Asia Pacific Infrastructure March 2016

AsiaPacific

INFRASTRUCTURE March 2016

Volume 6 No 1

Land and Water

Forum Report

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Climate change challenges • Cyber Security Strategy

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FIRST WORD >> State of the nation

Plenty of projects in the pipeline The government will invest billions of dollars in upgrading New Zealand’s infrastructure over the next several years, the Prime Minister promises

T

he massive spending programme is a continuation of the current administration’s commitment to infrastructural development, he maintains.

“The National government has invested $4.5 billion in roads of national significance since it took office in 2008,” Key claimed in his recent “State of the Nation” speech in Auckland. “Central and local government have together allocated $8.8 billion for local roads.”

Auckland alone has seen the completion of the Victoria Park Tunnel, the Upper Harbour Highway and the replacement of the Newmarket Viaduct. “Taxpayers have also invested $3.2 billion in rail, including metro rail in Auckland and Wellington,” he adds.

In addition, the government has provided over $1.7 billion to roll out ultra-fast broadband, $400 million for rural broadband and committed around $17 billion to the Canterbury rebuild.

Looking forward, Key promises his government will invest another $11.5 billion in capital projects over the next two years alone. “This amounts to a significant investment in New Zealand’s future.”

Important infrastructure projects include Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL), one of New Zealand’s largest transport projects with an estimated cost of around $2.5 billion.

The 3.4 kilometre underground line will run from Britomart station through the CBD to connect with the existing western line at Mt Eden station, saving commuters travelling between Henderson and the planned Aotea Station an average 17 minutes per trip.

Key recalls that government was committed to a joint business plan for the Rail Link with Auckland Council in 2017, and had agreed to provide a share of funding for construction to start in 2020.

“We were prepared to consider an earlier start if Auckland’s rail patronage and CBD employment hit certain thresholds committed to by the Auckland Council,” he adds.

CBD employment levels are still some way from the 25 per cent growth threshold, but strong growth in rail patronage since 2013 means it will reach the 20 million annual trip level well before 2020. “It’s become clear that we need to provide certainty for other planned CBD developments affected by

4 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

The National government has invested $4.5 billion in roads of national significance since it took office in 2008, says Prime Minister John Key

the Rail Link,” Key concedes.

The government will therefore work with the council to bring forward the business plan and formalise its funding commitment from 2020.

“The council has indicated this would allow construction of the Rail Link’s main works to start in 2018 – at least two years earlier than currently envisaged.”

It would also allow the council to get on with negotiating contracts and providing certainty for investors in other important Auckland CBD projects.

These include the $350 million NDG Auckland Centre next to the new Aotea Station and the $680 million Commercial Bay tower opposite Britomart.

Timely confirmation of these and other projects, alongside the Rail Link, will encourage more people, businesses and jobs into the heart of Auckland, Key believes.

“It should also reduce the period of disruption in the central city by concentrating construction over a shorter timeframe.”

He notes, however, that government still needs to work through “a number of important and quite complex issues” with the council.

“These include how project costs will be finally shared between the government and the council and how the Rail Link will be owned and managed,” Key explains.

“Providing these issues are resolved - and I’m confident they can be - we’ll aim to fi-

nalise the business plan later this year.”

Other significant government transport projects in Auckland include the East-West Connection between the Southern and South-Western motorways, which is estimated to cost over $1 billion.

The complex project is a priority because it will improve travel and freight times in a busy part of the city and provide much better access between the eastern suburbs and the airport. “We consider it a project of national significance.”

The East-West Connection will go through a “streamlined” consenting process later this year to bring forward its construction.

“That means a consenting decision will need to be made within nine months of application.”

The government intends to fund the EastWest Connection through the Land Transport Fund so construction can start as early as 2018. “I’ve asked ministers and officials for advice on how this can be managed and achieved.”

The Transport Agency will start early project work later this year on widening State Highway 20 between Neilson Street and Queenstown Road, which is integral to the wider East-West Connection and will support traffic growth when the Waterview Tunnels open.

“All up, over the next three years, around $4.2 billion will be invested in transport in and around Auckland,” Key promises.

March 2016

Major developments underway or planned include: • the Western Ring Route that is “on track” for completion by 2019 • the $200 million Te Atatu and Lincoln interchanges that will open in March • the $1.4 billion Waterview Connection that is expected to open early next year • the $1.3 billion Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative - stage one has been completed and work has started on designing and consenting stage two • the $268 million Southern Motorway upgrade that started in October and is scheduled for completion in late 2018 • the Northern Motorway Upgrade slated to start in 2018 to connect with the Western Ring Route and complete the Northern Busway Extension to Albany.

These projects underscore the government’s strong backing of Auckland, Key claims, though he admits regional communities and businesses also need modern infrastructure that’s fit for purpose. “The government is investing heavily in rural broadband and we’re developing regional highways.”

His administration’s “accelerated” regional roading package in 2014 aimed to bring forward construction of regional highway projects that had previously struggled to attract national funding. “Five of these projects are either finished or underway.”

The Transport Agency has also confirmed up to $115 million in funding for a further four projects, including bridge replacements and safety improvements in Horowhenua, the West Coast, Northland and Taranaki.

The two largest will be in Taranaki, where modern bypasses will allow motorists to avoid Mount Messenger and the Awakino Tunnel. “These new projects were not envisaged when we announced the regional roading programme two years ago,” he explains. “Construction of the bypasses is expected to start in the next two years, bringing huge benefits to Taranaki.”

The Western Ring Route that is on track for completion by 2019 is just one of numerous projects that will change the face of Auckland forever In addition, the government will provide funding to replace the single-lane Motu Bridge on State Highway 2 near Gisborne with a new two-lane bridge. “We’ll also replace the Opawa Bridge on State Highway 1 near Blenheim with a safer bridge to accommodate increasing traffic volumes in Marlborough,” Key adds.

His government is also tackling the housing supply problem – an especially long-standing issue in Auckland. “There is no quick fix,” the prime minister maintains.

“That’s been the experience in fast-growing overseas cities.”

Progress is being made, with around 9,000 building consents issued in Auckland in the year to November. “That’s the highest figure for just over 11 years, although it’s still short of the 13,000 new houses forecast to be needed each year.”

Officials estimate government-initiated projects will deliver at least 10,000 extra houses in Auckland by 2020 – including developments at Hobsonville Point and Tamaki.

The government’s National Construction Pipeline Report predicts an extra 80,000 new homes will be built in Auckland in the six years to 2020 – more than double the

rate of the preceding six years.

One priority is reforming the Resource Management Act to support more housing alongside better environmental management, Key states. “We introduced legislation just before Christmas and it’s currently before select committee,” he says. “It’s important we improve the RMA so we can tackle planning issues standing in the way of getting houses built faster.”

Another priority is working intensively with the Auckland Council and others to free up land so more houses can be built sooner.

That includes the Auckland Housing Accord, which has seen almost 24,000 dwellings and sections consented in its first two years with a target of 39,000 consents before the end of this year.

“We’ve set up 106 Special Housing Areas in Auckland,” Key notes. “And we’re working to resolve issues such as infrastructure development and building sector capacity.”

For its part, the government is currently identifying surplus Crown land that can be freed for new housing. “We’ll soon be in a position to make further announcements about the first projects,” Key promises.

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COMMENT >> Infrastructure

Major Projects New Zealand: a new approach to infrastructure procurement Hamish Glenn Senior Policy Advisor, NZCID How does the government buy a road? How does it pay for it? Who is responsible if it floods, cracks or subsides?

B

ringing all the skills and resources, from constructors to financiers and designers to planners together to turn political commitments and strategic plans into basic services is project procurement.

Individual transport, health, energy, education, corrections, water, defence and housing agencies procure major public capital projects in New Zealand. Each body follows its own processes, sources its own funding and engages its own suppliers. Opportunities to develop expertise in procurement are limited by the quantity and frequency with which capital projects are delivered, and a comparatively narrow range of procurement models is employed.

The approach does not appear to be working as well as it could. A 2015 New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development (NZCID) survey of infrastructure suppliers (including contractors, designers, financiers and consultants) found that less than one-quarter of respondents rated public sector project procurement expertise as good, compared to 53 per cent for private sector procurement.

Only one public agency, the New Zealand Transport Agency, was consistently rated by delivery partners as performing at a ‘good’ 4 out of 5-star level across 19 different procurement activities. Overall public sector performance was rated between 2 and 3 out of 5, with underwhelming performance across categories including bid-cost reduction and whole-of-life cost evaluation.

A recent NZCID delegation to Canada discovered a different approach. There, specialists within one independent government agency oversee the procurement and delivery of major public projects, regardless of portfolio and sector. They provide a single interface for the market, arrange financing and structure overall procurement, seeking to achieve the best possible result.

In delivering more projects more often,

6 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

centralised, specialist procurement bodies like Partnerships British Columbia and Infrastructure Ontario develop a breadth of experience that is not easily achieved inside a single portfolio with limited project opportunities. Greater experience translates to productivity improvements as understanding among practitioners grows of the most efficient means to purchase capital services. Learnings are carried over from project to project as well as across sectors, spreading knowledge transfer and driving continuous improvement.

Infrastructure Ontario Infrastructure Ontario is a Crown corporation owned by the Province of Ontario that provides a wide range of services to support the Ontario government’s initiatives to modernise and maximise the value of public infrastructure.

Infrastructure Ontario’s main project responsibilities include: • leading and implementing the procurement process • assisting project owners with bid documents, including design and output specifications • receiving and evaluating submissions • negotiating and awarding contracts • project managing the construction of the project at the request of the project owner.

Enhanced experience and specialisation not only improves the procurement process, it increases the number of tools in the toolbox. A variety of procurement models have evolved in Canada in response to constant improvements in institutional understanding. Different combinations of the design, build, finance, maintain and operate project components may be bundled together; and capital, either public or private, is deployed according to value for

money achieved through risk transfer.

Both the range of models and the depth of capability available enable public authorities to refine procurement to promote public objectives. Together, this makes the Canadian approach significantly more flexible and better placed to insulate the taxpayer from project issues.

The creation of a dedicated expert agency to procure all major public projects also improves the functioning of the infrastructure market. A single point of contact and interface with suppliers, familiar with market dynamics and public processes and experienced in procurement, provides more consistent and accessible messaging around the needs, timing, priorities and aspirations of public clients. Key suppliers domestically and globally can be targeted by public officials who understand both market capability and public needs.

Partnerships BC

Established in 2002, Partnerships BC supports the public sector in meeting its infrastructure needs by providing leadership, expertise and consistency in the procurement of complex capital projects by utilising private sector innovation, services and capital to deliver measureable benefits for taxpayers. Partnerships BC is owned by the Province of British Columbia and governed by a Board of Directors reporting to its sole shareholder, the Minister of Finance. It has delivered 40 projects to date with a combined project value of $17 billion.

The ability to proactively engage potential as well as established partners and reach out to new suppliers improves competition. The transfer of ideas and technol-

Continued on page 8 March 2016

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Continued from page 6 ogy across borders and sectors helps drive innovation and realise efficiencies. Consolidation of major capital programmes facilitates development of a transparent, stable and deliverable project pipeline. The pipeline, in turn, gives confidence to the market that a missed tender opportunity can soon be recuperated. The result is more private investment, lower-cost projects and higher performing solutions.

Institutional efficiency stemming from the Canadian approach is illustrated in comparisons of Public Private Partnership (PPP) procurement (monitoring of traditional procurement is poor, globally). A 2010 KPMG report found PPP processes were more rapid in Canada (taking on average 16 months to move from the release of tender documents to financial close) versus Australia (17 months) and the UK (34 months).

Faster processes were at least partly responsible for reducing costs to suppliers.

The same KPMG report found Canadian bid costs to be around half that needed to tender for similar projects in Australia (which is itself a world leader in PPPs).

Canadian officials highlight the importance of a strong project pipeline, strict adherence to project timetables, standard8 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

ised documentation and the requirement for only around 30 percent of design completed through tendering phases as critical to containing bid costs.

The result is that on projects above $100 million Canadian agencies expect whole-

“An independent, specialised procurement body for all major capital projects across New Zealand provides a significant opportunity to lower costs to public agencies and deliver better public services” of-life savings from PPPs to normally exceed 10 per cent compared to traditional procurement.

A New Zealand agency operating as a centre of expertise for major project procurement across the country could achieve better value for money for the government and taxpayers. Building off the National Infrastructure Unit in Treasury, Major Projects New Zealand would advise government on major projects, including procurement

options, and manage complex project delivery. It would interface with the market, arrange finance and monitor project progress through and post construction.

There is even an opportunity to take the Canadian model a step further. The Canadian approach is focused on value for money, on time, on budget project delivery and is less geared towards aspirational social and economic outcomes. New Zealand’s PPP unit, in contrast, has developed a strong reputation for outcome-based projects like the Wiri Prison, which is targeting reduced recidivism.

Major Projects New Zealand could become a world leader in the integration of complex public objectives with efficient project procurement and delivery. Coordinated transport and land use development to achieve urban regeneration as well as housing initiatives that rebuild communities and other capital-led social transformation programmes could become the speciality of Major Projects New Zealand.

An independent, specialised procurement body for all major capital projects across New Zealand provides a significant opportunity to lower costs to public agencies and deliver better public services. Major Projects New Zealand should be established without delay.

March 2016

CONSTRUCTION >> Site Safety

Safe site efficiency is INTAKS’ business

With the new Health and Safety at Work Act coming into effect from 4 April, there is more emphasis than ever on keeping it safe at work

I

NTAKS NZ has been forging the way forward with regard to safety and innovation with their multi award winning scaffold and edge protection system.

The building and construction industries are fraught with risk and until recently most solutions to hazards only minimised the risks rather than eliminating them.

One of the most dangerous parts of the construction process is the installation of guardrails on the gables of roofs.

Installers have to scale to the apex of the roof in order to install or dismantle the guardrails on gables.

This practice has multiple fall hazards as the installer has minimal footing to stand on since the roof is not usually installed at this stage and is, at times, climbing the trusses.

The risk is further increased

March 2016

during the dismantle as the installer will be removing the guardrails from a new roof, which is usually slippery, and often after the lower edge protection has been taken down since the gable scaffold is usually the last to be removed.

In response to this, INTAKS launched the Apex Post a little under a year ago – a solution that completely eliminates the serious risk that faces installers when installing and dismantling guardrails on gables by allowing them to install the guardrails from the safety of the platform.

“Since launching the Apex Post in April 2015, the feedback we have had has been extremely positive, with installers feeling safer on site as well as reports of productivity improvements due to shorter install and dismantle times,” New Zealand General Manager Joel Warren says.

This was reinforced with IN-

TAKS scooping the coveted Safety Innovation Award at the 2015 Site Safe Construction Health and Safety Awards.

The entire INTAKS system is designed to provide safer and more efficient sites as well as cost efficiencies.

INTAKS requires less time, truck tonnage and labour cost to install and remove. Building sites also become more accessible and efficient thanks to its very wide spans and minimal

impact on site.

Ground space and lower walls can be kept clear for multiple trades to work simultaneously meaning the site progresses faster and tighter build schedules can be achieved.

INTAKS is available to purchase or hire throughout the country.

For more information go to www.intaks.co.nz

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 9

COMMENT >> Environment

Plenty to do to prevent weather worries worsening Teresa Weeks Senior associate Chapman Tripp The stage is set for a big year in the climate change challenge following several international and local initiatives

L

ast year ended in a flurry of activity around the carbon challenge both on the global stage, with the negotiation of the Paris Agreement, and at the local level through the start of the Emissions Trading Scheme review and the release of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s long-awaited report on the domestic impact of rising seas.

These events, despite their differences in scale, have the potential to be mutually reinforcing in the New Zealand context as they underline the need for concrete action to both mitigate as well as adapt to the multifarious effects of climate change.

The Paris Agreement It is easy to be cynical about a treaty which requires participant governments to make difficult political choices but relies on voluntary targets with no enforcement mechanism beyond a “name and shame” system for non-performance, especially given the perceived ineffectiveness of the antecedent Kyoto Protocol.

But most expert opinion is optimistic that the design of the Paris Agreement and the consensus it represents among the 195 countries at the Paris Conference will deliver positive and measurable results. The agreement will enter into force if it is joined and ratified by at least 55 parties which together represent at least 55 percent of global emissions.

Signatories will commit to reversing the growth trajectory of global GHG emissions “as soon as possible” and to making best endeavours to keep global warming “well below” 2˚C – and, ideally, to no more than 1.5˚C. The building blocks for this effort are: • Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) which each signatory will be required to set post ratification • comprehensive NDC implementation plans, including five yearly (progressively more ambitious) milestones and a five yearly “global stocktake” on progress 10 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

• and the development of, and commitment to, a specific strategy to deliver carbon neutrality in the second half of this century.

Achieving these ambitions will demand radical change as to have even half a chance of staying below 2˚C, no more than 1.8 trillion tonnes of CO2 can be emitted into the atmosphere. On current rates, that volume will have been released before 2050.

“The New Zealand sea level has risen by 170mm (plus or minus 10mm) since 1990 and is projected to rise by another 30cm by 2065” The Parliamentary Commissioner’s report The New Zealand sea level has risen by 170mm (plus or minus 10mm) since 1990 and is projected to rise by another 30cm by 2065. What the commissioner has done is to quantify the impacts of rising sea levels in New Zealand’s larger coastal towns and cities. (refer table).

A rise of 30cm would mean that current one-in-a-100-year coastal floods will occur every four years at the Port of Auckland, every two years at the Port of Otago and every year at the ports of Lyttelton and Wellington.

The most severely affected urban area will be South Dunedin which is built on reclaimed wetland where the water table rises and falls with the tides and where 70 percent of the nearly 2,700 homes below 50 centimetres above the spring high tide mark are lower than half that elevation.

Miami in South Florida, which sits on porous limestone, is similarly exposed and, according to an article in the 21 December 2015 issue of The New Yorker, already has a multi-million dollar neighbourhood where the water regularly creeps under

the security gates and up the driveways, licking against the chassis of Porsches and Mercedes.

Guangzhou is rated the most vulnerable city in the world to rising seas in terms of population, followed by Mumbai, Shanghai and Miami. Were Dunedin only bigger, it might have made the top 10.

Sea level rise is, of course, not the only effect of climate change to which New Zealanders will need to adapt. Other effects, projected in an assessment prepared by the Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor in July 2013, include: • an increase in average temperature of 0.9˚C by 2040 and 2.1˚C by 2090 (two thirds of the increase in global mean temperatures since pre-industrial times has occurred since 1975) • mean rainfall decreases in the east of the North Island and increases in the west of the South Island of up to 5 percent by 2040 • and more extreme floods and droughts with at least an extra two weeks of drought on average each year by 2050 for much of the North Island and the eastern South Island.

The ETS review The government’s first response to the exigencies created by the Paris Agreement will be focused on mitigating climate change and delivered through the review of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the discussion document for which was released in November last year.

The intended NDC New Zealand took to the Paris negotiations equates to an 11 percent reduction from 1990 levels by 2030.

The Climate Action Tracker, an internationally produced cross-country NDC comparison, has rated the proposed NDCs of the EU, the US and China as “medium”. New Zealand’s, by contrast, has been judged “inadequate”, in company with Japan, Australia and Canada.

But even to achieve that target within the March 2016

limited headroom available to New Zealand, because of the lack of technological solutions to reduce agricultural emissions and because most of our energy is already from renewable sources, will require a tightening of our existing ETS policy settings – particularly the transitional arrangements introduced in 2009 after the global financial crisis to avoid additional trauma to the economy.

The government has been clear that ag-

riculture will be off limits indefinitely. But it has signalled that the “one for two” measure which allows non-forestry ETS participants to surrender only one emission unit for every two tonnes of emissions and the price cap of $25 on NZ emission units are due for the chop, and that legislation to remove them may be introduced later this year.

The drive towards emission reductions will generate opportunities as well as chal-

lenges. The transport and energy sectors, for example, are poised for transformative technological change – think electric vehicles and solar generation and storage – that can capitalise on the low carbon agenda.

Teresa Weeks is a senior associate at Chapman Tripp specialising in environmental, planning and climate change law

At risk from sea level rise Assuming a 0-50cm rise

Assuming a 50-100cm rise

Homes

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Roads (km)

Homes

Businesses

Roads (km)

Auckland

108

4

9

457

13

18

Wellington

103

1

2

1,920

20

21

Christchurch

901

5

40

3,629

58

77

Dunedin

2,683

116

35

604

29

17

Napier

1,321

12

37

2,958

32

59

Whakatane

276

4

9

563

48

15

Tauranga

77

4

3

419

22

14

*The commissioner has also modelled a 100-150cm rise

March 2016

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 11

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Water issue a matter of perspective and planning Leigh Auton Local Government Commissioner and Director of Auton & Associates There are both significant challenges and opportunities in the supply of good quality water and its disposal as wastewater

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any local government units have major challenges facing their balance sheets. Many are inadequately funding their current assets, and are either challenged by declining population and the need to replace old infrastructure or by pressures of significant growth.

In my opinion, the Auckland experience gives a number of clues as to the way forward. Following local government reform, the region has established an overall framework for its future, the Auckland Plan.

This plan provides the guidance for future infrastructure investment as the city grows.

The Proposed Unitary Plan, currently in the process of hearings, provides much more detail on what this future growth and investment pattern will look like.

Operationally, Auckland has an integrated water and wastewater provider in Watercare, a council-controlled organisation.

This structure gives Auckland huge capability. As a council-owned public entity, Watercare has a direct relationship with the customer. Its funding source is transparent, based on a customer relationship through volumetric charges. These charges apply to both water and wastewater.

As a result, Auckland has the lowest use of water per head of urban population in New Zealand. This experience has been replicated in a similar sense in Tauranga with water charges. These impacts have allowed for better investment prioritisation, and often deferral of large infrastructure investments until absolutely needed. On the other hand, cities such as Hamilton and Christchurch, while having the ability to utilise user-pays pricing regimes but choosing not to do so, have much higher water usage per person.

What is important in Auckland is good governance structures, the right strategic framework for making investment decisions, strong organisational leadership and appropriate pricing mechanisms. While

12 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

Auckland has challenging growth requirements, Watercare is exceptionally well-positioned to deliver the right investment at the right time, alongside the development community, for the future needs of the city.

My concern, having read some council 30-year infrastructure plans together with their 10-year long-term plans, is that parts of New Zealand are nowhere near the position of Auckland. In many places, there is old water and wastewater infrastructure, high rating levels and significant debt.

Many have limited growth to support new investment. Few have volumetric charging

“My concern, having read some council 30year infrastructure plans together with their 10 year long-term plans, is that parts of New Zealand are nowhere near the position of Auckland” regimes.

The challenge for such places, while potentially varying from region to region, is how to develop capacity and capability through appropriate governance and pricing regimes. In most regions, investment by the central government will be necessary if local government is to adequately provide ‘fit for purpose’ water and wastewater systems.

Government guarantee Central government investment is entirely appropriate if the country is to guarantee national health standards of equal measure and quality across New Zealand. Such health standards are basic to any civilised, modern society and go to the heart of the economic progress of our nation.

As for water quality and management, I

believe the collaborative processes developed by the Land and Water Forum certainly signal the right way forward. However, as stressed in the forum’s fourth report it does require central government and other public agencies to act expeditiously on the recommendations. Strategy is useless without execution!

Likewise it is critical that industries such as agriculture maintain a focus on ensuring all parties in their industry focus on good environmental outcomes. My fear is that if sophisticated consumers around the world repeatedly receive images of poor environmental practice, then our economy and overall reputation will be negatively impacted. Industries, especially those today with diffuse discharges, need to demonstrate that their environmental practices are clean and sustainable.

The final area of water resources that fascinates me is the role of iwi. Putting on my commercial Ngapuhi Asset Holdings chair hat, I see it as pivotal that Maori are at the table on all matters of water management.

Maori are large landholders. They have key interests in the allocation of water, and the management of water quality, in the same way as other landowners. They need access to water to develop economic growth.

And clearly Maori also have wider interests with water regimes based on the Treaty of Waitangi.

The challenge is how to develop coherent strategic planning frameworks for the use of water and its discharge in various forms, with all parties’ interests being reflected in good governance and organisation.

We need capacity and capability in managing our water interests in New Zealand.

I believe Auckland demonstrates a way forward, for at least part of the water industry. My question is whether this can be reflected, not necessarily in the exact form throughout New Zealand, but in ways that may reflect the good outcomes that are being achieved in our largest city.

Leigh Auton is a Local Government Commissioner and a Director of Auton & Associates with 35 years’ local government experience, a chairman/ director/trustee on several boards and provides consulting advice to public and private sector companies March 2016

WATER >> Control and telemetry

Resilience in Water Scada Systems

R

esilience is key to any mission-critical process such as Water Supply and Sewage Disposal. It means the functionality of the system can remain largely intact irrespective of plant failure, natural events, planned outages, human error and other common causes of failure.

Core Function To determine where resilience is required to ensure that the tool of telemetry and control still functions under duress we need to identify the core functions of the system. These fall into four categories: Alarms Alarm capability is the most used of the core functions.

These systems monitor a wide number of functions over a large area and if something goes wrong the system has the capability to inform someone who can take remedial action.

Control These systems can co-ordinate the control of plant over a wide area: linking pump stations with reservoirs, controlling a line of sewage pump stations to maximize well storage or balance flow into a treatment plant. The RTUs may also act as independent controllers for pump stations or other plant.

System Oversight These systems provide oversight of plant scattered over a large geographical area. While less important than Control and Alarming, this is a useful tool for managing the system in

real time.

Reporting Regulatory authorities require accurate and complete data on turbidity, flow, water usage, alarm response etc. Reporting is also used for targeting maintenance and determining patterns for future growth. The key resilience issue with reporting is that even if the reporting system cannot be used the data must still be collected and accurate.

What can go wrong?

Communications: •F ailure for one or two points, often due to marginal coverage or weather conditions.

•S ystem-wide failure – generally Base station comms equipment or repeater problems.

•S hort complete breaks – network or service issues.

•P rolonged outages – major network problems or repeater outage.

Power outages: The average outage is 63 minutes, 1.86 times per year. These are generally localized, affecting only a portion of the sites involved in a system.

Computer failure can happen for any number of reasons; there can be serious consequences should the failure occur at an inopportune time.

Instrumentation regularly fails also and can seriously affect the operation of telemetry and control systems.

Achieving resilience SCADA is a tool to facilitate the delivery of water and removal of wastewater; it is not

an end in itself. Focus should be on ensuring its usefulness as a tool for this function rather than keeping the entire system intact at all costs. Extras such as surveillance cameras and touch panels should not receive the same attention as components providing core outputs.

Power is a fundamental requirement. Backup measures such as batteries and generator sets should be apportioned according to need and expected outages.

Putting all one’s eggs in one basket for a SCADA Master gives a single point of failure.

Many councils are investing in Disaster Recovery Masters at different locations with full Master station capability, including communications to RTUs. Diversity of communication channels is also used but complexity and expense can be an issue with this.

A complex system is much more difficult to make resilient than a simple one. There is pressure for more complexity given reporting requirements, council amalgamation and new technologies with ever more features and gadgets. As Albert Einstein said “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.”

Telemetry and Control Systems weren’t always available; they were introduced to save time, trouble and travel. If the

Lester Abbey, Managing Director, Abbey Systems Ltd, has 40 years experience in this field system breaks down there should still be a facility for manually turning the valve on, shutting the pump down, resorting to float switch operation or whatever used to work in the past.

Resilience Factors Ownership of system allows the operator to determine the level and type of resilience; however, this might not be practical for financial or operational reasons. Most of the key factors centre around keeping the communications going or coping with its loss and the loss of mains power.

Simplicity is emphasized and the duplication of equipment and communications also provides some resilience; however, that approach can conflict with the goal of simplicity. There are no easy answers – the factors outlined must be taken into account along with operational requirements, budgetary constraints and individual needs.

• Cellular/Broadband communications options available

• High Resilience with data from sites • • •

time stamped, stored & reported back from sites for RMA & DWS Hassle free Abbey Systems Hosted SCADA Service option Get important Alarms via email or SMS text Get daily, weekly or monthly reports via email

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March 2016

Water & Waste Plants & Pump Stations Remote Terminal Unit + Data Logger + Programmable Logic Controller =

04 385 6611 www.abbey.co.nz

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 13

MANAGEMENT>>Health and safety

Big changes on the health and safety horizon The Health and Safety at Work Act that comes into force on 4 April introduces several new concepts

T

he first and most important is the introduction of a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking, or PCBU. Judged to be in the best position to control risks to workplace health and safety, a PCBU will usually be a business entity such as a company rather than an individual person – though a sole trader or self-employed person might also be a PCBU. All PCBUs have a primary duty of care in relation to the health and safety of workers and others affected by the work carried out by the PCBU, ensuring so far as is reasonably practicable: • the health and safety of its workers or those workers who are influenced or directed by the PCBU – such as workers and contractors

• and that the health and safety of other people is not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business – for example, visitors and customers.

Specific obligations include: • providing and maintaining a work environment, plant and systems that are without risks to health and safety • ensuring the safe use, handling and storage of plant, structures and substances • providing adequate facilities for the welfare of workers, including ensuring access to those facilities • providing information, training, instruction or supervision necessary to protect workers and others from risks to their health and safety • monitoring the health of

workers and workplace conditions to prevent illness or injury.

PCBUs who manage or control the workplace, fixtures, fittings or plant at workplaces do not owe a duty to people who are there for an unlawful purpose.

They also need to work together when duties overlap – for example, businesses working together or alongside each other on a single work site such as a construction site and through contracting or supply chains.

New rules for new regime

W

or gas; any well drilling inorkSafe NZ has reSafety in Employment (Adleased various reguventure Activities) Regulastallation; the construction, maintenance, and operation lations to help busitions 2011, aiming to improve of any structures, or land imsafety, reduce harm and ennesses meet their duties under the Health and Safety at Work sure consistent good practice provements connected with Act (HSWA) 2015 that comes across the adventure activity petroleum operations into force next month. sector.

• Rates of Levy Funding: preThe regulations cover: • Major Hazard Facilities: foscribes the levy required to • General Risk and Workplace be paid by employers and cuses on matters for process Management: these apply to self-employed people under safety, detailing safety manall workplaces in New Zeasection 201 or the HSWA agement obligations for opOther regulations in the pipeland, prescribing what must erators or particular facilities be done in specific circumwith the potential to cause a line include: catastrophic event • regulations specifying instances to meet the duties • Mining Operations and Quarunder the new law fringement offences and fees • Worker Engagement, Partic– will be finalised shortly rying Operations: details the • the regulations for work in requirements that must be ipation and Representation: followed, including compeall workplaces need to have volving hazardous substances effective worker engageare currently being consulttency requirements in relament; participation and reption to safety-critical roles in ing on and will be finalised mining operations, quarrying later this year resentations practices under operations, and alluvial min- • regulations to support the HSWA power in the new Act for the • Asbestos: outlines requireing operations regulator to grant exemp• P

etroleum Exploration and ments for the safe manageExtraction: provides a framement and work with asbestos tions from regulatory requireand asbestos-containing mawork that aims to ensure the ments (clause 228A) will also safety of petroleum operabe developed this year. terials – including demolition Phase two regulations will be and removal tions such as the extraction, • Adventure Activities: revokes transportation, treatment developed over the next two and replaces the Health and or processing of petroleum years.

14 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

A new duty requires an officer of a PCBU such as a director, board member or partner to exercise due diligence to ensure that the PCBU complies with its duties. This governance role must exercise significant influence over the management of the business, but doesn’t include a person who advises or makes recommendations to an officer of the organisation.

The Act requires PCBUs to: • engage with workers who are directly affected, or likely to be directly affected, by a PCBU health and safety matter • and have effective worker participation practices that allow workers to participate in improving work health and safety.

Effective worker participation practice (s) include health and safety representatives (HSRs) and/or health and safety committees (HSCs), which bring together workers (including HSRs) and management to develop and review workplace health and safety policies and procedures.

An HSC may be requested by the workers or chosen by the PCBU. PCBUs with fewer than 20 workers in low-risk sectors don’t have to initiate an election for HSRs or set up an HSC. The new law also contains a serious offence provision, which means that both individuals and the corporate entity can be held accountable for reckless conduct that results in the death of a worker – with fines up to $3 million for corporations and/or up to five years imprisonment for individuals.

March 2016

UNDERGROUND DETECTION >> Site safe efficiency

Locate underground services before digging

Sub-Surface Detection Ltd The Best in Underground Asset Detection

Accuracy in marking the location of underground utilities speeds up a project and helps keep the worksite safe from personal accidents and property damage

Harker Underground Construction entrusted Sub-Surface Detection to mark out all underground services crossing Fanshawe Street in Auckland’s busy CBD.This included multiple underground services including two Transpower trench lines approximately 2.5m deep

H

ealth & Safety rules and liability in the workplace are set to become even more tightly monitored with the introduction of the Health & Safety at Work Act in April.

If there is significant damage or injury to workers from excavation accidents, expensive legal action is inevitable and the question of fault becomes a key issue.

Councils and commercial clients will demand a lot more evidence at the tender and quotation stage that contractors will be doing everything they can to ensure a safe job site.

“It is easy to have sympathy with contractors when margins are so tight and there is no provision for pre-dig testing,” says Justin Bell, chief executive of Sub Surface Detection.

“Still the fact remains that accident prevention or mitigation should take place long before excavation begins.

Sub Surface Detection is a New Zealand leader in facilitating underground asset management, protection and health and safety requirements.

“Many underground sites are a criss-cross of power cables, gas lines, water and drainage pipes and fibre optic communications cables, with danger lurking millimetres away from a probing mechanical digging shovel.

“The key to preventing pipeline and cable hits begins by accurately locating and marking existing underground facilities March 2016

and there have been a number of major advances in the past 10 years to reduce excavation injury and accidental damage to underground utilities,” says Bell.

The company uses electro-magnetic induction (EMI) pipe and cable locating and ground penetrating radar (GPR) to locate metallic utilities such as steel pipes, power cables, and copper communications cables.

Combined with the underground images produced by a GPR survey, EMI pipe and cable locating for the St both metallic and Lukes motorway project – ongoing for non metallic (plastic, the past two years for CPB (Leighton concrete, asbestos, Contractors) cement) objects lying in the path of a potential excavation can be seen and “We have a great team and an identified. ongoing selective employment “We focus on accuracy when program of key staff members marking the underground to enable us to continue as marutility, which then combined ket leaders,” says Bell. with the contractors correct potholing methods for conThe company’s client base firmation, both speed up the includes Leighton Contractors, project schedule, and lower the Downers, Transfield Services, potential risk to all onsite and Higgins, Watercare, Fletcher the public,” he says.

Construction, Hawkins, Fulton The company now has the Hogan, John Holland, Fonterability to provide both HV ra, Arrow International, Conpower and HP gas standovers, tact Energy, Lend Lease, Hick along with the capability of pro- Bros, McKenzie & Parma, Fuel viding high quality data pickup Installation Companies, Vector and many more. and quality service plans.

Sub-Surface Detection Ltd is licenced by Australian Standard® and complies with “Classification of Subsurface Utility Information (SUI)” quality standards. We are proud to work at Quality levels ‘D’, ‘C’ & ‘B’ and can organise Quality Level ‘A’ potholing tasks through our experienced and trusted associates.

Our technicians have several years of experience within the underground civil contracting field, in which it is a priority to know the underground positions of all network services prior to the commencement of any excavation.

Services we offer include: • Ground Penetrating Radar • Pipe and Cable Locating (EMI) • GPS Survey, Positioning and Drawings • Water Leak Detection: www.leakdetection.net.nz Services we can organize to include within our survey: • CCTV Drain Camera Inspections • Hydro Excavation

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 15

MANAGEMENT >> Health and Safety at Work Act

Stand by and prepare to engage Barry Dyer Chief Executive Responsible Care NZ The eagerly anticipated health and safety regime seeking to substantially reduce New Zealand’s unacceptable workplace casualty rate is underway from 4 April 2016

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he Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) 2016 likely requires a prolonged implementation period to enable regulators and the regulated to collaboratively develop coherent regulations, unambiguous interpretations and pragmatic performance standards to ensure a smooth transition.

Given the immense importance of the legislative overhaul, the utmost care is required to ensure that the achievements and lessons of the past aren’t forgotten as we draft new rules.

The proposed chemical management sector rules are a case in point; with salutary lessons for the entire infrastructure industry careful not to undermine many of the lessons learned in years gone by, such as the withdrawal of most local councils from HSNO. Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise (MBIE) staff are currently assessing submissions on the draft Hazardous Substances Regulations 2016 in a two-phase transfer of the relevant sections of the

16 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

much-loved HSNO Act 1996 from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to MBIE and WorkSafe NZ stewardship.

The MBIE-led industry advisory group team is grappling with contentious shortcomings evident in non-negotiable, cabinet-approved policy decisions not discussed, much less agreed or supported by chemical suppliers. Responsible Care NZ is pursuing issues which support members’ efforts to ensure our products are used safely. Foremost is the proposed removal of mandatory approved handlers.

The HSNO Test Certification concept reflects mandatory requirements of the Health and Safety in Employment Act (1992) and Regulations (1995), together with the HSNO Act (1996) and Regulations (2001) to safeguard individuals involved with chemicals.

Safe workplaces are made possible by compulsory approved handlers providing business operators, particularly in SMEs, with immediate access to accurate chemical safety and emergency response advice

while competently performing their chemical-related tasks.

Approved handlers help relieve the workload on scarce test certifiers and even scarcer workplace inspectors by helping to ensure facilities such as portable and static bulk containers and delivery systems, together with a proven site emergency plan, are fit for purpose.

This well-understood obligation is supported by independent, technically qualified test certifiers who confirm individuals are competent to safely use the chemicals in their workplaces, and that key equipment and facilities are fit for purpose.

The Pike River tragedy revealed management, workers, workplace health and safety representatives and enforcement officers all seemingly fell well short in their safe work obligations. Despite trivial media frenzy about including worm farms and exempting agriculture as high-hazard workplaces, it is timely to consider other options; for example, it would be both logical and cost-effective to also mandate a minimum of one competent workplace health and safety representative in every business.

March 2016

Reduction risky Yet the new legislation proposes undermining one of the major successes of the HSNO saga. We would simply not have 60,000 workers trained to safely handle chemicals were it not compulsory. Reducing the approved handler contribution in thousands of workplaces makes no sense.

Recent RCNZ HSNO site compliance assessments reveal recurring non-compliance issues, including non-compliant safety data sheets, labelling, site signage and site emergency plans, together with poor housekeeping and sub-standard approved handlers, all within the ambit of competent approved handlers.

Provision of the manufacturers’ original Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) and NZ-compliant safety data sheet (SDS) is another fundamental workplace health and safety measure required.

Let’s be clear – too many HSNO issues are inadequately resourced and often poorly implemented. Shortcomings included the lack of comprehensive performance standards, inadequate training for test certifiers and approved handlers, test certifiers signing off their own students as competent and defective regulations which did not require a robust renewal process.

The flawed regulations are surpassed only by widespread exemptions granted without consultation or consideration of the wider consequences.

Keeping people safe at work remains the goal and safe chemical management is a key requirement of every safe and

healthy workplace.

Chemical suppliers applaud and support employers striving to do the right thing but being let down by inadequate training, conflicting compliance advice, haphazard enforcement and an unfair user-pays policy. Industry bears the full cost of approved handler training, yet workplace health and safety representative training is basically free. Well-intentioned employers need assurances that they are adding value for their investment.

The sound but faltering HSNO test certification system must be retained and improved. The chemical industry expects

that needs fixing – not replacing. Fourteen years’ invaluable HSNO experience produced successes, for which no superior alternatives are forthcoming.

Easily available, on-site compliance advice is vital, particularly within SMEs unlikely to access complex, site specific, scarce and expensive external advice.

Much the same philosophy applies throughout the infrastructure sector, with its myriad health and safety challenges – if it’s not broken let’s not rush to fix it. If it can be improved, then carefully draft new requirements which help rather than hinder.

It is therefore incumbent on all involved in infrastructure – be they local government, “The utmost care is contractors or workers – to help ensure that future chemical safety measures build on required to ensure that current achievements rather than demolthe achievements and ishing them. lessons of the past aren’t Industry requires consistency, cost-effeccompletely forgotten as we tiveness and confidence in long-term requirements. Only by being prepared to enrush to draft new rules” gage with those implementing the laws will government will recognise the tangible we achieve the safe and healthy workplaces benefits the test certification regime brings that New Zealand employers and workers to safe chemical management, demon- deserve and demand. strated by competent approved handlers Barry Dyer is the Chief Executive of and test certifiers.

Normally the last to advocate more pre- Responsible Care NZ, which provides scriptive regulation, chemical suppliers are practical products and services to enable deeply concerned about the removal of the compliance with New Zealand’s worldlegal requirement for a major HSNO suc- class chemical management regime. cess story.

Talk to them today about your Retaining and enhancing the HSNO compliance requirements. test certification regime is both logical Tel: +644 499 4311; and cost-effective. Simply put, we have a email: info@responsiblecarenz.com; world-class chemical management regime visit: www.responsiblecarenz.com

Any cancer. Any question.

For cancer information and support phone the Cancer Information Helpline 0800 CANCER (226 237) March 2016

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz –17

COMMENT >> Local government

Evolution or revolution?

Lawrence Yule President, LGNZ Local Government New Zealand recently released its initial discussion document in its first principles review of what a fit-for-purpose resource management regime should look like

T

he think piece, A ‘blue skies’ discussion about New Zealand’s resource management system, explores whether continued evolution of the current resource management system is the best approach or whether more fundamental reform is needed.

The discussion document highlights the pressure points within the current system and provides a road map for the discussion around what New Zealanders want from a resource management regime.

The think piece has uncovered the following themes: • the system needs to be capable of operating successfully in a context that is dynamic and different from the one in which the present system was designed – in particular it needs to be flexible and adaptive • any changes need to capitalise on the trend towards increasingly participatory processes which rely on the availability of quality data and the ability to translate and communicate it to lay audiences, moving from regulator to trusted advisor, interpreter and facilitator • the system has to be capable of facilitating the achievement of particular outcomes, not just the avoidance, remediation or mitigation of adverse effects • the capacity and capability of local authorities, the courts, central government agencies, sector groups and NGOs need to be developed to match the current and future needs and demands of the system, including measures to guide implementation • if it is to address current shortcomings, the resource management system has to be more than merely a platform for resolving disputes – it must be capable of aligning the efforts of communities, government and business towards achieving outcomes that advance common interests • the lack of alignment between core com18 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

ponents of the resource management system needs to be resolved to reduce duplication of process and to assist the alignment of strategy, planning and funding – particularly in urban areas experiencing growth pressure.

A “blue skies” review of New Zealand’s resource management system highlights the question of whether, after 25 years and repeated experiments and amendments, the Resource Management Act (RMA) is still fit for purpose.

While we welcome the recently announced changes to the RMA, it is time for some “blue skies” thinking about what a fit-for-purpose resource management regime could look like.

Since LGNZ announced its resource management review, the Productivity Commission has also commenced a review of New Zealand’s urban planning and resource management system.

The timing of the LGNZ think piece is propitious, landing as it has in the middle of a good deal of discussion on these issues, and we look forward to a significant response to the questions it poses.

What would a fit-for-purpose resource management system look like?

New Zealand’s communities are diverse and evolving – there are many different perspectives on what the future should look like and what contribution the resource management decision-making framework could or should play in bringing about this vision.

The resource management system is designed to prescribe clear limits that protect the healthy function of natural ecosystems and define the boundaries within which people can conduct business.

Despite this, the practice of balancing economic value against environmental loss has arguably fostered an approach to decision-making that pits the economy against the environment and has generated a cul-

ture of costly and divisive litigation.

Communities are also continuing to ask their councils to do more than simply provide local services. Over the past decade, councils have sought to enable and facilitate the development of natural and physical resources in a socially and environmentally responsible way – fostering decision-making processes and projects that deliver ‘win-wins’ across the ‘four wellbeings’.

While the degree and pace of change may remain a point of contention, LGNZ believes there is a broad consensus that inaction is not an option and that change is necessary.

LGNZ favours a progressive or ‘stepped’ programme of change – one that starts with and builds from the current programme of change, and that increases the scope and degree of change only once the impact of amendments have been evaluated and understood.

The resource management system is a critical part of New Zealand’s competitive advantage in an increasingly resource-constrained world – if we get the settings of the resource management system right we could position New Zealanders to enjoy sustained high levels of prosperity and wellbeing.

Submissions for LGNZ’s think piece A ‘blue skies’ discussion about New Zealand’s resource management system are now closed. A final report will be published during 2016.

LGNZ’s think piece, A ‘blue skies’ discussion about New Zealand’s resource management system, can be found at http:// www.lgnz.co.nz/home/our-work/publications/a-blue-skies-discussion.

Lawrence Yule is President of Local Government New Zealand, which represents the interests of 78 local authorities in New Zealand

March 2016

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Local Government >> Product Guidelines

Restrain™ PVC Sewer Pipe for gravity sewer applications

The first in a series of articles on the specifications and uses of Iplex Piplelines’ products with case study references. See also www.infrastructurenews.co.nz for a summary of the Iplex range and www.iplex.co.nz for full details

I

plex Pipelines developed Restrain™ PVC sewer pipe specifically for gravity sewer applications using trenchless techniques for the installation, repair or replacement of underground infrastructure.

It is manufactured from PVC-U (unplasticised polyvinyl chloride) and is a rubber ring jointed, SN16 PVC-U sewer pipe, utilising a threaded spigot and “low profile” threaded socket, which provides axial end load restraint to ensure joint integrity using trenchless installation techniques.

Restrain is compatible with both solvent weld and rubber ring jointed DWV PVC-U sewer pipe and fittings and pipe lengths can be customised to suit the installation or project requirements from on metre to six metres long. Restrain is available in nominal diameters DN100, DN150, DN225 and

DN300.

It is suitable for installation by a range of trenchless methods including horizontal directional drilling (HDD), pipe reaming (PR) or pipe eating (PR-PE), pipe bursting Static (PB-ST), hydraulic or slitting, micro tunnelling, horizontal auger boring and slip lining.* The product can be used with a range of installation technologies or site requirements, providing a simple connection to maintenance chambers and service laterals. Bi-directional installation capability means the pipe can be pushed or pulled into place to suit installation methods.

Each installation method has its own unique installation technique – detailed installation instructions by method can be found on www.iplex.co.nz/ shop/Trenchless+Technology/ Restrain.html

20 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

Restrain meets industry manufacturing and performance standards and is independently certified in accordance with the test requirements of AS/NZS 1260.

Iplex Restrain™ is certified

by StandardsMark Licence SMKP20184 as conforming to AS/NZS 1260:2009 – PVC-U pipe and fittings for drain, waste and vent application.

The rubber sealing ring performance under AS/NZSZS 1260 eliminates the risk of leakage and root intrusion.

All Restrain™ PVC Sewer Pipe is manufactured with a minimum pipe ring bending stiffness of 16000 N/m.m and is classified as SN16.

Iplex Pipelines NZ Ltd itself is certified by Licence No. QEC4169, as satisfying the requirements of ISO 9001: 2008 – Quality Management Systems – requirements.

Hydraulic design Where a sewer pipeline is flowing full under gravity conditions the method of determining the pipe size is similar to that used for pressure pipes.

The grade of the pipeline gives the allowable head-loss but special attention should be given to the effect of entry and exit losses at structures such as manholes as these may be significant.** Structural design Restrain sewer pipes are defined as fiexible pipes. Flexible pipes are designed to deflect slightly under load and hence utilise surrounding soil strength, as well as pipe stiffness, to oppose the vertical loads.

Structural design of Restrain sewer pipe conforms to the requirements of AS/NZS 2566.1 – Buried Flexible Pipelines – Structural Design. ** March 2016

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Leading new Zealand manufacturer plastic pipelines systems stallationofmethodology being and Case Studies for the infrastructure sector Pipe grouting used, native soil type, additives Visit http://tinyurl.com/ Where it is necessary to presNovafuse Fusible PVC used to produce drilling mud, sure grout the annulus between ox25u5s FPVC™ provides the only available method of installing a conRestrain™ pipe and a host pipe drill mud viscosity, reamer Hastings District Council Civil pipeline systems tinuous. monolithic, seal ring–free PVC pipe, capable of use in type/style and pipe diameter. during slip lining, it is important http://youtu.be/Vn0vUm5trm0 http://tinyurl.com/pjztopz numerous trenchless or conventional open-cut installation. AppliThe contractor or driller is re- cations to Iplex ensureCase that the grout is introOakurainclude New Plymouth pressure http:// and non pressure pipelines for drinking Studies youtu.be/5qs_sNRfqFQ duced so as not to damage the sponsible for determining bore water, wastewater, electrical, industrial and telecommunications http://tinyurl.com/pb4taxf Te Awamutu Restrain™ sewer pipe. hole diameter and drill mud industries.

Fused http://tinyurl. and installed throughout the US, Canada, CenThe grout must be introduced type before drilling commenc- com/j2cnu3s tral America, Hawaii, and NZ. into the annulussewer, as evenly as es.and Drill trenchless mud is an important Product detail: http://tinyurl.com/pduvfsg Stormwater, roading Case Study http://youtu.be/VUR5v7raSH0 should not be used possible and must not exceed component of successful in- *Restrain Aquacell with pneumatic or concussive the Restrain™ pipe’s maximum stallations.

Aquacell™ is a stormwater management cell designed for use in Poliplex PE100 bursting equipment safe grouting pressure. ** It is used to stabilise the pipe infiltration, attenuation or storage / reuse applications. Individual PE100 polyethylene pressure nottosuitable for outside pipe It isare strongly recommended to form borehole, assist in structure the cutting pipeisup 2000 mm cells assembled together to an underground for and ramming or impact moling. “cap off” and fill the Restrain™ process, cool down the transdiameter and manufactured in use in commercial, industrial or residential sites accordance with AS/NZS4130. pipe with water prior to grout- mitter, carry spoil out of the ** Contact Iplex Pipelines http://tinyurl.com/pp86af5 Suitable for a www.iplex. diverse range borehole and lubricate the directly or visit ing to reduce the effects of Nexus™Hi-Way of infrastructure for Restrain applications flow grouting pressure and heat of borehole for reducing the fric- co.nz Heavy-duty, double wall polyethylene pipe combining a smooth from water and waste-water to and structural design hydration of the grout during tional resistance of the product capacity inner wall with a corrugated outer wall welded together during sewer rising mains, irrigation curing. It may be possible to being pulled into the borehole. of trenchless installations. manufacture. Subsoil drains under roads, constructed in accord- mainlines and above ground stage the grouting process in The Restrain™ Sewer Pipe ance with Transit NZ Specification NRB F/2: 1989, construction pipelines. two or three lifts allowing the system may be field tested Iplex Pipelines NZ Ltd work-site drainage, subsoil drainage under carriageways or driveFlowtite GRP Pipe grout to solidifyofinrubbish the annulus ways, drainage tips andafter publicinstallation, land fill sites.in accord- Technical Services: Glass reinforced027 polymer proto the spring line before the top ance with the relevant parts Iain McNaught 243 3000, http://tinyurl.com/nqsuovs ducingO’Callaghan a high strength, corsection is filled. of these industry standards Frank rosion resistant, light weight Restrain – NZS4404:2010 Appen- 027 495 4523, pipe system suitable for water, waste-water, chemical and industry For gravity projects using Bore hole &pipeline drill mud dixtrenchC2 and Clause C2.2, AS/ Todd Randell applications. Available from PN1 to PN Pn32 in a range of diameters less technology.

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plex Pipelines is a major Aus- POLIPLEX polyethylene presProduct detail: http://tinyurl.com/p9uaotv tralasian manufacturer and sure pipes, RESTRAIN™ drillaCase Studies: http://tinyurl.com/ox25u5s distributor of a wide range of ble PVC-U gravity sewer pipe, Apollo based pipeline systems. NEXUS subsoil drainage pipe plastics Biaxially oriented PVCnames pressure use and in water and waste Products and brand in pipe and for fittings FARMTUFF culwater pipelines. With exceptional toughness and impact resistNew Zealand include APOLLO vert pipe. ance, Apollo PVC-O pipe can provide greater hydraulic capacity PVC-O pressure pipes, RHINO Markets and applications for than PVC-U pipes of the same OD size and similar pressure class.

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For technical services Iain McNaught 027 243 3000, Frank O’Callaghan 027 495 4523, Todd Randell 027 211 4838

innovative 0800 800 262 www.iplex.co.nz There is more to Iplex than pipe manufactured and delivered to your project site.

Talk to us about what you need. Iplex Pipelines, manufacturing and supplying PVC, PE and GRP pipeline solutions to the New Zealand market.

June /July 2015 M arch 2016

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz– –21 9 www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

Local Government >> Innovations

Southeys point of difference lies in an in-depth know Hydro-excavation Hydro-excavation uses a low pressure stream to wash soil away, posing no threat to sensitive utilities. It allows for quick, clean and precise excavations which require less backfill, less labour, less restoration and the process has less environmental impact.

There are a wide range of uses for the technology especially where access for conventional excavation equipment is not possible The technology is in demand when there is the need to work within close proximity to vegetation and trees or where there is a need for trenching through utilities or landscaping or excavation in a collapsed trench rescue.

Precision excavation in the proximity of enWith between 0.5m and 1.5m headroom, the use of heavy ergised services and in confined areas allows machinery was ruled out for the accurate placement of structures,

Precision digging

Advanced trench protection system sets up quickly to protect workers Trenching or excavation works on-site inevitably involve the risk of collapse and burial, making it essential to ensure the safety of operators

N

ew Zealand safety regulations demand that every employer shall take “all practicable steps” to ensure that any face of any excavation more than 1.5 metres high is shored.

The SMARTSHORE shoring system available from Air Springs Supply Pty Ltd provides a pneumatic protection shield that is easily and quickly set-up to guard against cave-ins in a wide variety of excavation work.

This new technology reinforces the walls of trenches in appropriate applications and can replace the use of conventional shoring, which can be cumbersome to handle and install, particularly for trenches of limited depth, as well as involving the transport of unwieldy material to remote sites.

The SMARTSHORE system, manufactured by the Pronal elastomer engineering company, involves a twin-walled rubber-coated construction, finished by hot vulcanization and featuring inflatable shields that are resistant to impacts, abrasion and tearing.

The design of inflatable shields and their accessories allows the system to be installed horizontally or vertically while optimising safety, says Air Springs Supply National Sales and Marketing Manager James Maslin, whose company has been a national leader in pneumatic actuation, isolation and suspension for more than 30 years.

“Naturally each industry in Australia must consider the statutory safety provisions

22 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

relating to its unique workplace conditions, but SMARTSHORE is a highly practical and robust product engineered in response to a global safety issue relating to excavations including pits and trenches,” he says.

“Pronal is already respected globally as an engineering company for its extensive ranges of environmental and workplace protection products, including tough inflatable elastomer pipe stoppers used to prevent pollution and to protect staff during pipeline inspection and maintenance.”

SMARTSHORE cushions are equipped with handling straps, a quick air connector and a safety valve to avoid the risk of bursting.

Their advantages include: • high resistance construction with anti-burst design • reusable, easy maintenance • easy handling and setup – each cushion weighs only 13kg • flexible and foldable.

Air volume required is 400/660 litres with a maximum pressure of 650 mbar. Inflated by standard workplace compressors – or

from compressed air/gas cylinders at remote locations – the standard product is complemented by an inflation line with safety valve for quick coupling and a venture for quicker deflation.

Internationally SMARTSHORE is designed for use in such areas as building and construction; civil engineering and earthworks, electrical and telecommunications; mining, energy and petroleum sites; pipeline installation and maintenance; roadmaking; manufacturing, food and beverage and primary production pits and pipelines; plumbing and sewerage and water and wastewater infrastructure.

For more information about Air Springs Supply’s national distribution and technical support network, please contact Air Springs Supply Pty Ltd, 10 Angas St, Meadowbank, Sydney 2114, ph (02) 9807 4077, fax (02) 9807 6979, sales@airsprings.com.au

March 2016

wledge of hydro excavation applications

Minimal environmental impact foundations or equipment.

Due to the non-mechanical and non-destructive nature of hydro- excavation, it also is used in location and mapping of underground utilities When Fletchers wanted to add a few storeys to a site in Molesworth St, Wellington, the company needed to excavate around the existing foundations so they could be strengthened.

“Not a lot could be done with the site until the concrete could be poured to strengthen the foundations,” says Southey’s chief executive Rob Southey.

“There was a huge level or urgency on what was a challenging and difficult site. There had been a lot of blockages getting spoil to the truck so we needed to be quite innovative in how to overcome that problem,” he says.

With between 0.5m and 1.5m headroom, the use of heavy machinery was ruled out. A vertical lift of around 15 metres over distances up to 50 metres added to the difficulties.

Southeys took the project over after the initial contractor walked off the site after only six weeks. Within a week of beginning hydro-excavation Southeys

had removed as much spoil as had been removed in the entire period before they arrived. After two months on site, the job was done and Fletchers found plenty of other uses for hydro- evacuation, like excavating around lift shafts and other tight areas.

“Using the best equipment with a highly motivated and well trained staff is a winning formula,” says Mr Southey. “Working in those conditions on a building site in the middle of winter in Wellington is not a lot of fun, no matter how good the equipment.”

Southeys now designs its own equipment and builds it through a joint venture in Warkworth with MS Engineering.

“It means our hydro evacuation equipment is tailor-made for the New Zealand market and can be easily customised to cope with the special conditions of any given project,” says Southey.

“Water pressures are limited to between 1500psi and 2200psi as we believe that pressures higher than 2500psi run the risk of damaging utility covers or cable casings and increase the risk of operator injury.

Water usage is minimised and pressures can be reduced to

protect things as sensitive as tree roots when locating underground utilities.

Other services Apart from hydro-evacuation the group offers services such as the removal of liquid waste, transportation of bulk liquid waste, bentonite recycling, clean fill disposal, UFB civil works and spill response.

Whether you need to remove 200 cubic metres of liquid waste from your site pond, or three cubic metres from your retaining wall post holes, the smart and

cost effective move is to call Southeys.

“With our own disposal site, we can offer a genuine turn-key solution at competitive rates for all liquid waste disposal needs.

We have a modern fleet of vacuum loading trucks and high-volume trailers between 3000 litres and 25000 litres,” says Southey.

Ensuring drains remain clear and well maintained is essential in avoiding economic and operational disruption. Regular maintenance is the smart way to avoid emergency call outs.

Southeys has the latest in drain jetting equipment and highly skilled operators. This includes down pipes, sewers, manholes, drains, grease traps and interceptors.

“Our state of the art jetting units can clean and flush pipes up to 600mm. By using high-pressure water with the appropriate head, our jetting units are able to effectively and efficiently remove a wide range of blockages including grease, fat debris and tree roots,” he says.

In the event of an emergency or a need for spill response quickly, Southeys are on call 24 hours a day.

Green, precise – low labour cost It has been 17 years since Robert Southey and his one truck began business cleaning farm effluent ponds. His commitment to provide innovative and cost effective solutions from there has led to a dramatic growth in its range of services, always coupled with concentration on a zero harm workplace and environmental responsibility.

“We have developed exten-

sive health and safety systems as well as working closely with local government to ensure that we meet or exceed our environmental responsibilities,” says Southey.

“Southeys will not let you down. Having the right equipment and a can-do attitude to every job ensures you can trust us to deliver 100% of the time.

We pride ourselves in our solution-orientated approach

HYDRO-Excavation Non-destructive and Non-mechanical Excavating March 2016

E: rob@southeysgroup.com T: New Zealand: 0800 493 7639 Australia: 1800 986 082 INTERNATIONAL: +64 27 275 4306 www.southeysgroup.com

Auckland • Wellington www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 23

ENVIRONMENT >> Water

Leaving the land fit for the future A landmark document suggests numerous ways in which New Zealand could improve its freshwater management – but will the government act on it fully?

F

armers may have to exclude plains and lowland-dwelling dairy cattle and pigs from waterways by 2017, and beef cattle and deer by 2025.

The recommendation is one of 60 made in the fourth Land and Water Forum (LWF) report to improve the country’s management of freshwater.

Bringing together over 60 organisations including business, energy generators, environmental and recreational NGOs, iwi and scientists, the forum’s latest report has focused on finding ways to meet water quality and quantity limits while maximising economic benefits.

Improving the management of freshwater is a critical economic and environmental issue, Forum Chair Alastair Bisley insists.

“The recommendations from our four reports collectively outline a workable and balanced system that will facilitate growth and innovation within environmental limits,” he explains. “It is now up to the government to put these systems in place.”

The forum’s recommendations focus on achieving limits through flexible and adaptive systems, facilitating infrastructure development and catch-

24

ment scale mitigations, improving investment certainty, improving and standardising the information needed to set and manage limits in catchments, and reducing waste and inefficiency.

However, Bisley says the focus should initially be on priority catchments, critical source areas and areas of significant ecological value. “These recommendations, in combination with the ones we have provided previously, work together to allow land and water users to maximise the productivity and efficiency of their operations.”

He strongly urges the government to implement all three sets of earlier recommendations without delay. “The reso-

The key to progress is the full implementation of these consensus recommendations, Land and Water Forum Chair Alastair Bisley insists

Eighty per cent of the forum’s recommendations have been addressed or are in the process of being addressed, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith claims

Management, but maintains it’s ernment support for the forum’s not enough on its own. “The work is “unprecedented” while key to progress is the full imple- claiming that many of the recommendations go beyond the role of government.

“We will not be making decisions on “Eighty per cent of the forum’s these ideas until after all New Zealanders recommendations have been have had an opportunity for input” addressed or are in the process of being addressed – these inlution of iwi rights and interests mentation of these consensus clude the important measures around National Policy Statein freshwater is essential to an recommendations,” he insists. enduring system of freshwater ments, the National Objectives management in New Zealand.” Careful consideration Framework (NOF), funding for Bisley concedes the governEnvironment Minister Dr Nick clean ups and putting in place ment has taken a “critical first Smith has defended the gov- a reporting system around the step” to managing freshwater ernment’s failure to implement quality of our freshwater,” he by establishing the National all the forum’s previous recom- claims.

Since the completion of the Policy Statement on Freshwater mendations, insisting that govthird LAWF report in 2012, the minister says the government has focused on implementing foundational measures to support communities and enable them to make decisions, plan, and set freshwater objectives and limits (NPS-FM, NOF, and support for councils to undertake collaborative processes to manage their freshwater). “The government is intending to issue a discussion document containing over 20 measures that further implement the forum’s recommendations,” Smith avers.

He believes the detailed proposals on excluding stock from waterways are a major step forward. “The proposals to require March 2016

March 2016

Chris Allen explains.

Federated Farmers “argued strongly” that the government has the opportunity to create more headroom through support of, and contribution to, water storage and other infrastructure projects. “This would create a potential win for iwi, other users and the environment,” Allen believes.

As a result, the report received the “conditional support” of Federated Farmers’ National Council. “This decision by our National Council has paved the way for us to add our name to the Land & Water Forum Report while reserving the right to continue to consider its implications and take any additional steps we determine might be necessary to shape its final outcome,” Allen advises.

Funding and facilitation IrrigationNZ has welcomed the report, noting the recommendations for government to fund and facilitate the development of environmental infrastructure like water storage and wetlands. “Storage means freshwater can be captured for environmental benefits such as managed aquifer recharge and augmenting rivers in dry seasons,” IrrigationNZ CEO Andrew Curtis observes. “This captured water can also relieve problems of over-allocation and provide efficient water for new users.”

The irrigators’ lobby group also supports the report’s recommendations for greater flexibility regarding transferability of water-take consents.

“Transfer is already happening, particularly within irrigation user groups where they work together to share the available resource, but a better resourced and more transparent system would lead to greater fluidity in exchanges,” Curtis believes.

“This would result in efficiency in water distribution to where it is most needed and also allow for allocation to new users.”

IrrigationNZ is continuing to roll out its SMART Irrigation training to help farmers im-

prove their water efficiency onfarm, in line with the report’s call for optimal use of land, water and nutrients.

It also welcomes calls for a national information-sharing platform for all freshwater, having already consolidated existing information on the irrigation industry in a recent industry snapshot.

“Regarding iwi rights and interests in water, it is essential that whatever is decided is done quickly but in doing so that we don’t solve one grievance by creating another,” Curtis warns.

“That way New Zealand can progress to optimal water management with the necessary community mandates, legislation, systems and implementation methods to make the most of the water we have.”

Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) has similarly welcomed the report, which provides “useful recommendations” according to the chair of LGNZ’s Regional Sector Group Stephen Woodhead.

“Regional and unitary councils, with our communities, are investing heavily in setting limits across regions to manage water quality and the work of the forum supports this and reinforces the direction the councils are taking.”

He says many councils are using collaborative processes to develop their water plans and it is pleasing the new bill to amend the Resource Management Act supports these processes.

“In order to get enduring decisions, the key decisions about water management must be made at a local level and the forum’s recommendations support this.”

Horticulture New Zealand warns the government shouldn’t “cherry-pick” its way through the 60 recommendation.

“This is an all-or-nothing situation for horticulture,” Horticulture New Zealand Natural Resources and Environment Manager Chris Keenan insists.

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more efficient use of water through farmers adopting good management practice and enabling water to be allocated to where it gets the most productive use are also constructive.”

Smith says the influence of the Land and Water Forum is evidenced by the Resource Legislation Bill, which incorporates their “quite radical change” to how plans are developed with a new collaborative planning process.

The legislation includes the regulation-making powers to be able to implement their latest ideas on how to fence rivers, lakes and wetlands from stock, and also provides for an integrated National Policy Statement and National Environmental Standard as recommended by the forum.

The minister looks forward to the Land and Water Forum maintaining this momentum in the next part of its mandate.

“These are the important issues on how to include the macroinvertebrate community index and more effective nutrient controls to limit algal growth in rivers and lakes in the National Policy Statement and we welcome the forum’s input on these.”

Meanwhile, the government’s discussion document on the next steps on freshwater management will be available for public consultation next year.

“This report and our discussions with iwi leaders on freshwater will be carried into this paper,” Smith promises. “We will not be making decisions on these ideas until after all New Zealanders have had an opportunity for input.”

For its part, Federated Farmers is concerned about the clauses relating to iwi rights and interests and how they might be interpreted by local councils.

“We are concerned that some local governments may preempt negotiations between iwi and central government by unreasonably locking up water, creating a gridlock on its management,” Federated Farmers Water spokesperson

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ENVIRONMENT >> Water

Sixty ways to save our water The fourth Land and Water Forum report has made 60 recommendations to safeguard New Zealand’s freshwater, which has come under increasing pressure in the last 20 years The forum recommends: • a llowing land and water users to manage their allocations as they see fit; increase or decrease their allocations through transfer; flexibly apply Good Management Practice (GMP); and change their land use • d eveloping infrastructure and catchment-scale mitigations to increase the amount and reliability of water and assimilative capacity available for economic use • improving certainty for decision-making and investment through consistent national frameworks, better planning processes and firming up consent holders’ rights • i mproving the information and science base – giving better data, models and tools for setting and managing within limits • r educing waste and inefficiency through requiring technically efficient water use, GMP, targeting critical source areas, and a consistent national approach •b ringing iwi more fully into the water economy •p rotecting and allowing businesses to leverage off New Zealand’s green image.

mised, and costs should not be transferred to other parties.

agreement rests with the Crown and iwi, and responsibility for effecting this agreement also lies with the Crown.

The Crown should instruct and enable councils to implement the agreement, and canvass both guiding principles and a suite of mechanisms. Existing rights should not be compro-

More data on spatial variability in the assimilative capacity of ground and surface water systems is required, together with improved modelling and decision-making.

Land and water users should comply with a set of nationally defined and regularly updated industry-specific, catchment-tai-

Integrated catchment management

The forum recommends: • establishing an integrated freshwater management information framework to identify and plug gaps in the data, models and research available for setting and managing within limits • encouraging interoperability and consistency in data, models and accounting systems to provide the transparency needed to allow parties involved in collaborative freshwater management processes to understand, test or question how these work • prioritising limit-setting and management activities, both within and between catchments, on the basis of environmental risks • targeting management/mitigation activities to critical source areas and areas of significant ecological value • public provision, funding and development of infrastructure and catchment-scale mitigations be considered during the catchment planning process • councils report progress every Recognising and providing for two years iwi rights and interests • central government monitor and publicly report on regionThe resolution of iwi rights and interests in freshwater is essenal performance in setting and managing within limits. tial to an enduring system of land and water management.

Responsibility for reaching Water quality

26

lored GMPs. Councils should implement an individual discharge allocation system, transferable if permitted by catchment conditions, to allow flexible allocation management and move discharge allocations to their highest-value uses.

Urban catchment measures should include water-sensitive urban design, better integration of three waters infrastructure planning, wastewater overflow reporting and a review of tradewaste bylaws.

Stock exclusion Dairy cattle, beef cattle, deer and pigs should be excluded from waterways on the plains and in lowland hills over time.

Councils should require exclusion of stock from critical source areas and areas of ecological importance where the national stock exclusion regulation does not apply – such as hill country.

Appropriate riparian setback widths should vary along the waterway according to the terrain, the contaminants being managed, and the effectiveness of alternative mitigations.

Water quantity Efficient water use should be encouraged by allowing transferable individual authorisations, so they can move to their highest-value uses.

Existing consents should be translated into a new format and councils should take measures to facilitate water transfer.

Limits should define the reliability of water available for allocation and authorisations should describe the circumstances under which the rate, volume and duration of abstraction will vary.

During transition to the new regime councils should apply a ‘reasonable technical efficiency test’ to remove paper over-allocation. Central government should work with industry, councils and other stakeholders to specify technical efficiency definitions. Small takes should also

be accounted for at the catchment level, but don’t need to be metered unless they add up to a significant proportion of water use.

Water metering should be rolled out in residential areas to identify wastage. Municipal supply used for commercial or industrial uses should be identified and treated on the same basis as commercial users outside the municipal supply – including restrictions in times of shortage.

Reducing over-allocation Over-allocation should be reduced by: • implementing GMP and requiring technically efficient water use • targeting critical source areas • developing additional infrastructure • administrative haircuts • land-use controls.

Enabling transfer of allocated takes and discharges would help ensure these move to the best economic uses within the reduced overall cap.

Central government should contribute financially to efforts to bring highly over-allocated catchments back within limits.

Enabling change A national information-sharing platform should be established, accessible to all councils, iwi, CRIs, sector groups and communities to support effective and efficient freshwater management decisions.

Central government should rationalise and consolidate its existing funding in several high priority areas: • environmental clean-up and headroom creation • science and information • capacity building – where additional central government funding should be provided.

The full report, forum membership and detailed recommendations can be found at www.landandwater.org.nz March 2016

INNOVATIONS >> Wastewater

New CST packages eliminate the jigsaw of complexity

CST Wastewater Solutions packages include proven global and locally manufactured technologies ranging from fixed installations

N

ew engineer-and-build water and wastewater treatment and recycling packages are being introduced

by CST Wastewater Solutions for industries and municipalities that want to lower the cost and complexity of such projects.

The design, supply and install packages – incorporating global and locally manufactured technologies proven in use by some of Australia and New Zealand’s leading companies and councils – are aimed particularly at: • Councils seeking engineering assistance to develop clear choices and optimum solutions incorporating advanced low-maintenance technologies providing high levels of water purity while reducing maintenance, waste handling and OH&S issues associated with running them.

• Industries seeking readily constructed or portable, low maintenance solutions for operations particularly in remote, ecologically or environmentally sensitive areas - ranging from resources or agribusiness developments in the country or outback, through to food, beverage, manufacturing and processing plants sharing precious water resources with urban areas.

“Rather than presenting such organisations with a jigsaw of disparate collections of technologies and engineering services options for them to piece March 2016

together, our packaged solutions focus on clear, properly engineered solutions that deliver what they promise. CST offers turnkey solutions based on a known raw water quality and guaranteeing water quality outcomes thus giving user engineers significant confidence in the outcomes and limiting their exposure and potential concerns,” says CST Wastewater Solutions Managing Director Mr Michael Bambridge.

“There have been major advances in water quality, water recycling and green energy from wastewater technologies over the last decade, but not all organisations have the in-house expertise these days to realise the benefits. And whereas standard solutions might have been good enough when there were fewer pressures on water quality and demand on water as a shared community resource, today water managers have to design to a much tighter and demanding sustainability brief,” he says.

Effective technologies are available and proven – including advanced screening, membrane and aerobic and anaerobic digestion, filtration and reverse osmosis for example – but the best combinations “just can’t be picked off the shelf to fit particular projects. They have to be engineered for local conditions or they won’t deliver on their promise,” said Mr

Bambridge, whose company’s projects range from water quality plants for councils throughout Australia to green energy generation and water recycling plants for organisations such as the Bluetongue Brewery, Cadia mining, Frucor, Golden Circle and national dairy, paper and agribusiness companies.

Locally manufactured technologies - such as fine screening, for example – are already reducing maintenance and OH&S issues for Australian and New Zealand companies, while CST Wastewater Solutions also represents globally successful technologies including Smith and Loveless, Berson UV disinfection systems and Global Water Engineering water quality and green energy technologies proven in more than 300 projects worldwide. One GWE project recent won a global award from the Institution of Chemical Engineers, IChemE, which represents more than 40,000 engineers globally. GWE water quality technology - which extracts green energy from wastewater to turn a problem into a profit - is currently being deployed by the leading Japanese meat processor NH Foods at Oakey Beef Exports in Queensland.

The Oakey project not only radically improves wastewater quality but also generates biogas (methane) to replace fossil fuels and lessen environmental impacts.

CST’s SFC Screen Extractor

Another advanced technology, high efficiency SFC fine screening extractor technology, is currently delivering low maintenance performance with reduced OHS hazards for municipal and industrial wastewater schemes.

This technology, which also reduces handling of waste, is demonstrating immediate results in one of its recent applications, for the co-joined towns of Harden and Murrumburrah, where it is incorporated into the treatment system improving water quality for a population of approximately 2,000 people.

“Many communities and industries - especially throughout regional and outback areas of Australia - face water quality and recycling issues brought about by drought and limited water resources available for drinking, agriculture, product processing and sharing between communities and their industries.

“Some such groups have limited access to the technical resources, technologies and application know-how to produce solutions to their issues, which is where packages such as we have introduced can be invaluable.”

CST Wastewater Solutions engineering team has a track record of more than 25 years successful project implementation to back its new design, supply and install packages.

For further information in Australia and New Zealand, please contact Mr Michael Bambridge, Managing Director, CST Wastewater Solutions, 16/20 Barcoo Street, Roseville 2069.

Tel: 61 2 9417 3611:info@ cstwastewater.com www. cstwastewater.com 27

COMMENT >> Water

Independent Futures Commission ideal alternative to failed forum The New Zealand government’s decision seven years ago to set up the Land and Water Forum was an exciting move which held much promise, but sadly the end result has been disappointing

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ish & Game was a fervent supporter when the John Key-led government announced it was establishing the Land and Water Forum – it even funded some of the initial work to help establish it.

The Land and Water Forum was based on a Scandinavian model of collective decision-making termed ‘collaborative governance’. It requires the final decision maker – such as a government or regional council – to commit from the outset to implementing any outcomes agreed between the competing interests participating in the process.

This idea of disparate groups collaborating to achieve a final goal acceptable to all was attractive to Fish & Game and it was happy to be involved.

The problem is that in New Zealand, this forward-thinking and enlightened Scandinavian approach has been undermined. The government has split the concept apart so it retains governance and decision-making, while the collaborative part is left to the forum,

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effectively relegating it to no more than a multi-stakeholder advisory committee.

So, while collaboration sounds all very reasonable, the reality is that it is a dressed-up process predicated on compromise.

Fish & Game became further disenchanted over the seven years the forum has been meeting. While the forum has made more than 200 recommendations over those seven years, few have been acted on by central or regional government. Worse, some of those recommendations are fatally compromised, with no plan to implement them.

An example of one such compromised recommendation is fencing beef cattle from waterways. The forum recommendation is that such fencing doesn’t have to happen until 2030, despite clear evidence that New Zealand’s waterways are already badly affected by the failure to keep farm animals out of rivers and streams.

The final straw for Fish & Game was an attempt to muzzle the organisation from speak-

ing out on environmental issues being discussed by the Land and Water Forum until after the 2017 election.

Fish & Game was left with no choice but to resign from the forum, which, after much soul-searching and external advice, it did in November 2015.

What has happened to the Land and Water Forum has deep implications for New Zealand and the government needs to act now to ensure the legacy of this sorry saga does not hold the country back from progressing to an environmentally sustainable future.

If this country is to make any progress, there needs to be an honest and open effort to plan New Zealand’s future and ensure that all interests – business, community and environment – are accommodated.

Future focus A significant strategic step forward would be to establish an independent Futures Commission to look at how New Zealand is going to operate in an increasingly complex and demanding world. The commission would operate over all government portfolios and effectively ensure the country is “future-proofed”.

Key to this future-proofing is ensuring the environment is protected from damaging exploitation and degradation.

The simple truth is that the economy has to sit within a healthy environment, a concept deftly put by former World Bank Senior Economist Herman Daly when he said ‘the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment’.

Unless the environment is protected, there is no economy.

For a nation like New Zealand, which relies heavily on the primary sector, the failure to recognise this is nothing short of irresponsible.

And this is where the Land and Water Forum ran into problems.

Its focus became fixated on economic growth which was based on continued but ultimately unsustainable access to the finite

The simple truth is that the economy has to sit within a healthy environment, says Fish & Game New Zealand Chief Executive Bryce Johnson natural water resource, rather than securing environmental protection.

Infrastructure development is vital to ensure a country can develop and be competitive on the world stage. Without proper roads, ports, communication and power supply, there is no hope of development or progress.

But the environment has to be the first call in any thinking about infrastructure. Good infrastructure development should preserve or even enhance the environment, not degrade it.

The real cost of infrastructure development is not in the money spent on designing, building and operating a project but how much the public has to pay to fix the environmental damage caused by poor, unthinking and insensitive developments.

My hope is that New Zealand can learn from its first, ham-fisted excursion into collaborative processes by putting the natural environment first and safeguarding the future by establishing a Futures Commission to map a clear, long-term coherent strategy for all New Zealanders.

Bryce Johnson is Chief Executive of Fish & Game New Zealand, the country’s foremost environment group on water conservation charged

by Parliament to manage, maintain and enhance sports fish and game-birds and their habitats March 2016

COMMENT >> Water

Is collaboration really working for water quality?

At first glance, the Land and Water Forum seems like a good idea but is it really fit for purpose, asks Catherine Delahunty?

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ake environmental NGOs like Forest and Bird, sector groups like Dairy NZ and Horticulture NZ, commercial interests like Fonterra and Contact Energy, and all sorts of other groups who have a stake in our water like the Tourism Industry Association and Te Runanga o Ngai Tahi.

Give them the mandate to work out how to manage water in this country, and you should have a pretty good result.

However, this has not come to pass, and the fourth report from the Land and Water Forum (LAWF) shows how compromised this process has become in favour of the development of water as a resource to be exploited and extracting the agreement of environmental watchdogs to do this by including them in the collaboration.

The first three reports published by the LAWF dealt with improvements to the way wa-

ter is managed in New Zealand. The National government brought them together to do this. Yet of the 150 recommendations made by the LAWF, the government has cherry-picked the recommendations. It makes you wonder why they bother.

The fourth report dealt with maximising the economic benefit of water, using the water quality standards set by the National Objectives Framework (NOF) as the limit on allowable pollution in water.

The problem is the NOF is too permissive, allowing polluters to get away with making our rivers too dirty to swim in by either over-allocating the water takes, not controlling run-off and nitrate leaching, or allowing sedimentation and other nutrients entering waterways. The Land and Water Forum was told to find ways that will exploit our waterways within that framework.

The forum’s report also looks at integrated catchment management that will involve setting limits on the amount of pollution allowed to enter catchments, which is a great idea in principle, but with the NOF being so permissive those limits will be too weak to ensure rivers and streams and lakes meet the necessary standards.

When the bottom line for our waterways is that they be safe for secondary recreation – wad-

ing and boating but not swimming – the NOF only pays lip service to water quality.

The mandate of the Fourth Land and Water Forum report enforces the National government’s view that water is measured for its ‘productive value’ rather than as a taonga and resource for New Zealanders and future generations, and we believe the weak water quality standards reflect this approach.

It also makes no sense that the fifth report, due out later this year, will be a review of the NOF and recommended improvements to the National Policy Statement for Fresh Water Management (NPS-FM). What is the point of working within goalposts that will be moved come the next report? Wouldn’t it make sense to review the NOF first? So that the health and well-being of waterways is paramount, so that waterways will be safe for swimming.

Positive points The fourth report does have some good features: • the LAWF recommends that more work needs to be done by the Crown and councils to recognise iwi rights and interests in freshwater • excluding stock from waterways is recommended to protect water quality – the fourth report recommends excluding dairy cattle, beef cattle, deer and pigs in areas not currently required to do so • it also recommends appropriate riparian setbacks that should mitigate some nutrient run-off.

The idea behind the Land

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and Water Forum is a good one – bringing together tangata whenua with stakeholders from both the commercial and environmental sides. But with a mandate that is all about short-term profits, the collaborative process is fundamentally flawed.

Is it better for environmental groups to be inside the process, making compromises, or fighting for what is right outside the process? We saw how flawed the Land and Water Forum’s process is when Fish and Game walked away from it recently.

They claimed that the government’s goal in bringing stakeholders together is to silence dissent, and focus on resource development, not protection, which we also believe. Forest and Bird’s public admission that they only conditionally supported the last report showed how flimsy the process really is.

Stronger bottom lines are needed, and they are needed now. The government is reluctant to regulate for the environment. It consistently puts promoting development, such as irrigation and intensive agriculture, ahead of the environment.

And it is using the LAWF to demonstrate it’s taking water quality seriously. As long as it prioritises money over well-being and allows rivers to be polluted for short-term gain, it is not taking water quality seriously.

Catherine Delahunty is the Green Party spokesperson for Water, Education and Te Tiriti o Waitangi

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COMMENT >> Water

A long and winding stream Peter Whitehouse Manager, Advocacy & Learning, Water NZ Initial worries about water several years ago have given rise to more than 200 recommendations to government to date

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he suggestions have been made by the Land and Water Forum (LWF), which grew out of concerns early in 2008 around a number of issues over the way water was managed.

Water New Zealand initially established a group of multi-sector organisations that became known as The Turnbull Group after the group’s meeting place in Wellington’s Turnbull House.

The group met regularly for over a year, and in July 2009 produced a report with a number of recommendations covering both rural and urban water use.

Simultaneously, a similar process that emerged from a conference of the Environmental Defence Society led to the establishment of the Sustainable Land Use Forum later in 2008.

After an initial couple of meetings the government decided to formalise the process.

Former diplomat Alastair Bisley was appointed chairman, a secretariat was established and in 2009 the forum became the Land and Water Forum. Government funding was made available and in August 2009 a formal programme of work commenced.

The forum established a Small Group of some 30 participants who work to achieve consensus before taking specific recommendations to a plenary session that consists of 67 organisations, including ‘active observers’ from central and local government and iwi repre30

sentatives from the iwi leaders’ advisory group.

The first 12 months of the forum’s work resulted in the A Fresh Start for Freshwater report, which included 53 recommendations to government.

During late 2010 and early 2011 Small Group members held a series of public meetings nationwide to discuss the forum’s report and recommendations.

The government issued a response to the forum’s recommendations in September 2011.

The forum was given a further mandate and reported to government in 2012 with 38 recommendations. These included a framework for setting limits and recommendations on the governance arrangements that would secure the involvement of all stakeholders, iwi in particular.

Later in 2012 a third report emerged with a reiteration of some of the recommendations found in the first report and a forum statement on iwi rights and interests.

November last year saw the forum deliver yet another report to government with 60 recommendations.

Action all Significantly, the first recommendation in this latest report called for the government to implement all the recommendations detailed in the forum’s previous reports.

In terms of urban water issues, the forum offered, in part, the following commentary: • ‘The responsibility for man-

aging water quality in urban environments largely falls to the owners and managers of transport, stormwater and wastewater networks, and the owners of commercial enterprises that result in trade waste and point source discharges of contaminants. It can be difficult to isolate the impacts of individual households’ actions as stormwater and wastewater networks are designed to manage and treat contaminants at a collective level. In addition, allocating diffuse contaminants that enter stormwater to individual households would be challenging as the activities that generate contaminants and the associated adverse impacts are difficult to quantify or locate. These difficulties can complicate monitoring and compliance, and dilute the incentive of individuals to take responsibility for their actions. This is quite different to rural environments where the relationship between individuals’ and farm-level actions and their effects on freshwater quality, in particular, are in most cases more obvious and direct.

• Many of New Zealand’s urban environments are located on or near the coast, with rivers and streams in these environments flowing directly into harbours, estuaries and oceans. Urban New Zealanders are often more aware of coastal water quality than the quality of urban streams. The NPS-FM requires councils to have regard to the connections between fresh water and the coast, including the effects of land and water use.

In urban areas, the alignment of plans will be particularly important, as publicly rec-

ognised coastal water issues may provide the impetus for strengthened freshwater planning, asset management and land use controls.

• The cost of maintaining and renewing water management infrastructure will be particularly challenging for some councils and communities, especially those with small urban centres, declining populations and rates bases.

This may encourage conservative management responses or conversely discourage innovative approaches to delivering improved water management outcomes.

The limit-setting process will need to consider these challenges when determining the timeframes to achieve community objectives for fresh water in these areas.

The forum has now been issued with a further government mandate to 31 December 2017, befitting its vital task.

A plentiful supply of water is one of this country’s key strategic advantages, and the government is correctly committed to maximising its economic benefit.

Equally, water quality is of particular concern to many New Zealanders. Balancing economic benefit with maintaining pristine waterways is a challenging task.

The Land and Water Forum continues to show that with robust thinking and a commitment to consensus such a balance is achievable.

Peter Whitehouse is Manager, Advocacy & Learning at Water New Zealand, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes and represents organisations within the water industry in New Zealand March 2016

Comment >> Transport

Government funding of vital rail link a game changer

We were very pleased with the government’s recent announcements on a raft of nationally significant infrastructure projects – especially the decision to fund the City Rail Link

W

hile the City Rail Link (CRL) has been an objective of the Auckland Plan from the get-go, central government was initially reluctant to commit financially.

It has taken them several years to recognise the important role of the CRL within the wider Auckland transport network. We applaud them for the change in their stance towards the project.

We have been a part of this debate from the outset and are strong supporters of the CRL. Four years on since the Auckland plan was adopted, we are starting to see Auckland Council and the government working more proactively together towards delivering the housing and transport targets of the Plan, and improving the urban fabric of Auckland.

Auckland has been debating an underground rail link for a century, but with the city’s current population and growth forecasts there has never been a more opportune time. Its transport infrastructure has suffered from decades of neglect and underinvestment by successive governments and councils.

Whatever we do from hereon in

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The importance of the City Rail Link is graphically demonstrated by the fact that the 2013 Census revealed 330,000 Aucklanders were living within a kilometre of the rail network; a whopping increase from just 80,000 in 2006 is playing catch up.

While good progress has been made, there is more to do. Over the next 30 years, the Auckland Plan sets out a $60 billion investment need to meet the demand produced by population growth.

By 2033, Auckland is expected to house two million people; putting unprecedented pressure on our housing, infrastructure and transport networks.

Changes to Auckland Council’s targeted transport rates have the potential to add tens of thousands of dollars to commercial property owners’ rates bills; putting increased pressure on building owners. The council has previously said its budgetary constraints may affect the delivery of greenfield infrastructure, which is where new houses can be built. This is severely detrimental to a city in the throes of a housing crisis.

That is why the CRL announcement and its related time frames are good news. They lift business confidence and provide certainty for planned and ongoing developments in the CBD. Over $2 billion worth of developments have started or are about to start on Albert Street

alone, including the $350 million NDG Auckland Centre next to the new Aotea Station and the $680 million Commercial Bay tower opposite Britomart.

We know that delays and uncertainty are disastrous to investor confidence and project delivery. Fortunately, the announcement comes as a booster and conveys the government’s seriousness to work with the council to make Auckland an internationally competitive city.

Contractual certainty

developments occurring within the Metropolitan Urban Limit.

This has a direct effect on infrastructure delivery, especially for land which has never been developed, creating complex challenges.

For the better part of the last decade, we have seen intensification of housing near public transport interchanges. It makes good sense; we want to increase housing choices, provide access to public transport and decrease congestion on our roads.

More than 1,200 apartments have been built in Newmarket, Manukau, Kingsland, and New Lynn.

The 2013 Census revealed 330,000 Aucklanders were living within a kilometre of the rail network; a whopping increase from just 80,000 in 2006. That number demonstrated the importance of the CRL, which will add further capacity, network resilience, and service reliability to the existing network. It will also future-proof it and provide real time savings for people; what we desperately need.

To ensure Auckland’s overall success as ‘the world’s most liveable city’, land-use planning and transport infrastructure must be aligned in strategy, planning and delivery. The Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan must be an enabler of the Auckland Plan (to ensure targets are met) and tie into transport and infrastructure plans in a bid to produce well-connected communities with ample access to amenities

With initial wrangling over funding dates out of the way, the council can begin negotiating contracts with certainty. While the 25 per cent employment target rate the government initially set to fund the CRL earlier will not be met due to a lack of available commercial space, rail patronage is expected to hit 20 million trips two years earlier than the initial date of 2020.

Transport infrastructure and housing are intrinsically linked and the two must be planned and delivered in conjunction.

To prevent ‘urban sprawl’, the Connal Townsend is Chief Auckland Plan envisages 60 per Executive of the Property cent to 70 per cent of future Council NZ

March 2016

TRANSPORT >> Waterview Each of the two Waterview Connection tunnels comprises a single pass precast concrete segmental lining with an internal diameter of 13.1m

Getting ahead by going underground New Zealand’s largest and most ambitious roading project relies on two tunnels that pass under a built-up residential area and one of the country’s busiest roads

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he twin tunnels that lie at the very heart of the NZ Transport Agency’s $1.4bn Waterview Connection demanded both bold vision and painstaking planning.

The 2.4km long, three-lane motorway tunnels will provide a vital arterial connection, helping the Waterview Connection deliver a massive increase in the capacity of the motorway network in New Zealand’s largest city when it opens in early 2017.

The 47km motorway alternative will ease congestion on State Highway 1 through central Auckland, bypassing the city to the west and linking Manukau, Waitakere, and North Shore regional centres via State Highways 20 (the Southwestern Motorway), 16 (the Northwestern Motorway) and 18 (Upper Harbour Motorway).

The complex task of design34

ing, constructing and initially maintaining the massive project fell to the Well-Connected Alliance, comprising Fletcher Construction, McConnell Dowell Constructors, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, Beca, Tonkin and Taylor, Japanese construction company Obayashi Corporation and the Transport Agency.

The programming and sequencing of work on the huge project was an enormous task that saw individually defined scopes within the alliance set aside in favour of collaboration to deliver the project as a whole.

This culture led to the formation of an early value-for-money committee of senior technical experts, who initially identified nearly 200 innovations on the project’s opportunity register, of which 61 were implemented and reduced costs by more

than $44 million.

As of December 2015, 21 opportunities remained on the innovation register and will likely result in further savings for the project during the final stages of construction. “The alliance structure ensures we can fully meet functionality requirements with a high degree of certainty,” Well-Connected Alliance Systems Design Manager Mike Reed from WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff explains.

Each alliance partner shares the pain and gain, Reed says, adding that they all win together. “We are focussed on efficiency, not shortcuts,” he emphasises. “I believe this collaborative focus on value is one of the strongest examples of innovation to come out of this project.”

Especially innovative are the two 2.4km, three-lane, 13.1m

diameter motorway tunnels that will pass up to 45m below a built-up residential area and under New Zealand’s busiest arterial road.

The decision to construct tunnels using a 14.4m diameter earth pressure balance tunnel boring machine (TBM) was made following multi-criteria analysis that concluded that this method best addressed the project’s geotechnical risks and uncertainties while minimising cost and programme risk.

For the most part, the tunnel route passes through sandstone of varying strength and degrees of weathering. “The size of the TBM was chosen because it could provide the best capability to handle the varying soil and rock conditions in its path,” Well-Connected Alliance Technical Director Dr Doug Maconochie from WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff says. “It also limited the risk of lowering the groundwater table as required by the environmental conditions of the projects consents.”

Getting the right TBM for the anticipated conditions was key to ensuring that the Waterview Connection tunnels were built March 2016

Alice’s breakthrough in October 2014 completed the southbound tunnel, which at 2.4km is New Zealand’s longest road tunnel

to the highest specifications, says McConnell Dowell’s Iain Simmons, who is the Construction Director for the Well-Connected Alliance.

“The team was very mindful of how the wrong TBM procured for the job or the ground conditions can result in very high cost and time overruns,” he says.

“We tapped into McConnell Dowell’s previous experience of the Auckland conditions, and its expertise in tunnelling, procurement and design of other specialised equipment, including for mining, to make sure we got it right.”

Alice’s adventures The tunnels were built by an earth pressure balance tunnel boring machine (TBM) named ‘Alice’, christened by nine-yearold Brandon Hall, from Manukau, the winner of a primary school naming competition.

The largest ever built for use in Australasia at the time, Alice was the 10th largest machine of its type in the world, weighing some 2400 tonnes and reaching 3100 tonnes when combined with backup gantries.

Measuring 90m in total, the March 2016

TBM’s 14.4m diameter rotating cutting head was attached to the front of a 12m-long shield that was followed by three gantries housing all the equipment required to operate the machine, place precast concrete rings to line the tunnels and remove all material extracted.

Alice arrived in July 2013 in 100 separate loads, including 20 containers of small parts.

After a 10-day journey she was reassembled in the tunnels’ southern Owairaka approach trench prior to starting tunnelling north to Waterview.

Once the TBM had progressed 500m, the culvert gantry was assembled behind her to position a box culvert running below the level of the motorway to carry the mechanical and electrical services needed to operate the tunnel.

Each of the two tunnels comprises a single-pass precast concrete segmental lining with an internal diameter of 13.1m.

The lining comprises two metre-wide rings, 450mm thick; each with a conventional configuration of nine interconnected segments and a smaller key segment.

The lining was installed inside the tail skin of the TBM’s shield and grouted from the skin as the machine pushed forward, ensuring there was never an unprotected void that could be subject to settlement.

The laser and global positioning system-guided cutting head rotated at speeds of up to 1.9rpm, giving it a top speed of 80mm/min as 56 electrically powered hydraulic thrust cylinders applied force of up to 22,800t to push the cutting head against the tunnel face.

The soil itself was conditioned with a polymer injected with water and compressed air to ensure spoil took on a toothpaste-like consistency that would not clump or stick to the head before being removed by a continuous conveyor belt linked to the back of the TBM. Progress was swift and October 2014 saw Alice break through at the northern Waterview end to complete the southbound tunnel, which at 2.4km long surpasses the 1.94km Lyttelton Road Tunnel in Christchurch as the longest road tunnel in New Zealand.

This impressive breakthrough

was followed by Alice’s complex turnaround at the Waterview portal inside the Northern Approach Trench, an event which captured worldwide media attention as very few TBMs are ever turned 180 degrees.

“The breakthrough of the TBM into the Northern Portal was one of the significant challenges of the project”, commented Construction Director, Iain Simmons. “The 14.4m diameter TBM had less than 10m of cover at this point with weak soil groups and weathered rock in the upper portions of the face. The successful entry into the portal was the result of thorough planning, well managed processes and the close co-operation of many different teams across the project”.

The extraordinary feat saw the 90m-long TBM weighing 3,100 tonnes turned in a very constricted space, with the cutting head and its three trailing gantries disconnected and each piece individually removed from the tunnel to enable it to be turned.

Continued on page 36 35

TRANSPORT >> Waterview Continued from page 35 The TBM was unhitched from her trailing gantries and moved onto a heavy-duty steel cradle before the TBM was moved sideways, turned 180 degrees using hydraulic jacks and pushed up against the entry portal of the northern tunnel.

The first of the two trailing gantries was then retrieved from the completed tunnel and moved into position behind the TBM. Simmons describes how the planning team was assembled in early 2014 to develop the methodology and temporary works required to turn Alice around under such challenging conditions and recommence mining in ‘shortened mode’.

“It was a huge effort involving many people and tens of thousands of hours of planning activity. McConnell Dowell’s Engineering team developed the unique hydraulic ram pulling system which was central to the success of the turnaround.”

Together they were relaunched in December 2014 to bore 300 metres of the new tunnel, moving far enough ahead to enable the other trailing gantries and the culvert gantry to take up their positions behind them.

Almost one year later to the day, Alice broke through the final 900mm of concrete at the southern Owairaka end to complete her epic journey. Alice’s work is now complete and she has been disassembled and returned to Herrenknecht, the German company that designed and built her.

Creative solutions Impressive and eye-catching as Alice undoubtedly was, it wasn’t the only groundbreaking initiative involved in the planning, design and construction of one of the government’s most important Roads of National Significance.

Constructing four multi-lane ramps over a busy motorway and existing interchange while being in close proximity to a sensitive marine environment 36

The two 2.4km, three-lane, 13.1m diameter motorway tunnels pass up to 45m below a built-up residential area

saw the team push engineering boundaries and employ some innovative techniques and methods not commonly used in New Zealand.

For example, the existing motorway made access to the construction site difficult, but the use of a purpose-built self-launching gantry to position the beams provided an innovative solution.

Named Dennis in memory of a site chippie who died of cancer during construction, the 98-metre-long, 140-tonne gantry was shipped to New Zealand in bits and the trusses were assembled on-site.

It’s a unique piece of equipment that was designed specifically to fit the physical constraints of the design, the parameters of the beams and the fact that motorway closures can only happen between 11pm to 4am, which meant that by the time two normal cranes were set-up there would only be 20min left to lift.

Instead, Dennis allows the

crew to travel out to the span immediately prior to the one they are placing so they are ready to position it as soon as the motorways close, resulting in significant time savings.

Work is continuing apace at both ends of the tunnel, with the northern end of the project focusing on a five-hectare area parallel to Great North Road, incorporating part of the former Waterview Reserve and Cowley Street.

The northern approach trench has been built using diaphragm wall methodology to support the trench wall. From the northern portal, the motorway will rise up in a 1.7km-long interchange comprising four ramps that will link the North-western SH16 and South-western SH20 motorways and effectively complete the Western Ring Route.

The Great North Road Interchange requires the construction of 53 bridge spans comprising 54 columns founded on bored piles, 44 crossheads, three table tops, and 279 Su-

per-T beams each up to 36 m long, the latter being placed by the purpose-built, 98m-long, self-launching girder, Dennis.

The greater community hasn’t been forgotten either, with the Waterview Connection that is scheduled to open in early 2017 including a shared foot and cycle bridge across the motorway in the south, and a shared path connecting Waterview and Mt Albert that will effectively link the city’s north-western cycleway along SH16 and south-western cycleway with connections to the airport.

The Waterview Connection project will provide a major boost to New Zealand’s biggest city and the economic gateway through which 61 per cent of the country’s imports and 32 percent of its exports pass, not only in terms of greater economic efficiency but through an enhanced quality of life for Auckland citizens and for their regional neighbours.

March 2016

COMMENT >> Planning

Better planning for a better New Zealand

The nation’s planners are uniquely placed to contribute to the current vigorous debate on the country’s future development, says NZPI CEO Susan Houston

T

he Resource Legislation Amendment Bill, the Productivity Commission’s “first principles” review of New Zealand’s system of urban planning, and the Ministry for Environment’s call for suggestions for a possible National Policy Statement on urban development all call for informed debate.

The New Zealand Planning Institute (NZPI) has recognised it needs to robustly engage with these initiatives, draw on the practical experience and knowledge of its members, and take a leadership role.

The Resource Legislation Amendment Bill (RLAB) The NZPI believes there is appetite for significant legislative change, but questions whether the current RMA Amendment bill is the time or place. We believe the bill could best be treated as a holding operation and an opportunity to fix immediate operational problems.

We recognise that there are a number of proposals that meet a clear and present need. In principle, subject to amendment and detailed suggestions drawn from member experience, those proposals will be supported by NZPI. We have concerns about a number of proposals which

appear to weaken local decision-making and potentially conflict with the community-enabling and self-determining purposes inherent in the RMA. NZPI is seeking members’ feedback on whether some proposals strike an appropriate balance between supporting or weakening decision-making at local level.

These include changes in: • National Environment Standard provisions • National Policy Statement provisions • National Policy Statement & Environmental Standard provisions • National Direction, including the National Planning Template • National Direction enabling EPA resource use.

There are also other proposals which we think could be more appropriately considered in a wider planning system review.

For example, NZPI queries the number of major change proposals that have been incorporated into this bill and which seek to correct or mitigate longterm problems in the RMA. We question whether the costs of enacting and implementing major proposals in the bill will exceed their benefits given other potential largescale changes to the RMA that

are looming.

Proposals we put into this category include: • the Mandatory National Planning Template • requirements on councils to improve housing/provide for development capacity • the Collaborative Planning Process option • new procedural requirements for decision makers • introducing Environmental Offset mechanisms.

NZPI will be developing detailed submissions over the next few weeks and is keen to share its thinking with other organisations that are equally committed to improving our planning system.

Productivity Commission Better Urban Planning initiative

the current urban planning system in New Zealand • examination of best practice internationally and in other cases where power is devolved to a local level in New Zealand • alternative approaches to the urban planning system.

Just before Christmas the PC released a Better Urban Planning think piece for discussion and submission that will surely stimulate debate. NZPI has embarked on research in pursuit of a set of principles that might inform the policy development process. We have provided some comment at this early stage and aim to take an active part in the PC’s investigation.

NZPI will also respond to MfE’s proposed urban development National Policy Statement and Local Government New Zealand’s Blue Skies Thinking document, which reviews the performance of the RMA and provides many ideas for the future.

NZPI has engaged with the Productivity Commission’s (PC) previous investigations and reports, and the present formal review of New Zealand’s system of urban planning will be no exception.

We note that it is responding to terms of reference prepared by the Ministers of Finance, Local Government, Building & Housing, Environment, and Transport, which require the inquiry to cover: Susan Houston is CEO of • background, objectives, out- the New Zealand Planning comes and learnings from Institute

Build for Success March 2016

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SECURITY

New cyber strategy seeks to safeguard New Zealand economy Ensuring New Zealanders are safe, resilient and prosperous online is at the heart of the government’s refreshed national Cyber Security Strategy

T

he revised strategy was launched by Communications Minister Amy Adams with an Action Plan and a National Plan to Address Cybercrime.

“The government is building infrastructure and investing $2 billion into our Ultra-Fast Broadband and Rural Broadband Initiative programmes because we want New Zealanders to engage in the digital economy,” she says.

The minister observes that while New Zealand has benefited enormously from the innovations offered by technology, it has also led to new vulnerabilities.

“The threat to New Zealanders and the economy from cyber intrusions is real and growing, and there are serious implications for our economic well-being and national security,” she maintains.

“The pace of change and emergence of new and complex threats mean constant vigilance is required. By refreshing the action plan each year we will keep pace with any emerging threats.”

While New Zealand has yet to experience a significant cy-

berattack, estimated economic losses last year alone reached $257 million.

According to research, 56 per cent of New Zealand businesses experience an information technology security attack at least once a year.

Equally, if not more alarming, is the fact that only 65 per cent of businesses are confident that their IT security systems are effective.

“Unlike traditional threats, we need to understand that New Zealand’s geographical position offers no protection against cyber threats,” Adams warns.

“New Zealand is experiencing cyber incidents, including growing cybercrime, in the same way as countries around the world.”

She insists that the government and private sector “need to work together” on cybersecurity. “The private and public sectors must find ways to share information and expertise to address cybersecurity risks and this strategy relies on a close and active public-private partnership to ensure New Zealanders remain safe online.”

A key action in the new strategy is the development of a national computer emergency

response team (CERT) to reduce harm from cybersecurity incidents and improve New Zealand’s ability to deal with attacks.

The CERT will act as a single entry point for organisations or individuals needing assistance, and provide information to businesses, including small and medium enterprises, government and individuals so they can protect themselves from cyber threats.

“New Zealand’s key international partners each have a national CERT of some form, and creation of our national CERT brings us into alignment.”

The minister says the CERT is intended as a partnership between the public and private sectors, and will work with companies and government agencies depending on the nature of the issue.

The Cyber Security Strategy contains four areas of work: • cyber resilience is about the ongoing protection of New Zealand’s most important information infrastructures • cyber capability involves building the skills of New Zealanders, businesses and government agencies to

The threat to New Zealanders and the economy from cyber intrusions is real and growing, says Communications Minister Amy Adams

protect themselves online, spearheaded by the Connect Smart public-private partnership • addressing cybercrime will focus on building police capability to deal with cybercrime • international cooperation will allow New Zealand to maintain a voice internationally on the promotion of a free, open and secure cyberspace, and involves international engagement on cybersecurity issues.

Minister Adams also announced New Zealand will host its first-ever Cyber Security Summit in the first half of 2016 in Auckland. The Cyber Security Strategy can be found at https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/ dpmc/publications/nzcss

Solid support

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he New Zealand Technology Industry Association (NZTech) says the work that the government has done to develop a national cybersecurity strategy is “excellent” as it recognises the growing importance of technology throughout the country.

“Hand in hand with this, there is also growing vulnerability if we don’t develop a national concern and understanding of cybersecurity,” NZTech CEO Graeme Muller adds. “Cyber security is very much like regular security for the general public and we have to build this understanding and attitude throughout the population.”

Ideally, the strategy could address the need for the development of understanding about cybersecurity as part of the national education curriculum. “It’s a bit like teaching kids to put rubbish in the bin, or what to do if there is an earthquake,” Muller explains. “To create a society that has cybersecurity in its DNA means we need to start young.”

He believes there will be a “massive” international economic

38

advantage in being identified as one of the most secure places in the world. “The work that the government and the Connect Smart partners have done to develop a strategy to help us be one of the most cyber-secure nations in the world is a great start.”

Starting the strategy with some underlying principles means the intent is well balanced. “Locking everything down would make it very secure, but this is not economically or socially ideal,” Muller explains. “So having principles that identify that this is a shared responsibility, not just a government one, and that economic growth and human rights are looked after sets the framework of the strategy well.”

March 2016

SECURITY

Local organisations posting patchy performances

Emerging platforms and opportunities such as the Internet of things, mobile payment systems, cloud computing and open-source software require a new approach to cybersecurity

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hat’s the conclusion of the PwC Global State of Information Security Survey 2016, which found that traditional “digital perimeters” such as firewalls are proving increasingly ineffective as technology continues its inexorable development.

New Zealand organisations overall are aware of this brave new digital world, but while many are taking active steps to combat emerging menaces an equal if not greater number are lagging badly in key areas.

The survey found that many companies were taking basic precautions to protect their IT ecosystems from evolving threats: • 50.5 per cent are providing employee training and awareness programmes • 81.4 per cent have installed malware or anti-virus protection software • 25.8 per cent employ behavioural profiling and monitoring programs • 56.7 per cent undertake vulnerability assessments • 35.1 per cent classify the business value of their data March 2016

• 36.1 per cent have instituted programmes to identify sensitive assets However, many companies aren’t taking active precautions beyond these basic measures: • 20.6 per cent of local organisations receive risk updates from a chief information security officer at board level at least four times a year compared to 34.8 per cent globally • 31.3 per cent of local respondents do not have an overall security strategy but plan to make it a priority in the coming year • 24.5 per cent have no plans to implement a security strategy for the Internet of things compared to 9.9 per cent globally • 19.6 per cent haven’t adopted a risk-based information security framework – globally only 7.6 per cent are taking a similar risk • 35.1 per cent classify the business value of data – compared to 48.2 per cent globally • 43.3 per cent have a security strategy in place for the cloud

security standard published • 28.4 per cent use biometrics by the International Organizaas an advanced authentication technology – well behind tion for Standardization (ISO), the 58.9 per cent worldwide it’s a specification for an infor• 28.0 per cent with a security mation security management incident in the past year sufsystem (ISMS). Organisations which meet the standard may fered a loss or damage to ingain an official certification isternal records • 25.6 per cent saw their brand sued by an independent and or reputation compromised accredited certification body as a result of a breach on successful completion of a • 22.0 per cent don’t know how formal audit process. their organisation was fully • Information Security Forum impacted Standard of Good Practice – • 18.3 per cent suffered finanupdated annually, this is the most comprehensive inforcial losses • 25 per cent of New Zealand mation security standard in organisations with cyber inthe world and provides more topic coverage than ISO. This surance made a claim in the standard enables compliance past year, half the global figwith ISO and other internaure. tionally known standards.

Affirmative action • SANS Critical Controls – pubOn a brighter note, local relished by the SANS Institute, this guide does not attempt spondents are making the folto replace NIST but prioritislowing safeguards a top priority for their organisations this year: es and focuses on a smaller • 43.4 per cent are implementnumber of actionable coning a programme to identify trols with high pay off – a sensitive assets must-do-first philosophy.

• 42.2 per cent are devising a The core of all these risksecurity strategy for mobile based framework strategies is devices an investment in time to identify • 41 per cent are classifying the what information assets are imbusiness value of their data portant, then having the ability • a similar per centage is estab- to detect, respond and recover lishing security and baseline should a breach occur.

ISO 27001 is the most comstandards for third-party vendors, suppliers, and external mon framework in New Zealand partners. but almost 30 per cent of local Most organisations world- organisations have adopted wide have adopted a risk-based another framework entirely cybersecurity framework, which apart from the four outlined lays the foundation for an ef- above – probably because of fective security program that the government’s directive for enables them to better identify government agencies to use a and prioritise security risks and risk assessment method based detect and mitigate incidents on ISO/IEC 31000 and the New Zealand Information Security more quickly.

The common risk-based cy- Manual (NZISM).

More disturbing is the fact bersecurity frameworks globally that almost 20 per cent haven’t are: • NIST Cybersecurity Frame- adopted an information securiwork – the US Commerce De- ty network at all, while another partment’s National Institute 15 per cent don’t know whether of Standards and Technology their organisation has installed (NIST) framework provides a a risk-based information securistructure that organisations, ty framework or not – meaning regulators and customers can one-third of New Zealand oruse to create, guide, assess ganisations are leaving themor improve comprehensive selves wide open to a potentialcyber security programmes. ly crippling cyberattack.

• ISO 27001 – an information 39

COMMUNICATIONS

Local telecommunications “world class”

New Zealand is punching well above its weight in the vital telecommunications sector, according to a recent assessment

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he Telecommunications Forum’s (TCF) New Zealand Telecommunications – Enabling New Zealand’s future report notes that: • investment in the sector is currently $1.7billion per annum, the second-highest out of all OECD countries • New Zealand is showing the fastest fibre uptake in the world, with a 250 per cent increase in total fibre connections in 2014 • and has one of the fastest 4G mobile download speeds globally.

Prices for mobile services fell significantly between 2012 and 2014, with New Zealanders experiencing the second-largest price decline on average across the OECD - a 46 per cent reduction during that period.

The report also concluded the ICT sector is considered one of the most innovative in New Zealand, and provides a range of services that are increasingly competitive on both price and quality compared to other countries.

TCF CEO Geoff Thorn says the report provides great endorsement for the industry – and a chance to explain the bigger picture. “There’s been phenomenal change in the last few years,” he notes. “As consumers, we expect fast, ubiquitous connectivity to get on with our digitally-connected lives, the same way we expect running water and power.”

He believes the report shows the sector is doing a “stellar” job dealing with enormous and increasing user demand while marching towards the government’s ambitious targets for Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) and the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) The UFB initiative is to provide faster, better Internet to at least 99 per cent of the population by 2025 with download speeds of at least 100Mbps, while the 40

RBI will combine wireless towers, rural cabinets and fibre to ensure more than 90 per cent of users outside UFB areas can enjoy broadband Internet with minimum peak speeds of 5Mbps and up to 50Mbps.

“The reality is we now have a superior telecommunication infrastructure performing far beyond many of our OECD competitors,” says Thorn. “Unprecedented levels of industry investment, collaboration and innovation are genuinely making a difference to our country.”

New Zealanders are savvy Internet users with the equal highest number of smartphone banking users in the OECD in 2013, as well as joint leaders in the ability to find information on local businesses or services using a smartphone.

New Zealand had the fastest fibre uptake in the developed world in 2013-2014 and was also ranked as a heavy user of mobile devices for purchasing goods online, tied seventh across the OECD. More than 1 in 10 people now claim streaming over the Internet is their main way of watching TV – a figure that has doubled in the past year and brings the country into line with Australia and the UK. Mobile calling minutes continue to rise despite the availability of over-the-top VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocols) calling on mobiles, exceeding 10 per

cent year-on-year growth, while mobile data usage patterns are growing fast at 64 per cent compound annual growth rate.

Other key points in the report include: • the ICT’s sector contribution was higher than any other OECD country, including New Zealand’s 10 main OECD export competitors, in two periods: 2001 to 2007; and 2008 to 2013 • an MBIE report on ICT showed the sector accounts for $3.09 billion of gross domestic product, growing at an annual pace of 9.3 per cent between 2008 and 2013 • a 2012 study into the social and economic impacts of UFB and RBI for New Zealand showed that the economic activity generated from building UFB and RBI will grow GDP by $5.5bn over 20 years – a $1.37 GDP impact for every $1 invested.

The latter study, by Alcatel Lucent’s research arm, Bell Labs, indicated that over 20 years up to $33bn will be saved from doing things more efficiently and effectively online in several key areas including: • healthcare: more video-conferencing between doctors, specialists and patients, resulting in faster access to physicians, faster delivery of care and remote diagnostics.

These changes will reduce emergency room visits, hos-

pital admission, the need for tests and the costs of longterm prescription drugs. Estimated savings = $6bn.

• education: technology in classrooms improving learning, lowering costs and giving learners and teachers access to national resources such as Te Papa as faster more consistent broadband speeds enable better video-conferencing. Estimated savings = $3bn.

• business: improved productivity, lower travel costs, greater flexibility for people to work from home, lower network and communication expenses, and savings from putting applications into the cloud. Estimated savings = $14bn.

• agriculture: savings from broadband applications that improve milk solid production – applications such as online farm management and herd management tools and automated farm data collection and analysis tools. Estimated savings = $9bn.

The sector is ensuring that New Zealand will meet this future demand with a continued roll-out of 4G mobile data networks, huge investments in fibre driving uptake to the fastest in the OECD, core optical transport network and local network upgrades and an additional trans-Tasman cable.

March 2016

Comment >> Management

Tips and tricks to avoid tender template traps Caroline Boot Managing Partner Plan A The government’s Model RFx templates were launched last year and are heading towards mandatory use by many procurement professionals

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he templates provide a framework for putting an RFx (Registration of Interest, Request for Proposal or a Request for Quotations) out to the market.

There are small, medium and large versions of the Request for Quotation forms, plus a single version of the Registration of Interest templates and the Request for Proposal templates.

Requests for Tender are not included at present, as these need to be carefully customised to meet the tightly defined specifications set out by the buyer.

The templates provide a standard framework for buyers to explain the opportunity to their suppliers, give key information about the tendering process, detail the buyer’s requirements, explain the approach to evaluation and give information to help suppliers price their offer.

They also give standard (and legally compliant) information about the RFx process, terms and conditions that can’t be changed.

The templates are accompanied by pre-formatted response forms that should, if used correctly, make evaluating tenders clearer, easier, and less time-consuming.

However, a couple of areas need special attention: 1. You still need to plan! The templates are an end-user tool and should not replace a robust procurement planning exercise that identifies what is and isn’t included in this procurement activity; what factors should eliminate unsuitable suppliers at the start (via preconditions); and the primary drivers for value for money.

2.

Identify the differentiators – and ask (only) about them: procurement planning should identify the differentiators for those bidders that make it through the first hurdle; what weightings should be assigned to those factors, and how they will be scored. That information should feed into the questions used to differentiate the bidders, not generic questions on overall capacity or capability.

3.

Ask directly how their bid stands out: this puts the rest of their response into March 2016

perspective and makes it easier for evaluators to understand and compare the relative merits of each tender.

4. Beware tabular forms: tables often have embedded styles that are restrictive – they may not allow insertion of flowcharts, diagrams, spreadsheets, Gantt charts, heading styles or text boxes – all of which make the document easier to read, understand, and, ultimately, score.

“Standard terms and conditions mean bidders can focus on generating a compelling response rather than undertaking legal scrutiny of tender documentation that’s different every time” 5. Allow bidders a limited amount of freedom as it will make the responses easier to mark. Don’t confine responses in table cells, and allow bidders to insert their branding, colours, diagrams or case studies – as long as they keep the same question order and numbering system.

6. Get respondents to start each major section on a new page (or set up your template to do this). It’s much easier to compare section responses from different suppliers if they all start on a new page.

7. Indicate the length and depth of information you’re seeking. Rather than setting an arbitrary page limit, indicate if you’re looking for a page or a paragraph or two. That way, you’ll get similar length responses and be able to compare apples with apples.

8. Agree your objective scoring system for each attribute before you look at the responses. One of the most common traps for evaluation teams arises when individual evaluators bring very different scores to the moderation table.

Agree the factors that must be included to satisfy the requirement, and what factors would constitute a non-conformance.

These need to be defined in objective terms (facts and figures, not definitions like ‘poor’ satisfactory, etc.).

It’s then helpful to agree a few examples of descriptors for other points of the scale – i.e. what would constitute a minor benefit or reservation, as opposed to a major one. This will be different for each attribute scored.

The layout of the RFx templates and the response forms will make tendering much, much easier – but they also increase the pressure to make your response stand out.

• You’ll need to work harder: This is especially true if the buyer has used the standard questions provided in the templates.

Although the templates clearly instruct buyers to customise the questions, unfortunately some don’t go to the trouble.

In every section, lead in by discussing what your client is looking for, and how your solution will meet their needs (better than the alternatives).

• The challenges of formatting: if possible, format your response to get the message across in an interesting way. Ask if you can include your branding and colours (but make it clear you are not changing the structure of the template or the order of the questions). Consider submitting hard copies as well as electronic copies if you are allowed to.

Whether buying or selling, these templates will make life easier for those involved in tendering. There will be fewer frustrations with the process and more much-needed focus on the effectiveness of the proposed solutions. That’s got to be good for everyone!

For more information, see www.business.govt.nz/procurement/ for-agencies/government-model-rfxtemplates.

For specialist help using the templates for procurement, contact info@ cleverbuying.com.

For expert assistance writing tender responses, contact info@plana.co.nz.

Caroline Boot is the founder of tender specialist companies Plan A and Clever Buying™ 41

COMMENT >> Management

Communication skills the key safe behaviour Dr Andrea Polzer-Debruyne Senior consultant PeopleCentric Unsafe work environments have clear consequences for individuals and organisations

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erhaps the most commonly used marker for workplace safety is the occurrence of accidents – incidents at work that result in physical harm to people.

Although accidents clearly indicate an absence of safety, the question remains whether the absence of accidents actually means that safety is present.

Accidents are generally caused by a multitude of factors (e.g. unsafe behaviours, equipment failures, latent organisational weaknesses) that may or may not coincide to result in an accident.

For example, workers who may routinely ignore a safety protocol may do so precisely because there have been no or rare accidents in that area.

Research shows that safety-related work behaviours, rather than accident statistics, are the most accurate workplace safety indicators.

In essence, safe work behaviours are clearly linked to reduced likelihood of future harm, while unsafe work behaviours (intentional and unintentional) are linked to a greater likelihood of future harm.

The question that arises then is – what is key to creating a workplace safety culture where safe work behaviours are the ‘norm’?

How does one encourage and maintain those safe work behaviours?

Key to consistency in safety-related work behaviours are supervisors and team leaders. Research has shown again and again that they are the most important link to employee engagement, and that employee loyalty lies not to the organisation itself but with the work unit and especially the immediate supervisor/team leader.

Supervisors and team leaders are the primary communicators and reinforcement for safety-related issues. Although their impact is sometimes under-estimated, they are generally quite open to the idea that they can actively contribute to the presence of safety by engaging more with their teams.

However, team leaders frequently point 42

out that the biggest obstacles to implementing these practices is time and an uncertainty about their own ability to convey the messages effectively and consistently.

Thus, if management is unwilling to reduce paperwork and train supervisors in communication skills nothing is likely to change.

We know that construction and infrastructure jobs are involved in complex activities where various stakeholders are present and working under constant challenges. Each job will have several safety and risk factors, requiring quality and safety management systems to be established, communicated, consistently reinforced and rewarded.

Personal power The most influential safety factor is personal awareness followed closely by communication. In order to increase awareness, effectively manage error and maintain a safe working environment, employees and team leaders need to feel comfortable discussing non-routine issues in an open, free-flowing exchange of safety-related information.

The Individual Safety Attributes Test (ISAT) is a tool that helps identify strengths and areas for improvement in safety communication skills and attitudes. Once the test results indicate the level to which relating safety-behaviour information, voicing safety concerns or clarifying and enforcing rules are likely strengths (or areas for improvement), steps can be taken to increase that individual’s communication skills.

There are multiple ways to increase supervisors’ and team leaders’ communication skills. Regardless of the method and the emphasis it takes, communication that builds relationships, cooperation and increases persuasiveness is typically based on 10 positive principles.

Paying attention to any of those principles is a great way to start increasing supervisors’ and team leaders’ communication skills and effectiveness.

Ten positive principles 1.

Ask, don’t tell – that avoids putting someone else down Instead of ‘Do it this way’, say ‘What we need you to do is…’

2. Focus on the solution or goal, not the problem Instead of ‘That stuff is broken again’, say ‘I’ll put in a maintenance request and follow up’ 3. Turn can’ts into cans Instead of ‘We can’t do that until next week’, say ‘We’ll be able to do that next week’ 4. Take responsibility – don’t lay blame Instead of ‘It’s not my fault’, say ‘Here’s what I can do to fix that’ 5. Say what you want, not what you do not want Instead of ‘Don’t check your mobile until your break’, say ‘You can check your mobile in your break’ 6. Offer improvement suggestions Instead of ‘Now you really messed that one up’, say ‘Doing it this way and paying attention to that bit will get it working the way you want’ 7. Focus on the future, don’t harp on with the past Instead of ‘I told you before not to…’, say ‘From now on, …’

8. Turn complaints into requests Instead of ‘You never/always…’ say ‘How about…?’

9. Share information rather than argue or accuse Instead of ‘No, you are wrong’, say ‘I see it like this…’

10. D on’t close doors, leave them open Instead of ‘No, because…’ say ‘Yes, as soon as…’

11. Finally, don’t make assumptions about workplace safety behaviours – it’s far too dangerous. Make talking about it openly THE thing to do.

Dr Andrea Polzer-Debruyne is senior consultant at PeopleCentric, a group of psychologists that work with organisations in a variety of industries towards increasing individual and organisational capabilities. PeopleCentric are the exclusive New Zealand distributor of the Individual Safety Attributes Test (ISAT), and support potential areas in need for improvement with tailored and bespoke initiatives March 2016

LAST WORD >> Local government

You can’t always get what you want Evans Young Consultancy Services Government and Infrastructure Here we are, bravely facing the challenges of 2016, having returned to the daily grind, refreshed, rejuvenated and eager to make our mark

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he Christmas break delivered something for everyone. Enough sunshine and settled weather to satisfy those city dwellers and parents of school-age children for whom summer holidays come but once a year.

Even more welcome, significant rainfall to those rural areas where primary producers faced serious threat of drought and the resultant financial consequences that, when coupled with the global decline in dairy prices, could have impacted on the speed of NZ Inc.’s recovery from the latest economic slowdown.

The heat seems to be cooling in the Auckland housing market, although the concern seems to have shifted from housing affordability to availability and the cost of renting now universities are busy enrolling.

Even the politicians appear to have gotten into the act. The flag debate has lost some of the more strident opposition now that an alternate design has been decided; the Minister for Primary Industries has proposed a ban on commercial fishing in the Hauraki Gulf and parts of Marlborough Sounds; the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is signed and is now open for public scrutiny prior to Parliament ratification; National has announced its major transportation funding programme; and Labour has countered with its education policy.

So what’s this mean to the average ‘man on the street’? For a start, the proposed fishing compromise in the Hauraki Gulf and Marlborough Sounds is light on detail, resulting in every man and his dog giving his interpretation and throwing opinions around like confetti.

In my opinion, the minister’s announcement was a ‘toe in the water’ approach to gauge public response. In an ideal world, we should expect debate on the ‘principles’ behind the concept rather than trying to second-guess motives and end applications.

March 2016

Unfortunately we live in New Zealand where jumping to conclusions and conspiracy theories are national pastimes, so I’m not hopeful of informed, reasoned discussion leading to a workable outcome that is transparent, effective or equitable to the multiple interested and/or effected parties.

Then we have TPPA. Andrew Little’s condemnation, only to be kneecapped by three of the Labour party’s most senior and most informed politicians, can only be described as embarrassing. At worst it highlights a lack of understanding of the agreement and the process to be followed moving forward and desperation to promote a point of difference to the electorate.

Funding fight Elsewhere, National’s release of its transport funding policy seems to indicate a willingness to allow Mayor Len to depart his mayoralty with a semblance of dignity and a major policy success legacy. After five years of at times quite bitter toing and froing, Mayor Len has finally got what he has consistently fought for – central government funding and, most importantly, commitment to an early start.

It’s too hard to say whether this is acceptance of Mayor Len’s continual lobbying or, recognising the probability of Phil Goff’s success in the mayoralty vote in October, National avoiding giving any easy, early success to the new regime. As I’ve remarked earlier, conspiracy theories is a national pastime.

Finally, we have Labour coming out with its free education policy. While it’s admirable in principle and aspiration, the finer detail again appears to be lacking at this stage. Surely we need to have a more embracing discussion on what is on offer, its fundamental aim, how it will be implemented and how appropriate safeguards are to be provided?

We all accept we need better, affordable access to post-collegiate education;

we recognise the need to incentivise the attainment of higher learning in skills currently in demand; we also recognise that skill shortages are transient phenomena so incentives need to be flexible, yet fair and equitable to those who may not be inclined or academically suited to a particular educational pathway.

Giving everyone a right to further or higher education necessarily means the resources are automatically available or in place, capable of delivering to the anticipated influx of tertiary, polytechnic or apprenticeship students who will look to avail themselves. How this is to be structured to ensure consistent, timely, quality delivery across the country is surely one of the fundamental questions that need to be adequately explained sooner rather than later.

So out of this climatically politically correct start (showing grace and favour to all without distinction or favour), I now hope that the rest of 2016 continues in a similar vein, allowing all parties to participate and express an opinion without fear of condemnation, retribution or vilification. It is only by listening to all viewpoints that an informed consensus can be reached.

None of us is blessed with divine powers.

We don’t know all the answers (half the time we have difficulty in understanding the question), and we won’t be satisfied with every decision that is made on our behalf.

But as long as we abrogate our direct involvement in decision-making to others we have to accept that, to quote Mick Jagger, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need”.

Evans Young provides consultancy services relating to interaction with local, regional and central government on issues including infrastructure, environmental compliance, PPP opportunities and offshore funding.

He spent 15 years with local government and 25 years with Hopper Developments as a director and project manager.

Experienced in land/property and infrastructure design, funding, consenting, development and sale with projects in New Zealand, Australia, Vanuatu and Fiji. +64 021 22 999 12 Email: evans@hoppers.co.nz www.hoppers.co.nz 43

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