Asia Pacific Infrastructure May 2016

AsiaPacific

INFRASTRUCTURE May 2016

Christchurch Art Gallery

A masterpiece restored

140 innovative base isolaters

SCIRT • Freshwater management

Volume 6 No 2

FIRST WORD >> Transport

The best public policy presently underway in New Zealand?

State housing redevelopment, Christchurch’s CBD and the Auckland housing market have overshadowed possibly the country’s most important current public policy initiative says NZCID’s Hamish Glenn

T

he Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) is a joint central and local government work stream set up under the aegis of the Minister of Transport and the Auckland Mayor.

It is designed to bridge the gap between the government and the Auckland Council on transport problems and priorities in the city. And it is sorely needed.

Followers of Auckland transport issues will know that the government and council had, and to a lesser degree still have, a difference of opinion on the $2.5 billion City Rail Link. But this is in fact just the symbol of a much more challenging problem.

Transport modelling over the past few years has increasingly been suggesting that even if the council’s Auckland Plan transport programme can be funded – and that means finding an additional $300 million per annum for 30 years – congestion will get worse and public transport increases will occur largely at the margins.

At a high level, the Auckland Council has seen these results as evidence of the need to invest more in public transport and progress the compact city.

The government has seen an expensive investment programme that wasn’t delivering.

The council said improving public transport accessibility will reduce the real impact of congestion and that liveability wasn’t reflected in transport modelling. The government said it wouldn’t fund a programme which didn’t work.

Who was right? It was actually not that easy to say because there were no agreed reference points for what a transport system should deliver. How important was congestion really, if transport users have an alterMay 2016

native? Is reducing carbon more or less important than efficiency and was safety more important than both?

If you can’t agree on what problems you’re trying to solve and the objectives you’re trying to achieve, you’re not going to do either. And neither Aucklanders nor New Zealand can afford an Auckland transport system which doesn’t allow a third of the economy to operate.

Recognising this, in mid-2015 the government proposed establishing a joint work programme to agree the fundamentals and see whether investment priorities could be optimised to meet everyone’s objectives.

With the carrot that new funding in the form of a motorway toll could potentially be on the table, the Auckland Council signed up and ATAP was born.

Officials from not only the council and Ministry of Transport, but also Auckland Transport, the New Zealand Transport Agency, Treasury and the State Services Commission went away and began tackling the tough issues.

Dramatic document In February 2016, ATAP released the first of its deliverables. That Foundation Report is one of the most important documents produced since the 2010 conception of the Auckland Council.

In it, Auckland and New Zealand’s transport authorities agree what it is we are trying to achieve with the Auckland transport system and how to measure that. Key performance indicators, baseline assumptions and other vital inputs to the modelling process have been identified, agreed and used to understand the problem.

And boy do we have a problem! ATAP finds that at the end

of modelled period (2046), the proposed programme will result in a morning peak which does not end until after 6 pm.

State Highway 1, the lifeline of the Auckland and Northland economies, will be gridlocked all day, every working day. This will force traffic onto local and arterial roads, spreading congestion into the suburbs.

It will take longer to get to jobs, reducing agglomerative efficiencies as well as the essential ability for Aucklanders to find work.

Far from transitioning Auckland from cars to public transport, private vehicles will remain king, though around twice the proportion of Aucklanders will use public transport to get to work.

Perhaps most troublingly, previous analysis had suggested Auckland had until the late 2020s before the benefits of what has been a very successful investment programme since the early 2000s comes to an end.

ATAP brings that date forward significantly. Problems don’t start in the late 2020s; they start as early as this decade, once pent-up demand consumes the capacity of the soon-to-be-completed Western Ring Route.

Despite all the criticism of Auckland’s transport system today, the existing programme will see that we never have things this good ever again. This is unacceptable in every sense.

Auckland consistently underperforms on global comparisons of transport services.

Congestion is worse, public transport is less convenient and costs are greater than just about anywhere of comparable size and wealth.

There is no reason why, even with another million people, Auckland cannot have less congestion than it does today. In

fact, that would bring it into line with the rest of the developed world.

Something can and must be done, and, encouragingly, it is. ATAP is currently modelling different project combinations and investment sequences to see whether more can be done to tackle the five agreed objectives: congestion, public transport, access to employment and labour, net benefits to users and value for money.

Critically, ATAP has pursued an open-minded approach, with new projects introduced from outside the programme as well as variations to existing priorities.

It will be very interesting to see whether the benefits projected to occur from a series of motorway improvements in the 2030s can be brought forward to deliver those benefits sooner, and also whether a new motorway corridor can deliver system-wide benefits in proportion to costs.

Light rail will be the most eagerly anticipated public transport addition, having arrived as an option only in the last two years.

Potentially the greatest programme impact will come not in the form of a new capital project, but with implementation of a road tolling scheme. There is no doubt that congestion can be managed down with repressive pricing, but what everyone will be looking for is whether net user benefits can be improved with an efficient demand management system.

We won’t know the outcome of this work until mid-2016, but the Foundation Report truly has opened the door for much more robust transport policy in our largest city.

If momentum can be maintained, there is every chance that this approach becomes the new standard for combined local and central government cooperation on tough regional issues.

Hamish Glenn is Senior Policy Advisor at the New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 3

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COMMENT >> Cities

Queen City country’s kingpin Connal Townsend Chief Executive of Property Council NZ What happens in Auckland will have profound consequences for the rest of the country

A

s New Zealand’s commercial heart, biggest and fastest-growing city, we absolutely cannot afford to let the ball drop.

Auckland is a city in constant state of change. People are flocking here, it has the biggest job market, house prices are soaring, infrastructure is lagging, and our quality of life hangs in the balance.

Naturally, Auckland Council has several strategies in place to plan for and coordinate this growth. This is no simple task, and spans the wide and complicated spectrum of city planning and governance.

The council must do this while navigating the intricate and complex scale of our three planning laws: The Resource Management Act, the Local Government Act and the Land Transport Management Act. Perhaps good laws if considered in isolation, but completely problematic when brought together to govern our cities.

The easiest way to describe them is the ‘written in isolation and lacking in intent to complement each other’; which of course poses countless problems when spawning regulations that are conflicting and competing with each other.

With these in mind, we have guiding documents such as the Auckland Plan and the Future Urban Land Supply Strategy to provide a city’s necessary vision and direction to achieve the best results.

Rule books such as the Unitary Plan and other bylaws are then produced to accomplish these visions - which can only be implemented under the three acts. A complex undertaking, which is why we have serious concerns about Auckland’s future.

Auckland’s housing crisis and infrastructure neglect has created a potent, multifaceted planning and delivery predicament.

We need: • many more houses than we can already build under the current market conditions • significantly better infrastructure to service our growing population

6 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

• substantial capital investment in a range of transport, water and general infrastructure projects.

These are non-negotiable necessities to not only ensure Auckland’s survival as it grows but also its ability to thrive over the next three decades.

Auckland Council has just committed $1.2 billion for infrastructure in 2016/17. Some $700 million has also been set aside to look at Auckland’s existing infrastructure, which

erational benefits, which is the crux of our position; has it been considered with the future in mind? The council must ensure it employs efficient, objective and robust data-driven analysis when committing to capital investment on these infrastructure projects.

That is precisely the reason why these processes must be open, transparent and collaborative. Auckland Council must work with the private sector to secure Auckland’s as the city grows. In particular, where “Auckland’s housing crisis future land and infrastructure investment deciand infrastructure neglect sions are made, it is imperative that market intelligence presented by the private sector has created a potent, its way to the decision-making table. multifaceted planning and makes A strong and positive relationship will redelivery predicament” sult in new and rejuvenated existing comwill span the region and a wide range of munities and the infrastructure and services council services. It includes large projects to serve them. covering many years such as the City Rail Link (CRL) and the Auckland Manukau East- Connal Townsend is Chief Executive ern Transport Initiative. of the Property Council NZ, which We support the CRL and view it as one of represents the interests of the New Zealand’s top transport priorities. We commercial property investment industry know that good transport infrastructure is – including commercial, industrial, retail vital for successful cities – just look at Mel- and property funds bourne or Sydney.

But we also know that this must be tied into other priority areas such as housing.

While Auckland desperately needs better public transport and connectivity, it also needs housing choices to accompany it.

If by some miracle Auckland Council gets it right (one can only hope) and allows desirable land zoning to occur under the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan, it can unlock transport, intensified employment, housing and urban renewal projects in West Auckland and Central Auckland suburbs along the rail network. That is why we have called for the council to make enough industrial and commercial land available for development along the rail corridor, to fully maximise the CRL’s potential.

We support Auckland Council’s investment commitments for infrastructure, but we need the spend to result in intergenMay 2016

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Comment >> Partnerships

Government sharpens investment management tools Matt Yarnell Partner, Chapman Tripp The multi-billion dollar spend triggered by the Christchurch earthquake recovery and the government’s social and affordable housing dilemmas have sparked some deep-seated changes to the way asset procurement and divestment is handled in the public sector

L

ate last year, Treasury released the first of what will be annual reports on a significant work programme it has been engaged in behind the scenes to hone the government’s investment management capability.

Broadly, the government’s objectives are to achieve best value-for-money and to attract more private sector capital into the provision of public amenities and services.

It is both timely and unfortunate that Treasury continues to give the ‘anchor’ projects contributing to the Christchurch rebuild poor performance ratings.

istries of Justice and Social Development).

All listed agencies are required to develop a Long-Term Investment Plan outlining their capital intentions over a horizon of at least 10 years. They must also self-assess their portfolio performance and report this to Treasury three times a year.

The first round of formal reporting showed that, as of 30 June 2015, 71 per cent of projects by value were on track against only 0.1 per cent which had breached project tolerances.

In addition, Treasury directly monitors the most complex and risky investments. At the time the report was published, there were 38 projects in that subset with a combined whole-of-life cost of $20.5 billion.

The three performance categories for Treasury monitored projects are: • green - on track, no forecast breach • amber – forecast breach of at least one tolerance • red – tolerance breached.

Only one of the listed projects had a green rating, but Treasury explains that this is to be expected because once a project achieves green status it is typically removed from the group and passed back to the lead agency.

A red rating means that successful delivery appears to be unachievable and that the project may need to be re-scoped (as to the expected deliverables or the required budget) or to have its overall viability reassessed.

An Investor Confidence Rating is also being phased in this year. The “investor” is the cabinet. The rating is based on four lead and four lag factors and is intended over time to determine the level of delegated authority, scrutiny and support an agency will be able to exercise over its investments.

stock to Community Housing Providers (CHPs), the government passed legislation in February giving ministers a “transaction mandate” that enables them to sidestep the Housing New Zealand Corporation board.

Treasury took a long hard look at whether the existing ministerial direction provisions in the Crown Entities Act 2004 would do the job, but these are confined to requiring that public sector boards implement a government policy objective – not that they perform a specific act (in this case, selling a particular property at a particular price or on particular terms).

In short, ministers will be able to authorise and enter into social housing reform-related transfer transactions in the name of Housing New Zealand Corporation (and its subsidiaries) analogous to an attorney acting under a power of attorney – an arrangement which, although well understood in the private sector, is unprecedented in New Zealand public sector law.

Treasury acknowledged that the mechanism was “unusual” but, given the legal uncertainties and challenges of the current legislative framework, considered it the best available option for enabling the reform programme to move forward.

Potential buyers for the first two divestments in Invercargill and Tauranga have now been shortlisted and are in a formal Request For Proposal process being run by Treasury.

There is just one bidder – Pact Group – for the 348 Invercargill units and three – Accessible Properties, Hapori Connect Tauranga and Kainga Community Housing Partners – for the 1,124 properties on offer in Tauranga.

The government expects to announce the preferred bidders in the third quarter of this year.

Procurement and project management Government procurement accounts for around $39 billion of spend a year. To ensure the most effective use of this expenditure, the Treasury has developed and is refining an “investment management system” for staged introduction, which started last year.

Key to this is what Treasury calls the “FiveCase Model”, which asks entities to evaluate proposed investments according to five criteria: • is there a compelling case for change • is the best value-for-money option achievable and can it be delivered successfully • is the best value-for-money option affordable • is the best value-for-money option commercially viable • and does it optimise value-for-money?

Treasury maintains a list of “investment intensive” agencies, the composition of which may change over time.

Tier One comprises organisations which own, or have a monitoring function in relation to, asset and investment portfolios over $1 billion, or which manage critical assets (this includes the Ministry of Education and the Department of Corrections).

Social and affordable housing Matt Yarnell is a partner at Chapman Tier Two covers the $500 million to $1 bilTo sharpen delivery of its planned divest- Tripp specialising in infrastructure and lion portfolio range (for example, the Min- ment of a proportion of its state housing commercial projects 8 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

May 2016

COMMENT >> Local government

Education, health and homes build social infrastructure Leigh Auton Local Government Commissioner and Director of Auton & Associates Although occupied with the Local Government Commission, consultancy assignments and boards, I am most busy in the social infrastructure space

I

t’s exciting to be involved in an area where many committed business and community people are interacting to address the challenges of better social outcomes in our communities.

Recently I attended a function hosted by Westpac to launch their considerable sponsorship of a programme called Kootuitui ki Papakura.

Westpac and other generous organisations are sponsoring through the Middlemore Foundation a concept of interweaving education, health and homes in a number of low decile schools in Papakura.

The educational strand is based around Manaiakalani, a successful model of learning utilising digital technology in schools throughout Glen Innes and Tamaki in Auckland. The concept involves every child receiving a Chromebook, paid for by parents or guardians, to facilitate educational learning.

The schools share common IT infrastructure and teaching methodology, with extensive educational support and resources provided to teachers. The concept is powerful, not only for a significant lift in educational achievement but also because it facilitates clusters of schools to actively collaborate on a shared journey.

This successful community-based concept, supported by academic assessment of educational outcomes by the University of Auckland, has spawned six new Manaiakalani clusters throughout New Zealand, including Papakura.

In Papakura, the educational concept has been expanded to include health professionals located in every participant school to reduce incidence of rheumatic fever, skin diseases and the range of other Third World health issues found in our poorer communities.

The third strand is homes, based on the principle that to deliver good educational and health outcomes, children need to live in safe and secure homes. This involves

10 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

support for high-need families as well as addressing the poor quality of largely rental housing found in these communities.

Housing helps It is a poor reflection on our once home-owning society that many schools in poorer communities have literally no parent or guardian who own their own homes. As a result, combined with the lack of long-term rental security, these schools have high roll turnover, sometimes exceeding 100 per cent per annum. The goal is to reduce this turnover by the provision of better housing, tenure and security, interwoven with good education and health provision.

Kootuitui ki Papakura is currently developing its long-term strategic outcomes.

The community of schools is challenging itself as to what the wider community might look like through a successful journey of enhanced educational, health and housing outcomes.

This might include, with the support of business, a clear pathway to jobs linked to the huge new industrial park being developed in adjoining Drury. Likewise it may provide pathways to sporting achievement utilising the neighbouring Bruce Pulman Park, a stunning sporting facility developed by a local business entrepreneur of the same name.

Indeed, with excellent learning, good health and safe and secure homes, many other pathways and opportunities will arise. Our challenge is to provide community-based leadership, good governance and excellent systems, working effectively alongside generous corporates, philanthropic trusts and business leaders. The ingredients are there for this to happen.

The cost of this programme is slightly less than $2 million per annum. With the support of Westpac and other corporates and trusts this is a very powerful model of business working alongside and within communities to build social infrastructure in our

most deprived communities. The initiative of Manaiakalani and the Middlemore Foundation, the latter being the sponsor of the Kidz First hospital for Counties Manukau, is true community and business leadership.

A similar community-focused project is Sistema Aotearoa, a concept of using classical music as a community development tool in low-income areas. Originating in Caracas, the concept has expanded across the globe, including New Zealand.

Working with seven contributing schools, the programme is in its sixth year, with over 2,500 students between 2 years and 14 years having participated. In 2015 Sistema Aotearoa delivered over 68,150 child contract tuition hours.

More than 300 school children have been learning classical music for five years, a commitment of children, parents and guardians of daily after-school tuition and holiday programmes. More than 20 tutors from throughout Auckland contribute to the programme.

Results are stunning, building confidence and skill amongst largely Maori and Pasifika children. The launch of the Otara Youth Orchestra in front of a packed Auckland Town Hall is but one of the programme highlights. Sistema Aotearoa has recently been established as a trust separate from the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, which first developed the concept in Otara.

Like Manaiakalani, Sistema has expanded to other parts of New Zealand. Both are community-based concepts, with support from corporates and philanthropic trusts.

As a result, these concepts are nimble, adaptable and fast-moving. They create civic cohesion, pride and achievement and build social infrastructure, which is as important as pipes, roads and buildings.

Leigh Auton is a Local Government Commissioner, 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 May 2016

COMMUNICATIONS

New trans-Pacific cable system will be the fastest link between Australia and the US

T

he new trans-Pacific Hawaiki submarine cable system that will link Australia and New Zealand to the US mainland and Hawaii will come into service by mid-2018, with options to expand to several South Pacific islands.

The 14,000km cable system being built by Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP and TE SubCom will significantly enhance international capacity for New Zealand and Australia directly to the US, delivering more than 30 Tbps of capacity.

Co-developers Sir Eion Edgar and Remi Galasso have entered into a long-term partnership and joined forces with entrepreneur Malcolm Dick, to fund and operate the $400 million dollar, carrier-neutral cable system. “This is the beginning of a new era for New Zealand and the Pacific Islands in terms of international connectivity,” Edgar claims.

The lack of an alternative cable system connecting Australia, New Zealand, and the US has long been a concern, CallPlus founder Dick adds. “Having built telco businesses in both Australia and New Zealand in the past, I am very aware of the need to provide competition by being independent of the incumbent operators,” he says.

“This increased level of competition and capacity should make data caps a thing of the past.”

Hawaiki will be the fastest link between Sydney and the US west coast and provide Australia and New Zealand with direct connectivity to Australia and the US, offering an alternative route between Hawaii and Oregon and allowing for a diverse and secure route from existing systems.

Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP, headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, is the owner and developer of the Hawaiki sub-

marine cable system (Hawaiki). Hawaiki will link Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Oregon, on the US west coast.

“The Hawaiki cable system will enhance international capacity for New Zealand and Australia directly to the US, providing them with a vital communication advancement that the region has been in need of for

quite some time,” says TE SubCom President Aaron Stucki.

Auckland-headquartered Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP began permitting and initial route planning in June 2015.

TE SubCom is an undersea communications technology and marine services and part of the $12 billion TE Connectivity global technology giant.

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www.infrastructurenews.co.nz –11

FOCUS >> Christchurch Art Gallery

Iconic building symbolises city’s resurgence from disaster A striking modern landmark that reflected Christchurch’s confidence in its future before the 2011 earthquakes has reopened with an innovative retrofit base isolation

T

he Christchurch Art Gallery with its dazzling steel and glass façade was one of the city’s most popular venues, a beacon for both Canterbury residents and millions of overseas visitors.

Opened in 2003, the building’s nine exhibition areas, reference library, auditorium, education workrooms, restaurant, shops and extensive collection storage hosted several major exhibitions and events.

That all changed in September 2010, when a magnitude 7.1 earthquake was followed five months later by a 6.3 magnitude upheaval in February 2011 and a similar-sized shake in June.

The building was damaged in all three quakes but served as the Civil Defence and Christchurch Earthquake Repair Authority headquarters before the Christchurch City Council agreed to fully retrofit the gallery building with base isolation.

The council commissioned Aurecon as structural and services advisor and Archimedia and Beca as architect advisors, charged with specifying the performance requirements for the relevelling and base isola-

tion project and the prepared developed retrofit design documentation upon which the Fulton Hogan tender was based.

Harrison Grierson began the October 2013-March 2014 tender process with Ureteck Ground Engineering (NZ) Ltd (now Mainmark), recalls Harrison Grierson Christchurch Infrastructure Team Leader Sina Cotter Tait. “We had a team that was tasked with inspecting the current structure and advising on the potential impact of the relevelling process on the structure,” she explains.

This included a loading assessment of the existing foun-

In addition, Harrison Grierson had to monitor the structural performance during the relevelling process and advise on rate and location of lifting.

“We also provided an assessment of the building services and advised on the remedial works required to allow the relevelling,” Cotter Tait adds.

Mainmark New Zealand Business Development Manager Andrew Masterson says the force and stress of the earthquake liquefied the ground under the gallery’s foundations, causing the building to sink differentially across its 6,500-metre footprint. “In some areas,

“The Christchurch Art Gallery project was the first retrofit base isolation of triple pendulum, double concave sliding bearings in New Zealand” dations and structural solutions to facilitate the introduction of core drilled holes through the existing slab and pad foundations required for the jet grouting and relevelling process.

“We had been involved with numerous relevelling projects subsequent to the Canterbury earthquakes but this was the largest and most challenging.”

Dynamic design

M

ultidisciplinary architectural practice Warren and Mahoney was tasked with providing architectural design and documentation services for the Developed Design, Detail Design and Construction Observation phases of the project.

“Retrofitting base isolation into this major civic building required major structural insertions,” Warren and Mahoney Associate Cliff Leong notes. “The requirement was to minimise the visual impact of this work without compromising the required structural performance.”

Specific challenges included creating interfaces between the existing structures and new elements that worked within the seismic parameters. “For example, dealing with the existing lift shafts and stairways, which were previously fixed concrete elements.”

The lift shaft was suspended from the underside of the ground floor slab, with no connection to the basement slab, while the

12 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

the subsidence reached up to 182mm,” he notes.

The company had previously worked on structures that had subsided up to 500mm so this project posed few problems.

“The technology we used was developed as a result of the Japanese earthquakes and we utilised the assistance of our

strategic alliance partners in Japan.”

The foundation repair had to be completed without disrupting daily operations as the nine-exhibition-area gallery was still occupied by staff and housed valuable artworks, so building services and ground anchor systems needed to be maintained. “The challenge was two-fold – first, the subsoil had to be stabilised to create a reaction platform, then the building relevelled,” Masterson explains.

The project was completed in three stages, the first of which saw Mainmark, council and Aurecon engineers use Trimble billion-point plotting to map the foundation in minute detail and pinpoint where it required strengthening – and by precisely how much.

Comprehensive 3D models of the building identified the areas of dilapidation and provided benchmark data for monitoring progress. “We installed an automated wireless robotic survey system to monitor foundation levels at various points, allowing the team to access real-time

Continued on page 14

main egress stair flights were cut off at the bottom tread and riser; which then became the sliding plate for seismic movement.

“Physically separating the building into being either above or below the isolation plane and having the isolation plane change height through the basement were also challenging,” Leong admits.

Retrofitted base isolation isn’t common in Christchurch or New Zealand, but Warren and Mahoney had worked on several projects where base isolation was a structural feature. “The Justice Precinct and the Awly Building are new Warren and Mahoney-designed buildings that are base isolated, so there was collective experience to be found within the company.”

The project offered Warren and Mahoney several valuable lessons, including the fact that seismic movement always trumps fire protection and security. “Seismic cuts through existing structural walls will always be wider than designed and these cuts will always find the reinforcing embedded within,” Leong adds.

May 2016

The Christchurch Art Gallery is now over 100 per cent compliant with the new building code and one of the safest and most earthquake-resilient art galleries in the world

FOCUS >> Christchurch Art Gallery Continued from page 12 data while the project was underway,” Masterson explains.

“The project team also de-watered the building to accommodate the high water table, modified the building services and disconnected 72 deep ground anchors.”

Mainmark then installed124 jet grout or Jetcrete columns under the gallery’s critical load points to stabilise and strengthen the foundation soil. “Created through penetrations of just 200mm, the columns were between three and four metres in diameter and up to six and a half metres deep,” Masterson says. “The solid, deep-soil reaction matrix was created with minimal mess, as we continuously evacuated excess slurry and water.”

The Mainmark team used JOG computer-controlled grouting to relevel the gallery by injecting grout without excavation or vibration over 44 days, using 22 staff on an average day. “The system uses high pressure, low

volume grout pumps to deliver cementitious grout through 12mm lines to a number of grout monitors in a ‘daisy chain’ formation.”

The JOG method controls grout injection using computers for extreme precision.

“Controlled to the millimetre, we lifted the gallery an average of 2mm per day, with lifts of up to 182mm required in some areas over the course of the job,” Masterson adds.

This used 1.5 million litres of injected grout. “To conclude the project, we filled and waterproofed the jet grout and JOG penetrations in the basement, reinstated building services and reconnected ground anchors.”

The relevelling process was monitored in real time, which allowed Harrison Grierson to direct the lifting to reduce stress and see almost instant results.

“This was developed into a contour map that effectively illustrated progress to the client on a daily basis,” Cotter Tait says.

Mainmark JOG Project Supervisor Victor Chirilas monitors the progress of levelling in real time using sensors throughout the basement The fact that the existing services had to remain at their current level whilst the Art Gallery was lifted by varying amounts up to 180mm posed a particular challenge for the Harrison Grierson team. “This required the careful cutting of slots into

the reinforced concrete walls and the reinstatement of any lost strength through the introduction of steel frames,” Cotter Tait notes. “The actual ‘lifting’ process was relatively short in

Continued on page 16

Solid systems

N

orman, Disney & Young’s (NDY) services expertise won the company a key role on Fulton Hogan’s bid team.

Fulton Hogan selected NDY as they felt their expertise would be complemented by NDY’s expertise in service design and systems installation.

The company brought the expertise obtained on other key projects such as the University of Canterbury Secondary Data Centre, having been tasked with designing the remediation of the services infrastructure and the new features required by the client.

“From our point of view, the special features were about designing the incoming and de-

The base isolation retrofit was undertaken under the watchful eye of a Salvador Dali graffiti 14

parting services such as pipes and cables so that they could accommodate the 600mm direction,” says Office Manager Tim Euinton. “Systems are designed to be functional after such an event, and some have sacrificial elements in them which are easy to identify and replace.”

The design team, including the structural engineers, decided to create a suspended mechanical plant room in the basement. “This was the easiest way to isolate this chiller and air handler equipment from movement in the basement while it continued to supply air through ducts to the floors above.”

The April 2014-January 2016 project provided Norman Disney & Young with several key lessons. “Remediation work is always more time consuming than you think!” Euinton admits. “Not a new lesson unfortunately.”

May 2016

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FOCUS >> Christchurch Art Gallery

Two jet grouting units operated in tandem to install the columns within the basement with a head height from as low as 2.25 metres

Continued from page 14 comparison with the required preparatory works.”

This section of the project went so smoothly that Mainmark restored the Christchurch Art Gallery’s design levels to +/10mm across the entire foundation in just 52 days. “With a stronger foundation, the gallery could then proceed with remaining structural enhancements,” Masterson adds.

The next stage saw head contractor Fulton Hogan with consortium partners Ruamoko Solutions, Warren and Mahoney, and Norman, Disney & Young win the $20 million contract to complete the upgrade.

The extensive design and construction work included: • detailed design of base isolation works and structural works • reinforced concrete strengthening of 110 columns in low headroom basement areas • specialist demolition and concrete cutting • installation of 140 base isola-

tion bearings that effectively allow the building to float during an earthquake, significantly reducing seismic stress on the building and its contents to safeguard people • construction of a trench around the building to create a seismic moat • new half-depth basements in two areas • temporary and permanent services reinstallation and commissioning reconfigured to suit the structural elements.

The project entailed several special features, Fulton Hogan Art Gallery Project Manager Ben Hardy explains. “It was the first retrofit base isolation of triple pendulum, double concave sliding bearings in New Zealand,” he says. “Almost all the work was completed below the ground floor level within the basement.”

In addition, accurate assessment of existing building element strengths at the 140 isolation bearing locations was required. “This necessitated

16 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

very tight construction methodologies as up to 400 tonne column loads required careful temporary propping.”

The team determined the existing building was a good candidate for retrofit base isolation for several reasons: • 90 per cent of the isolated building had a basement (only 10 per cent of the new basement required construction) • the superstructure was strong with concrete gallery ‘boxes’ that required no additional strengthening, just some earthquake repairs • both the basement floor and the ground floor had been designed and built as thick strong concrete slabs, reducing the amount of retrofit strengthening that would otherwise have been required.

However, the decision threw up several other construction challenges, not the least accommodating a major movement. “Building elements such as lifts and vertical service pipe-

work needed to allow for the ± 550mm differential movement between the ground floor and the basement floor,” Hardy explains.

The carpark lift presented a particular challenge as the structural capacity of the lift shaft needed to be maintained whilst retaining the vertical space required for the lift car to travel. “This was achieved by constructing a large concrete portal frame on isolating pads to take the structural loads,” Hardy reveals.

This allowed the section of lift shaft within the basement to be demolished and replaced with a steel frame, suspended from the ground floor, for the lift car to travel inside. “The lift pit beneath the basement floor was also demolished and enlarged so that there is now sufficient space for the suspended lift frame to move within the new lift pit when the building moves relative to the basement in an earthquake.”

Continued on page 18 May 2016

Base isolator displacement No Displacement

Full Displacement – Double Curvature

Full Displacement – Triple Curvature

“It was the first retrofit base isolation of triple pendulum, double concave sliding bearings in New Zealand,”says Fulton Hogan Art Gallery Project Manager Ben Hardy

Building communities Fulton Hogan creates, connects and cares for communities; building the roads, ports, airports, infrastructure and property which bring people together.

Our head office is in Christchurch – where we are helping rebuild the city – and our heart is in every job we deliver with skill, pride and a genuine commitment to quality and safety.

The force of the earthquakes liquefied the ground under the gallery’s foundations, Mainmark New Zealand Business Development Manager Andrew Masterson explains May 2016

Harrison Grierson and Ureteck (now Mainmark) were tasked with inspecting the structure and advising on the re-levelling process, says Harrison Grierson Christchurch Infrastructure Team Leader Sina Cotter Tait

www.fultonhogan.com

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 17

FOCUS >> Christchurch Art Gallery

The base isolation design ensures that the building can move up to 550mm in all directions during a large earthquake, explains Ruamoko Solutions Managing Director/ Senior Structural Engineer Grant Wilkinson

The foundation repair had to be completed without disrupting daily operations as the nineexhibition-area gallery was still occupied by staff and housed valuable artworks

Continued from page 16 From an architectural point of view, this movement joint also had to be translated through large amounts of paved areas, namely across the entire frontage of the building on the main forecourt.

“This produced its own engineering problems as the plate used to cover the gap had to be able to support the weight of a fire tender when fully cantilevered,” Hardy adds. “In addition to the engineering requirements, it also had to blend in with its existing surroundings.”

Service solutions Services had to be adapted to include large flexible joints for pipework or loops for cables, but in the case of the mechanical plantroom a suspended frame solution was hung from the ground floor. “All the chiller pumps and heat exchangers were relocated into a room which was also suspended from the ground floor,” Hardy notes.

18

“This negated the need for flexible pipework for the large and complex equipment.”

Not all the superstructure is founded on the basement, however, with a portion of the intricate glass façade on the front of the building as well as a whole gridline of the four-storey building at the rear founded on strip footings at street level.

A solution was required to enable these areas to be isolated and move like the rest of the building. “Subsequently shallow, half-depth basements were excavated beneath these areas to provide space for the base isolating bearings and the necessary additional deeper foundation slabs and new floor slabs,” Hardy explains.

This was made possible at the front of the building by dramatically suspending the glass façade on steel tendons, anchored to the nearby concrete shear wall. “The half basement was then excavated directly beneath the glass without the expense of dismantling.”

The floor slab in the gallery workshop at the rear of the building was removed and the half basement was excavated using mini-conveyors to shift the soil through doorways and corridors, with the building temporarily propped where necessary.

The carpark ramp solution was similarly relatively complex due to the ramp slope from the basement to street level and the fact that this crosses the isolation plane above which the superstructure moves relative to the basement.

Horizontal seismic gaps with movement joints were provided in two locations to enable building movement in this area. “This is because the base isolators were installed above the ramp slab at the bottom of the ramp, but they had to be installed beneath the slab at the top of the ramp,” Hardy explains. “New foundations were constructed in the form of pairs of portal frames along the length of the ramp to achieve this.”

Another significant challenge was the considerable amount of concrete that needed to be removed, scabbled or drilled to enable the columns, beams and slabs of the structure to be strengthened.

This had to be achieved in the confines of the basement which heavy machinery couldn’t access and be done so that the damage to the structure was limited to the concrete that was to be removed.

Various types of concrete demolition equipment were employed to achieve this dependent upon the circumstances. “Diamond wire sawing was used extensively in hard-toreach areas,” Hardy notes. “Hydro-demolition was also used, where possible, when it was essential to retain the existing reinforcement for incorporation into the strengthened elements.”

Similarly careful consideration had to be made so the building’s integrity was not unduly compromised throughout the construction process as a significant amount of temporary works was required to enable the bearings to be installed.

“This was achieved mostly by conventional propping.”

More significant was the need to manage the building’s seismic capacity as its structural form was transitioned from a traditional shear-resisting structure to one which was free to

Continued on page 20 May 2016

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FOCUS >> Christchurch Art Gallery Continued from page 18 move horizontally on its bearings. “It was essential to make this transformation as rapidly as possible, because the structure would be seismically vulnerable during this time,” Hardy stresses.

A minimum seismic strength of 34 per cent of the New Building Standard had to be maintained throughout the retrofit, a target achieved by leaving selected sections of shear walls uncut and casting new temporary concrete linking slabs in some locations.

All remaining shear strength was removed by cutting these areas with diamond circular and wire saws within an 18-hour period. “The gallery collection was also housed within the building for the entire length of the project,” Hardy notes.

Ruamoko retrofit When it came to the actual retrofit, a company established in 2006 and named after the Maori god of earthquakes took responsibility for the country’s first retrofit base isolation using triple pendulum, double concave bearings.

Ruamoko Solutions specialises in delivering structural design solutions to mitigate the devastation to buildings that can occur as a result of major earthquakes, as well as providing a quality structural engineering service for mainstream projects.

The project involved the installation of 140 triple-curvature friction pendulum bearings below the ground floor of the existing Art Gallery building to significantly reduce the seismic actions transferred to the building in an earthquake, greatly improving the expected performance of the building and its valuable artwork in earthquakes.

The base isolation design ensures that the building can move up to 550mm in all directions during a large earthquake, explains Ruamoko Solutions Managing Director/Senior Structural Engineer Grant Wilkinson, 20

The reassuring sign outside the Christchurch Art Gallery aptly summarises the city’s attitude to disaster who worked on the Parliament Building base isolation project in the 1990s.

“The actions from the isolators, including the large load eccentricities, induce significant actions on the existing structure different to its original design,” he says. “The retrofit covered a wide range of column, beam and wall strengthening, seismic joint rattle spaces, cover plates, suspended lifts and stairs and many other unique aspects.”

Together with the tight timeframe and construction constraints, the base isolation retrofit works at basement and ground floor levels provided many structural challenges for the Ruamoko Solutions team that required a high level of innovation and specialist knowledge.

There were several special features associated with the project, Wilkinson recalls. “First and foremost, it was the first retrofit base isolator use of triple pendulum, double concave sliding bearings in New Zealand,” he explains. “In addition, almost all the work was completed below the ground

floor level from within the basement.”

Specific challenges included casting concrete on the underside of the existing ground floor and overcoming the usual plastic settlement of self-compacting concrete. “A trial cast was undertaken in the Fulton Hogan yard to verify the methodology and the special mix design that eliminated the plastic settlement,” Wilkinson recalls.

“A large vehicle ramp required seismic separation at the seismic isolation level where very heavy upper and lower concrete portal frames were needed.”

Structural work began in mid-September 2014 with final inspections conducted in late January 2016; the existing building having been a good candidate for retrofit base isolation for several reasons including the strong superstructure with its concrete gallery ‘boxes’ that required no additional strengthening – though they needed some earthquake repairs.

“Both the basement floor and the ground floor had originally been designed and built

as thick strong concrete slabs, reducing the amount of retrofit strengthening that would otherwise have been necessary,” Wilkinson adds.

As a result of the team’s efforts from 2013-2015, the Christchurch Art Gallery is now over 100 per cent compliant with the new building code and one of the safest and most earthquake-resilient art galleries in the world.

Ultimately, the project proved that base isolation can be a very sustainable solution to increase the seismic resilience of a building; achieving environmental, social and economic benefits when the existing structure is suitable for the necessary transformation.

However, there are many aspects to consider when appraising the suitability of a building, and it is inevitable that a great number of design and construction challenges will be presented. “Particular attention to detail, innovation and careful execution have been essential to overcoming such challenges at the Christchurch Art Gallery,” Hardy concludes.

May 2016

Commentary CITIES >> Christchurch The Triumphal Arch and the Bridge of Remembrance on which it stands have been strengthened to withstand a one-in-2500 year earthquake event

Massive Christchurch infrastructure rebuild enters the home stretch

The Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT) is in the fifth and final year of its programme of repairs to Christchurch’s horizontal infrastructure

C

reated and funded by the Christchurch City Council and New Zealand government through the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority and the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), SCIRT has repaired the worst of Christchurch’s earthquake-damaged roads and underground pipes.

Repairs to the remaining infrastructure will be undertaken by NZTA and the council, which has prepared a 30-year infrastructure strategy that prioritises completed earthquake repairs in the initial years.

It has been a mammoth task, as five years ago the true scale of the damage to the city’s vital networks was an unknown quanMay 2016

tity after the hugely destructive February 22, 2011 earthquake.

The first major challenge was to try and establish the extent of the damage and the scale of the bill for the city and the nation.

“By any measure the scale was huge for a country the size of New Zealand,” SCIRT Executive General Manager Ian Campbell says.

Gathering the required construction, resource and expertise was helped by arrangements made by the local authorities to tackle the damage from the earlier September 4, 2010 earthquake.

Five of the country’s largest construction companies had been engaged for the previous

event - Fletcher Construction, City Care, McConnell Dowell, Fulton Hogan and Downer.

These five contractors were invited to form an alliance with the three client agencies – the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority and the NZ Transport Agency to be known as the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT).

SCIRT was given full responsibility for defining, designing and executing repairs to Christchurch’s horizontal infrastructure – its roads, bridges, retaining walls, waste water, storm water and water supply networks – caused by the Canterbury earthquakes.

The alliance needed to have

flexibility built in: when SCIRT was formed the full extent of the damage was unknown, and it took three years to complete a detailed damage assessment programme and identify the repairs required.

Work was organised in bitesized projects so that the design and execution of repairs could be sequenced well and could be delivered in an orderly way. That assisted in another of the major challenges - to keep costs under control.

Each of the five contractors provided a delivery (construction) team, the performance of which was monitored and work allocated using cost and noncost measures. Cost performance was measured by com-

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 21

CITIES >> Christchurch paring actual cost to a target cost developed by independent estimators.

“The practical outcome of this process has been very strong – there’s been minimal cost escalation,” Campbell says. “And that’s been one of our major successes.”

SCIRT’s budget for its fiveyear programme of works is about $2 billion, funded by the Christchurch City Council and the New Zealand government (through the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority and NZ Transport Agency).

One of the key commitments of the alliance is to return the earthquake-damaged horizontal infrastructure assets to the council in a more resilient state than they were before; a mission encapsulated in SCIRT’s “What are we here for statement” – “Creating resilient infrastructure that gives people security and confidence in the future of Christchurch.”

From the outset SCIRT has undertaken to rebuild and repair Christchurch’s damaged infrastructure using best practice design principles, the latest technologies, and modern day materials; each providing more

resilient infrastructure solutions.

SCIRT examined how the infrastructure behaved and performed during the earthquakes and enhanced the standards and specifications in the areas where it found weakness and/or failure. These will be included in the Christchurch City Council’s standards and specifications, proving that the rebuild programme is adding real value to the city with infrastructure that is strong and built to last.

A graphic illustration of this is the replacement of a significant number of the old, fragile and

of-the-art vacuum waste water system in Aranui, has completed a vacuum waste water system in Shirley, and is installing new pressure waste water systems in parts of Parklands, New Brighton and Woolston.

Awesome Aranui The Aranui vacuum waste water system alone is the largest of its type in New Zealand, a threeyear project which will service around 2700 households and businesses when completed.

These systems are more resilient to movement because of

“The practical outcome of this process has been very strong – there’s been minimal cost escalation” damaged clay and other similar pipes with new, more flexible PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and PE (polyethylene) pipes which can flex with ground movement and do not fracture as easily as clay pipes.

In some parts of Christchurch where the ground is prone to movement and liquefaction SCIRT is replacing the old gravity waste water system with new pumped systems. SCIRT is well advanced with installing a state-

the flexibility of the new pipes and are quicker and easier to access and maintain because they are shallower and less susceptible to liquefaction.

As for the pre-earthquake retaining walls, many were simply wall facings to prevent material loss from wet weather events.

SCIRT has repaired these walls by establishing seismically resilient wall structures that are fixed into the ground with soil nails and very large ground

A significant number of old, fragile and damaged clay and other similar pipes are being replaced with new, more flexible PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and PE (polyethylene) pipes which can flex with ground movement and do not fracture as easily May 2016

Christchurch’s damaged infrastructure stood up well to the 2016, 14 February 5.7 magnitude earthquake, says SCIRT Executive General Manager Ian Campbell

anchors, typically eight metres to 15 metres long, which are grouted into the wall to fix the retaining wall to the ground.

Elsewhere, SCIRT conducted detailed assessments of where pump stations were damaged and failed, and addressed those issues when it repaired or built new ones. For instance, the ground around and underneath new pump stations was reinforced, some with stone columns, and SCIRT strengthened the connections of pipes to the pump station so the pipes flexed with the station structure rather than against them as some did in the earthquakes.

As at 31 March 2016, SCIRT has repaired and rebuilt 63 waste water pump stations and 21 freshwater pump stations and reservoirs.

Bridge structures have similarly been strengthened through modern-day designs and materials, and where they have been demolished and repaired they have been built to modern standards designed to flex with ground movement more than the old bridges.

“The 2016, 14 February 5.7 magnitude earthquake was an unwelcome test of repairs to Christchurch’s damaged infrastructure, which stood up well,” Campbell says.

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 22

Commentary

Today, the decisions to rebuild stronger and more resilient pipes underground seem even wiser than ever before, Campbell believes. “I’m sure we are all grateful for that foresight and it would appear that by and large, our new and repaired infrastructure stood up well.”

SCIRT has been working to a set budget for its five-year programme with its clients making the final decisions on the scope of the work to be undertaken by SCIRT. Always looking for value-for-money opportunities, SCIRT has adopted “trenchless technologies” for the repair of some less-damaged underground pipe systems where that has been appropriate. “It’s an internationally proven and accepted method of pipe repair,” Campbell adds.

SCIRT is now realising the benefits and estimates as much as $100 million in savings from the innovative technology for the repair of Christchurch’s earthquake-damaged buried pipe networks.

While pipelining has been May 2016

used internationally for several decades, it is relatively new to New Zealand and has been used mostly in Auckland.

Campbell says the technology is much faster, less disruptive and cheaper than trenching and replacing pipes as it avoids having to dig deep trenches in the streets, sheet piling the trench for stability and safety and then resealing the roads.

“SCIRT sees enormous potential savings and benefits from pipelining.”

One of the most complex projects was the repair and strengthening of the iconic Christchurch war memorial, the Triumphal Arch, and the Bridge of Remembrance on which it stands.

The arch and the bridge have been strengthened to withstand a one-in-2500 year earthquake event.

“That reflects the importance of this as part of our heritage structure and of course it’s always been important as a memorial to our war dead,” Campbell says.

“We had to come up with a

clever way of strengthening it, all without doing any more damage to the heritage fabric.

It’s been very technically challenging.”

The arch can now rock in an earthquake, which required a lot of work at the bottom of the structure, extending the foundations and using a lot of steel work reinforcing to the

arch foundation to pin the tower down.

Steel boxes weighing several tonnes were manufactured to exact dimensions and placed inside the two limestone columns of the arch, which have a cavity inside, while the limestone façade itself is supported by a concrete structure. Laser surveying was used to discov-

Completed work in the SCIRT programme as at 31 March 2016 • WASTE WATER: 533 km pipe (78 per cent) repaired/replaced • 63 pump stations (82 per cent) repaired/replaced • STORM WATER: 56 km of pipe (72 per cent) repaired/replaced • 5 pump stations (63 per cent) repaired/replaced • FRESHWATER: 91 km of pipe (95 per cent) repaired/replaced • 21 pump stations and reservoirs (72 per cent) repaired/replaced • ROADING: 1,384,236 sq. m of road (83 per cent) repaired/replaced • 140 bridges/culverts (97 per cent) repaired/replaced • 142 retaining walls (78 per cent) repaired/replaced • 96 per cent of design is complete • 86 per cent of construction is complete • SCIRT has completed its original programme of work in the CBD. 97 per cent of central city work is complete • 87 per cent of the whole SCIRT programme is complete www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 23

Commentary CITIES >> Christchurch

Lyttelton was particularly ravaged by the successive earthquakes and has benefitted massively from SCIRT’s efforts

er the proportions of the shafts inside the columns. “The whole thing has had to be built to an exact fit at every step of the way,” Campbell explains.

Access to the inside of the structure by climbing down inside was not acceptable from a health and safety perspective, a challenge that required the project team to create remote ways of doing the work. Modern technology, such as 3D modelling, was extensively used to assist with and overcome the challenges.

It’s been a very well-executed project, Campbell claims.

“We are very pleased with the result,” he adds. “It looks very much like it did before the earthquake and yet it is a whole lot stronger and more able to survive the next one that might come along.”

But work alone is not enough and communications from SCIRT have been critical to May 2016

keeping the Christchurch community informed about the work in their city and in their streets and for maintaining public support for the huge repair programme.

Since work started, SCIRT has produced 6,724 work notices, 1.53 millon of which have been distributed to residents and businesses. It has also produced 214 e-newsletters, initiated 163 school visits and more than 37,000 face-to-face meetings. SCIRT’s research reveals 89 per cent of the community is satisfied with SCIRT communication, one of the organisation’s proudest achievements.

The challenges now for SCIRT are to maintain the momentum of repairs and retain the community support which has been critical to the organisation’s success.

This year SCIRT is completing repairs to suburban waste water

systems and two major waste water trunk main pipelines, finishing repairs to storm water and water supply networks in several suburbs and to several bridges.

Some 132 projects totalling

$455 million are now under construction and another 16 totalling $22 million are being designed. Some 573 projects totalling $900 million have been completed and are being handed back to their owners.

Large projects to be completed in 2016 • The resilient vacuum waste water system in Aranui.

• Repairs to the city’s two large waste water trunk pipes, the Northern Relief in Edgeware and the Southern Relief in Linwood.

• Repairs to several bridges including Moorhouse Avenue and Durham Street overbridges in the city.

• Continuing and completing repairs of retaining walls in Lyttelton.

• Waste water repair works in several suburbs, including Parklands, Burwood, Linwood, Fendalton, St Albans, and hill suburbs including Huntsbury, Hoon Hay, Westmorland, Heathcote and Mount Pleasant.

• Roading, kerb and channel works in several suburbs, including Parklands, Woolston, Aranui, Fendalton, Strowan, New Brighton, Burwood, Richmond, St Albans and Linwood. www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 24

CITIES >> C>>S hristchurch PIPelIneS PonSored ArTICle

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www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 9 www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 25

ENERGY

Challenging conditions but plenty of potential Oil and gas is a long-term game and one to which the government remains committed despite the difficult operating environment, the minister responsible told the recent Petroleum Conference

S

ince the mid-1970s New Zealand has produced 510 million barrels of crude, condensate and natural gas liquids; and almost 190 billion cubic metres or 7,000 petajoules of natural gas, Simon Bridges notes.

“Industry has paid billions of dollars in royalties - not to mention taxes - to the Crown,” he adds. “For a small country in a corner of the Pacific, those are quite impressive numbers.”

Some of the activity currently underway is a vote of confidence in the future of the industry, Bridges believes. “For example, Shell’s Caledonia Basin seismic survey is providing never-known-before scientific information in the most frontier of basins,” he explains. “The uptake of acreage in recent years, for example in the Pegasus and East Coast Basins, is also very promising.”

Oil therefore remains a significant export earner despite the current deflated prices, while natural gas is a vital input to

industry and electricity generation and is also used in more than 300,000 homes.

The industry pays several hundred million dollars in royalties each year which fund essential infrastructure and services, Bridges adds. “All of this comes from one petroleum basin, Taranaki, but we have 17 others that are also underexplored.”

He is particularly interested in New Zealand’s untapped potential for natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel which coun-

largest economy, largely due to a rapid drop in coal-fired electricity, and the rise of electricity generated by cleaner fuels, particularly natural gas.”

The International Energy Agency predicts natural gas demand will continue its expansion as the fastest-growing fossil fuel, and sees it as a very important bridging fuel to a lower-carbon global economy.

This role as a bridging fuel is even more relevant in the wake of the Paris Climate Change

“We also know that petroleum development is a long-term game and opportunities grasped now could have significant pay-offs in the decades to come” tries are increasingly choosing as an alternative to coal for electricity generation.

“According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, greenhouse gas emissions fell to their lowest level in 17 years in the world’s

Agreement, as countries take a hard look at their energy use and how they can reduce their carbon footprint.

Internationally gas is in major growth mode, the minister notes, with Japan, South Korea, China, and India already big

consumers of gas for electricity generation. “There is real potential for significant growth in our most populous nations, China and India, as they currently rely heavily on coal.”

Tens of billions of dollars have already been invested in LNG projects in Australia to satisfy this burgeoning demand, and the “Lucky Country” is expected to soon eclipse Qatar as the world’s largest LNG exporter.

New Zealand is in an “excellent position” to cater to that Asian market if there is a major gas find locally. “Not only could we reap economic benefits from gas production, but in helping those nations replace coal with gas we would be making a positive contribution to reducing global emissions.”

Looking ahead, Bridges says the government will be taking the opportunity this year to ensure regulatory settings are fit for purpose.

“In the last few years we have significantly lifted our game in regards to health, safety and

Government still ignoring renewables, say Greens

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he government is continuing to pour public money into subsidies for the oil and gas industry and ignoring clean energy investment, the Green Party claims.

The party says the government spent $47,583 on the 2016 Minerals Exploration Data Pack – a collection of valuable data for overseas fossil fuel companies – as a “sweetener” to make drilling for oil in New Zealand more attractive.

It is not yet known how much the government spent sponsoring the 2016 New Zealand Petroleum Conference held in Auckland from 20-22 March, the party admits, but previously it has spent up to $850,000 on similar conferences.

“While the government is happy to spend millions trying to drum up business for the oil and gas industry, ministers have confirmed in comparison they’ve done very little to attract investment in renewable energy to New Zealand,” Green Party Energy and Resources Spokesperson Gareth Hughes says.

“We should be developing our clean technology expertise and exporting it to the world, not subsidising foreign companies to bring last century’s technology here and drill for polluting fossil fuels.”

New Zealand could be leading the world in clean energy and profiting from exporting its expertise but instead the National government is trying to drag us back to the oil age of last century, Hughes believes.

26 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

“New Zealand is missing out on international opportunities, like the recent $4 billion Ethiopian geothermal contract that an Icelandic company won, because our clean-tech companies aren’t getting the government support they deserve.”

The latest oil and gas subsidy follows the $237,000 National spent wining and dining industry executives, $850,000 spent on an industry conference, $94 million of tax breaks from 2008-2013, and an overall almost 600 per cent increase in government spending to assist oil and gas exploration under the current government.

Hughes maintains oil and gas is obviously “a failed strategy” when globally USD$100 billion more was invested in clean energy than in fossil fuels last year, according to Bloomberg. “We are going in the wrong direction.”

New Zealand made a commitment to reduce climate pollution last year at Paris, Hughes notes, but says the government is doing the opposite by encouraging more fossil fuel exploration. *In answer to a written Parliamentary question, Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges admitted that “MBIE has not published any publications since 1 January 2009 specifically to attract investment in renewable energy to New Zealand” and “in terms of research, science and technology, there are no current research programmes aimed specifically at attracting [renewable energy] investment to New Zealand.”

May 2016

Commentary ENERGY

Aerial view of Lyttelton Port of Christchurch LP gas and petrol facilities, the primary port for energy shipments in the South Island

environmental requirements – including regulating activities in the Exclusive Economic Zone for the first time.”

This housekeeping includes “thornier but essential” issues such as releasing guidance around fracking and land farming in response to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s recommendations.

“We are considering the commissioner’s other recommendations to improve regulatory oversight of onshore petroleum exploration and development,” the minister adds. “Industry, local government and iwi have been consulted in this and that input has been valuable.”

The government is also undertaking work on decommissioning requirements and continuing the review of financial assurance to offer the stability, consistency and transparency industry wants.

“Companies have to manage their way through this low-oil price environment but our role as government is to ensure our investment environment stays consistent and predictable.”

Big blocks Turning to Block Offer 2016, he notes that the National government has granted 44 exploration permits throughout New Zealand via the annual Block Offer process since 2012.

May 2016

“We’ve attracted new operators to our shores, including Chevron, Statoil, Woodside and ONGC Videsh, which indicates to me that the Block Offer is an effective means of promoting New Zealand’s potential.”

This year’s tender again features a mix of onshore and offshore areas, selected based on industry nominations and prospectivity assessments and following consultation with iwi, hapū and local authorities.

Block Offer 2016 includes four offshore release areas in the Reinga-Northland, Taranaki, Pegasus and East Coast, and Great South-Canterbury Basins, as well as one onshore release area in Taranaki.

The total acreage included in the tender is approximately 525,500 square kilometres, which includes about 1,060 (1,062) square kilometres onshore.

The Northland-Reinga Basin covers 186,000 square kilometres. “While we have seismic data for this basin dating back to the 1960s, it is large and still relatively unexplored,” the minister concedes. “It is believed to be prospective for oil and gas, and it shares a lot in common with the Taranaki Basin.”

The potential of this frontier basin is now beginning to be understood; Statoil were awarded their first permit in the basin for Block Offer 2013, and suc-

cessfully bid for a second permit in Block Offer 2014.

The Taranaki Basin is a proven province that has seen some significant discoveries – such as the Maui, Pohokura, Tui and Maari fields - but there is still plenty of scope for further exploration.

The offshore Taranaki Basin includes almost 61,000 square kilometres. “With multiple permits granted in Taranaki each year since the Block Offer began in 2012, this basin’s potential is clearly understood.”

The Pegasus and East Coast Basins includes more than 68,000 square kilometres.

“These two basins are considered among New Zealand’s most promising,” Bridges observes. “Both are prospective for oil, gas, and gas hydrates gas, and both are under-explored.”

This year’s Block Offer also includes new acreage on the East Coast, following a government-funded survey of the area.

“Two permits were granted to Anadarko in the Pegasus Basin for Block Offer 2012, while Block Offer 2014 saw three 15-year petroleum exploration permits granted in these basins to a joint venture between Chevron and Statoil, and one to OMV.” The Great South-Canterbury Basins include approximately 208,000 square kilometres.

“These basins have seen exploration activity since the early 1970s, with a number of sub-commercial discoveries,” the minister notes. “Both basins are considered prospective for gas, condensate and oil.”

Finally, just over 1,000 square kilometres is available in the Taranaki Release Area where New Zealand’s petroleum industry began. “The basin is prospective for oil, gas and condensate, and has been producing oil and gas commercially since the early 1900s.”

Today the basin has 20 producing fields. “Considering that almost a third – 14 out of 44 – of the permits issued since 2012 have been in onshore Taranaki, it is clear the area still has untapped potential,” Bridges believes.

The industry now has more than five months to prepare bids for this tender, with all offers due by 7 September and permits announced in December.

These are trying times, the minister concludes. “We know commodity prices are cyclical, and hopefully we have reached the bottom of this cycle,” Bridges concludes.

“We also know that petroleum development is a longterm game and opportunities grasped now could have significant pay-offs in the decades to come.”

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 27

ENVIRONMENT

Resource Management Act reform – death by a thousand cuts?

The first months of 2016 have seen a deluge of environmental proposals from the government; some good some bad, notes Geoff Simmons

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ut the Resource Management Act (RMA) is the granddaddy of all environmental legislation. In 2013 National and ACT tried to kill it off for good and failed to get the approval of the Maori Party and United Future. This time the government is proposing a much more nuanced reform, but it still looks like death by a thousand cuts.

Taking care of NIMBYs The thorns in the side of development are the NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) – people resistant to change in their areas, even when it’s in the public interest.

The processes of public notification and appeal under the Resource Management Act have at times left developers in a quagmire of red tape.

At their best councils tend to be risk-averse, and the threat of litigious NIMBYs only makes them more introverted.

We have seen this issue play out this month over Auckland’s Unitary Plan. Lack of supply is one contributor to Auckland’s housing problem, but NIMBYs have prevented the council responding to the demand by rezoning areas for increased density. The result will be that Auckland continues to sprawl in a search for cheap housing, but this will be a false economy as transport costs to commuters and ratepayers will balloon.

The proposals being put forward by the government will reduce the power of NIMBYs to quash development. This idea will no doubt be applauded by the National and ACT voters of central Auckland – until it is applied to housing developments in their back yard.

Removing checks and balances Reducing the power

NIMBYs is a good step. However the same public notification and appeals processes abused

by NIMBYs are also used by groups to advocate on behalf of the environment. Sometimes it can be hard to tell a NIMBY from a “greenie”.

That is why public interest groups are worried about this RMA reform. It is being presented as a proposal to reduce red tape, which is no doubt a good thing, but what checks and balances remain to ensure the environment is protected?

It may not be the massive culling of environmental provisions that was proposed last time round; instead this RMA reform looks like death by a thousand cuts.

Crooked process Why do we need checks and balances at all? Why doesn’t the process deliver the right outcome? For big developments, applicants have to get an assessment of environmental effects (AEE) done, and to do this they usually engage a consultant.

However, because the consultant is engaged by the developer, of course the consultant is under pressure to provide a certain answer. Not that we are questioning their integrity of course, just that the process gives rise to certain incentives.

As we saw in the movie The Big Short this was the same issue faced by ratings agencies in the lead-up to the Global Financial Crisis. Banks got their junk bonds rated ‘A’ by the ratings agencies, because if they didn’t give that rating they would go to the competitor.

Back to the RMA. Under the current process, to balance out any bias in the initial assessment, other assessments are often done. of Opponents often end up

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undertaking their own assessments; even councils that lack the necessary expertise themselves often end up engaging consultants so that they can check the assessments they have received. It is certainly a wasteful process.

No matter your perspective – developer, NIMBY or greenie – we can all agree that we want a simple, effective process that delivers the right result. We should all want development that leaves society better off overall and doesn’t compromise future generations.

What could be done?

If the government is going to proceed with reducing the opportunity for appeals to blunt the influence of NIMBYs, they need to install new, simple checks and balances to ensure that the right decision is made for the environment.

Here are some ideas, with thanks to the latest Environmental Defence Society report: • Environmental assessments need to be independent. For example, councils could undertake assessments or engage consultants to do them.

Of course, some will argue that councils themselves are not always independent. One issue is whether councils have the skills in-house to engage appropriate consultants and interpret the results. Perhaps smaller councils need to band together to ensure they have the scale and specialist skills to make the right decision.

Larger developments could be overseen by the Environment Protection Agency.

• The principle guiding development should be ‘no net environmental loss’ – i.e. any development leaves the environment better off overall.

Where developments will have a negative impact on

the environment, there has to be a simple way of assessing the damage. As long as it’s not rare or unique environment that’s been damaged, the developer should be able to “offset” that damage by improving the environment in other ways. That way the development can proceed if it still stacks up with the true environmental costs included.

Many councils already do this, but we need to do it much better. This requires having some clear national guidance on damage and how to offset it, and having a ready market of quality-assured offsets that the developer can purchase.

• Finally, we need some fundamental changes to support these ideas. We need much better environmental monitoring so that we can see what impact developments are having on the environment. Often the impacts of developments and conditions of consents are not checked after the fact.

We need to make sure that the conditions of consents are being met. This particularly applies for offsets, as these have traditionally been abused in New Zealand and around the world to ‘greenwash’ a development rather than deliver real environmental benefits. Part of this will probably require a central auditing or appeals function to make sure that councils and developers are actually fulfilling on their deals.

The final question we must ask ourselves is how many times we should tinker with the RMA before we need to take a fresh look and start again at the way we do development while protecting our environment.

An economist working for the Morgan Foundation, an independent foundation which aims to stimulate debate on the important issues facing New Zealand, Geoff Simmons is a regular contributor to the Gareth Morgan blog Gareth’s World May 2016

WATER

What’s happening with water?

Water levels in many part of the country have plummeted but some of this is due to cyclical climatic conditions say IrrigationNZ chief executive Andrew Curtis

The Rangitata Diversion Race canal network

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n Canterbury – the largest area of irrigation in the country - many parts of the region are displaying very low groundwater levels and this has created problems for irrigators.

Irrigation systems are designed to pump from a given static head and when aquifer levels drop below these levels, farmers have one of two options. Either pump at a lesser rate or get someone in to lower the pump or deepen the well.

One of the interesting things about Canterbury’s aquifers is that they are very dynamic. In essence, compared to groundwater in other parts of the country or around the world they are ‘short lived’ systems.

They are not ancient aquifers

that contain ‘fossilized water’ as some claim. They go up and down depending on what the year is like. Only three years ago Canterbury saw some of the highest groundwater levels on record after an exceptionally wet winter.

Since then the region has had two very dry winters followed by parched summers so currently we’re hoping for good winter recharge so the aquifers come right for next season.

When it comes to climatic cycles, New Zealand oscillates between dry and wet periods generally every seven to 10 years, with occasional aberrations.

While a strong El Nino was forecast this summer, the pattern wasn’t as pronounced as

expected. Despite this, we still saw a strong impact on water resources with foothills streams and lowland streams struggling to maintain flows in the wake of little rain.

Most parts of Eastern New Zealand saw streams and rivers run low. As many of our aquifers are connected to these water bodies the resultant effect is little refill.

NIWA is now predicting a neutral climatic position for New Zealand for the next couple of years. Hopefully this means the start of a switch back to more regular rainfall. But if we get another dry winter with warm temperatures and relatively little snow, the long-term effect will be a prolonged period of

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slow recharge. This will mean we can’t rely on our aquifers for ongoing water security.

All of this highlights the ongoing relevance of the argument for water storage linked to alpine water supply. The only way to guarantee water in our summer-dry foothill river systems is to invest in alpine water storage.

We don’t want another season like 2011-12 when billions of dollars was lost from the economy when drought struck the North Island and dry spells plagued the South Island. Modern storage and distribution infrastructure is essential for New Zealand’s future. It will help future proof the country against climatic variations, will allow for diversification in primary production and will provide environmental benefits in very hot, dry years.

River augmentation from stored water in dams or groundwater recharge projects can save aquatic life, which would otherwise end up in dry river beds or extreme low flows scenarios with dire consequences.

Water storage can also be used for Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) initiatives like the Hinds project. Imagine what our future could look like with improved aquifer recharge and reliable stream flows to aid aquatic systems.

The benefits of water storage are significant and wide reaching, not only on a national level, but also for regional communities.

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WATER

Christchurch earthquakes highlight need for water network seismic resilience The potable, storm and waste water assets of New Zealand are rarely considered by the public until a natural disaster or major failure affects service delivery

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owever, because New Zealand is very prone to large natural hazards, including earthquake, flood, landslide and volcanic eruption, planning for and mitigating against the effects of such disasters needs to be ingrained into the business-as-usual practices of asset management.

Whilst relatively rare, earthquakes are by far the most damaging event in respect of 3 waters networks. Building seismic resilience into a network and its management processes has been shown to have significant beneficial impacts on the network resilience in many other situations.

Building a resilient 3 waters delivery service begins with a clear understanding of what service is expected to be delivered. The first step in this process is defining Levels of Service that are clearly communicated, understood and valued by the community that the system serves. It is upon this understanding that the service expectations, costs, risks and compromises can be agreed with a community.

Last year Water New Zealand, Opus and the University of Canterbury Earthquake Centre collaborated on the development of a document entitled Levels of Service Performance Measures for the Seismic Resilience of Three Waters Network Delivery, which defines a framework of Levels of Service performance measures upon which this conversation can be based.

The total replacement value of the 3 waters assets in New Zealand was estimated at about NZ$45.2 billion in 2014. (It may be significantly higher, but we lack good information at this stage.)

The wastewater network had the highest replacement value at around NZ$17.8 billion, fol-

lowed by drinking water assets at NZ$16.2 billion and storm water at NZ$11.2 billion, according to Department of Internal Affairs analysis of 2014 Local Authority Annual reports.

As these assets are upgraded or replaced, many difficult decisions will need to be made in respect to the trade-offs between Levels of Service, capital costs, operating costs and management of risk. One key lesson from the Canterbury earthquakes is that insurance cannot be relied upon as a sole risk mitigation strategy.

It is important that the argument for, and the cost of, seismic resilience is adequately understood, so that balanced judgements can be made in the investment and management

lines the key aspects of a resilient system are: • robust physical assets with key network routes having appropriate alternatives, and response arrangements in place • effective co-ordination arrangements (pre- and postevent) • realistic end-user expecta-

“Building a resilient 3 waters delivery service begins with a clear understanding of what service is expected to be delivered” of the 3 waters assets from a whole-of-life perspective.

It is also a requirement of the Local Government Amendment Act 2014 that territorial authorities have an infrastructure strategy that provides for resilience in regards to natural hazards.

Again, central to this is a discussion with the community as to the Levels of Service that are expected and how these levels are likely to be affected in the event of a natural disaster.

This conversation needs to be framed in respect to the effect on the individual; the wider community; local business and the local and regional economies.

Learning from the Christchurch earthquake sequence and other disasters has highlighted the need for New Zealand’s 3 waters services to be seismically resilient.

In the context of these guide-

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tions and appropriate measures of backup arrangements.

The document the group prepared provides a framework which may be used by engineers and asset managers to define the current or potential operating stage of any part, or parts, of a 3 waters network in the event of, or planning for, a significant earthquake.

They are designed to be used in a number of ways: • as a communication tool to explain the network status to communities and their leaders • as an aid to tracking recovery to normal Levels of Service after damage caused by a seismic event • a management tool to assist engineers and asset managers to explain the investment needed to improve the resilience of networks.

The document provides guid-

ance on definitions of different stages of recovery and how to use the guidelines to develop target Levels of Service related to these stages. It also provides a tool to assist in collating the target Levels of Service for potable, waste and storm water as the recovery transitions from stage to stage. It identifies a number of critical services that will need to be prioritised when considering seismic resilience.

The document is intended to be the first in a series of guidelines, with future documents providing guidance on assessing system vulnerability, estimating the durations to restore service and the design and implementation of works to improve resilience.

As the next step in this process Water New Zealand is again collaborating with the UC Earthquake Centre to develop guidance for pipeline renewals – an area where up to three quarters of local government expenditure on water systems occurs.

John Pfahlert is Chief Executive of Water New Zealand, a national not-forprofit sector organisation comprising approximately 1500 corporate and individual members in New Zealand and overseas that focuses on the sustainable management and promotion of the water environment encompassing the 3 waters – fresh, waste and storm waters May 2016

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

New 2050 work programme addresses enduring challenges A significant new work programme is being launched by Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) to address key challenges facing New Zealand’s communities over the next 30 – 50 years says president Lawrence Yule sive future for New Zealand’s communities calls for an open conversation about the major long-term shifts our communities are facing both now and in the future and how we prepare for them,” Yule maintains.

LGNZ is set to release its LGNZ 2050 Challenge paper at its annual conference in July and it’s expected to spark discussion on how local government decision-making can help to address the challenges idenGNZ 2050 is designed to tified through this work. stimulate dialogue within the local government sec- Climate control tor about the major long-term LGNZ is to develop a new challenges facing communities climate change position statein New Zealand. ment focusing on important The LGNZ 2050 Challenge mitigation and adaptation stratthink piece that is the first phase egies. of the LGNZ 2050 programme Due to be presented midwill articulate the fundamental year, the LGNZ Climate Change issues facing New Zealand’s Position Statement will detail communities; foremost among key actions and policy changes which is regional disparity, an to manage the effects of cliageing population, the future of mate change on New Zealand’s work, and climate change adap- communities. tation strategies.

It will also outline next steps “Local government in New for local government and secZealand faces major challenges, tor partners to manage climate from economic, environmental change in communities around and climate change issues to the country. major infrastructure developLGNZ President Lawrence ment, all in the face of rapid Yule says New Zealand has demographic change,” LGNZ much at stake and much to gain President Lawrence Yule says. by adopting strong leadership The LGNZ 2050 programme on climate change. seeks to future-proof New Zea“Climate change and sea levland communities and prepare el rise are increasingly imporlocal government to meet the tant factors in policy making for future needs of communities local government,” he notes. across the country.

“Developing and implementYule says opening up a con- ing ambitious action plans to versation about major issues support resilience within our affecting communities around local communities is a key goal the country, and how local gov- for local government.” ernment will address these both The objective of the policy denow and in the future, is vital to velopment is to provide a focus the future success and wellbe- on key joint central and local ing of our communities. government actions and policy “Building a sustainable, en- changes needed to manage vironmentally responsible, climate change effects on comprosperous, and socially inclu- munities.

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May 2016

It will be accompanied by a summary of the effects of climate change on all local government functions from a mitigation and adaptation perspective.

“New Zealand must develop a joint central and local government approach to climate change if it is serious about addressing the significant impacts climate change presents both now and in the future.

“We also acknowledge there are a range of specific roles and responsibilities that local government has for their communities that are affected by climate change,” Yule adds.

These include land use and building controls, the provision of infrastructure, natural hazards management, water allocation, biosecurity, waste management, public transport, river control, civil defence emergency management and rural fire to name a few.

“The impacts of climate change will also vary round the country,” Yule observes. “We are very aware of challenges local authorities face with infrastructure and managing insurance costs.”

The position statement follows on from key work LGNZ has been leading around climate change and resilience, including the Local Government Leaders Climate Change Declaration late last year that saw local government leaders from across New Zealand push for more coordinated action.

The declaration received strong support from major cities and smaller communities around New Zealand with a total of 29 mayors and chairs signing up. Local government was also represented at the COP21 climate change conference in Paris last December.

Valuing votes LGNZ has started a conversation with New Zealand residents about the key issues affecting communities on social media through its Vote2016 campaign launched in late March.

This is part of the first phase of the Vote2016 campaign focused on increasing engagement with residents on important issues such as freshwater, transport, tourism, business and economic development and local amenities and services.

LGNZ President Lawrence Yule says that by raising key issues affecting communities around the country, LGNZ is hoping it will encourage residents to get more involved in conversations about what matters to them, and how they can get involved.

“Our aim is to grow citizens’ understanding of the breadth of services delivered each day by local governments across New Zealand, and the impact those services have on their everyday lives,” he explains.

LGNZ’s first Facebook post asked New Zealanders whether they thought enough was being done to keep our lakes, rivers, streams and beaches clean and was seen by over 175,000 people in its first week.

The Facebook campaign directs users to visit vote2016. co.nz, the Vote2016 campaign website which provides information for voters, candidates, media, and other key partners and also offers campaign background and research statistics.

LGNZ’s Vote2016 elections campaign aims to raise voter turnout above 50 per cent nationally for the first time since 1998. “Our goal is that, for the first time in nearly two decades, local government will be elected by a majority of New Zealanders,” says Yule.

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 31

TRANSPORT

Auckland Airport spreads its wings

Departing passengers will have a chance to relax and “recompose” themselves in a soothing space immediately after the security screening area

New Zealand’s largest airport is to double the size of its international departure area, including a new security processing zone, new passenger lounge and shopping area

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uckland Airport will spend up to $180 million on the project, which will dig into parts of the existing 1970s-era international terminal and also extend its floor area.

The new international departure project almost doubles the size of the present primary international departure processing zone, passenger lounge and retail hub.

It will comprise three distinct spaces: • a reconfigured landside farewell area

Big build Auckland Airport’s $180 million project will transform the country’s main arrival and departure point beyond recognition.

Reconfigured landside farewell area Departing international passengers will enter an expanded and dedicated space where they will complete departure forms, weigh cabin baggage and prepare for security screening by separating laptops, liquids, aerosols and gels from their other cabin baggage.

• a new and expanded security screening and processing area • and a new passenger lounge and retail hub.

The planned expansion is one of the biggest undertaken since the airport opened 50 years ago and is a key part of the company’s 30-year vision for the airport.

“It’s a big project, one of the most significant since the original development of the two terminal buildings and the runway itself,” Chief Executive Adrian

Littlewood explains.

“This announcement is an exciting and major step forward in the ongoing implementation of our 30-year vision to build our ‘airport of the future’, which will eventually see us able to accommodate 40 million passengers a year by 2040, from 16 million today.”

The airport is placing more emphasis on the international area as international traffic was growing more quickly than domestic movements, with a 7 per cent increase in international

growth and 5 per cent more domestic traffic over the 12 months to the end of November last year.

The $160-$180 million project was both an aeronautical and commercial project so the cost will be divided between airlines and the airport, which is New Zealand’s largest listed company.

The area for security would be doubled, with additional flexibility for expansion with new technology in the future and an area for passengers to “recom-

Expanded security screening and “recomposing” area The new customs and security screening area accommodates the latest technology. This will enable passengers to quickly move through this area with the minimum of delay.

There will be a relaxing space immediately after the security screening process, where passengers can recompose themselves – repacking their cabin baggage or putting on shoes, belts and any other they removed for security screening.

There will be flight information displays in this area and toilet facilities.

Passenger lounge and retail hub This area will be significantly increased to give passengers plenty of space to sit, relax and shop before heading to their departure gate. It will have a range of seating zones, from relaxing lounge seating to dedicated food and beverage seating in a large, open and light-filled space. Windows will overlook the Manukau harbour, a mezzanine level will have bars to take in the views across the airfield to the Manukau Heads.

The retail hub will include a range of new speciality stores and food and beverage outlets,

which will operate alongside two duty-free operators -- The Loop Duty Free and Aelia Duty Free – both of which will unveil new stores as part of the redevelopment project.

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Architects International architect Gensler has worked on redevelopments at airports across the world, including parts of Changi Airport in Singapore and San Francisco Airport, and the new Air New Zealand lounge at Auckland Airport. New Zealand architect Jasmax has led the design on projects such as Te Papa Tongarewa and Sylvia Park.

May 2016

Commentary

The retail hub will include a range of new speciality stores and food and beverage outlets, which will operate alongside two duty-free operators

pose” themselves after going through security.

A major part of the redevelopment would be in retail, a lucrative part of the company’s business that sees passenger spending in specialty stores growing at 25 per cent.

Total retail income in the 2015 financial year came to $132 million out of total revenue of $508 million, an increase of $4.9 million or 3.9 per cent on the previous financial year.

The retail hub surrounds a remodelled international departure area, designed by US architects Gensler in partnership with New Zealand architects Jasmax.

“The design of the new international departure area will be influenced by a journey from New Zealand’s sea to sky and focuses on New Zealand’s natural beauty and our cultural heritage,” Littlewood explains.

The construction work is being undertaken by Fletcher Construction Company and a range of specialist sub-contractors, who have already started work on the security area.

The three construction stages are: • December 2016 – reconfigured landside farewell area, new expanded security screening and processing area and first half of the two anchor duty-free shops • May 2017 – remaining half of the two anchor duty-free May 2016

The revamped and significantly expanded passenger lounge will offer a range of seating zones overlooking Manukau Harbour shops and first half of the new passenger lounge and retail hub • Early 2018 – remaining half of the new passenger lounge and retail hub.

This project is one of a series of significant infrastructure and facility upgrades underway to ensure Auckland Airport is keeping pace with growth. “In the last 12 months, we have seen international passenger growth of 6.9 per cent and six new airlines announcing international services to Auckland, including Philippine Airlines, Air Asia X, Air China, China East-

ern, United Airlines and American Airlines.”

Last year, Auckland Airport completed a 2,500-square metre expansion of its international baggage hall, including the addition of two extra baggage belts, and also built a new bus gate lounge on Pier B and an extra 17,500 square metres of airfield to park the increasing numbers of aircraft visiting Auckland.

February marked the completion of a new domestic departure lounge for use by Jetstar’s regional passengers, while the end of the year will see the first

of several new gates on Pier B of the international terminal which can accommodate the latest generation A380 and B787 aircraft.

“Work is also underway on designing the domestic end of our new combined domestic and international terminal building,” Littlewood adds.

“This major upgrade of our international departure area will deliver an improved experience for travellers leaving New Zealand and is an important step in the implementation of our 30-year vision for Auckland Airport.”

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 33

WATER

Getting and keeping it clean A recent consultation document proposes a raft of measures to improve the management of New Zealand’s rivers, lakes, aquifers and wetlands The 23 initiatives include: • national regulations to get stock out of waterways • strengthening the national requirement on councils to set limits • standardised water permit conditions on efficient use of water and minimising nutrient loss • improved iwi involvement in council development of water plans and water conservation orders • an additional $100 million clean-up fund for lakes, rivers,

and wetlands.

“New Zealand has an abundance of freshwater but changes are needed to better manage water quality and improve efficiency of use,” Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy say.

National regulations are needed to prevent stock getting access to waterways, Dr Smith says. “The problem with each regional council making their own rules is that most have not done so, and for those that

do enforcement is cumbersome and expensive,” the minister believes. “It is also confusing to have each council having different stock types, different definitions of a river and different requirements of when fences are required.”

The proposed regulations set a clear timetable starting with all dairy and pig farms by July 2017 and progressively including dairy support, beef and deer farms relative to steepness of country by 2030, and are to be backed up by a new instant fine regime. “Farmers have made great progress in fencing nearly 24,000 kilometres of waterways, but it is now time for regulation to bring the stragglers in line,” Dr Smith insists.

Guy commended the work of the Land and Water Forum and the farmer representatives involved “who have done a good

job” of ensuring these proposed regulations are fair and practical. “This approach puts the priority on lowland intensive farming and recognises the impracticality for farmers fencing in some of New Zealand’s steep backcountry.”

The government is proposing to improve the National Policy Statement on Freshwater that councils are required to implement. “The requirement to improve overall water quality is narrowed from the region to freshwater management units – most commonly catchments,” Smith says. “The Macroinvertebrate Community Index (MCI) is being added to better protect ecological health and the bottom line standards are proposed to be applied to coastal lagoons.”

New Zealand can achieve improved water quality and

plan is nothing more than continuing the environmental subsidy to farmers by leaving taxpayers and ratepayers to pick up the hefty bill to clean up agriculture’s mess. “The industry has to be made accountable for damaging the environment and should be required to cover these costs, not dump them on the wider public,” he insists.

Fish & Game is shocked by the government’s plan to weaken Water Conservation Orders (WCOs). “Water Conservation Orders are the equivalent of National Park status for waterways, but the government wants to change the law to make them subservient to regional planning processes, the very process WCOs were created to sit above,” Johnson maintains. “This proposal would be the beginning of the end for Water Conservation Orders, completely reversing the hierarchy of the present law.”

Ultimately, Johnson says, the government consultation document shows that the New Zea-

land public is being ignored.

“We believe there is a growing frustration among New Zealanders that the clean water they once took for granted is disappearing,” he adds.

They are “increasingly angry” that their birthright of being able to swim, drink and gather food from their rivers and lakes is being taken away from them.

“The public didn’t give permission for this to happen and the government would do well to listen to the people and work on protecting freshwater and the New Zealand way of life,” Johnson warns.

With the demise of the dairy industry, the government needs to refocus on strengthening the New Zealand “clean and green” brand, and put the natural environment first, he advises.

“It should not be undermining it for further agricultural intensification to produce products we are struggling to sell in markets which are supplied by cheaper producers.”

Freshwater document leaves foul taste, critic claims

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ish & Game is critical of the freshwater consultation document, saying overall it will weaken not strengthen existing environmental protection and is a smokescreen to hide backdoor efforts to undermine the Resource Management Act and Water Conservation Orders.

The consultation document puts forward more than 20 proposals the government says will improve New Zealand’s freshwater quality.

The organisation that manages, maintains and enhances sports fish and game birds and their habitats in the best longterm interests of present and future generations of anglers and hunters says the document falls “well short” of what is need to address the growing threat of falling freshwater quality.

Fish & Game Chief Executive Bryce Johnson says it is an attack on the environment and the value of natural freshwater.

“When you look beyond the rhetoric, this document is all

about furthering water-based development at the expense of the environment,” he claims.

“There is no solid reference to recreation, food gathering or making rivers swimmable.”

Johnson believes the consultation document is “a win for agriculture and a defeat for the environment” and says the time frames to exclude stock from waterways are “completely out of step” with public sentiment.

“Cattle don’t have to be fenced out of water until 2030 and dairy cattle aren’t completely excluded from our waters until 2025,” he notes. “This will just create a water pollution legacy for future generations.”

Johnson believes the public and media outcry over cattle in Lake Taylor clearly demonstrated New Zealanders’ thinking on this issue. “Surely it is time the government made agriculture fully accountable for its adverse effects on the environment?” he asks.

Johnson says the present

34 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

May 2016

Commentary

The farming industry has to be made accountable for damaging the environment and should be required to cover these costs, not dump them on the wider public, claims Fish & Game New Zealand Chief Executive Bryce Johnson

growth in agriculture with better infrastructure, greater efficiency of water use and innovation in farming practices, Guy believes.

“These proposals require councils to apply technical efficiency standards to water use permits and good management practice rules to limit nutrients in water consents,” he says. “We are also proposing to make it easier to transfer consents to more efficient or higher value uses.”

These proposals include improved processes for iwi to be involved in the development of council water plans and Water Conservation Orders, Dr Smith claims. “Councils will need to engage with iwi on identifying water bodies of significance to them and the values that need to be protected.

The next steps on freshwater management in this document build on the work of the national regulations for water metering introduced in 2010, the 2011 National Policy Statement on Freshwater, the 2014 National

Objectives Framework and the new Environmental Reporting Act 2015.

Public submissions on these proposals close 22 April, although further technical work will still be required on developing more effective and efficient tools on allocation. The proposals in the paper will then be refined into amendments to the Resource Management Act and the National Policy Statement, as well as new national regulations.

New Zealand’s freshwater problems won’t be solved with slogans or quick-fix solutions, the ministers admit. “Many of our water bodies are in catchments with long hydrological cycles that will take decades to respond,” they note.

“These next steps build on our previous work and are about a realistic programme of improved management and tighter regulations that will get water quality onto an improving path.”

May 2016

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12/08/13 1:55 PM

COMMENT >> Management

Collaboration in infrastructure procurement is a no-brainer!

Caroline Boot Managing Partner Plan A The New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development’s presentation on Best Practice Findings from their delegation to Canada was certainly illuminating

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heir study led to a recommendation to form a centralised specialist agency, dubbed Major Projects New Zealand, which would guide and (where appropriate) lead procurement of public projects valued at over $30 million.

Provided that the agency was truly representative of best practice procurement across New Zealand, it could make a significant difference to the effectiveness of procurement in this country. Its influence would most likely also extend to smaller projects, to create a model for best practice procurement that could extend seamlessly to all of our infrastructure – and beyond.

Over the past few years, we have seen solid improvements delivered in procurement processes and tools by the procurement group within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

Their initiatives, which were originally an add-on to the very sound processes employed by New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and councils, have gathered momentum and there is now a suite of useful material available from MBIE for procurement agencies to use.

That’s in addition to the proven processes that councils throughout New Zealand have employed for procurement, based on the NZTA’s comprehensive Procurement Manual. That manual and processes have been tried and tested since the early 1990s, forming the backbone of procurement practice in transport and local government infrastructure.

However, it has been a bit of a mystery that there seems to have been little effort to date to align the excellent practices we see within NZTA and MBIE to form a single source of best practice. It is frustrating that procurement professionals who seem to make up the bulk of government procurement management often voice the attitude that New Zealand is well behind the rest of the world and should follow international models in preference to those that have

36 – www.infrastructurenews.co.nz

been developed and tested here over decades.

With 20 years of working with suppliers and procurement professionals both in New Zealand and internationally, I can confidently vouch that local procurement practices are superior to almost all of the others we have encountered. They are demonstrably fair; process-driven rather than relationship-driven; efficient; and in most cases, appropriately tailored to the product or service being purchased.

So why is it that our two best agencies seem reluctant to leverage each other’s great practices in procurement? This seems like a monumental missed opportunity, as both parties have so much to offer!

“With 20 years of working with suppliers and procurement professionals both in New Zealand and internationally, I can confidently vouch that local procurement practices are superior to almost all of the others we have encountered” For example, NZTA’s use of Price Quality Method as an incredibly powerful adjunct to Weighted Attributes is not recognised or acknowledged in MBIE’s methods. Using Price Quality to check that the premiums that are likely to be paid for higher quality on a project are commensurate with the potential financial impact of risks or opportunities is sheer brilliance! It’s far more sophisticated than tipping a bunch of weighted scores into a black box after the bids are submitted, then finding the decision that drops out of the process is not what you consider value for money.

The RFx templates that have been created by MBIE and tested by government

agencies over the past year would, with a few tweaks, be excellent bases for NZTA projects. The NZTA RFT and RFP models would benefit from the simple and clear layout and the clear, plain English terms and conditions that have been developed in the MBIE RFx templates; and suppliers would have the benefit of consistent layouts for RFx documents to respond to for a wide range of projects. However, so far we have not seen any appetite for using these templates for procurement of transport projects.

Another example: If MBIE taught the methods advocated by NZTA to evaluate Lowest Price Conforming tenders (namely, to rank prices first and then assess only the lowest price bidder for conformance) then tender evaluations could be done in a faction of the time – with the added bonus of far greater transparency and defensibility of the decision.

Evaluating Lowest Price Conforming tenders by reviewing attributes first places the emphasis on factors that are (or should not be) important, wastes huge amounts of evaluator time, and can lead to decisions based on levels of attribute quality that are difficult to justify for projects where price should be the primary selection factor.

In contrast with many other countries, New Zealand’s one-tier government structure should provide a streamlined and effective platform for consistent and effective procurement practices across all of infrastructure – and beyond. Until we can bring together the best in procurement in a single set of processes, templates and tools, we are missing out on opportunities to share and leverage great procurement practice in our own backyard.

A specialised and centralised procurement agency might be able to achieve that – provided the agency was set up with an open-minded attitude and without political or territorial intellectual property attitudes that restricted its ability to combine the best of best practice into a seamless and practical toolbox for our government organisations to use.

Caroline Boot is the founder of tender specialist companies Plan A and Clever Buying™. She and her colleagues are committed to providing expert support for tenderers through providing bid writing and management expertise for companies preparing must-win tenders – throughout New Zealand and globally.

For more information and discussion on best practice procurement, see www.cleverbuying.com May 2016

SECURITY

Mobility security myths Mobility may have transformed the workplace but how secure are the laptops, smartphones and tablets that enable an organisation’s road warriors?

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here are various ways to protect any mobile device, whether laptop, tablet or smartphone, the connection back to the network, and the content on both.

Most organisations protect connections via a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which creates a secure trusted path between a remote device and the organisation. However, it doesn’t secure the device or its contents – merely the transport from the device to the corporate network.

Some VPN options support a concept called split tunnelling, where only the corporate traffic goes to the organisation’s network. Internet access from the remote device, for example, establishes a direct internet connection; but while this saves bandwidth it means this new connection is no longer encrypted or secure.

constant monitoring for rogue overlooked aspect of mobile behaviour. security. Mobility allows people Myth 1: MDM is secure to work on the run, and peoMobile Device Management Myth 2: Mobile containers ple in a hurry tend to be more (MDM) is a system which al- protect mobile devices from prone to making mistakes, lows an IT department to ad- malware whether that mistake is losing ministrate mobile devices and Mobile containers are a more their device or emailing a docto control user actions. With flexible solution enabling us- ument to the wrong recipient.

MDM, IT can decide what the ers to gain access to corporate Protecting access to the locauser can and cannot do with the data on their device separate tion of a document on a device device. from their personal data. The is one option.

However, there are two major container is a protected area Another might be to password shortfalls with MDM. From the on a device with independent protect the document, but unuser side, MDM policies can access controls. This secure fortunately once it is open, it be very restrictive depending encrypted workspace protects can still be printed, copied or on the IT department. When business data by segregating shared. employees feel restricted, they it from other data and applicaThe best option would be to tend to find ways around their tions on the device. restrict access to only a specific wethe celebrate 30 yearsprotect in business, excited security protections.As From While containers cor- setwe’re of recipients, settolimits on organisation side, MDM does porate data on what We’ll they can with the docannounce a refresh of the themobile Arrowdebrand. bedousing not actually protect one the device vice, personal data and appliument, and be able loud messsage nationally – Build for Success – to revoke since MDM solutions do not cations are often unprotected. access at any time. which we think captures what we’ve been doing for 30 include malware protection ca- Running a container on a comA complete mobile security years – working collaboration with our clients pabilities. promisedindevice will comprosolution needs to to build secure the outstanding projects.

While MDM solutions can con- mise the data in use. connection, the device, the trol settings and applications, business data on the device, they cannot control the data Myth 3: Documents are personal data and non-business going in and out of the device. protected when sent to/from applications, and of course proMDM can be costly to maintain mobile devices vide the highest level of docudue to mobile devices needing Document protection is an ment protection.

Introducing a fresher, prouder, STRONGER direction for Arrow

Introducing a fresher, prouder, Introducing a fresher, prouder, STRONGER direction Arrow STRONGER direction forfor Arrow As we we celebrate celebrate 30 30 years years in in business, business, we’re we’re excited excited to to As

announce a refresh refresh of the Arrow Arrowwe’re brand. We’ll We’ll be using using As we celebrate 30 years in of business, excited to announce a the brand. be one loud messsage nationally – Build for Success – one loud messsage nationally – Build for Success – announce a refresh of the Arrow brand. We’ll be using which we we think think captures captures what what we’ve we’ve been been doing doing for for 30 30 which one loud messsage nationally – Build with for Success –to build years – – working working in in collaboration collaboration with our clients clients to years our build which we think captures what we’ve been doing for 30 outstanding projects. outstanding projects. years – working in collaboration with our clients to build outstanding May projects.

2016

Introducing a fresher, pr STRONGER direction fo

Build for SUCCESS�

As we celebrate 30 years in business, we’ announce a refresh of the Arrow brand. W one loud messsage nationally – Build for which we think captures what we’ve been years – working in collaboration with our outstanding projects.

www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 37

MANAGEMENT

Beware the elephant in the room The Earth moved, the neighbour had a loud party, you’re short staffed, the machinery is broken down, the project has changed direction, you and your partner argue...

E

ach of these experiences seen in isolation appears to be manageable, and you may think you’re fine but combine those thoughts with messages you may have heard in childhood telling you not to act so dramatic when something happens, that you just need to pull yourself together - and you create an ‘elephant in the room’ that is likely to impact every aspect of your life: cumulative stress.

Cumulative stress is by far the most frequent form of stress. It is not necessarily traumatic, can arise from a combination of factors that build up over time, and gradually erodes your resilience and productivity.

Prolonged experiences of cumulative stress without adequately being addressed can have devastating results on your life.

Take, for example, Mr Pullthrough, who lived through the 2010/2011 earthquakes.

At the time he was quite shaken; however, over the years he got ‘used’ to the smaller tremors that continued for months, and ‘got on’ with his life.

Or did he? His mind may have started telling him ‘It’s okay, it’s not that bad’. People around him may have said ‘Nothing we can do about it but move on’. People at work who were sympathetic in the first few months went back to ‘normal’.

The nervous system, Mr Pullthrough’s fight or flight mechanism, didn’t get back to normal - it stayed on alert. Designed by nature to be ready to react quickly in the event of danger, every small jolt confirms to the nervous system that the danger is not over yet. Valuable energy and resources remain directed towards maintaining a level of alertness that does not allow for complete relaxation and an ‘all clear’.

Uncharacteristic behaviours like shouting at the drop of the hat, becoming short-tempered, reduced ability to focus and lack of behavioural control are signals that all is not well inside Mr Pullthrough – and no amount of willpower or ignoring can make that ‘elephant’ disappear.

On the contrary, the more it gets ignored, the more the ‘elephant’ grows and demands attention by following Mr Pullthrough into every aspect of his life. The signals that can indicate the presence of Mr Pullthrough’s cumulative stress ‘elephant’ can come in physical, mental, and emotional levels.

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people prone to cognitive lapses have particular difficulty focusing on what’s going on around them. And when Mr Pullthrough loses focus and concentration, he is likely to be involved in accidents and mishaps.

“I’m right there in the room, and no-one can even acknowledge me.”

They can be expressed through relationship and team issues as well as in problem-level consumption of food, alcohol and other substances, or through withSome signals that indicate the cumulative stress ‘elephant’ may be ‘in the room’: »» Fatigue, headaches, indigestion, sleeping too much or too little, diarrhoea. »» Forgetfulness, boredom, procrastination, perfectionism, poor concentration. »» Irritability, depression, anxiety, anger, mood swings, sensitivity to criticism, intolerance, cynicism, compassion fatigue. drawal into feelings of loneliness and being misunderstood.

The more the stress response is activated - either physically or psychologically - the harder it is to shut off. If stress hormones, heart rate and blood pressure remain elevated over time, the body and mind will begin to suffer.

According to research, people like Mr Pullthrough, suffering from cumulative stress (accumulation of various stress factors from different sources), are likely to have impaired perception, ability to action, and memory capabilities.

They will be particularly likely to have accidents when their mental resources are stretched to the limit. Preoccupied with such personal issues as work-family conflict, natural disaster experiences, feeling overworked, or being dissatisfied with the physical conditions in their environment,

Life-giving coping strategies for dealing with the stress ‘elephant’: »» Seek and accept social support, keep talking to people and building relationships, ask for and accept practical help, help others, consider checking in with the Employee Assistance Programme at www.eapservices.co.nz »» Engage in physical exercise to the level of your fitness, reduce sugar and caffeine intake, eat healthy and regularly. »» Practice relaxation, mindfulness, have cuddles, do yoga, allow yourself to have fun and laugh.

Three steps to working with the cumulative stress ‘elephant’: Step 1: Become aware of the signals that may indicate its presence in your life Step 2: Acknowledge its presence – there is no way you can effectively hide it under a carpet in the long-term.

Step 3: Take action and use life-giving coping strategies for dealing with your personal stress ‘elephant’. Your experiences are unique to you and your circumstances.

Speak about the ‘elephant’ in your room, explore different ways of mitigating its impact on your life, stick with what works for you, and start ‘elephant-proofing’ your life.

Remember: Fun is not optional, it is actually essential for a healthy life. Laughter has been proven to reduce cortisol stress hormone levels.

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 or coping with cumulative stress ‘elephants’ with tailored and bespoke initiatives.

May 2016

LAST WORD >> Local government

Convictions at the core of credibility Evans Young Consultancy Services Government and Infrastructure The Minister for Local Government’s Better Local Services legislation enactment is interestingly timed to coincide with the local government elections later this year

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ne can see all the incumbents arguing that significant change is unwarranted – after all, no-one’s going to admit they aren’t doing a great job, are they?

Conversely, all the wannabe contenders are going to be embracing the challenge of change as it gives a definitive point of difference to their challenge.

It’s too early for comment at this stage as details are sketchy, but I hope the publically avowed intent of encouraging and enabling local government cross-boundary cooperation and collaboration to better plan for and provide essential services to residents is delivered.

Too often we are confronted with examples of inefficiencies and incompetence through public bodies trying to maintain a level of service with woefully inadequate financial and human resources.

That takes care of my ‘Santa’ wish list, now back to normal service…

Over the summer holidays I had a friend from the Bay of Plenty up to stay. Over a beer, he was commenting on how Ports of Tauranga had lost a scheduled cruise liner visit at the last minute due to an engine malfunction on the pilot boat. Apparently, one engine overheated when a water-pump impellor failed, resulting in a loss of manoeuvrability and inability to transfer the pilot to the liner.

The end result was a loss to Ports of Tauranga of circa $50K in berthage fees, and undefined downstream losses to: • all the tour operators who were sitting on the wharf awaiting the expected 2,000 tourists • the local retailers and activity providers who had geared up for the arrivals • the 2,000+ tourists who had booked and expected an itinerary that included a visit to Tauranga and environs.

Bad luck one might say. But then others say we make our own luck and in this instance the naysayers may be right as the May 2016

word around the waterfront was that the failure of the water pump could be attributed to (in part) a decision by an unnamed line manager to suspend scheduled preventative maintenance, where all consumables including water pump impellors are examined and replaced on a regular basis, in order to achieve quite minor financial saving in the plant operations budget.

“Actions have consequences – if politicians are not prepared to stand by their decisions and suffer the resultant legal redress, they shouldn’t be in public office”

If ever a situation proved the truism of the poem “For want of a nail” this was it. Do we never learn? Look at the Transpower saga and the resultant Auckland City brownouts, concerns over the security of the Cook Strait cable, Housing NZ and its deferred maintenance on state housing, KiwiRail and its lack of maintenance on the rail network and rolling stock – all are examples of deferring to statistical risk and losing.

Standards slipping Now our largest local authority appears to be embracing the same philosophy – another friend (yes, I do have more than one) likes to read local government governance documents and was telling me of his latest find.

It appears Auckland Transport has reported to its governing body, Auckland Council, that it can’t afford to maintain Auckland’s roading network at the current prescribed level of service. It therefore proposes to adopt a managed reduction in service level to an affordable level.

Fine so far, but then Auckland Council has adopted a policy that it no longer intends

to maintain the roading network at its stated service level; rather it is adopting a lesser level of service as a ‘sustainable’ option (the figure is approximately 73 per cent of service standard).

This is where it becomes interesting – the service standard is what council bases its development contribution calculations on.

If council is not going to maintain the network to this standard, surely the standard is too high – or is this another way of elevating development contributions by utilising inflated standards and costs?

If the standards are not too high, does such a policy of deliberate underachievement pose a health and safety risk? We are all aware of the impact recent changes to health and safety regulations have had on company officers and directors potential liability – should elected officials face the same scrutiny for consequential effects of deliberate policy decisions?

I’m a firm believer that elected representatives should be answerable for their actions in the same way company directors are under the Companies Act. The politician’s stock answer to failure of blaming officials’ lack of or inappropriate advice needs to be done away with.

The days of standing for public office as a means of stroking one’s ego are long gone – politicians are relatively well rewarded for their ‘community spirit’. They need accept responsibility for the consequences of their decisions – just as Sir Doug Graham and Bill Jefferies had to when they accepted the directorships of a publicly listed finance company.

Actions have consequences – if politicians are not prepared to stand by their decisions and suffer the resultant legal redress, they shouldn’t be in public office. A man who doesn’t stand by his convictions has no credibility.

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. +64 021 22 999 12 www.infrastructurenews.co.nz – 39

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