The Influencers
Leeann Watson
Albert Brantley
Mason Reed
Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive
Ōtākaro Limited Chief Executive
Fraser Thomas Director - Geotechnical Engineering
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reparing yourself for the future will be essential and there is no better time than the new year. Change is everywhere, and the pace has never been faster, whether it is new government policy, climate change or digital disruption. Take technology for example – many New Zealand businesses are already behind when it comes to adopting new technologies. Changing your mindset to thinking about the opportunities that technology will bring and not wanting to miss out, rather than focusing on the cost and other barriers, is a good way to start. Think about the changes that your industry may face from digital disruption. Think about technology from outside your industry that may have an impact on your business. Think about how you might refocus your resources and respond. And think about how you might be able to take advantage of the change. Take the time out from your day to day and start a conversation with someone with a different perspective – a scientist, a graduate, a next gen-er. Be open. Listen to new ideas. Look out for the warning signs of disruption – be alert to the signals and work out how you can respond. Accept that change is inevitable. View it as an opportunity, not a threat. The right mindset and the right environment for change can transform your business. The chamber will support our members through this. Our organisation is also impacted by the change and we will have to adapt and evolve, while at the same time supporting our members.
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n 2018 Ōtākaro will get out on the road. We have three main areas of work. Manchester Street beside the East Frame, and Durham Street and Hospital Corner which adjoin the Avon River Precinct. Most will be finished mid-year. It is not a simple resurfacing job. Behind the fences, contractors are completely digging out the old road, replacing metre after metre of broken pipe and suspect cable, before laying new structural layers to support a smooth road, paved and shared paths, bus stops and garden beds. One of the most significant challenges is that not all the existing services under the road are exactly where the old plans say they will be. When the crews dig up the ground and find something unexpected they must treat the services as live. It could be a safety hazard or providing essential water, power, wastewater or telecommunications to a nearby business. Once contractors know what it is, they must work out whether it is best to go around it or move it. This can mean a redesign of the plan, which takes time and limits the work that can be done in the interim. We’re now seeing the results. On Manchester Street alone, many of the 398,000 pavers that will line the street have been laid; 170 new trees have been planted; there’s 5.5 kilometres of new kerbing in place and underground there’s 700 metres of new stormwater pipe, with more to come. We appreciate your patience during the push to the finish.
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he country is obsessed with the ‘housing crisis’. The reality is the ‘housing crisis’ is not a nationwide problem but an Auckland problem. You’d be hard pushed to convince me there is an issue with finding an affordable house for a first home buyer in Dunedin, Buller, Greymouth, Whangarei or even Christchurch. In my opinion the real crisis is the impending ‘rental crisis’. Recent governments have bowed to public pressure, introducing measures to make it harder for the private sector to provide residential rental accommodation. These appear to have been introduced to pave the way for first home buyers to be able to purchase their own homes. There is now an under-supply of residential rental accommodation in most parts of the country, further exacerbated by the popularity of Air-bnb. Supply and demand problems haven’t yet affected Christchurch which is still a renter’s market, likely because of the Canterbury earthquakes, which resulted in the fast-tracking of subdivisions (and, in some cases, rezoning of land) that was the catalyst for a building boom in the following years. The introduction of ‘as is where is’ properties, is also likely to be a contributory factor. If Christchurch is affected by the ‘rental crisis’, the blame should be firmly laid with the Government, which has created an environment that victimises the people in society who require reliable, affordable, long-term residential rental accommodation. The Government is removing the private sector from the residential rental market, that will leave the government as the sole provider of residential rental accommodation.
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