Features & Current Events
First Quarter 2017
In this issue:
- The Auckland challenge for 2017
- On the surface 2016 showed significant steps in infrastructure but dig a little deeper and a year of much less progress emerges
- Natural gas and zero-carbon fuels are expected to satisfy 60 per cent of the rise in global energy demand by 2035
- Pipeline forecasts will drive better procurement planning for clients and suppliers
- The vexing question of managing risk in a local government environment thrown into stark relief by the Kaikoura quake
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How are cities responding to extreme weather?
Weather events are becoming more unpredictable, more intense and more damaging, posing huge challenges in both preparing for and recovering from their growing impact, says Jeremy Kelly, Global Director of Cities Research at JLL
From extreme heat across southern Europe to the heaviest rainfall on record in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, to flooding in Brazil and cyclones devastating parts of southern Africa, cities face unprecedented physical risks. Continue →
New caretaker for communications infrastructure
Chorus has appointed Programmed to manage and maintain the integrity of buildings and infrastructure services that support New Zealand’s critical communications network
Programmed has won a competitive bid to maintain Chorus’ property portfolio across 2,600 sites in a potential eight year, multi-million-dollar contract. Continue →
Support lacking for at-risk construction workers
While mental health in the construction is improving overall, more support is needed for the sector’s most vulnerable workers
MATES in Construction, a not-for-profit organisation which supports positive well-being in the industry, surveyed more than 2000 workers, with 85% of workers reporting good mental health in 2023. Continue →
Is there a future in carbon capture technology?
Stubbornly high costs and performance issues threaten the prospects for carbon capture and storage (CCS), according to the Institute for Energy Economic and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)
In just two years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has halved its outlook for fossil fuel use in association with CCS by 2040 and 2050 in its Net Zero Emissions (NZE) scenario. Continue →
Letting insurance help guide disaster preparedness
Research from the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga shows how insurance can help us to manage natural hazard risks and choose how to prepare infrastructure for a changing climate
“New Zealand has experienced some significant natural events in recent years,” says the Commission’s General Manager Strategy, Peter Nunns. Continue →
Wellington Council under close watch for all the wrong reasons
Local government Minister Simeon Brown’s intention to appoint a crown observer to Wellington City Council raises concerns, not so much about the council as about the quality of the advice the Minister has received, writes Peter McKinlay
Those concerns go to the very heart of the intended role of the Department of Internal Affairs of advising on Water Service Delivery Plans including whether plans satisfy the financial sustainability requirement. Continue →
Public infrastructure lacking in transparency
There’s been a lot of debate recently around the high cost of infrastructure in New Zealand, but one thing missing from the discussion is the stark fact that so many projects are shrouded in secrecy, writes Greater Auckland’s Connor Sharp
This isn’t just my opinion, or Greater Auckland’s view: it’s confirmed by some very timely research on transparency around publicly-funded infrastructure projects in New Zealand. Continue →
Is KiwiRail going back to the bad old days?
While much attention focused on the replacement Cook Strait ferries still being rail-enabled, the 2024-2027 Rail Network Investment Programme has quietly surfaced, Darren Davis writes in Adventures in Transitland
This was nine months late as it should have been published before the start of the 2024/2025 financial year on 1 July 2024. Continue →
Region plagued with water restrictions investigates massive dam
A bid to build a dam in the shadow of the failed Ruataniwha dam in Central Hawke’s Bay has been given a $3 million injection from the Government
By Linda Hall, Local Democracy Reporter
The money will be used to find out if the massive project to store water on the Makaroro River is viable – commercially, environmentally and technically. Continue →