ISSUE
107
MOVING TO NEW ZEALAND?
July 2018
In this issue... State of the nation P.1 Auckland City rail link to be bigger and more expensive P.2 Consent given for 32-unit apartment block in Orakei P.3 Mt Ruapehu: Snow’s child’s play P.3 Thousands of new state homes planned in Mangere P.4 Auckland’s inner suburbs could get modern trams P.5 Franklincoutry.wordpress.com
State of the nation Get in touch There are many ways to keep in touch with us at Catalyst. Obviously this monthly newsletter is one but we are very active on Linked In and would encourage those not already there to join our groups and link to our company page in order to receive the latest news. If that’s not enough we also have our blog pages, job board and Facebook pages to keep you in the loop. Having your details is only the first step in making the move to New Zealand a reality so get in touch now to discuss your plans and aspirations and we’ll do all we can to help. Follow us via the links below; linkedin.com/company/ catalyst-recruitment catalystrecruit.wordpress.com/ catalystjobs.co.nz/ christchurchrebuild.co.nz/ facebook.com/CatalystRecNZ
Welcome to the Catalyst state of the nation for July 2018. In truth, July has been a pretty boring month! Winter has continued offering cold weather throughout the country and I won’t deny I’ve been a little envious of the beautiful weather that the UK is currently experiencing. I do appreciate that whilst I’m writing this there have been thunderstorms and some rain but according to the weather reports the sunshine will be back, so make the most of it! New Zealand hasn’t been too bad and in fairness, past week or so have been fairly mild which I’m hoping is an indication that spring is on the way, fingers crossed! You’ll also notice in this newsletter an article on skiing. We’ve decided that we’re now going to put one article in the newsletter focusing on some of the great things to see and do in New Zealand; this month Mount Ruapehu. Of course sport is never far away for Kiwi’s and certainly it can distract us from the cold outside during the winter months. Most prominent this month was the success of the New Zealand women’s and men’s sevens teams as they both successfully defended their World Cup titles at the tournament in San Francisco. A famous victory for both teams that was roundly supported back home in New Zealand. This potentially is the last newsletter to go out through our old system. As time-consuming as the transfer to the new database has been it’s looking likely that we will be up and running on the new system in August. To that end it is vitally important, if you wish to keep in touch with Catalyst and receive the newsletter, that you make sure you have signed up to mail chimp via the link below. It only takes a few moments and I’m assured that you will only need to do it once. I for one get particularly frustrated with IT and the hoops that you have to jump through so we are trying to keep this process as simple as we possibly can; hopefully we’ve achieved that.
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agents, supervisors and other positions within the industry. Knowing this, if you are keen to have a conversation about opportunities in New Zealand, do send me an email, ideally with your latest CV, and we can arrange to have a conversation to discuss options in more detail. Construction & Building Contractors Although a little quiet throughout the winter months, as with the civil contractors, I am also starting to see a number of requirements from the construction sector. A number of clients are currently looking for senior quantity surveyors with experience of commercial build projects with values of £40 million or above. These opportunities are in multiple locations and there is a genuine interest in hiring candidates from overseas. Much like the civil sector I’m anticipating that this is a sign of more activity ahead and so if you are keen to discuss opportunities in New Zealand, regardless of your position, then do get in touch and we shall arrange a time to have a conversation.
Civil Contractors
Engineering Consultants
The past few weeks have been noticeably busier in the civil space with a number of contractors looking for engineers in various parts of the country not just Auckland! Candidates based in the UK are being interviewed for the positions as most of the main contractors here are now realising that the local market is short of quality and experienced people. The current need does focus on engineers but I would suggest that it’s only a matter of time before we see further requirements for the likes of project managers, site
The sector continues to edge forward following the change of Government. Positive vibes are forthcoming and I am still desperately seeking • Bridge Asset Management Engineers • Bridge Inspector • Senior Geotechnical Engieners • Intermediate Geotechnical Engineers
As you know there are various ways to keep in touch with Catalyst and at the moment we are making significant efforts to improve those lines of communication. LinkedIn is one of those formats and I am regularly posting articles and job vacancies on our company page. See how to follow us via the links to the left.
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Auckland City rail link to be bigger and more expensive The City Rail Link is going to be bigger, and cost more, because the original projections for use now look inadequate. As planned, the CRL’s underground rail lines will have a capacity of 36,000 passengers per hour. That figure was expected to be reached in 2045. Now, however, City Rail Link Ltd (CRLL), the Government/council joint-venture company managing the project, has provided Auckland Council with new projections. They show the 36,000 capacity will be reached by 2035 – just 10 years after it opens. The CRL looks set to join other major public transport projects, like the electric trains and Northern Busway, whose popularity has outstripped the planners’ expectations. Last year, Auckland Transport’s HOP card system was used more than 20 million times – that target wasn’t expected until 2021 The council will discuss the new CRLL projections today, along with a proposal for the station platforms to be made larger, so they can take longer trains, and for a second entry to be built at Karangahape Station. The extra cost could run to the “low hundreds of millions”. The proposed new capacity is 54,000 passengers per hour. Transport Minister Phil Twyford is expected to take the same proposal to cabinet next week. Speaking to the Herald yesterday, Mayor Phil Goff said the choice was to press on as planned, and retrofit the system later, or do the extra work now and save money in the longer term. “I think it’s a no brainer to expand rather than retrofit,” he said. “We have to learn the lesson of the harbour bridge, which was full soon after opening and needed to be upgraded with extra lanes very quickly. We’ve got to future proof, and it’s a hell of a lot cheaper and less disruptive to do it now than to wait.” The problem is that while the CRL will allow for more trains, on all lines, the existing plan is for those trains to remain as three-car and six-car units. Although the units can have extra cars added in groups of three, the CRL station platforms, as currently specified, won’t be long enough to accommodate this. When the plans were drawn up last year the option of having longer platforms was discussed by CRLL, council and the Government of the day. It was rejected. At the same time, a proposal to give the Karangahape Station two entrances was put on hold. Now, Goff is supporting a CRLL proposal to change the project scope by lengthening the stations at Karangahape and Aotea, which will involve making the tunnels wider for longer sections. The second entrance for Karangahape would be built at Beresford Square, to complement the first on Mercury Lane. The council will analyse the proposal in a closed workshop today before deciding whether to adopt it in a confidential session of the governing body of council on Thursday. If it’s adopted, and approved by cabinet next week, the tender process to build the stations and tunnels will be kick-started. Tenderers will be invited to respond to a new Request for Proposals (RFP). Today the council will consider three
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options. The first is to make no change to the initial build, and face the probability of more expensive changes being necessary with 10 years. “Work would probably have to start after seven years,” said Goff. “And it would mean we had to close the tunnels for two years while we did that work.” That option would be the most expensive and most disruptive, but it would delay the cost. The second option is to broaden the tunnels but not build the stations until needed. That would also require the routes to be closed, but it would not be as disruptive, nor as expensive in the short term. Over time it would still cost more. The third option is to do the job now. Goff declined to give a precise cost because he said he did not want to influence the tender process. He confirmed that the current overall cost of building the CRL is $3.4 billion. The Herald asked him if the new work would add hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost. “At the lower end,” he said. “You could say that.” The Herald understands from Government sources that this is likely to be right. The cost of the CRL, including any extra costs, will be borne on a 50:50 basis by the council and the Government. Goff said the extra work was not expected to delay the CRL’s target opening date of 2024. However, the project is already behind schedule. One of the consortiums on the tender shortlist to build the tunnels and stations withdrew last year - the Herald understands that consortium was led by Fletcher Construction. Then the CRLL’s chief executive, Chris Meale, retired suddenly in March. The CRLL board has had to reinstate a competitive tender process, which required it to create a new shortlist of consortiums that had the necessary local knowledge and international expertise, while also finding a new CEO. Both have now been done. Goff told the Herald the tender process is now “back on track” and that “at least two” consortiums have been shortlisted. The new RFP, if approved, will go to them in September. “I’m celebrating this,” he said. “We can do the job properly now.” But it’s going to cost more. Source: NZ Herald, Simon Wilson
Consent given for 32-unit apartment block in Auckland suburb Orakei A 32-unit apartment block has won planning consent to be built alongside the railway line on the old Kings Plant Barn site by Orakei Train Station in Remuera. OP Trustee got plans approved by Auckland Council to develop the 7395ha site at 236 Orakei Rd, calling the project The Peninsula and planning 70 carparks. The project is planned for the site along the boundary of the Northern Trunk Line. The consent document said that Kings Plant Barn building are generally vacant due to the operation moving to 228 Orakei Road. There is currently an apartment showroom located in part of the former Kings Barn building. Other projects have also been planned for the site, the consent document noted. The consent document said that all units are generously sized with balcony areas, and that owners will also have access to a large communal space. “The building has been designed to meet the acoustic and vibration standards of the Unitary Plan, particularly in relation to the adjoining rail line,” the consent said.
Auckland councillor Desley Simpson said many people in the community were not fans of the development but that it was within the Unitary Plan rules. Another councillor, Richard Hills, welcomed the plans, saying “this is what the unitary plan was designed for - transport and housing together”. “We are catching up to the rest of the world,” he said. Source: Anne Gibson, NZ Herald
Mt Ruapehu: Snow’s child’s play Any parent who has looked on as their kid’s day goes to pieces because a few Rice Bubbles have landed in their lap at breakfast will appreciate the transformation a day of skiing can bring. Children who are left distraught and discombobulated by the most minor of events at home — a missing sock, a T-shirt that’s inside out, a banana that’s sliced when it could have been served whole — become, on the snow, invincible beasts. champ. Ski for long enough and you’ll become graceful at it. But the run to graceful is hard and when your kids learn to ski, they’re also learning to deal with adversity. And so it was on the first weekend of June, the start of the ski season at Whakapapa, when the invincible Baxter got knocked down and bounced back up again, happy in Happy Valley. The early days of the season at the ski field nearest to Auckland are prime for beginners. I’m keen to keep the kids’ spirits up, no matter what tumbles befall them. “Just remember kids,” I tell Baxter and his older sister Zoe. “The more you do it, the more you’ll find it gets easier.” “It’s already easy, Dad,” reports the 8-year-old.
My 6-year-old son, Baxter, knows well the trauma of the spilt Rice Bubble and the non-matching sock. Such things can induce major meltdowns. But, by God, when he wipes out on the ski field — face planting, with heavy, uncomfortable boots splayed at all angles, exhausted and battered and snow pooling to ice in his trousers — he laughs it off like a
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Whakapapa was the first in New Zealand to open for business this year, with Happy Valley, and the Rock Garden run immediately above it, hosting beginners and some older skiers, returning to the snow after many years out. With my kids set up in lessons, knocking themselves down and getting up again, I took the opportunity to clear out a few cobwebs myself, skiing around them — unobserved — in
Mt Ruapehu: Snow’s child’s play article continued from page 3 Happy Valley before making a few runs on the higher Rock Garden. On our second day, when the Rock Garden lift was closed, my mate and I gamely hiked up the Rock Garden run, a calf-thumping exercise for a brief downward buzz. It’s not all overcoming adversity at Whakapapa. The resort’s Knoll Ridge Cafe is a beautiful construction, the likes of which Kiwi skiers would generally expect to see overseas. Meals on the mountain in New Zealand have traditionally been closer to a sandwich and a can of fizzy drink than the sort of fare one finds in Europe, but this impressive building — which has operated since 2011 — stands apart. As the kids buried their faces in warm pies, the adults nailed replenishing burgers. A spell of good conditions, combined with investment in snowmaking tools, made for fine terrain on the beginners’ field in the first days of the season. Lift access to the higher fields was closed in those opening sessions. Now, the rest of the mountain is set to open, and with nine lifts serving 44km of trails, Whakapapa is the biggest ski resort in the country.
There are plans to get bigger. The new gondola, announced a fortnight ago and expected to be completed in a year, will speed skiers to the higher slopes more quickly. Keen for a refresher touch up, I took a lesson myself, a nice young English lad called Sam spending two hours with me and Chris Beer, a Mt Albert GP returning to skis for the first time in the best part of a decade. Beer said the earlyseason start had proved a good opportunity to find his feet again after many seasons out. “It’s been a lovely day,” he said. “I’m getting there slowly.” I was getting there slowly, too. After we’d run through a few basics, I nudged Sam into helping me improve my 360-degree turn. The trick, I gather, is knowing when to lean forward and when to lean back. Pleased with my progress I show my kids when picking them up after their lesson. “Dad,” says daughter Zoe. “That’s easy.” ● mtruapehu.com Source: NZ Herald, Winston Aldworth
Thousands of new state homes planned in Mangere, near Auckland Airport Thousands of new homes are to be developed on state housing land in Mangere, the Herald understands. The Government is expected to reveal today that stand-alone state homes on separate sites near Auckland Airport will make way for one of the city’s most intensive and ambitious redevelopment projects and the first to be integrated with the city’s $6 billion tram project. The plans will displace many Housing NZ Corporation tenants, although they could be eligible to return to the area once the new places are finished. It is believed that a mix of state housing, KiwiBuild homes and private residences are earmarked for the land. The project, which the Herald understands Housing Minister Phil Twyford will announce today, includes terraced and apartment-style living and is being planned for many city blocks between Tararata Creek, Ventura St, McKenzie Rd and Elmdon St beside Māngere College and Moyle Park, across McKenzie Rd from the cemetery. The 170-hectare block is near George Bolt Memorial Dr, the main access way from Auckland’s CBD to the airport. Those living in the redevelopment will be within walking distance of tram stations along the route, although the precise location of that corridor is yet to be announced. HLC, formerly the Hobsonville Land Company, is to manage the Mangere project, set to demolish many smaller 1960s and 1970s homes with poor insulation and what are now seen to be poor construction techniques and use of materials. HLC has planned the project, working
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with the NZ Transport Agency, KiwiBuild and Housing NZ Corporation. The initiative is part of the Auckland Housing Programme which aims to bring more than 23,000 new residences to the city on state land. About 6900 new homes could be built on land, based on previous blueprints for the redevelopment project. Mangere residents are understood to be pegged to get priority in the ballot for the new KiwiBuild homes expected to be announced on part of the land. The redevelopment could follow the pattern established at Northcote where HLC works with Housing NZ Corporation to master-plan the new affordable, KiwiBuild and state home work. Chris Aiken, HLC chief executive, said Northcote was a project which “washed its own face”, meaning the development work was fully funded by the sale of KiwiBuild and free-market homes. That gave a big uplift in the number of state homes on the land but instead of being standalone and often weatherboard with little insulation; the new
Thousands of new state homes planned in Mangere article continued from page 4 houses are often terraced-style and make better use of the land. The Auckland Housing Programme has been in operation since June 2016. In 10 years it will deliver almost 11,000 additional new social housing homes and just over 12,600 new affordable and market homes. Large-scale projects are planned or already started in Northcote, Avondale, Mt Roskill and Mangere. The AHP says of the area: “HLC is getting to work on one of its larger development programmes, in the Auckland suburb of Mangere, to renew state housing and boost housing supply across the city.
“The organisation has begun talking with communities in Mangere about longer term growth and development plans in tandem with getting underway on urgent state housing development for Housing New Zealand on sites where existing state houses are old and in need of replacement. “It is a significant development for Auckland, aiming to provide around 2700 new state houses as well as 2200 affordable homes and 2200 new market homes over the next 10 to 15 years,” it says. “As well as providing new homes for Mangere, the scale of development offers opportunities for employment and training for the community.” Source: Anne Gibson, NZ Herald
Auckland’s inner suburbs could get modern trams as part of a $10 billion rail package Several suburban areas in central Auckland stand to get modern trams under a new route being considered by transport officials. The Weekend Herald can reveal that the suburbs of Pt Chevalier, Grey Lynn, Arch Hill and Karangahape Rd are on the route being considered by the NZ Transport Agency. The route is part of a light rail project - the modern day version of trams - from the CBD to West Auckland. The option of taking trams off the Northwestern motorway at Pt Chevalier and running them along Great North and Karangahape Rds is the third big change in as many weeks to a $10 billion public transport programme of ‘Think Big’ proportions in Auckland. A few weeks ago, NZTA chief executive Fergus Gammie said the city’s $6b light rail programme was likely to see trams from the CBD to Westgate extended to Kumeu. This week, the Government and Auckland Council announced plans to expand capacity on the $3.4 billion city rail link. Both projects will add hundreds of millions of dollars to the programme. NZTA has confirmed the option of running trams from Pt Chevalier to Karangahape Rd, where they could join a second tram line from the CBD to the airport at the intersection with Queen St. A second option is to run trams all the way to the city along the Northwestern motorway and thread dual lines through or around Spaghetti Junction to the CBD. Work between NZTA and Auckland Transport is in the “very early stages of investigating light rail alignment options for the city centre to northwest route”, a spokesman said. Transport Minister Phil Twyford declined to comment about the Pt Chevalier option for the same reasons but said light rail not only provides high-quality rapid transit but is a magnet for investment in urban development - a view shared by Gammie. For these reasons, the Pt Chevalier option is likely to appeal to Twyford and Gammie, who, between them, are overseeing Auckland’s $10b rail renaissance. Great
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North Rd, a popular tram route before being torn up in the 1950s, is already undergoing intensification. Work is under way on a vision to turn the section between Surrey Cres and Karangahape Rd into a great boulevard. Downsides to the Pt Chevalier option are potentially longer travel times to the west and disruption to a $16 million cycleway and streetscape upgrade for Karangahape Rd. An AT spokesman said it was working with NZTA on light rail to the West and possible impacts on the Karangahape Rd project, but at this stage it was sticking with plans to let a contract this year and begin work early next. Light rail could disrupt plans to upgrade Karangahape Rd with busways and cycleways. The idea of light rail on Great North Rd and Karangahape Rd is being greeted enthusiastically with community groups and local politicians. Dan Salmon, who chairs the Grey Lynn Residents’ Association, said light rail is certainly exciting and could be part of the vision for a boulevard on Great North Rd.
Auckland’s inner suburbs could get modern trams article continued from page 5 Salmon and another member, David Batten, who is working on a community project called ‘re-imagining Great North Rd’, have concerns about how light rail would fit with other plans for bus lanes, cycleways, cars and pedestrians. Karangahape Business Association manager Michael Richardson likes the idea of quiet trams with less impact on the environment bringing more people to K Rd. One K Rd property owner, who did not want to be named, said the council should put plans for bike lanes and bus lanes on the backburner and focus on the bigger picture. “I think light rail on Karangahape Rd is a smart idea. They should look strongly at it because it will get a lot of support,” he said. Waitemata and Gulf councillor Mike Lee said it made more sense to run trams along Great North Rd where people live and work rather than along the Northwestern motorway. He disagrees with the idea that public transport improvements should be a catalyst for property development, saying it
should be about providing alternatives to cars, reducing congestion and boosting productivity. Waitemata Local Board chairwoman Pippa Coom said the Great North Rd/K Rd ridge is already undergoing urban renewal with new apartments so it is likely that light rail will make it an even more attractive corridor for development. Albert-Eden Local Board chairman Peter Haynes said, without seeing the details, light rail would be great for local people, saying intensification along the corridor would benefit the growing population of Point Chevalier and Mt Albert and the impact on congestion and climate change. Said Waitakere councillor Linda Cooper: “I’m interested in having a service for West and North-west Aucklanders that is faster than the current options otherwise it’s not worth wasting the time or money on the project.” Auckland’s $10 billion public transport bonanza City Rail Link - cost $3.4b The CRL is a 3.5km twin rail line running up to 42m below ground between the Britomart transport centre and Mt Eden station. It includes new stations below Albert St, between Victoria and Wellesley Sts, and at Karangahape Rd. The Government and Auckland Council have announced plans this week to increase its capacity from 36,000 passengers an hour to 56,000 at an extra cost of the low hundreds of millions of dollars. It is due for completion in 2024. Light rail from the CBD to Māngere (and airport) cost $3.7b The 13km line from Wynyard Quarter in the city to the airport includes 22 stops and will run via Queen St, Dominion Rd to Mt Roskill where it joins State Highway 20. With large tracts of Housing New Zealand land at Mt Roskill and Māngere it has a strong focus on urban renewal. Renamed CBD to Māngere, it will still run to the airport but the main connection for air passengers between the CBD to the airport will now be trains from Britomart to Puhinui and buses or light rail from there to the airport. Due for completion within 10 years. Light rail from the CBD to Westgate and Kumeu - cost $2.3b plus The 18km line from Wynyard Quarter to Westgate will largely run alongside the Northwestern motorway. NZTA is looking at options at the city end, including taking trams off at Pt Chevalier and running them along Great North Rd to the city. Trams will probably be extended 8.6km from Westgate to Kumeu, but this section has not been costed. Due for completion within 10 years. Source: Bernard Orsman, NZ Herald
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