact of the business. Our thanks to Ian Piebenga and Warwick Clark for making this possible.

It was great to have a wider selection of partners joining us at these days – being able to develop a one-to-one relationship with a manufacturer/supplier is of huge benefit to both fencing contractors and the partner company so we are keen for more partners to join our future Best Practice Days.

Thank you to Gallagher, Stockade, Summit Steel & Wire, Waratah, Beattie Insulators, Rural Safe, Delfast and Kyne Equipment for exhibiting and contributing to our days and Kinghitter and Strainrite for your attendance and support. Thanks also go to Farmlands for providing the BBQ at all three events and catering for Huntly and Halcombe, and to Stockade and Waratah for sponsoring the coffee cart at Reporoa and Halcombe.

Our next Fencing Best Practice Days will be in Southland and Palmerston in April. See www.fcanz.co.nz for more information – we look forward to seeing you there.

John Noakes welcomes attendees in Reporoa