Surveying+Spatial Issue 87 September 2016

SURVEYING+

SPATIAL

September 2016 Issue 87

Urban Transformation in Kiruna, Sweden Coastal-storm inundation and the impacts of sea-level rise Urban wetlands for stormwater management

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SEPTEMBER 2016 ISSUE 87

COVER IMAGE Artist’s impression of Kiruna’s new city centre on completion of the urban transformation.

See page 6 for more details.

Credit: White Arkitekter

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ARTICLES 3

Alistair Bond: Rower, Surveyor

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Urban Transformation for the Prevention of Disaster

11 New Mystery Island Tender Jetty 19 Constructed Urban Wetlands

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25 Surveying, Risk Avoidance and Certification of Hydrographic Surveyors in New Zealand 27 AllTerra: GeoSystems Rebranded 30 Addressing the World 33 Tides, Coastal-storm Inundation and the Impacts of Sea-level Rise 39 Experiences on Secondment at Land Information New Zealand 41 2016 NZ Spatial Excellence Awards

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REGULAR FEATURES 2

Editorial

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Professional Stream News

15 BCB Commentary 29 Technology 43 University Happenings 44 Legal Column 47 Perspective

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• EDITORIAL

Springtime Diane Moriarty

ISSUE 87 SEPTEMBER 2016 SURVEYING+SPATIAL A publication of the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors – Te Rōpū Kairūri o Aotearoa ISSN 2382-1604 www.surveyors.org.nz EDITOR Diane Moriarty survey.editor@yahoo.co.nz All rights reserved. Abstracts and brief quotations may be made, providing reference is credited to Surveying+Spatial. Complete papers or large extracts of text may not be printed or reproduced without the permission of the editor.

Correspondence relating to literary items in Surveying+Spatial may be addressed to the editor. Papers, articles and letters to the editor, suitable for publication, are welcome.

Papers published in Surveying+Spatial are not refereed. All correspondence relating to business aspects, including subscriptions, should be addressed to: The Chief Executive New Zealand Institute of Surveyors PO Box 5304 Lambton Quay Wellington 6145 New Zealand Phone: 04 471 1774 Fax: 04 471 1907 Web address: www.surveyors.org.nz Email: nzis@surveyors.org.nz Distributed free to members of NZIS. Published in March, June, September and December by NZIS. DESIGN & PRINT MANAGEMENT KPMDesign – www.kpmdesign.co.nz info@kpm.co.nz TO ADVERTISE Email: nzis@surveyors.org.nz or contact Jan Lawrence +64 4 471 1774

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I write this editorial at the midpoint of the Olympic Games. I have definitely had my fill of TV watching in the last week, with no let up for the week to come. It has come as a welcome distraction from the very wet months we have endured this winter and brings a positive feeling as we move into spring. One of our very own – Alistair Bond, BSurv graduate 2012, competed in the games and although he did not medal, Alistair achieved an impressive fifth in the Lightweight Men’s Four rowing event. A write up on Alistair can be found on page 3.

Despite the long wet winter, there has been no sign of a let up in the booming construction/housing industry. In Auckland, the Independent Hearings Panel released their recommendations on the Auckland Unitary Plan in late July and by the time this magazine goes to print the Council will have notified its decision. In a nutshell, the panel found that Auckland Council had grossly underestimated future housing requirements and states that 400,000 more homes are required in Auckland in the next 30 years. It recommended a number of ways of achieving this including increasing density within existing city limits, allowing for development in towns outside of the city limits, and zoning of more land as ‘Future Urban’. All in all, it spells good fortune for those in the housing industry with plenty more work on the horizon for the foreseeable future.

This month’s edition has a very diverse range of articles, two of which have come from abroad. Our feature article has been written

by Marija Juric of Sweden who tells of a city on the move, forced out of its existing location by the adverse affects of mining. This article gives a little slice of insight into the major undertakings of moving an entire city, 3km down the road (page 6). The second article (page 30) describes the story behind the ‘what3words’ website, a simple but extremely clever concept that has been used to address the world and change millions of lives for the better. Both of these projects were discovered when I attended the FIG working week in May and I hope to bring you more of the wonderful presentations, which featured at FIG, in future editions.

Another article of particular interest in this edition is Mick Strack’s regular column ‘BCB Commentary’. This month Mick and undergraduate student Julian Thom provide a commentary on the issue of subsurface land rights. A very topical subject given the current and recent work on the Auckland City Rail Link and the Waterview Connection tunnels. This article is definitely worth a read and the authors are asking for feedback on their commentary.

Contact details can be found within the article on page 15.

I hope you enjoy this edition as much as I have enjoyed making it for you.

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ALISTAIR BOND Rower, Surveyor

Mick Strack, National School of Surveying Alistair Bond has just returned from the 2016 Rio Olympics after coming fifth in the Lightweight Men’s Four. This is a great achievement even though they were hoping for better, after winning two gold medals in this year’s World Cups.

Alistair Bond went to school at Christchurch Boy’s High School before heading to Otago University in 2008 to enter the School of Surveying. Alistair completed the course requirements for BSurv First Class Honours in 2012 having rarely slipped below A grades for the papers, and completing a well received dissertation on public access to the High Country.

Alistair Bond has taken a somewhat unique path into the NZ High Performance rowing programme, in that he chose to complete his tertiary education before totally committing to his sports career. For a time he was living in the shadow of his older brother, Hamish Bond, who has been in the NZ High Performance programme since his schooldays in 2003, and is a multiple World and Olympic Champion and along with Eric Murray in the Men’s Pair, unbeaten in racing since 2009.

He rowed for his school at several Maadi Cup regattas without showing his considerable potential. He joined the North End Rowing Club in Dunedin in his early years of surveying study but moved to the Otago University Rowing Club to take advantage of the additional opportunities available there for international university regattas – notably in China and Russia. However, during that time he realised that he could not complete study and put in the commitment required for high performance – he was still only rowing at not much more that a recreational level. He made the tough decision to stick with study. So it wasn’t until he was recruited into the Southern High Per-

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NZ Lightweight Men’s Four: James Hunter, Alistair Bond, Peter Taylor, James Lasche

formance Centre in 2010 that he achieved any record of success with National Champs medals in Lightweight Pairs and Premier Eights.

Upon leaving Otago, he relocated to Cambridge to seek out National squad selection. He took up part time surveying work there with Cogswell Survey Ltd, where they have been very accommodating of his training requirements.

Alistair was selected into the NZ Lightweight Pair in 2012, and the Lightweight Double sculls in 2014. At the 2014 World Championships in Amsterdam he was called up as a last minute substitute into the Lightweight Men’s Four which went on to win silver, thus sealing his selection into that boat to qualify for the Olympics at the 2015 World Champs in France.

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• PROFESSIONAL

STREAM NEWS

Cadastral The Cadastral Stream has been busy with two working Groups. The Cadastral Law Working Group has been working on a review of Section 52 and members would have received a questionnaire for this group to help gauge where members’ thoughts are on this issue. This survey also posed some ideas about liability going forward.

We have also recently formed a working group which will be involved with the Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) Advanced Survey and Titles project (ASaTS) project.

By the time of publication this group will have met for the first time, with more to report in the next issue.

The Cadastral Stream is in close discussion with LINZ regarding the review of the Rules for Cadastral Survey 2010.

LINZ has indicated that this review will be a priority once they have completed the development of the Rules and guidance to support the Canterbury Property Boundaries and Related Matters Bill.

LINZ is committed to continued engagement with surveyors and bodies representing cadastral surveyors on the Rules. LINZ will be setting up an expert group for the review process and will work with us to identify members.

We will keep members up to date as work on the review progresses.

We continue to meet via teleconference each month and welcome comment from our members on matters that they have.

Matt Ryder, Cadastral Stream Chair

Engineering Surveying

Halfway through the year, the middle of winter, and gone are the days where the work might have slowed down.

It is anything but. Graham Darlow, CEO of Fletcher Construction is very happy to say that this is the busiest he has seen the construction industry in his 30+ year career.

Auckland especially is experiencing billions of dollars of construction projects currently in progress and much more to come. This makes it a great time to be an engineering surveyor. Some of the modern challenges of the big

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projects are the spatial restrictions and complex spatial designs, which only experienced surveyors are competent in setting out. Not to mention the constant advance in spatial capture tools, in which clients are becoming more proficient in the use of the output of such tools for more effective design, or continued maintenance of assets. We hope stream members are able to prosper in these times, while staying mindful that it can’t last forever.

Michael Cutfield, Engineering Surveying Stream Chair

Hydrography Revised Documents for Consideration LINZ recently released version 1.3 of Contract Specifications for Hydrographic Surveys. This document can guide those seeking to write specifications for contracted hydrographic surveys. Refer: http://www.linz.govt.nz/sea/charts/standards-and-technical-specifications-for-our-chart-and-hydrographic-work.

A new edition of the Port and Harbour Marine Safety Code was published in April 2016 following a review

by Maritime Safety Authority of NZ of the 2004 version.

Refer: http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/commercial/portsand-harbours/port-and-harbour-safety-code.asp The Code is intended to apply, as a minimum, to any harbour area or commercial port with compulsory pilotage. Councils may also choose to apply the Code to any other enclosed or coastal waters in their regions that they consider to be harbours for the purposes of the Code. Under the revised Code, a tripartite Steering Group, a Working Group, and review panels will focus on ensuring the current standard of safety management is sustained, and continuously improved over the longer term. A new Secretariat position will support the Steering and Working groups in overseeing the on-going implementation of the Code and manage an agreed work programme. Appendix 1 of the revised Code includes a statement of good practice about Hydrographic activities.

The Maritime NZ website also states the 2004 version of Final Guidelines of Good Practice for Hydrographic Surveys in New Zealand Ports and Harbours, refer: http:// www.maritimenz.govt.nz/commercial/ports-and-harbours/documents/Hydrographic-surveys-guidelines.pdf remains valid until reviewed or replaced by the Steering Group. The NZIS Hydrographic Professional Stream is seeking to be part of any review of the 2004 Guidelines.

Bruce Wallen, Hydrography Stream Chair

Land Development & Urban Design With current workloads at what is probably unprecedented levels there has not been a lot of activity within the SURVEYING+SPATIAL

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Issue 87 September 2016

13 historic local vertical datums. There are also improved tools on the LINZ website, such as the online vertical datum converter.

Toward the end of 2016 NZIS will be offering a series of seminars which will provide more information about the NZVD2016 and its relationships with other datums.

Rachelle Winefield, Positioning and Measurement Stream Chair

Spatial Queenstown

LDUD stream committee, however we will be canvassing members on what they would like to see from a continuing professional development perspective in the field of land development and urban design moving forward. A number of well qualified people within our industry and associated professions could provide presentations and pass on their expertise in the field of land development and urban design to aid continuing professional development.

With Auckland’s housing crisis still grabbing media attention along with the proposed National Policy Statement on Urban Development and the Unitary Plan, it will be interesting to see if the freeing up of additional land for development can happen in an orderly fashion given the large investment in infrastructure required. These are also issues facing other cities including the main growth areas of Tauranga, Queenstown and Christchurch. As mentioned in my previous update, the housing growth and pressure on Councils to free up land for development is also filtering down to provincial centres.

Our members should be pro-active in consultation with Councils in order to aid this process as the biggest issue facing developers at present ( apart from the lack of supply ) is the length of time it takes to obtain planning consents and construction approvals.

Phil Cogswell, Land Development & Urban Design Stream Chair

Positioning & Measurement The Positioning & Measurement Stream are pleased to support the release of the New Zealand Vertical Datum (2016), in June this year. The completion of this project was marked by a reception held at LINZ and attended by LINZ, GNS Science, Victoria University of Wellington and NZIS. NZVD2016 (and its improved reference surface NZGeoid2016) supersedes NZVD2009. It provides more accurate normal-orthometric heights and vertical datum relationship models; resulting in better constancy with the

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Several things are happening in the Spatial stream in addition to our ongoing discussions on the value proposition of the Spatial stream and possible certification.

Since the FIG conference, the New Zealand Esri conference has been and gone in Auckland with many stream members in attendance.

LINZ held a briefing for the spatial industry in June which set out the direction for LINZ’s strategic vision, passing on the information for what the industry can expect to be coming up in the next 2-4 years. These events are going to be held regularly every six months.

A major focus for LINZ has been ASaTS, a project to replace the existing Landonline system. The project is progressing well, and LINZ is working through the process for finding a vendor to deliver the system. While ASaTS will modernise LINZ’s system for managing property rights, it will also improve their ability to manage and share data. ASaTS will give LINZ greater abilities to link property data like ratings valuations and title information held across government. An online search will also make it easier to access title information. For more information see http://www.linz.govt.nz/news/2016-07/asats-documents-now-available Victoria University recently held a Careers Fair for students entering the spatial industry from university. Several spatial industry organisations attended including LINZ, NIWA, Eagle Technology and others. The event was well attended and many students were interested in the careers on display.

The stream is also continuing to engage with schools through the Geospatial Capability Committee.

Spatial stream members can attend a “Talk Environment” industry event in late September, this is an event being organised by and for a range of industry bodies including architects, planners, landscape architects, and the Urban Design Forum. Jeffrey Wakefield will be talking about the environmental response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. There was a large mobile data capture and spatial data management aspect to this event – more information is available from www.talkenvironment.co.nz.

Greg Byrom, Spatial Stream Representative

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Urban Transformation for the Prevention of Disaster Marija Juric, Cadastral Surveyor, Lantmäteriet, Sweden Sweden’s northernmost, and in terms of area, largest municipality ­– Kiruna – is undergoing major urban transformation as a consequence of large-scale mining.

There are approximately 20,000 inhabitants living in Kiruna and to prevent a future disaster not only for residents but also for animals and plants, the Municipality of Kiruna has started a long-term project of moving the town approximately three kilometres to the east.

This article presents the different phases of urban transformation implemented so far, with success, and in good time. The objective is not only to protect people, animals and plants, but at the same time to ensure access to an important raw material (iron ore) for Sweden and the rest of the world.

Background – Kiruna and the Mine Long before Kiruna became a city, the area has been populated by the Sami people. Sami is a group of natives who came to the northern parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia after the inland ice cap retreated. The main occupation of the Sami was and still is reindeer herding.

Existence of iron ore in the ground around Kiruna was known already during the 1700s. Because the area was too remote, there was no option to begin mining the ore.

There was no railway and the roads were in poor condition, often non-existent.

Mining of ore commenced in the 1800’s during the summer as it was not possible to mine in the winter because of the cold weather. Transportation was handled during the summer with the help of reindeer and horses.

The difficulty with the transportation was resolved in

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the late 1800s by building a railway from Luleå on the Swedish coast to Narvik on the Norwegian coast.

Industrial company LKAB (Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag) was founded in the year 1890 in order to take advantage of the richness of the iron ore. This in turn led to the formation of Kiruna which became a city in the year 1900. Very quickly LKAB became an important factor in the Swedish export industry and industrial development.

In 1976 the Swedish government became the owner of LKAB. LKAB helped financially to build houses and provide jobs to residents. This meant the inhabitants had a reason to stay and settle in the vicinity of the mine. Kiruna became a major center of iron ore extraction and mining industry.

Today the LKAB is often called “The Kiruna mine” the largest underground mine in the whole world, producing over 26 million tonnes of iron ore each year. In December 2015 LKAB celebrated 125 years of successful mining.

There is a special bond between Kiruna and mining.

People living in this so-called “Arctic town” used to say that without the mining, Kiruna would not have existed, and without Kiruna, it would be impossible to mine the ore.

Today Kiruna is Sweden’s northernmost and in terms of area, largest municipality with about 20,000 residents.

Located about 145 km north of the Arctic Circle, Kiruna is also a very popular tourist destination that offers experience of polar night and the midnight sun among

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soil, dust, poor air quality, etc. The question that everyone started asking was – what needs to be done to prevent disaster?

Urban Transformation – Different Phases of the Project Beginning of project

(Part of the picture – source: NyTeknik. Image by: Ingemar Franzén)

other attractions such as the Ice Hotel, sledge dog rides, snow scooter tours, skiing and snowboarding, impressive mountain scenery, reindeer grazing, etc. The many lakes in the area around Kiruna create opportunities for fishing and kayaking in the summer.

The natural resources that surround the city of Kiruna are an important prerequisite for industry in Kiruna.

Today Kiruna is undergoing major urban transformation as a consequence of large-scale mining. Changes in the physical environment caused by the mining operations include cracks, collapse of land, pollution of water and

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In 2004 LKAB announced that mining of ore had come to such level that continued mining would jeopardise security of the city and therefore the city needed to be relocated. Over 3000 apartments and almost 200,000 square metres of facilities for service, retail and municipal activities will be affected by 2035.

After long discussions the City Council decided in 2011 to move the town to a new place within an acceptable distance, approximately three kilometres to the east. The same year the Municipality of Kiruna requested to acquire new land owned by the state to build the new Kiruna.

The ongoing project has been given the name: Urban transformation of the city of Kiruna. This is a huge project where a lot of surveys, permits, decisions and projects must be coordinated. The Municipality of Kiruna decides over the detailed development plan and how the new com-

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munity should look. The urban transformation is a collaboration between several actors and stakeholders, such as the County Administrative Board, Lantmäteriet (the Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authority), the Swedish rail administration authority, property valuation experts, architects, residents of Kiruna and others.

The next step was to announce an architectural competition to find a strategy for urban transformation. The winning proposal was to be the basis for municipal work with a new structure plan by year 2013. Tasks set by the competition were to come with ideas considering: • Description of a vision for the “new Kiruna” should be durability, attractiveness and identity. The vision should embrace growth and robust patterns of life.

• Description of a strategy and basic sustainable structure for how urban transformation should take place to the east in a dynamic value creation process, where the new and the existing form a unity.

• To provide suggestions on how to design a sustainable, inspiring and pleasant city centre.

White Arkitekter won the competition with their project called “Kiruna 4-ever”. In short, the project aims for a mixed city where new homes will be built in varying tenure and price levels. The city will be built step by step.

The project expresses a desire to build a sustainable society based on ecological, social and economic aspects.

Buildings must be energy efficient and built with recycled and local materials wherever possible. Waste heat from the mining operation will be used for district heating and ecosystem services. A selection of plant species and biological diversity must be considered when planning green surfaces (Kiruna municipality, 2012).

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Collaboration between Kiruna municipality and LKAB In February 2011, two agreements were entered into between Kiruna and LKAB. One of the agreements is a civil contract governing expenses and the other is an implementation agreement that manages the transformation of the area from the current operations/activity to parkland and finally to the industrial park. Furthermore, Kiruna Municipality council decided on a detailed development plan for the area called “Gruvstadspark 1”.

In June 2014 the City Council adopted the Kiruna civil contract “Gruvstadspark” part 2 between Kiruna and LKAB, an agreement about how parts of the city should be phased out and how the new areas will be developed (LKAB, 2015).

In the spring of 2015 the Municipality of Kiruna and LKAB presented a proposal on a purchase and resettlement schedule for the centre of Kiruna. Along with the contract “Gruvstadspark” part 2 and the development plan for the new Kiruna everything is now ready to begin the urban transformation.

Lantmäteriet’s role in the project In recent years, Lantmäteriet has greatly expanded their workforce in Kiruna. Working as a cadastral surveyor in Kiruna involves all kinds of cadastral adjudications in property formation and gives a good insight into the work of the Municipality and LKAB’s on the urban transformation. The cadastral surveyor also obtains a good understanding of how individuals and other parts affect the project and each other during the process of urban transformation.

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Work already completed by Lantmäteriet: • Rights to Kiruna’s new waste water management and electricity supply system are formed – one of the largest investment networks carried out in Sweden and comprises a total of 60 km of new wiring.

• Approximately 15 km of the railway has been moved to crack-free land. This was a huge investment that was inaugurated in August 2012.

• Land owned by the municipality of Kiruna is being, with help of re-allotment, transferred over to LKAB’s property to enable for future mining (Lantmäteriet, 2013).

As soon as the new detailed development plan becomes final, it will mean even more work for Lantmäteriet such as implementing subdivisions, re-allotments, formation of joint facilities and utility easements, etc.

Conclusion The implementation of the different phases of urban transformation in Kiruna is ongoing and the interest among locals and rest of the world is as high as ever. The fact that planning began in good time, before it was too late, serves a good foundation to further development.

References A full list of references is available on request.

Ms Marija Juric has been working as a cadastral surveyor for Lantmäteriet, the Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authority, since 2007, after graduating with a bachelor degree in Surveying from University West in Trollhättan, Sweden. She works with all types of cadastral procedures but mostly with forming utility easements. She has been a delegate to FIG Commission 7 since 2012.

Email: marija.juric@lm.se Images: all images supplied by White Arkitekter

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• ENGINEERING

SURVEYING PROFESSIONAL STREAM

New Mystery Island Tender Jetty Daniel Wiederkehr, Regional Survey Team Leader, Downer The new Mystery Island jetty was part of a US$4.8 million package undertaken by Downer in Vanuatu for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and the Government of Vanuatu.

Introduction Mystery Island is a small island with sandy beaches and safe swimming just inside a reef which features readily accessible coral and fish life. With just over 100 cruise ships scheduled to call in 2016, this is a significant cruise ship stop-off, with about the same number of ships visiting as Auckland.

The new jetty structure is 86m long and was designed and built by Downer New Zealand. It allows four cruise ship tenders (boats that ferry up to 150 passengers ashore in locations where the wharves are not large enough for the cruise ship itself) to berth at the same time. The old jetty could only accommodate two tenders simultaneously. This improves the rate at which passengers get ashore and is an important development as cruise ships are steadily increasing in size. The design comprises 36 galvanised steel piles, precast concrete headstocks and fabricated aluminium walkways.

The Downer Crew were on site for 70 days, from late February to early May 2016, and lived in Anelcauhat village on nearby Aneityum Island, which is the southern most major island in Vanuatu and is about 300km Southeast of the capital city of Port Vila. Mystery Island itself is uninhabited.

Two tugs and two barges were used to get the equipment and materials to site. An 80 tonne crane was used

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to drive the steel piles and lift the precast concrete headstocks into position. The construction teams were a mix of personnel from Downer NZ, ni-Vanuatu (people from Vanuatu) employed by Downer in Port Vila, barge company personnel from throughout Vanuatu and local ni-Vanuatu employed from Aneityum Island.

Preparation While in Port Vila I stayed in a hotel with my Downer colleagues. The hotel was fairly centrally located with a swimming pool, excellent food and good Wi-Fi. Preparations for ordering and loading of the materials onto the two barges took several weeks, I only arrived in time to help with the last few bits, or so I thought.

At the time of my arrival, a tropical depression that grew into Tropical Cyclone Winston was brewing to the east of Vanuatu. It showed signs of moving away from us in an easterly direction, but was slow moving resulting in prolonged 5 to 6 m swells in the sea area around Aneityum. This had a direct impact on the departure of the barges from Port Vila and the timing for our mobilisation, as the fully loaded barges couldn’t manage high seas. The cyclone did move away from us for a couple of days before it made a 180° surprise turn devastating parts of Fiji on its way back. We were therefore grounded and had to take a few days off exploring the beautiful sites on Efate, all the

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while uncertain whether the cyclone would continue its westerly course straight towards us. It is worth mentioning that there are no such things as cyclone shelters in Vanuatu; getting a piece of rope and tying yourself to the biggest tree seemed the best option should the cyclone pay us a visit. Needless to say that some of us were feeling somewhat uneasy of what might come. Luckily the cyclone turned south about half way between Fiji and Vanuatu.

As it was a rather slow moving cyclone the sea took a few days to calm down again. The departure of the two barges was almost two weeks late and it then took them two days to travel the 300km from Port Vila to Mystery Island.

Arrival Two days later we flew on a charter plane directly to Mystery Island. While on site at Mystery Island we were accommodated in local guest houses on Aneityum, which were basic but comfortable. All new arrivals are required to have a blood sample taken for testing, so that Aneityum can preserve its malaria free status. Nevertheless beds had mosquito nets as there are still mosquitos (and plenty of other flying bugs) present. There is no power, neither on Aneityum nor on Mystery Island. Mobile phones worked, but no TV or broadband was available. Generators and solar systems for lighting and solar warm water showers were utilised to make life more comfortable. No daylight saving meant that it was light by 4.30 am and dark again by 6.30pm. We worked fairly long days, up to seven days per week. Being right at the southern end of Vanuatu meant that it was cool by Vanuatu standards but rather warm by NZ standards, a pleasant 28° at night and up to 32° during the day.

We had deep freezers on the barges, having brought with us a range of meat and other basic

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foods for our meals, which were mixed with local fruits and vegetables and prepared by our local in-house Chef.

Local fish and lobster was also available. There were a couple of shops that sold basics, but any favourite snack or sauces had to be brought from New Zealand. Although most things that can be bought in a NZ supermarket can also be bought in Port Vila, they are fairly expensive.

The Build First off, some of the materials had to be moved from one of the barges to the other, enabling us to unload the first piles, concrete headstocks and aluminium walkways, as well as the digger and the air compressor onto the beach.

While the beach crew were setting up the beach with a site fence and signage, the barge crew assembled the boom and pile leader frame on the 80 tonne crane.

Meanwhile I was extending the previously established survey control network. Initially three iron spikes were placed at strategic locations, using assumed coordinates and an estimated north orientation. The sea level was determined on site by recording tidal extremes over several days.

An additional two iron spikes cast in concrete were buried in the sand as a backup and six reflective targets were placed on fixed structures and the old jetty for everyday use. I also observed across the bay to Aneityum Island, measuring to a ship channel marker 1100m away. Using these six reflective targets, including the marker across the bay for each resection, gave me confidence of being within 5mm or less on each set up.

The majority of piles were placed and driven into the seabed, using the crane on the barge. We concluded the most proficient procedure was for me to set up more or less on the centre (longitudi-

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nally) of the structure with the crane on the barge being perpendicular to it. This way the corrections in both longitudinal and transverse directions were least confusing.

Getting the barge into approximate position was the first hurdle. For that we fixed a wooden plank to the front of the barge with a prism mounted on top of it. The barge was then slowly pushed by four dinghies into a position from which we could drive two or three piles from one set up. Two anchor piles, fixed to the barge, as well as two or three sets of ropes tied to anchors on the beach and/or old jetty were used to help secure the barge.

The crane would then pick up a pile, fix it into the leader frame and lower it onto the seabed. The crane crew would then get it as vertical as possible before I started taking (as low as possible) reflector less measurements onto the centre face of the pile to get the pile exactly in the required position for driving. Needless to mention that this task took up to one hour as the seabed was about four metres at its deepest and the height of the 80 tonne crane holding the pile accentuated the constant movement of the barge in all directions caused by the sea swell. This was made even more difficult on rainy days, when the piles were wet. The reflectorless measuring function definitely doesn’t work well on wet surfaces.

Once we were confident the pile was correctly located, its position and in particular its height was recorded and immediately passed on to the site engineer. After each set of blows another set of measurements were taken, enabling the crane crew to correct for position and for the site engineer to calculate the penetration per blow and resistance to driving (using the Hiley formula). This process, more or less, repeated itself 36 times.

Gradually, as the piles were placed and the cut off levels were marked, the beach crew would place the precast concrete headstocks and the pre-fabricated aluminium walkways. The two teams were working very well with each other making sure that I could help each team when needed.

The position of the piles had to be within 80mm of design position to ensure that the precast headstocks, which each connected to a group of two or three piles, would fit

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like a glove. It was also very important structurally and aesthetically that, when placed, the prefabricated aluminium walkway structures would align with each other and lie symmetrically to the centre of each headstock.

Some days we found ourselves literally stuck on the beach. We learned that the sea takes in the order of two days to calm down after a storm event, before we could continue with any work off the barge due to safety and accuracy reasons.

Conclusion After 70 days of long hours and hard work in hot conditions the reward was tremendous. A new 86 metre long jetty allowing four tenders to berth simultaneously, doub­ ling the speed at which cruise ships can ferry guests to and from Mystery Island is a ‘Mission Accomplished’. Even more so, knowing we built it within budget.

Surveying played a crucial role in making sure all the different components fitted together under the ever changing conditions and the constant movement of our working platform. The various teams on and off site worked very well with each other, upholding the Downer values of Excellence, Collaboration, Courage & Integrity to the fullest.

The finished jetty looks resplendent and I am extremely proud to be part of this project that will, for many years, be safely used by thousands of holiday makers and locals alike.

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Issue 87 September 2016

• BCB

COMMENTARY

Prices tunnel portal on the Otago Central Rail Trail

CLAIMING THE UNDERWORLD – ‘AD INFEROS’ Do we really own to the centre of the earth?

Mick Strack and Julian Thom, National School of Surveying We often describe our property regime as being derived from the common law. We may expect this to imply that the rules and conventions we apply to property have built up as a result of custom being consistently accepted and reinforced by the courts. However, it is worth taking note of the very significant interventions affecting this common law: interventions suggested by legal philosophers who have identified issues and suggested theoretical responses, many of which have become embedded as legal doctrines now. Inevitably these legal doctrines are heavily values-based, and significantly, values which reflect desired power relationships. In other words they are not neutral in their application, but serve the interests of a powerful elite: property owners and governmental administrators.

Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos One such doctrine or maxim in the common law that requires some serious critique is the ‘Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos’ doctrine. The common translation of the doctrine is “he who owns the land also owns up to the heavens (ad coelum) and down to the centre of the earth (ad inferos)” … or “whoever’s is the soil, it is theirs all the way to Heaven and all the way to hell.” The origin of the doctrine is unclear. The Latin phrasing suggests that it may have derived from Roman Law, but that

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seems not to be the case, and most commentators suggest that it derives from Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634) and later formalised by Blackstone’s Commentaries (1765).

It has never been disputed that a claim to the surface of the earth, must necessarily require some vertical dimensionality. Only a 3D space can be occupied, used and enjoyed. Buildings have height (the limit of which is somewhat open ended and only subject to engineering capacity) and they require some depth for stable foundations. Common use for agricultural production similarly requires soil depth – at least the depth of cultivation and possibly some recognition of subsurface water table that can be accessed by a well or bore hole.

In ancient times it was never anticipated that airspace could be invaded (trespass) without also trespassing on the surface (except to the extent of overhanging eaves and such like). However with the technology of aviation providing capacity to trespass on this space by over-flying, the ad coelum doctrine has been questioned. Local regulations, state legislation and international conventions now all allow for (relatively) unrestricted over-flight, but even without that governmental intervention the common law courts realised that the doctrine had no logic when it apparently allowed for a private claim to airspace which was well beyond the limit of interference with the reasonable use and enjoyment of the surface. The extant literature of critique of the doctrine is almost exclusively addressing the infringement of rights to the airspace.

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However, more frequently now with more intense urban development, subsurface spaces need to be used for transport tunnels and communication and we need to consider how those subsurface – ad inferos – rights of use can be recognised in law, or more directly, how they intrude on, detract from or encumber the allocated surface rights. Our cadastral system prides itself on providing a complete picture of the rights and encumbrances relating to all parcels of land, and the recognition that rights need to be defined in three dimensions has taken on growing significance as we build upwards and develop more underground spaces.

The standard ways we have dealt with overlapping rights include creating easements of encroachment and strata titles to illustrate the relationship between surface and subsurface interests. But this has the potential to involve a level of detail and complexity that is out of all proportion with the relative effects on interest holders. For example, a standard suburban residential section requires the use of perhaps one metre of subsurface depth for foundations and perhaps nine metres of air space. Acceptable development potential may require perhaps ten times that depth and height. So the rights attaching to the surface may reasonably be limited to being within the limits of effective control. A subway tunnel 20m deep under a surface title has no physical or value effect on the surface. And even if there is some hazard of subsidence, noise, vibration, etc, these are effects that are commonly dealt with, in horizontal relationships, by the law of torts: particularly nuisance, or by no-complaints covenants, and by an expectation that a duty of care is owed for the adverse effects of a tunnel on the surface proprietor.

Tunnel case studies In order to observe the ways such subsurface rights have been dealt with in the past, we investigated two case study examples: two railway tunnels in the Dunedin area.

Prices Tunnel is an original railway tunnel, now used as part of the Otago Central Rail Trail, and the Caversham Tunnel is still a well used railway tunnel. The cadastral definition of these two tunnels is notably different, but both arrangements work apparently uncontentiously and successfully.

Prices Tunnel is undefined by any cadastral or registration (title) arrangements. The land taken for the surface railway is surveyed and defined as Railway land by Proclamation (now Recreation Reserve held by DoC). The Proclamation plan (Proc 1220) shows the land to be taken as a solid red line, and the tunnel as a dashed line, implicitly excluding it from the land defined as railway. The survey plan shows the tunnel portals, but there is a gap in the Railway Land where the railway goes underground. There are no interests registered on the title relevant to subter-

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ranean rights in relation to Prices Tunnel. The absence of any defined property rights to the Tunnel or any encumbrances on the surface title are entirely non-controversial and have caused no conflict or dispute between public uses of the subsurface and private use of the surface, and no effect on the value of the surface title.

Longsection detail from SO15456

The Caversham Tunnel is rather different. The tunnel was built and surveyed in the horizontal dimension, such that it has been recorded as a vertical abuttal on the surface plans. Interestingly (and perhaps uniquely) the plan (SO15456) shown below, describes the land to be taken for railway as “being that portion of the hereinafter mentioned sections edged red on this plan and extending from the centre of the earth not to the surface thereof but up to a line edged red on the longitudinal section hereinunder which line is 10 feet above the roof of the new Caversham Tunnel.” The surface titles are similarly encumbered by the exception of the subsoil “below a plane 10 feet in vertical height above the centre line of the roof of the Caversham Tunnel taken by Proclamation No. 2474.”

This description of a subsurface right is interesting for a number of reasons. It is effectively a metes and bounds description; the parcel being defined by direct reference to a physical feature rather than by mathematically determined dimensions. Also the limit on the surface title is completely unknown with reference to the surface; i.e. there is no definition of how deep the surface rights extend, a situation which would seem rather unsatisfactory. How will a surface owner know whether they control 5m or 40m deep? Also the surface titles are shown with a dashed line illustrating the vertical abuttal, but there are no dimensions to define the horizontal extent of the subsurface limit. However, again, although the surface titles reference a subsurface limit, this has no practical or value effect on those titles.

Introducing Complexity It is known that the construction of new tunnels has been accompanied by very complex requirements to spatially define the extent of land (subsurface) space taken by those tunnels in all three dimensions. It has also been required that surface owners are negotiated with to part

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(including very complex 3D data with their subsurface rights and sets) is unnecessarily restricting to be compensated for the loss the development of tunnels for of their subsurface rights. These public transport, is unhelpful for processes all buy in to the thethe satisfaction of surface propory that property rights are erty owners, and merely serves absolute, that any taking must the administrative technicians follow due process and include of LINZ. compensation, and that the surThe research investigating the face rights indeed extend to the diversity of examples of subsurcentre of the earth. It seems to face definitions is ongoing. We us that all of these contentions are aware of many other ways of are challengeable.

Diagram from title OT285/1 defining subsurface space, and The increased use of strata tiobserve that there appears to have been very little guidtles to expand development potential of land space has ance in the past about how best to define such rights. The put increasing focus on the development of a 3D cadaslaw and spatial allocation methods will benefit if we try tre. The cadastral system needs to uphold high standards and maintain a pragmatic and simple approach to subsurof spatial definition, however, the system needs to serve face rights – ideally as simple as the Prices Tunnel examthe people in a practical way. Property rights definition ple above. It has been said that: “I can only hope for the should be straightforward and simple to ensure that all day when courts of justice will decline to dig the tombs of rights holders know what they hold. Claims over spaces a dead past for ancient and obsolete precedent...and the that have no effect on a surface owner should probably law will be treated as a philosophy to be applied to the be dismissed, in necessary by clarifying legislation such ever changing conditions of man, and not as a straight as has been done with respect to over-flight and airspace. jacket with no leeway for the exercise of common sense Claiming back a public right and common justice.”

In relation to the air spaces above the surface and the Under the common law, the doctrine of tenure states that application of the ad coelum maxim: “This maxim ‘has the Crown is the allodial owner of all land space, and it is become nothing but a clog around the neck of the defor the Crown to grant fee simple (or other lesser rights) velopment of the law’ because although the courts have to private rights holders. The Crown has implemented a never hesitated to deny its application in cases involving statutory restriction on surface rights in legislation such aviation, it is still being offered as a plea when property as the Crown Minerals Act which has excluded ownership owners believe that they are being damaged by the operof subsurface minerals from fee simple titles – the loss ation of an aircraft over their property....” In a similar way, of which appears to have had no effect on physical use administrative systems have allowed for an expectation or value of those surface titles. In exactly the same way, that the maxim applies to the subsurface space. Perhaps it the Crown could assert (but also clarify by statute) that is time to apply common sense and for the public to reasa fee simple title does not include unrestricted rights to sert its general rights over unallocated subsurface space, the centre of the earth, but only to the limits of effective and allow for that space to be used for public works and control. In this way the Crown could use the deep subsurthe public benefit. face space for tunnels serving the public interest, without needing to negotiate or refer to any surface title. Some historical examples of the simple (even non-existent) title definition and use of subsurface space light the way for a return to a simple and realistic depiction of subsurface rights.

The acceptance of the common law legal fiction of the ad inferos doctrine, and the fixation on absolute spatial definition

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Note: Julian Thom is an undergraduate BSurv(Hons) student undertaking wider research on the issue of subsurface rights. The authors would appreciate feedback to this commentary and we are particularly interested in other ways that subsurface rights have been provided for.

mick.strack@otago.ac.nz julian.raymond.thom@gmail. com Diagram from title OT356/113

• Issue 87 September 2016

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Issue 87 September 2016

CONSTRUCTED URBAN WETLANDS A nod to the past in a vision for the future

Stu Farrant, Southern Sector Manager, Morphum Environmental Ltd Recent media coverage of the perilous state of many of New Zealand’s freshwater rivers and coastal margins has heightened people’s appreciation of the need to change the way we manage these fragile and important natural assets. The debate has increasingly become polarised and split down the urban – rural divide. In the urban space we have a somewhat checkered recent history of addressing the impacts of stormwater runoff. Over the past 20 years or so a number of Councils have promoted and supported the implementation of stormwater management strategies which often rely on the use of vegetated treatment devices. Raingardens, swales, ponds and wetlands have been designed and delivered in many centres with significant variation in terms of performance, construction/ operation costs, amenity and compatibility with the public realm. Internationally a huge body of research has progressed the industry understanding around the technical requirements to facilitate sustained performance and has resulted in progressive policy, technical guidance and industry capability in countries such as Australia, USA, Canada, Central Europe and Asia. The nexus of engineering and ecology is fundamental to success with all vegetated stormwater treatment approaches and in the case of constructed wetlands this integration defines all aspects of the planning, design and construction.

The natural context; our watery landscape When we think of New Zealand’s natural environment we often default to evocative visions of mountain and alpine landscapes with clear fresh water streams/rivers, towering forests and lofty peaks. This is compounded by the dom-

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inance of our national parks and reserves which preserve these important headwaters supporting conservation, tourism and a raft of recreational activities. But prior to human settlement, New Zealand was dominated by vast lowland podocarp forests and complex networks of waterways, freshwater lakes and natural wetlands. In this unmodified system, these natural wetlands perform an important role in nutrient recycling and balancing water quality in addition to supporting biodiversity and complex ecosystems.

They also tend to occupy low lying fertile land which was recognised for its agricultural merits. These expansive lowland environments were therefore decimated by wholesale clearance of the forests and the systematic draining of the once abundant wetland systems. Initially motivated by conversion to agriculture, settlements quickly grew into the towns and cities which now power our economic prosperity. Whilst fragmented remnants of natural wetlands still exist it is estimated that over 95% have been lost and replaced by engineered drainage systems including the reticulated stormwater networks which are intended to ‘manage’ our urban runoff.

A changing mindset in land development For a long time the role of stormwater engineering was often disregarded in terms of its environmental context with a focus on managing the changes in water quantity associated with urbanisation in order to reduce the risk of flooding and associated damage to infrastructure and property. However, an increasing awareness of the wider impacts of urbanisation on receiving environments has seen the focus shift from addressing a single stormwater problem – flood risk – to interventions that address multiple issues arising from developments, such as reduced water quality and degraded ecological systems. Recognising that these impacts are not adequately addressed by conventional engineering techniques, contemporary stormwater management is beginning to adopt a more multi-disciplinary approach that seeks to address water quantity effects while also protecting receiving environments and enhancing ecological systems.

The reality of these traditional urban stormwater networks is increasingly driving change in the industry and community. Urban development disrupts natural hydrological processes by increasing the area of impermeable surfaces and altering natural flow paths. These changes increase the volume and peak flow rate of stormwater runoff from even small events as stormwater is rapidly concentrated and conveyed to receiving water bodies via piped stormwater networks. In addition to these flow related changes, stormwater also conveys a mix of anthropogenic contaminants including heavy metals, suspended

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sediments, nutrients, hydrocarbons and pathogens. In combination with other biological changes related to water temperature/chemistry, loss of habitat and discontinuity of fish passage our urban stormwater networks have resulted in long term impacts on receiving environments which challenge our environmental, cultural and social aspirations. These aspirations have increasingly motivated policy makers and regulatory authorities to push for improved outcomes and reduced impacts from urban expansion and development. This is manifest in the increasing requirements around managing stormwater at source and integrating stormwater treatment into the urban form and ‘traditional’ network.

The evolution of wetland design in New Zealand Early wetland design and guidance in New Zealand typically focused on an overly simplistic model underpinned by the notion of capturing a quantified ‘water quality volume’ and detaining it within waterbodies which were often more aptly referred to as ‘wet ponds’. With little consideration given to the depth of these water bodies (as increased depth correlated with reduced footprint), hydraulic function, design to facilitate efficient maintenance or the provision of robust treatment pathways the resultant assets have in turn provided limited treatment function. In many instances these ponds have also proven to be significant burdens on asset owners and operators.

Issues such as uncontrolled water level fluctuation, exotic

seasonal algal blooms have outweighed any environmental benefits from these early assets.

Changing perceptions about stormwater creates new opportunities for replicating natural hydrological and ecological processes in urban spaces in ways that provide multiple benefits for communities.

Constructed wetland systems rely on a complex mix of physical, biological and chemical processes to support contaminant removal. These processes are fundamental to respond to the variable nature of urban stormwater and the mix of dissolved and solid constituents which are unable to be removed through physical settling alone.

Whilst it is a common misconception that physical settlement and uptake by plants are the key treatment pathways in constructed wetlands, the reality is more complicated. The role of sticky algal biofilms (which form on the plant stems) and transformative chemical change in the aerobic and anoxic saturated sediments are less well understood by many designers but are crucial to wetland performance. These processes are themselves particularly sensitive to their own environmental stressors and require well considered design to ensure sustained performance.

The design of constructed wetlands is therefore a union of ecology and engineering which must adhere to stringent design parameters and operating regimes to ensure that the intended water quality benefits are achieved. Whilst the design of wetlands using applied principles of ecological engineering is not overly complex it is too often misunderstood resulting in systems which do not function well and fail to add value to the public realm in new and existing developments.

Design objectives to support wetland function

Example of poor wetland design

pest species, eutrophication/stratification, reduced landscape amenity and increased public health risks through

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Constructed wetlands seek to replicate the biogeochemical processing and flow regulating functions of natural wetlands and optimise these in a highly controlled system. They combine engineering and ecological principles to provide a suite of water treatment and flood management outcomes while also reinstating ecological systems that have become severed by urban developments. Wetlands provide a highly visible reference to the role of water in an urban setting, helping to convey to the wider community a sense of our influence and dependence on the natural environment.

Core design objectives which need to be factored into the design of constructed wetland systems can be summarized as follows: • Constructed off line to peak stormwater flows to reduce the risk of re-suspending sediments and controlling velocity through the vegetated main wetland body

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• Internal wetland bathymetry to create variable shallow and deep marsh habitats whilst ensuring a constant cross section perpendicular to the flow direction to prevent preferential flow paths forming • Minimum of 80% vegetation cover across the entire wetland through the bathymetric design, selection of suitable emergent macrophyte species and specification of planting/establishment requirements to support vigorous growth • Design of wetland inlet and body to ensure that low velocities are maintained through the system (typically <0.05 m/s) • Entire wetland suitably lined or constructed in impermeable soils to maintain water levels in a controlled manner • Dedicated sediment forebay at the inlet to support the settlement of coarse (often more contaminated) sediments for periodic scheduled clean out • Design of the outlet structure to support any extended detention for water quality control, attenuation of flood flows above operational wetland and provision of fish passage (where required).

All of these ‘engineering’ design requirements must then be integrated with a considered response to the landscape context to ensure that the wetlands add value to the site and provide amenity, aesthetics and vibrant urban ecology. Typically this is achieved through trans-disciplinary design teams to draw on expertise of ecological engineers, ecologists, landscape architects, civil engineers and planners.

Well established urban wetland

Successfully developing urban wetlands Constructed wetlands are just one potential solution from a ‘Water Sensitive Urban Design’ toolbox which may be considered in developing a design to manage stormwater runoff. The selection and design of a wetland is often

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• Issue 87 September 2016

Wetland planting prior to filling at Norton Park, Palmerston North

therefore informed by an early assessment of the relic ecological template for the site which can identify how the landform and landuse influenced hydrology and ecology in a natural state. This interpretation of the landscape can often prove useful to understand the potential opportunities for integrating features such as constructed wetlands into developments. Engagement with stakeholders, in particular Mana Whenua, will often tease out these historical baselines which can provide a rationale for adopting constructed wetlands to manage stormwater.

Site specific design objectives can then be developed to respond to both the catchment context and downstream receiving environment. The application of these objectives, within the context of the site constraints and opportunities, then enables designs which add considerable value in terms of both stormwater management and landscape amenity.

An example of such an approach is a recent design of a constructed urban wetland built in Norton Park in Roslyn, Palmerston North. Palmerston North (and indeed much of Manawatu) was once comprised of large tracts of forest interspersed with numerous wetlands and lowland streams.

Cleared and channelised in support of early farming activity and recent urban growth these waterways are now highly degraded and convey a cocktail of urban contaminants ultimately to the Manawatu River. The Norton Park wetland therefore provides efficient and effective water quality treatment for a 50 ha urban catchment through a naturalistic, vegetated system integrated into the public park. The considered design of the inlet diversion (and bypass), forebay, bathymetry and outlet this system provides Council with a high quality asset which responds to their increasing aspirations to mitigate the historical impacts.

Stu Farrant, Southern Sector manager at Morphum Environmental, is an ecological engineer who specialises in the water aspects of ecologically sustainable development, particularly integrated urban water cycle management and water sensitive urban design (WSUD).

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Issue 87 September 2016

â&#x20AC;˘ HYDROGRAPHY

PROFESSIONAL STREAM

Surveying, Risk Avoidance and Certification of Hydrographic Surveyors in New Zealand Bruce Wallen, Discovery Marine Limited, Hydrography Professional Stream Chair Abstract This is an abridged version of a paper prepared for the Australasian Coasts and Ports Conference held in Auckland, New Zealand, 15-18 September 2015. The paper discusses how hydrographic surveying is mostly unregulated in New Zealand and identifies some implications and risks relevant to New Zealand Port and Harbour Operators, Regional Authorities, Consultants, Engineers and Coastal Scientists who may be engaging unqualified or uncertified personnel to deliver survey data.

A full copy of the paper including all references can be downloaded from: http://www.dmlsurveys.co.nz/site_files/11574/upload_files/C&P_ Paper_61_WallenB_ver_201500718_Final.pdf?dl=1

Introduction Despite advances in equipment and computer technology, hydrographic surveying results that are; accurate, fit for purpose and which meet client quality standards, still depend mainly on the skill and experience of those people supervising and undertaking the field survey.

The Balancing Act A hydrographic survey involves managing the relationships that exist between three elements. Two of these elements, Time (for the project to be undertaken), and Cost (or Available Budget), are included in every project. The third element is usually a combination or any of; Quality, Accuracy, Risk, and or Fitness for Purpose (of the results).

The person(s) responsible for delivering the project may have no control over project timeframes and/or budgets, so has to achieve results by understanding those variables available from the third element. When data quality and accuracy are critical then equipment or personnel costs will be high and project timeframes longer. Where time is constrained and accuracy is important, then costs will be higher, and if time is short and budget low, the quality and/or data may not be fit for purpose.

Whilst the technical expert is more aware of the limitations of surveying equipment, systems and the limitations of software, the management team often focus on the two elements of time and cost. Whatever the scenario, there will always be an imbalance among the three elements. The degree of imbalance will dictate how and by whom the project will be undertaken, decisions which can both change the risks and impact on the quality of results.

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Current Situation

Principles, Guides and Specifications

When a licenced surveyor is engaged for a set out, building or engineering project they are bound by the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors (NZIS) rules of conduct and professional practice. The risk to the client of receiving poor advice or inadequate results is mitigated by engaging qualified and certified practitioners who are monitored by an external body.

With respect to practicing and providing hydrographic surveying services or advice, there is no law or regulator or impediment in New Zealand. Anyone who purports to be able to provide hydrographic services or information can do so if they choose. The only risk management tool is the contract between the two parties. In New Zealand the hydrographic industry is an environment where “caveat emptor” reigns. Hydrographic surveys can be undertaken by anyone whose tender is accepted, or whose proposal meets client requirements, and or price.

A number of helpful documents are readily available, (from the internet) and can assist project managers when compiling hydrographic work specifications. Consulting references, survey principles or existing guidelines is considered best practice and can assist in mitigating risk as well as ensuring deliverables are within specification and fit for purpose. Suggested reference materials relating to the principles and practice of hydrographic work include; the IHO publication C13 Manual on Hydrography, the USACE Hydrographic Surveying Manual and the NOS manual on Hydrographic Surveys Specifications and Deliverables.

Some of the available guides which provide general direction rather than instruction include; the Maritime New Zealand Guidelines of Good Practice for Hydrographic Surveys in New Zealand Ports & Harbours 2004, The International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Publication 56, Guidelines for the Planning, Execution and Management of Hydrographic Surveys in Ports and Harbours and Maritime Safety Queensland Hydrographic Standards.

At the international level the IHO Special Publication S44 sets out the minimum standards of accuracies for hydrographic surveys for nautical charting and safe navigation. These IHO standards are often used as a start point and augmented or replaced by national or local specifications for surveys. In New Zealand LINZ contract out national charting surveys, and have released a set of Contract Specifications for Hydrographic Surveys (Version 1.3, July 2016). Any Port or Harbour Operator, Regional Authority, Consultant, Engineer or Coastal Scientist undertaking hydrographic work where the data could be used to update national charts should consider compliance with these specifications. Ports Australia, (PA) have established an agreed set of national principles to be used when hydrographic surveying is contracted around the port. These principles require use of certified hydrographic surveyors and a signature on a method statement/report.

Legislative and Regulatory Overview A review of New Zealand legislation confirms no regulation or regulatory body exists with the authority and jurisdiction to restrict service or take disciplinary action against hydrographic surveyors. There is no national forum through which Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), (the National Hydrographic Authority) could influence best practice, advise or consult on hydrographic standards or specifications. In this vacuum, caveat emptor remains the modus operandi.

LINZ is charged with administering New Zealand’s land and seabed legislation and achieves this through four statutory officers, but there is no statutory position to represent hydrography. LINZ receives survey data for the purposes of maintaining the chart folio from most of the New Zealand ports on an ad hoc basis and there is no obligation to provide such data or achieve particular standards.

The role of Harbourmasters and Councils in keeping New Zealand waterways navigationally safe is set out in the Maritime Transport Amendment Act (MTA) 2013, but this act stops short of requiring hydrographic surveying be undertaken as part of those roles.

The Crown Minerals Amendment Act 2013, Section 43 requires companies to lodge prospecting reports (which generally include some hydrographic data), but otherwise, there is no legal requirement for any hydrographic data to be forwarded to LINZ. Hydrographic surveys, whilst not specifically required under the Resource Management Act 1991, contribute to, and inform applications for consents under the act but are supporting documents not official plans.

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Certification Certification of an individual involves the assessment of academic learning and professional field experience. The Australasian Hydrographic Surveyors Certification Panel (AHSCP), and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), undertake certification of an individual as either a Certified Professional or Chartered Hydrographic Surveyor.

These bodies review and assess both learning and experience against the syllabus and requirements set by the International Board for Standards and Competency for Hydrographic Surveyors and Nautical Cartographers (ISBC).

The AHSCP started certifying hydrographic surveyors in 1994 and is the only certification panel in the southern

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Issue 87 September 2016

Current Situation in NZ CAVEAT EMPTOR

[Latin, Let the buyer beware.]

A warning that notifies a buyer that the goods he or she is buying are "as is," or subject to all defects.

19/08/16

Australasian Coasts and Ports Conference 2015

hemisphere. It is sponsored by the NZIS and the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI). In 2014 there were a total of 188 certified Level 1 and 2 hydrographic surveyors, of which 18 were listed as New Zealanders. The current list of AHSCP certified surveyors can be found on the SSSI website.

In Australia use of a certified surveyor is a contract requirement and there is no shortage with nearly 150 to choose from. The low numbers of certified hydrographic surveyors in New Zealand is considered the consequence of certification (in any form) not being required in contracts. It is suggested that engaging certified surveyors provides greater risk mitigation, ensures accountability and is likely to deliver quality results more efficiently from the use of best practice. Surveyors may need to look to their own futures and consider the benefits that can accrue from certification.

In New Zealand mandating the use of certified surveyors is unlikely. One improvement in the process of tendering for hydrographic work would be to require evidence of similar work and experience by key people.

Risks and Implications When land surveying, the surface being mapped is visible and obstructions can be seen. By comparison the seabed is rarely (excluding intertidal areas) visible, with features

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remaining undetected unless the right tools are used for the measurements and data analysis. The certified surveyor is aware of and considers the errors and risks associated with all components of any measurement and analysis.

Risks in depth and position measurements can be reduced by; rigorous calibration, comparison and independent checks. Requirements for such checks to be undertaken and recorded can be included in contract specifications, but if the surveyor does not know how to undertake the checks or interpret results the survey outcomes may still not meet specification.

Whether hydrographic surveys are contracted for charting, engineering, science or coastal projects the client needs assurance that the data will be fit for purpose.

When compiling specifications for hydrographic contracts considering material contained within existing voluntary codes, guides and reference material can increase the likelihood that results will meet accuracy, coverage, quality and repeatability requirements. With a set of clear end objectives and specifications the certified surveyor can determine a survey methodology and technology that is affordable and efficient.

After a project there are often unanswered questions such as; “if the client has accepted the results/data have they also accepted liability for any errors omissions or faults?” “What are the potential risks the client has

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accepted?” A contracted surveying company can be required to maintain liability insurance for a specified time but the cost of that policy will be added into the contract price. When the client of a dredging contract takes no steps to verify the accuracy of the final survey before accepting the results they can have little confidence the survey was ever accurate. Using independent pre and post dredge surveys reassure the client of both the final volume removed and a comparative check on the final results. The client can then accept liability for future claims based on evidence rather than merely fund the contractor’s insurance policy.

Options for Improvement The existing caveat emptor approach to hydrographic surveying could be changed by introducing legislation requiring use of certified surveyors. This would bring hydrographic surveying into line with cadastral surveyors, engineers or lawyers. Political will does not exist for such a step, nor are there the numbers of hydrographic surveyors to require such a step in New Zealand. The cost of implementing and maintaining a registration/certification system could not be justified. As a potential improvement, legislation cannot be justified.

Change has already taken place now that hydrography is included as one of the five Professional Streams of the NZIS. The consequence is that the NZIS has, in the absence of any other body, become the defacto regulator for the hydrographic surveying profession in New Zealand. Anyone seeking a hydrographic survey of any port, harbour, coastal area, lake, waterway or water body will, by engaging members of the NZIS, (even if they are not a Certified Hydrographic Surveyor), receive a level of assurance that the work will be done according to the NZIS professional code of conduct, using best practice with relevant technical expertise. An NZIS member will not offer to provide services for which they do not have the expertise or skills.

With the NZIS standing behind members the risk for clients has been reduced as there is some recourse in the event of poor results. The NZIS Hydrographic Professional Stream encourages surveyors to seek certification through the AHSCP process.

Improving specifications for contracted work is another risk management strategy that should, in time improve results. An agency or business seeking to contract a survey can adopt and include the headings from the voluntary codes and principles in their specifications. Templates or lists of headings to be reported on can be included in contract documentation. The quality measures suggested in hydrographic principles can provide a level of assurance that results will be fit for purpose and also identify constraints in the final data. Disseminating knowledge of,

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and encouraging use of existing guides and publications is likely to occur slowly, mostly by word of mouth as organisations accept and use the framework principles in contracts.

A by-product of the use of the guidelines in documents may be an increase in the use of certified surveyors.

However a paradigm shift may be required by those involved in hydrography in New Zealand. Surveyors who are self-directed and obtain certification can market themselves accordingly. Describing to clients the benefits of using a certified surveyor could be the difference when a tender or contract provider is making selections. Any shift to using certified providers would be slow in the small New Zealand market.

There is a scarcity of entrants into the hydrographic industry. There are no queues of young people lining up to become hydrographic surveyors in either New Zealand or Australia. Universities, Polytechnics, and online papers provide educational opportunities but the numbers registering for them are few. Hydrographic surveying jobs are generally overseas and the work requires being offshore for extended periods. Following academic studies it may take anywhere from 3-5 years or longer to become proficient in the field. High salaries can be earned when employed offshore but this can be fickle and change at short notice in line with global economic conditions. The same earnings cannot be made in the small New Zealand domestic hydrographic market.

An option in New Zealand is for industry – including consulting, engineering firms and science institutions – to offer hydrographic internships for students during study breaks. Early employment in the industry and observation of the opportunities that exist may encourage some of these younger surveyors to continue with a hydrographic career. Several constraints are that businesses need to have sufficient capital to engage non-productive resources on a short term basis, and project timeframes that enable training opportunities.

Improvements in hydrographic service quality could also be driven through the auditing of surveying companies/activities. Audits for compliance against specifications could be undertaken in the same way that health and safety audits of contractor risk and safety plans take place. Whilst an unpopular approach, auditing is one way a client can mitigate risk of project failure.

Conclusion Hydrographic services in New Zealand are voluntarily self-regulated by providers who adopt existing guidelines and apply the principles of industry best practice. In general, data quality and accuracy are achieved by reliance on specific individuals and good contract specifications.

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GeoSystems Re-branded Daniel Wallace, General Manager, AllTerra In our July newsletter we announced a re-branding of the Trimble Geospatial dealership to AllTerra (www.allterra. co.nz). Formerly known in the industry as GeoSystems, AllTerra is Trimble’s dealer brand for the geospatial industry, akin to the SITECH dealership that focuses on the heavy civil market and the BuildingPoint dealership that targets the buildings sector, both of which were launched last year. We chose to launch AllTerra in New Zealand for several key reasons and I wanted to take the opportunity to communicate those to you – the country’s surveying community.

Firstly, although the GeoSystems brand was well recognised and has been around for a long time, we felt it required a transformation to one representing the future rather than the past. Back then the value proposition to the surveying community was more of a supply store, today AllTerra aspires to a different value proposition.

Where technology can contribute, we see our role in the industry as using this technology to support consultants with their business goals and challenges.

We are more focused than ever on providing good advice, industry leading geospatial technology solutions, and more robust supporting services. To serve your busi-

nesses in this manner we are making changes to position ourselves (pun intended) to reflect this new aspiration.

To coincide with the launch of the AllTerra brand, we recently moved our Auckland office to 34 Dacre St, Eden Terrace. The office move brings us closer to the customer base in Auckland and the regions south of Auckland such as Waikato and the Bay of Plenty, with the intention that it makes us more accessible to you in the upper North Island region. The office is a freshly renovated space that looks and feels like a business that supports technology. This is important for our employees as well, enabling them to work in an environment you would expect from a technology partner.

We are more committed than ever to the industry in New Zealand, not just through our Diamond partnership with the NZIS, but also in working closer with the Trimble Research and Development centre in Christchurch as well as with the surveying consultants around the country.

On behalf of the AllTerra team we thank you for your support as GeoSystems over the past decades and look forward to building on that relationship as AllTerra for the decades ahead.

The use of existing guides and documents to improve and tighten contract specifications is a matter germane to all hydrographic practitioners and managers.

By default the NZIS has, in the absence of any other industry body, become the quasi hydrographic regulator. In conjunction with the AHSCP, the NZIS is developing a platform that will certify, educate, inform and represent the small hydrographic surveying profession in New Zealand.

Certification of hydrographic surveyors in New Zealand will take place slowly in step with the demands of the domestic and offshore hydrographic industry. For surveyors, certification could provide opportunities to offer new services, but it many cases surveyors need to be certified before industry will embrace them. Only time will tell whether continuing to use uncertified surveyors for hydrographic work in New Zealand will have any consequences or effect on the industry.

This paper offers no panacea for the hydrographic industry in New Zealand. It does contend that there are a number of ways forward, that will lead New Zealand away from the current paradigm where surveying standards are set by whoever pays. It is up to industry to decide whether or not to retain the status quo.

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Author’s Note Conclusions drawn within this paper are the author’s own and do not seek to represent the views of Discovery Marine Limited, the NZIS or LINZ.

Acknowledgements Assistance with research for this paper was received from: Mr Jasbir Randhawa, Deputy Director External Relations, Australian Hydrographic Service, and Susan Fryda-Blackwell, Executive Officer, Ports Australia.

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Glenn Stone Insurance Our story with the NZIS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; So Far Glenn Stone Insurance have partnered with the NZIS over the last 3 years and service over 50 land surveying and multi-disciplinary firms. We were the first diamond sponsor and this has enabled the NZIS to better support its members and the land surveying profession in general.

We work with the NZIS on insurance related topics or legislative changes that might impact the profession. Most recent examples include our advice on health and safety changes, construction contracts legislation and individual cadastral survey cover.

Some of our key achievements over the last few years: Lowering costs to land surveyors.

Introducing an alternative insurance choice.

Delivering covers not previously available in New Zealand.

Scholarship introduced for School of Surveying.

Continuous development of innovative solutions.

We recognise relationships are important Glenn Stone insurance is a New Zealand owned brokering firm, not a multi-national company.

You will get to deal with the owners of the company directly.

We provide personalised service.

Whether you are a present client of ours or not if you need help or simply want some advice contact us.

Start a conversation Free call us on 0800 555 474 or email us at: info@glennstone.co.nz

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www.glennstone.co.nz

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Issue 87 September 2016

• TECHNOLOGY

Bioretention as a Stormwater Management Strategy Introducing the Filterra®– Filtration and Biological Treatment in One System Stormwater management solutions meeting Water Senstive Urban Design (WSUD) and Green Infrastructure (GI) requirments are becoming more commonplace and in some cases mandatory in New Zealand.

Implementing WSUD and GI in urban environments is challenging, as they often require a large footprint. That doesn’t mean WSUD/GI is not possible, it just means the solution may take a more engineered form. New Zealand’s specialist stormwater management company Stormwater360 has addressed this by introducing a unique solution – the Filterra® Bioretention System.

The Filterra® is an engineered biofiltration device with components that make it similar to bioretention in pollutant removal and application, but has been optimised for high volume/flow treatment in a compact system. Its small footprint allows Filterra to be used on highly developed sites such as landscaped areas, parking lots, and

Filterra® with internal bypass

streetscapes. Filterra is adaptable and can be used alone or in combination with perforated pipes or chambers to optimise runoff reduction.

Stormwater runoff enters the Filterra® system through a kerb-inlet opening and flows through a specially designed filter media mixture contained in an underground landscaped modular container. The biofiltration media captures and immobilises pollutants; some of these pollutants are then decomposed, volatilised and incorporated into the biomass of the Filterra® system’s micro/macro fauna and flora. Stormwater runoff flows through the media and into an underdrain system at the bottom of the container, where the treated water is discharged.

In areas where runoff reduction and infiltration are mandated or desirable, Filterra® can be paired with other Stormwater360 products such as ChamberMaxx to provide even greater alignment with WSUD/GI goals.

The Filterra® system provides all the benefits of traditional biofiltration but with a reduced footprint and is well suited for the urban environment where space is at a premium.

For more information please contact Stormwater360 on 0800 STORMWATER or sales@stormwater360.co.nz

Underground Filterra® system planted with a native Pohutakawa. The Filterra® works as efficiently as a traditional bioretention system but in a footprint a fraction of its size.

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Global logistics giant Aramex is using three-word addresses to improve last-mile delivery

ADDRESSING THE WORLD Giles Rhys Jones, Marketing Director,what3words A radical new user friendly system based on three simple words is delivering business efficiencies and saving lives around the world.

The geospatial industry is worth an estimated USD150 billion annually, yet there is no precise global address or location reference system that can be used easily by everyone outside of it.

Specifying and communicating the location of roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings without a standard street address is challenging especially when moving between devices, writing them down, telling someone over the phone, radio or in person. Try doing it with untrained people and errors are guaranteed.

A global problem Around 75% of the world’s countries suffer from inconsistent, complicated or no addressing systems. This means that, according to the UN, around four billion people are ‘invisible’; unable to get deliveries or receive aid and unable to exercise many of their rights as citizens because they simply have no way to communicate where they live.

In remote locations, water facilities are difficult to find, monitor and fix.

But even in the other 25% of countries with more advanced address systems, people get lost, assets are difficult to manage, local businesses can’t be found and deliveries go astray. This costs companies and economies billions.

Street addressing is often inadequate and it is costly to build from scratch and dropping a digital pin is not flexible across channels or offline. Latitude and longitude coordinate pairs do provide a precise location reference but, whilst this is great for machines and trained professionals, it is ineffective for people.

Satnavs can give you four possible routes to get “there”, with state of the art traffic avoidance and points of interest

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along the route. But defining “there” is actually our single biggest issue.

At best, poor addressing is costly and annoying in developed countries, at worst it hampers the growth and development of nations around the world, and ultimately costs lives.

Three simple words what3words is a global address system based on a grid of 3mx3m squares. It uses an algorithmic engine similar to that of a coordinate system and has given each of the 57 trillion squares, a pre-assigned and fixed address of three words. The three-word address for the front door of the School of Surveying at Otago University is overnight. tequila.tripped.

Words beat numbers and alphanumerics The use of words means non-technical people can find any location accurately and communicate it more quickly, more easily and with less ambiguity than any other system.

A 1957 study “A comparison of Immediate Memory Span for digits, letter and words” by C W Crannell and J M Parrish of the Department of Psychology, Miami University suggests that our ability to remember three words long enough to write them down is near perfect whilst our ability to remember the sequence of digits or letters of the appropriate length to denote the same 3mx3m square is zero.

Words can easily be remembered, written, said, printed or shared digitally.

It is also available in 10 languages including English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Swahili and 14 others are on the way including Arabic.

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what3words has its own apps including iOS, Android and web. You can also easily batch convert and reverse geocode your lat,long coordinates to three words and back online or through an excel plug-in. It is also accessible via esri’s ARCGIS, AutoCAD, FME and a range of other GIS software. More importantly, the API and SDK are plugins for businesses and developers for whom communicating location is important.

We are on a mission to help others make the world a less frustrating, more efficient and safer place with simpler addressing.

A three-word address ecosystem

Uniquely identifying and quickly locating multiple and dispersed assets is vital to maintain operational efficiency, safety and profitability. what3words is being used to help the management of assets including mobile operator cell towers, utility poles, transformers, junction boxes, municipality street lamps, drains and road signs. The system provides a unique identifier and a location reference.

In June, Aramex the global logistics client announced a partnership. Aramex operates in 60 countries around the world and will use what3words in its e-commerce fulfillment operations across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa to further enhance its last-mile delivery solutions.

More about the system

what3words is being used in over 170 countries to improve customer experiences, drive business efficiencies An algorithm and wordlist underpin the system. Since the and save lives. what3words system works via algorithm as opposed to The system is being used to report disasters by the Unita database, the core technology is contained with a file ed Nations, The World Bank to monitor cholera outbreaks around 10MB in size. It means it can be used offline with and the International Red Cross to address every health no data connection and installed on the simplest of smartcentre in the world. what3words was also used by security phones or devices. services at Super Bowl 50 and has been built into a numThe wordlists have 25,000 words per language, 40,000 ber of wildfire and emergency response tools. The Unitin English as the sea has been addressed as well as land. ed Nations Development Programme used the system to They go through multiple automated and human review keep Prime Ministers, celebrities and other attendees safe processes including removing offensive words and hoat the World Humanitarian Summit. mophones (sale/sail). Each of our wordlists is curated to Glastonbury Festival and Farnborough AirShow used ensure that the words are meaningful and in daily use in the system for first aid response and The Hedonist’s Guide local language. have addressed the coolest bars, restaurants, shops and The words are sorted by the algorithm that takes into hotels in over 50 cities with three-word addresses. In Rio account word length, distinctiveness, frequency, and ease this summer you can find the three-word address of your of spelling and pronunciation. Simpler, more common rental on brazilrentmyhouse.com and easily get there words are allocated to more populated areas that speak with with RioGo, the official Olympics transport app. Or that language and the longest words are used in threeyou can navigate to any three-word address on the planet word addresses in unpopulated areas. with Navmii, the largest offline driving navigation app in the world.

It is being used to deliver medicine in the townships,

by Carteiro Amigo to deliver post in the favelas and a delivery company in the UK has reduced their 1st time delivery failure rate by 83%.

The Mongolian Post have just signed to use the system to address the whole country.

Switzerland’s National Mapping Agency has also included what3words in map. geo.admin.ch, as has Land Tasmania in LISTmap and The Norwegian National Mapping Agency through Kartverket. what3words is enabling eCommerce and driving economic growth

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what3words is being used by the UNDP across Africa for asset management, aid delivery and security

For example, shorter, more common French words are in France but more complicated ones are in Russia, where you are less likely to find a wandering French speaker.

Did you mean?

The system is non-hierarchical and since all the units referenced are the same size, there is no need to interpret the code to know what size of area is being referenced.

The system is also non-topological; the three words used to reference any square on the Earth’s surface are not dependent on the three words to reference any of the adjacent squares.

Importantly the algorithm shuffles similar-sounding three-word combinations around the world to make it really obvious if you have made an error in typing or when saying them. For example table.chair.lamp and table. chair.lamps are purposely on different continents.

Error detection also makes intelligent suggestions on where it thinks you mean as you type even if you make typos.

aren’t designed to input 18 numbers without errors. Every event, without fail, trucks carrying equipment and musicians themselves simply didn’t arrive where they were supposed to be.

A particular low point was having bands and equipment strewn across various hillsides near Rome because the “address” they were given took everyone to different places, and a phone call from a keyboard player who said “it appears we may have sound checked at the wrong wedding in Birmingham”.

Chris discussed the idea of a more usable and less error-prone version of the latitude and longitude coordinate system with a mathematician friend, who subsequently wrote an early version of the what3words algorithm on the back on an envelope.

They quickly realised it could do more than help musicians get to gigs on time, and the company was founded by the pair and two other friends in London, UK, in March 2013.

Addressing just got easier Since its launch in 2013, what3words has experienced tremendous success and with over twenty major awards has become one of the most lauded UK start-ups in recent times. In 2015, the company was awarded the prestigious Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Innovation and was named in the Nominet 100 alongside the likes of Google. Earlier this year the business was awarded an exclusive D&AD Black Pencil, two prestigious Webby Awards and named EY’s British Accelerating Entrepreneur. Their investors include Intel Capital, Horizons Ventures owned by Asian billionaire Li Ka-shing and Aramex.

Lost in music Having spent 10 years organising live music events around the world Chris Sheldrick, CEO of what3words constantly faced the huge logistical frustrations that came with poor addressing.

He resorted to using the latitude and longitude coordinate system to be precise but realized that human beings Thanks to what3words, now everywhere you want to explore has an address

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Issue 87 September 2016

Tides, coastal-storm inundation and the impacts of sea-level rise Dr Scott Stephens and Dr Rob Bell, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) Introduction Coastal-storm inundation is a growing problem in New Zealand. It happens occasionally, when the combined forces of weather and sea line up, causing inundation of low-elevation land, coastal erosion, and rivers and stormwater systems to back up causing inland flooding.

This becomes a risk where buildings and infrastructure have been placed too close to the coast. Coastal-storm inundation is not a new problem, it has happened historically, but it is becoming more frequent as the sea level continues to rise. Further sea-level rise (SLR) will greatly increase the frequency, depth and consequences of coastal-storm inundation in the future, and it might noticed sooner than expected. The research behind this article shows that the inundation exposure of already-vulnerable locations will grow rapidly, even from modest SLR, and this is likely to be noticed much sooner than 100 years from now. In some places the effects of SLR are being noticed already.

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This article begins by describing interesting features of the tide and a pragmatic definition of mean-high-watersprings (MHWS) elevation, which marks the jurisdictional land-sea boundary. Highest exposure to coastal-storm inundation occurs during the highest high tides, especially “king tides”, and the online red-alert tide calendar is a practical and widely-applied tool to raise awareness of these potential “problem” dates. The article then describes coastal-storm inundation and how SLR will increase the frequency and depth of inundation. Finally it is demonstrated how information and modelling of sea-level processes can be converted into coastal hazard maps, which can inform the coastal-adaptation decision-making process, and some recommendations are made to improve future coastal hazard assessments.

Tides are important The tide dominates sea-level variability in New Zealand, even during storms. The tides result from spatial differ-

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An analysis of historical storm-tide events in New Zealand showed that extreme storm-tide levels are dominated by very high tides coinciding with small to moderate storm surges, compounded often by high background sea-level anomaly (e.g.

Stephens 2015; Stephens et al. 2015). For instance New Zealand’s estuaries are full to the brim on these “red-alert” tide days (Figure 1), and even a moderate storm can cause flooding of low-lying land, or erosion by waves. Some parts of New Zealand are already flooding due to tides alone, such as car parks in downtown Nelson where the highest tides flow up stormwater drains. Fortunately, it is Figure 1. Even on a calm day the king tide in February 2014 caused the sea to possible to predict the tides many years in advance spill over the edge of Ohiwa Harbour (photo: R. Bell). because they are driven by astronomical physics, ences in the gravitational pull of both the moon and sun and so the pre-calculated “red-alert” tide calendar was on the Earth’s oceans. The three main contributors are: developed to alert coastal managers to check weather 1. The strongest effect comes from the moon causing and wave forecasts on days when high-tide peaks are two high-tides per lunar day spaced 12.42 hours predicted to be unusually high (https://www.niwa.co.nz/ apart – this is known as the M2 tidal constituent natural-hazards/physical-hazards-affecting-coastal-mar(‘M’ for moon, and ‘2’ for twice daily); gins-and-the-continental-shelf/storm-tide-red-alert2. The sun drives the smaller S2 constituent spaced at days-2016). exactly 12-hour intervals; 3. The N2 component (also smaller than M2) varies over the course of a lunar month (27.5 days) as a result of the moon’s elliptical off-centre circuit around the earth – when it is closest to earth it creates the larger perigean tides and vice versa. The highest tides, known as “King Tides”, peak every 7 months when spring and perigean tides coincide.

The definition of the MHWS elevation is important in New Zealand because it defines the landward jurisdictional boundary of the coastal marine area (CMA) used for managing coastal activities and land use. Yet MHWS can be defined in different ways, such as the nautical definition (MHWSn = M2 + S2), or the mean high-water perigean springs definition (MHWPS = M2 + S2 + N2).

A pragmatic statistical approach to define the MHWS elevation uses only a fixed percentage (e.g. 6–10%) of all predicted high tides exceed that elevation (Bell 2010; Stephens et al. 2014). This allows MHWS to be consistently defined based on a common exceedance threshold that is independent of tide regime. The method was used to define the CMA boundary for the Auckland region where it matched closely to physical land-sea boundary markers in sheltered environments, but required an additional wave setup component on wave-dominated coasts (Stephens and Wadhwa 2012).

Coastal-storm inundation

Coastal-storm inundation usually occurs when several sea-level components combine (Figure 2), and the largest recorded sea levels and inundation events have mostly occurred during storms that coincided with “red-alert” tides. In 1938 the Hauraki plains flooded as coastal stopbanks breached during gale-force winds and rain plus a very high tide, causing 0.5–1.2 m of water over 1600 ha, flooding houses and causing $1000’s of damage (Figure 3). Whitianga experienced coastal-storm inundation in 1936, 68, 72, 78, and 89. The Great Cyclone of 1936 caused high storm-tides and large waves along the east coast of the North Island, washing away a house at Te Kaha, driving fishing launches ashore at Whitianga, and causing 5m

Figure 2. Components of coastal-storm inundation.

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Figure 3. Coastal-storm inundation of the Hauraki Plains, May 1938

of beach erosion on Waiheke Island (Brenstrum 2000).

The 1936 cyclone caused the second highest sea level on record at Auckland, but was exceeded by 0.13 m on 23 January 2011 when a 0.4 m storm surge coincided with a “red-alert” tide to cause the highest storm-tide on record, on the back of a 0.14 m sea-level rise since the Great Cyclone (Figure 4). The 2011 event flooded houses, closed the Northwest Motorway and resulted in a few millions of dollars in insurance claims. These events show that coastal-storm inundation is not new, it happens now and has happened in the past. But, these events will become frequent and more damaging, as sea level rise accelerates.

Sea level is rising

lation, land-use, energy use and socio-economic factors. These are called Representative Concentration Pathways or RCPs. The fastest [RCP8.5] and slowest [RCP2.6] SLR arising from these RCP scenarios are shown in Figure 5. The IPCC AR5 projected that global mean sea level rise will continue during the 21st century, very likely at a faster rate than observed from 1971 to 2010. By 2100, SLR will likely (66% chance) be in the range 0.28–0.61 m [RCP2.6], 0.36– 0.71 m [RCP4.0], 0.38–0.73 m [RCP6.0] and 0.52–0.98 m [RCP8.5]. Onset of the collapse of the Antarctic ice sheets could cause global MSL to rise substantially above the likely range during this century. IPCC determined with medium confidence that it would not exceed several tenths of a metre of SLR by 2100. It is virtually certain that global mean sea level rise will continue for many centuries beyond 2100, with the amount of rise dependent on future emissions.

Effects of SLR on coastal-storm inundation SLR is causing coastal inundation to occur more often, and in future will cause sharp increases in the frequency of storm-tides reaching damaging elevations in low-lying areas. A recent report by U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (Sweet et al. 2014) showed that “nuisance flooding” (1–2 feet above local high tide) was 5–10 times more likely than 50 years ago, along the U.S. coast, and will become commonplace rather quickly in future. A similar pattern can also be observed in New Zealand due to sea level rise over the last century, the sea is reaching high elevations more and more often (Figure 6) (Stephens 2015). The inundation frequency increase is faster in locations with higher relative SLR and small tides, for example it will increase faster at Wellington than in Auckland. Vulnerable low-lying coastal locations

The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change or IPCC released its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) in 2013–14. The Report showed that the primary climate driver for SLR is global and regional surface temperature, which is in turn strongly influenced by greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC, 2013; Church et al., 2013). SLR primarily occurs due to ocean warming which causes thermal expansion of the sea, and melting of glacial and polar ice, both of which have contributed to sea level rise to date.

In New Zealand, sea level rose by an average of 0.17 m around the country last century, relative to the land mass (Figure 5). Sea level is rising relatively faster in some locations where the landmass is subsiding, such as Wellington.

The rate of SLR was approximately linear over the last century, but is forecast to accelerate over the next century due to global warming and possible rapid melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets (Figure 5).

To enable consistent climate change projections to be derived for the IPCC AR5, four representative scenarios of future radiative forcings were developed from projections on popu- Figure 4. Coastal-storm inundation of Auckland’s Northwestern Motorway during the 23 January 2011 storm tide (photo: NZTA: AMA).

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Engagement with local communities will be essential for decision making, because they (and their children and grandchildren) are the ones whose lives and values will be affected.

Coastal hazard assessments are an important tool to help the decision making process. The purpose of a coastal-hazard assessment is to identify the spatial extent and levels of inundation or erosion, and to calculate the likelihood of occurrence of the hazards, ideally in probabilistic terms, or by way of scenarios (e.g. SLR scenarios) supFigure 5. Measured annual mean sea level at Wellington and Auckland from 1900s, plus two (RCP2.6 ported by expert opinion and naand RCP8.5) SLR scenarios from the IPCC AR5 report (IPCC 2014). tional guidance. The basic recipe for (e.g. Auckland, Nelson, Tasman, Wellington regions) are a coastal-storm inundation assessment is to use available already experiencing coastal-storm inundation, and will sea-level and wave measurements, and computer models, be first to notice the increasing frequency – the first sign to calculate storm-tide inundation elevations and their of SLR. likelihood of occurrence (e.g. Figure 7). The area of inunDamaging coastal-storm inundation events that are dation is then mapped by overlaying the sea-level elevaconsidered rare and “extreme” now, such as the January tions on a digital terrain model (DTM) of the land surface, 2011 record high storm-tide at Auckland, will also beeither within GIS (e.g. Figure 8), or using a hydrodynamic come commonplace as the sea level rises. A storm-tide model. Accurate mapping requires a DTM at vertical accuthis high has only a small 1% likelihood of occurring in racy of <0.2 m, usually (at present) obtained using LIDAR. any year at present-day MSL (PCE 2014; Stephens et al.

Policy 24 of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2013). Figure 7 shows that essentially only a 0.45 metre requires identification of areas potentially affected by SLR is required for a 23-January-2011 type event in Auckcoastal hazards, over at least 100 years, which requires land to be exceeded a few times per year (Stephens 2015). estimates of SLR to be included in coastal hazard assessThus, decision points on necessary adaptation are likely to ments. It is presently not possible to assign likelihoods to be reached well before the end of this century for many the SLR over the next 100 years and beyond, but a 1.0 m coastal communities, as inundation becomes an increasSLR scenario based on RCP8.5 has been used in several ingly frequent problem. recent coastal hazard assessments around New Zealand Not only will coastal-storm inundation become increasing frequent, but it will become deeper, leading to greater damage. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy devastated low-lying areas of New York. It was estimated that had the sea not risen by 20 cm last century, then there would have been $2 billion less damage! A greater depth of flooding contributes to greater damage, in an accelerating way.

Coastal hazard assessment Over the coming decades, communities will be forced to make decisions about how to adapt to the inescapable rising sea. Adaptation to SLR will occur localFigure 6. Annual number of storm-tides that reached the MHWS + 45 cm elevation relative to ly, requiring local action and change. local vertical datum.

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next 100 years to support the decision-making process for future coastal adaptation and when response options will be needed. In tandem, coastal hazard assessments should also provide information on SLR values linked to expected inundation frequency or depth. This can be linked to plausible timeframes for SLR thresholds (tables with this information will be included in the revised Coastal Hazards and Climate change manual due out in late 2016) to determine when critical decision points for adaptation might be reached (e.g.

Figure 7. Only a 0.45 metre SLR is required for a 23-January-2011 type event in AuckStephens et al. 2016). land to be exceeded a few times per year. Timeframe for exceedance count is 100 years.

Furthermore, even when making decisions with relatively short planning timeframes (e.g. Northland, Auckland, Gisborne and Christchurch), (30â&#x20AC;&#x201C;50-year), decision makers should consider the inevifollowing MfE (2008) guidance. tability of a larger SLR at and beyond this century, to avoid However, the research referenced in this article shows locking in choices with irreversible negative consequencthat the inundation exposure of already-vulnerable locaes down the track. tions will grow rapidly, even from modest SLR, and this is likely to be noticed much sooner than 100 years from now. Therefore, coastal hazard assessments should ideally use several SLR scenarios and time windows with the

References A full list of references is available on request.

Figure 8. Top left: Aerial photograph of Mission Bay; Right: with present-day 1% AEP storm-tide plus wave setup elevation superimposed (purple shading); Bottom: with present-day 1% AEP storm-tide plus wave setup elevation superimposed (purple shading), plus 1 m SLR (light shading), and plus 2 m SLR (orange shading).

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• SPATIAL

PROFESSIONAL STREAM

Experiences on secondment at Land Information New Zealand Duane Wilkins, Spatial Data Infrastructure Technical Leader (Secondment), Sector Data Programmes, LINZ An opportunity came up in the Sector Data Programmes group at Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) to work on a secondment to support the work programme helping to implement the NZ Geospatial Strategy.

After four years as the Geospatial Team Lead at the Department of Conservation (DOC), I thought it would be a great way to experience a different organisation and give one of my team at DOC a chance to take on my role for a few months.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been publishing a blog on LinkedIn to capture some of my experiences and the work we’ve been doing – check out: http://tinyurl.com/geospatialblog.

The team’s role is to support the implementation of the NZ Geospatial Strategy 2007. Their current focus includes work to support locating people, environmental monitoring and reporting, and built infrastructure data management.

What is the Geospatial Strategy?

The principles and concepts are enduring and are just as applicable today. The strategy has four goals including; governance, data, access and interoperability. There is a big emphasis on the development of a spatial data infrastructure (SDI), which I never quite understood until I came to LINZ. I used to wonder “When is LINZ going to build it, how hard can it be?” but didn’t understand that there is more to it than standing up a server and making web services available. The goal of an SDI is to provide a framework for discovery and access to useful spatial data from the source, in an easy to use format, reliably, and without a centralised database server, but to do this you also need governance, interoperability and standards.

It took me quite a while to get my head around what an SDI is, it’s not just one system, it’s a spider web of many systems not unlike the internet – think of it as a Yellow Pages directory for distributed spatial data providers, indexing what is available and how to access it.

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The data aspects of an SDI are easier to understand.

The hard work goes on behind the scenes to ensure the services are permanent and the data is maintained, improved, service capacity is highly available, and the entire process governed well to ensure the appropriate funding is provided for ongoing development.

The Open Data programme is making great progress.

Interestingly, in a recent survey of more than 400 submissions, 70% of respondents found the survey through Twitter and LinkedIn. Over the next year the team will focus on supporting agencies to release the top ten data sets. You can find more info at: http://tinyurl.com/opendataLINZ One of my tasks over the coming month is to review the strategic context of the strategy, assessing its currency and relevance, and how our work can be better aligned with other government ICT and similar strategies.

Sharing the Power of Where “Location has the power to unlock the potential of so much other information. It can drive better decision making, benefiting our economy, environment and communities” is how LINZ describes “The power of where”.

In July we hosted a small geospatial awareness event for people working in government agencies. We described GIS, how they can use and access open data, and how we use geospatial data here at LINZ. We discussed the work on locating people and geospatial research partnership opportunities.

After lunch we hosted the first combined meeting of the Natural Resources and Social Services Sector geospatial groups. It was a great way to connect government agency people just starting their geospatial journey with those with well established enterprise wide geospatial eco-systems.

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Locating People Part of my work has been to identify the common issues locating people and identify datasets needed to provide public services.

The most common issue we found is that most systems use open free text fields without a “type ahead search” for address information; this means almost anything can be entered including hard to geocode streets on the Moon, Mars and Saturn. This increases the cost of geocoding address data, requiring intensive manual correction to get at least the right planet, and sometimes the same error is corrected more than once.

We discovered that one of the most duplicated datasets across the public sector is the locations of dangerous dogs, which are usually a tag against a property or address. This is an important dataset for maintaining the safety of field staff. Misalignment of administrative boundaries also came up frequently, as this makes it very difficult to perform analysis and comparisons over time.

I was quite surprised at the level of decimal degrees used by the agencies, mainly by those without an established enterprise GIS which are based on NZ Transverse Mercator.

In my role as GIS Lead at DOC, in the past I’ve advocated for decimal degrees to 7DP in legislation much to the annoyance of the Surveyor-General to reduce converting to and from degrees and decimal minutes which actually is the better format for Marine users.

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But, the most interesting realisation from this work is that the emergency services and Telco companies cannot locate your smartphone using the on-board GPS. No, they can’t! Without a preinstalled app, the GPS location information is inaccessible. There is an app called Mobilelocate.co.nz which does help, but it requires data and doesn’t work with non-smartphone models.

The Telco’s can identify which tower, direction and strength of signal, but the terrain and layout of the network does not allow easy triangulation generally. In the US it is possible as it was built into the system and a legislated requirement, but it is expensive to implement.

So what’s next?

Over the coming months we also hope to increase the visibility of the team’s work. We’ve been discussing how to develop our communications with the wider geospatial community. There are opportunities to work closer with industry, and share more with geospatial users more about what we’re doing.

I’m hoping we’ll be able to use social media and other tools like Loomio to connect with a wider audience. So do let us know what tools, and other communication methods work for you, and how we can help you in your geospatial journey.

E: dwilkins@linz.govt.nz

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A difficult task ahead for 2016 NZ Spatial Excellence Awards judging panel

By NZSEA Communications Team Now submissions for the premier spatial awards event in New Zealand have closed, the difficult task for this year’s judges begins!

The awards are now in their third year and the quality of projects entered this year continues to be impressive, proving once again that we have many talented spatial professionals around the country.

The judges this year are looking forward to their task although they will find it difficult to select the winning entries from the innovative, problem solving skills highlighted by each entry.

This year’s judges come from a variety of professional backgrounds in the public, academic and private sectors.

Dave Pimblott, Managing Director at IMGIS Ltd believes the awards are an important acknowledgement for the contribution of geospatial, to not only business success, but involvement in the awards is an especially important acknowledgment for the people who deliver such amazing and innovative work that really does make a difference.

His reasons for accepting the invitation to be a judge is to continue his involvement and to give something back to industry that he has been part of for the last 30 years.

“I am looking forward to reviewing projects which deliver innovation and in particular, business benefit for implementation,” says Dave.

Roland Pomana, business analyst at Nga Whenua Rahui believes that celebrating successes is important to any industry; if that industry wants to grow.

Coming from an academic background, Dr Antoni (Tony) Moore, a past award winner and judge this year thinks it is extremely important, to recognise the outstanding work going on in the geospatial profession, in geospatial teaching and in geospatial research in this country. Tony says “the quality of entries over the last couple of years has been outstanding and I can’t wait to see this year’s crop.”

From the Government sector on the judging panel is Robert Deakin, Chief Steward – National Spatial Data Infrastructure at LINZ. For Robert the awards open a window on to a whole lot of great work by great people that otherwise goes under the radar.

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2015 NZSA Winners with Hon Louise Upston at Te Papa Tongarewa

“For those of us who work day-in day-out with geospatial technologies, a lot of what we do seems run of the mill, but actually seen through the eyes of others its often extraordinary, exciting and opens them up to new thinking and new possibilities.

“The awards put a new lens on our work, highlight some exceptional achievements and give the whole geospatial community in NZ the opportunity to shout about its success,” says Robert. “It’s an honour for me to be asked to judge this year, and I’m really looking forward to learning about a lot of good and interesting work and partnerships that I otherwise wouldn’t have known about.”

Judging submissions alongside Robert, David and Roland will be Alma Hong, Chief Technology Officer at Radio New Zealand, Channa Jayasinha, CIO and Manager ICT Shared Services Office, Wellington City Council, David Heron, GIS Analyst at GNS Science, Ian Smith, Enterprise Information Manager at Auckland Transport and Duane Wilkins, SDI Technical Leader at Land Information New Zealand.

The award finalists will be announced in mid-September and the winners announced at a gala dinner at Te Papa Tongarewa in October. To read more about the awards visit www.nzspatialawards.org.nz/.

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Issue 87 September 2016

• UNIVERSITY

HAPPENINGS

SHARING OUR KNOWLEDGE Christina Hulbe, Dean, National School of Surveying Scholarly conferences are important events in the academic year. They give us a chance to present and hear the latest results, to test new ideas against the (mainly friendly) scrutiny of our peers, to maintain our networks, and to connect students with a wider scientific community. Big as it was, FIG Working Week in Christchurch was just one of many New Zealand conferences in which staff and students in the School of Surveying are participating this year. Even better, the range of topics on which we are presenting is wonderfully diverse and our students are out there presenting their work right alongside the academic staff.

Starting in February, the School organised a special session during “Geographical Interactions”, the biennial conference of the New Zealand Geographical Society, held here in Dunedin. Titled “Space, Place and Time”, the session was framed around the assertion that surveyors and geospatial scientists are specialists at working in four dimensions. Our interests include both the natural and cultural processes that play out in multidimensional space, as well as the creation, dynamics and meaning of place. Data-driven talks falling on the space side of that range included Emily Tidey’s Submarine environments of the Auckland Islands, Todd Redpath’s (PhD student in Surveying and Geography) A multi-scale approach to exploring spatial and temporal variability of seasonal snow in New Zealand, and Mike McConachie’s (PGDip student in Surveying) Random Forrest Object Based Image Classification Mason Bay, Stewart Island. Mick Strack presented a policy perspective on the dynamics of place in his presentation Regulating Coastal Development. Tony Moore’s Virtual Geographic Environments for monitoring and planning present and future coastal areas spanned the place and space themes, using real-world data and virtual reality technology to create a synthetic experience of place. My own presentation, Space, Time and Gotham, followed a different path entirely, into the fictional use of space to create a sense of place on the printed page.

Both the social relevance and international nature of our research were evident at the FIG Working Week in

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May. Chris Pearson, Niraj Manandhar (Nepal) and Paul Denys connected New Zealand experience with international need in Towards a Modernised Geodetic Datum for Nepal: Options for Developing an Accurate Terrestrial Reference Frame Following the April 25, 2015 Mw7.8 Gorkha Earthquake. Surveying PhD student Yong Chien Zheng, Paul Denys and Chris Pearson used high precision GNSS to investigate the Consequence of 2012 Mw 8.6 Northern Sumatra Earthquakes Towards Sundaland Plate. Paul Denys and Chris Pearson also reported on Positioning in Active Deformation Zones – Implications for Network RTK and GNSS Processing Engines. Mick Strack connected place to policy in Before It Is Washed to the Sea? – Coastal Development and Erosion. All of these presentations underscore the argument made by Brain Coutts and Don Grant in Geospatial Surveyors – What Are They Good For? Paraphrasing Brian and Don, what it means to be a professional surveyor is closely connected to the positive results our work delivers to society.

At the end of August, the great variety of geospatial research conducted in the School was showcased at “Unfolding the Map”, the 8th National Cartographic Conference, GeoCart 2016 and the 4th ICA Regional Symposium on Cartography for Australasia and Oceania, held in Wellington. Judy Rodda, (whose PhD in Surveying developed new ways of visualising Hector’s Dolphin distribution patterns in space and time) took a step in a new direction as she presented her work with Tony Moore, and Sandra Mandic, Routes to Dunedin Secondary Schools and High School Students’ Perceptions of Safety: Is Perception Biased by Gender? Tony’s expertise and creativity in geovisualisation was central to another presentation by this trio, Visualisation of Active Transport Data. In a departure from my usual Antarctic work, I teamed up with Tony, Katharyn Tall, and Bill Cartwright to examine how various artists’ roles in the conflict affect Representations of Geography in World War I Cartoons Published in New Zealand.

Applications of new technology in both research and teaching were another important component of the School’s participation at GeoCart 2016. Surveying MSc

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• LEGAL

COLUMN

Building Consents, Dedicating Roads and Residential Land Withholding Tax Stephanie Harris, Glaister Ennor Solicitors Processing of Building Consents It is a time around New Zealand of increasing focus on housing supply. A common theme is the consenting and inspection process potentially being a contributor to significant time delays and costs.

The processing and issuing of building consents, subsequent inspections and the issuing of code compliance certificates are critical to ensuring the ongoing development and building of housing. This must occur inside of and fully in compliance with the requirements of the Building Act 2004, the Building Code and all of the other relevant building standards, guidelines and relevant authorities. It is a complex environment even for those who are fully engaged in it. There seems to be unprecedented demand for these services out of councils and my understanding is that many councils feel that it is increasingly difficult to get suitably qualified building consent officers and inspectors whilst at the same time continuing to receive a number of building consent applications with poor quality information. All of this impacts on the amount of time and resources required to process building consents.

One of the counter-measures to this which has been available since (in its first iteration at least) 2005 has been private accredited building consent authorities.

Essentially, these companies process building consent applications and inspections during the construction process as agents of council instead of the developer dealing directly with council. This applies throughout the process to Code of Compliance certification. The purpose is to ensure a timely turnaround of large volumes of applications

(continued from page 43)

student Chris Page, Pascal Sirguey (Snr Lecturer), and Richard Hemi (PPF) reported on their work in the Tunnels of Arras in Achieving Accuracy in Underground Laser Scanning: Application to the LiDARRAS Project. You can find more about their collaboration with colleagues in France at the project website http://www.otago.ac.nz/ lidarras. Pascal, his intern Julien Boeuf, Surveying post-

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where there is limited resourcing inside council. These enterprises in my experience do not have a high profile outside of the specific area of application and are supported by various councils to various degrees. I am left wondering why in this current environment there are not more of these providers undertaking these services to offer an alternative choice in a market place that can be beset at its worst by a slow and frustrating process largely due to lack of resource.

Road vesting versus dedication for road or reserve As we increasingly subdivide land, there are many easements, encumbrances and covenants that under usual LINZ processes automatically come down onto new titles, even when the benefit of those encumbrances are lost to those titles.

Frustratingly, we have had a number of recent examples of where developers have been reluctant to remove what are redundant encumbrances from titles generally because of the cost and time factor involved in doing so. This is especially true in staged subdivisions where often the problem can just be left to be addressed in the next stage.

The issue that is arising however in a subsequent stage is that new roads cannot vest in the usual way because remaining encumbrances have not been removed as it was not necessary for the purposes of depositing the survey plan. This often only comes to light when titles for a prior stage have been long since sold to a large number of dominant owners.

graduate Ryan Cambridge, and Steven Mills presented Evidences of Sub-optimal Photogrammetric Modelling in RPAS-based Aerial Surveys. Having carefully examined the errors, Pascal’s group are adding depth to existing and developing new research projects using the School’s UX5 fixed-wing drone. Todd Redpath presented his work with Pascal, Nicholas Cullen, Julien, and Sean Fitzsimons in Progress Towards Mapping Seasonal Snowpack from

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Of course to remove a redundant encumbrance that prevents vesting of a road or reserve at that point requires the consent of all of the dominant owners and their mortgagees.

This has led to an increasing pressure, and one accepted

by LINZ, that it is a reasonable alternative for a developer to dedicate the road rather than vest it.

I have seen a very clever and creative suggestion that relevant encumbrances should include an automatically terminating provision on road or reserve vesting. This is I think entirely achievable but of course it cannot be implemented in respect of existing encumbrances.

As we know vesting requires, in one way or another, all of the interest in the land to be extinguished at the time of vesting.

This of course means that vesting is the process that Council prefers pursuant to the Resource Management Act. Essentially Council achieves ownership of the road asset without any impediment whereas dedication does not require the extinguishment of any relevant encumbrance.

Whilst this is an alternative and simple solution for our clients and is acceptable to LINZ, we are experiencing significant negative push back from councils very reluctant to accept dedication because of the burden of the encumbrance passing to Council albeit those encumbrances are usually, for all practicable purposes, entirely redundant.

The issue is that they retain their legal effectiveness.

Local authorities are increasingly aware of the ramifications for allowing a transfer in dedication of land and thus are increasingly rejecting it. On more than one occasion recently survey plans with the attendant lists of encumbrances that must be surrendered have had to be significantly amended with all of the consequences for the already issued Resource Consent as Council will simply not accept dedication.

It should be further noted that there is an increasing risk for councils taking a road lot or reserve lot by dedication in relation to the Public Works Act as it allows a similar argument to be utilised out of context in relation to this kind of dedication so as to take the land for road and to avoid the need to seek all the dominant land owners’ consent which would otherwise have been required under vesting rules.

Very High Resolution Drone Photogrammetry. Chris Pearson, and Robert Odolinski were a geodetic dynamic duo in Implementation of Dynamic Datums in GIS Through Modern GNSS Positioning Techniques. And bringing it all back home, Tony, Ben Daniel, Greg Leonard, Holger Regenbrecht, Judy Rodda, Lewis Baker, Surveying undergraduate Raki Ryan, and Steven Mills reported on a Pre-

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Residential Land Withholding Tax Since 1 July 2016 the residential land withholding tax regime (RLWT) now applies to offshore persons selling residential land less than two years after acquisition. It is not a new tax that has been introduced, but rather a mechanism for collecting tax. The obligation is on the offshore vendor’s solicitor (in most cases) to withhold a portion of the sale proceeds and pay this directly to Inland Revenue.

The purpose is to improve tax compliance for offshore speculators because generally it can be more difficult to collect tax from sellers who live overseas.

Even though the legal obligation is mainly on the vendor’s solicitor, this new tax regime may have implications for surveyors. This is because the vendor’s solicitor must on settlement pay the tax in priority to other fees or disbursements such as legal or surveyor’s fees. So after paying the tax, the vendor may not have sufficient sale proceeds to cover your cost.

To mitigate this risk, you can ask a number of questions at the outset to establish whether the RLWT will apply to your client, and if so, consider requesting an upfront fee.

RLWT will apply where: • Property is residential land situated in New Zealand that was acquired by the vendor on or after 1 October 2015 • Sale of the property is subject to the bright-line test (ie. the property is being sold within 2 years after acquisition under certain conditions) • Vendor is an offshore RLWT person • Vendor does not have a certificate of exemption.

This is one of a number of recent legislative changes to land-related tax which I wrote about previously, and which can potentially change the dynamics in the market for property transactions.

Stephanie Harris is the joint managing partner of Glaister Ennor Solicitors. She has extensive experience in property and commercial law. She acts for SMEs, larger corporates, investors and developers on many large and complex property transactions and developments, ownership structures, leases, security interests and general structuring and finance.

DDI: (09) 356 8232 Fax: (09) 356 8244 Email: stephanie.harris@glaister.co.nz

liminary Usability Study of an Augmented Reality Sandbased 3D Terrain Interface.

If that seems like a lot of travelling and talking, it’s only the tip of the iceberg. We are also all busy presenting our work to conferences and symposia overseas and the annual conferences of the Geoscience Society of New Zealand and New Zealand Coastal Society are yet to come.

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• PERSPECTIVE

The FIG Working Week in Christchurch – so what was that all about?

Brian Coutts, National School of Surveying The International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) recently held its annual Working Week in Christchurch, six years after inception of the idea to hold the event here in New Zealand. That followed the hugely successful 4-yearly FIG Congress in Sydney in 2010, and four years after being awarded the right to run the event at the Working Week in Rome in 2012. The New Zealand Institute of Surveyors (NZIS) volunteered to organise it, its Council having been impressed by the international spectacle of the Sydney event.

A great deal of lobbying went into winning the allocation vote in Rome after a pre-emptive announcement in Morocco in 2011 that a bid would be made in 2012 (a unique strategy intended to deter opposing bids). The allocation of Working Weeks and Conferences is made 4 years ahead, and is decided by secret ballot by the General Assembly of FIG. Naturally a considerably greater and quite different effort went into putting on the event itself.

Why would we (NZIS) do that?

Some History NZIS has been a member of FIG for longer than anyone can remember and FIG records can tell us, and has taken a minimal role in its affairs other than running what was then known as a Permanent Committee Meeting (the equivalent of a Working Week) in 1988 in celebration of the centennial of NZIS. Some individuals have attended FIG Congresses (4-yearly events) and some the intervening annual Working Weeks. Only a handful of NZIS members have been consistent in their attendance and gained sufficient profile to accumulate the support required to acquire elected office.

FIG was founded on 18 July 1878 in Paris by seven European countries; Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Switzerland and France. FIG is a federation of national associations and currently has 105 such members from 91 countries. It also has Academic Members (92 universities from 55 countries) Corporate members (24 sponsoring companies such as Trimble and ESRI) and Affiliate members (49 affiliates from 46 countries). As the mem-

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bership of FIG has increased it has become more global in its reach, though many still see it as a Eurocentric organisation despite, in recent times, having had Australian (Earl James), America (Bob Foster) and Malaysian (Teo Chee Hai) Presidents. It has a Task Force for Africa and is in the process of developing a Task Force for the Asia/ Pacific region, the leadership of which is likely to come from Australia. However as the networks stretch further so do the costs.

FIG is recognised by the United Nations and its agencies, as well as the World Bank, with which it engages at the highest levels. It currently has heavy involvement with the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN), UN-HABITAT, the FAO and the UNGGIM – the United Nation Initiative in Global Geospatial Information Management; dealing with development and environmental issues at the forefront of the surveying profession and recognised as of critical importance to the global issues of our time; climate change, affordable housing, women’s rights in land, fit-for-purpose land tenure. Why would we, NZIS, not want to be a part of that?

Governance FIG is governed by a Council. The elected Council has five members, being the President and four Vice Presidents.

These are working positions and those elected, each for a 4-year term, require considerable support from their national associations as well as from their employers. The demands of time, as well as energy, are considerable. The Council meets face-to-face twice a year, and by email in the intervening periods. There is also considerable interchange of correspondence.

Finally there are the FIG Foundation, a major charitable offshoot of FIG which grants scholarships for PhD study, and assists selected young surveyors to attend FIG events, and two permanent institutions, namely the International Office of Cadastre and Land Record (OICRF) and the International Institution for the History of Surveying and Measurement.

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In addition, the General Assembly esGeneral Assembly FIG Foundation tablishes ad hoc Task Forces of which there are four in operation FIG Office ACCO Council Advisory Committee FIG Manager and President and 4 Vice-Presidents at the moment; a Task of Commission Officers Co-ordinators Force on the Commission Structure, a Task Force on an FIG SciNetworks Permanent Task Forces Commissions Chairs and members entific Journal, a Task Institutions Chairs and Members Delegates and Chairs and Vice Chairs Director and members correspondents Force on Corporate Members, and a Task Management Force on Real Estate Markets.

In recent times New Zealand surveyors have The technical aspects of FIG are managed by the 10 techChaired two FIG Task Forces; John Hannah the Task Force nical Commissions. These Commissions represent the varon Surveyors in Climate Change and Brian Coutts the Task ious sub-disciplines of the professions, and are presided Force on Voting Rights. over by a Chair, who is elected by the General Assembly for a four year term. Each Chair is required to provide the General Assembly with a Work Plan at the beginning of their 4-year appointment and is expected to organise the work of their Commission through Working Groups. Each of these Working Groups in turn has its own Chair. In the current quadrennium there are 41 Working Groups active under the 10 Commissions.

The 10 Commission Chairs combine to form the Advisory Committee of Commission Officers (ACCO), which is responsible for the technical programme of the Working Weeks. That is, receiving and vetting abstracts, and then organising the accepted papers into the technical sessions for the Working Week or Congress. One member of the ACCO is nominated to represent the ACCO and attend the Council meetings for a 2-year period.

The Commissions cover the range of the sub disciplines of the surveying profession (and beyond, as we would define surveying in New Zealand).

Commission 1: Professional Practice and Standards; Commission 2: Education; Commission 3: Spatial Information Management; Commission 4: Hydrography; Commission 5: Cadastre and Land Management; Commission 6: Positioning and Measurement; Commission 7: Engineering Surveying; Commission 8: Spatial Planning and Development; Commission 9: Valuation and Real Estate Management; and Commission 10: Construction Economics and Management.

There is also the recent and very successful Young Surveyors Network, now in its 3rd quadrennium, which operates in a similar way to a commission, and the Standards Network.

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Administration Previous to 1999, the administration (then known as the Bureau) moved to the home country of the incumbent President. This system placed a considerable burden on any member association who promoted one of their members as a potential president of the federation. Since 1999, this complex organisation has been run, apart from the volunteer officers described above, by a staff of three from a permanent base in Copenhagen, Denmark. The office is run by Director Louise Friis-Hansen, assisted by Claudia Stormoen. The third position, that occupied by Hanne Elster until here recent retirement, has yet to be filled.

Conclusion For a small portion of the annual subscription all members of NZIS have access to this international family of surveyors. It is not a question of what FIG can do for you, but what you can do for FIG. Like all voluntary organisations you get from it in proportion to what you are prepared to invest in it. If it is only money you invest then the return is minimal and barely tangible. Taking part, contributing to, and engaging with this organisation brings benefits immeasurable in professional knowledge, professional networks, contact with the wider world of surveying, new colleagues, potential opportunities, and not least of all, new friends of all nationalities. If you are curious about the wide world of surveying, why would you not want to be part of that?

Brian Coutts is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Surveying at the University of Otago. He is the first New Zealand surveyor to hold elected office in FIG. He is currently Chair of Commission 1, and ACCO representative to the FIG Council.

SURVEYING+SPATIAL

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Issue 87 September 2016

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