Speeding up the time it takes to get contractors onto roading work is one of the key successes of the Waikato District Alliance, winner of the Chorus EXCELLENCE Award for Best Practice in Infrastructure at the LGNZ EXCELLENCE Awards.
The alliance is the country’s largest roading alliance, set up by Waikato District Council in conjunction with Downer NZ, and was created to deliver and improve asset management, renewal and management services to the community.
The Waikato District Alliance was announced as the winner at a gala dinner in Auckland attended by more than 650 delegates from local and central government, and stakeholders.
Now in their fourth year, the EXCELLENCE Awards recognise and celebrate the key leadership role that local government plays in communities around the country.
The alliance allows a much quicker response than is possible from a traditional council-contractor relationship.
This was highlighted by the response to the collapse of a culvert on Otonga Valley Road in November 2016.
In that incident the culvert suffered catastrophic failure early in the morning, leaving 28 residents on the no-exit road without access.
Through the alliance an engineer was able to visit the site that day and escalate the response.
Resources available to the alliance enabled transportation to be provided to school students sitting national exams.
A bridge deck and crane were taken to the site speedily and the road was returned to service within 20 hours of the collapse.
Response times averaged six days before the alliance was set up, a day over the agreed performance target.
Within three months, the average response time was reduced to less than two days.
LGNZ President Lawrence Yule says responding to extreme events is going to become even more important given natural hazards and increasing climate change impacts and the alliance shows the council is planning for its future.
“This is an excellent example of how councils can be prepared to respond to the risks posed by extreme events and hazards,” Yule says.
Judges praised the Waikato District Alliance as a brilliant project that has already seen some very good results delivered.
“The speed of response has been impressive, they have embedded training and mentorship into the programme, and they have introduced performance benchmarks and are holding people to those benchmarks, which is what an alliance is supposed to do.
“The project could be replicated by other councils.”
Judges for the awards were former Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast, Chair of EQC Sir Maarten Wevers and The New Zealand Initiative’s Executive Director, Dr Oliver Hartwich.
The winners in the LGNZ EXCELLENCE Awards 2017 are:
Fulton Hogan EXCELLENCE Award for Community Engagement
- Hutt City Council – Transformation Taita– Aiming to create a brighter future for all young people while building a stronger community, Transformation Taita offers access to facilities, resources and activities to those who need it most.
Highly commended
Queenstown Lakes District Council – QLDC Winter Morning Road Reports – Throughout winter, seven days a week, QLDC provides early morning reports on road conditions throughout the district to thousands of people across multiple communications channels.
- Waikato Regional Council – Healthy Rivers: Plan for Change/Wai Ora: He Rautaki Whakapaipai– Healthy Rivers Wai Ora is a courageous collaborative approach to improving water quality, empowering communities to own the problems – and solutions – in arguably New Zealand’s most important catchment area.
Creative New Zealand EXCELLENCE Award Best Creative Place
- Napier City Council – City Vision: Small City, Big Ideas– This overarching strategy for projects in the City Centre, Ahuriri and the Waterfront areas is guiding Napier to an integrated future where opportunities are seized and the city is both beautiful and memorable.
Air New Zealand EXCELLENCE Award for Environmental Impact
- Palmerston North City Council – Green Corridors Palmerston North– More than 150,000 native trees have so far been planted as part of this project to connect the Tararua Ranges to the Manawatu River through a corridor of native plants alongside streams and tributaries, improving water quality and bringing birdlife back to the city.
Chorus EXCELLENCE Award for Best Practice in Infrastructure Management
- Waikato District Council – Waikato District Alliance– The Alliance is the largest purely roading group in the country, with an integrated team of council staff, contractors and suppliers working together to improve asset management, and renewal and maintenance services to the community – dramatically improving response times.
Crown Fibre Holdings EXCELLENCE Award for Best Practice Contribution to Local Economic Development
- West Coast Regional Council – Untamed Natural Wilderness– The West Coast’s exciting new brand has dramatically boosted tourism in the region, and is an ideal antidote to the decline in other major economic sectors that was damaging the social fabric of local communities.
Highly commended
- Rotorua Lakes Council – Rotorua Mountain Biking Strategy– The strategy to establish Rotorua as a globally recognised mountain bike destination has seen visits to the Whakarewarewa Mountain Bike Park increased from 55,000 in 2005 to 250,000 in 2016, with resulting job growth coming from increased investment in retail and support businesses.
- Selwyn District Council – Izone Business Park Development– The Izone Business Park is New Zealand’s largest fully consented and development-ready industrial park with 68 new businesses employing 1,200 people. Another 800 jobs are forecast as development work is completed by land purchasers.
MartinJenkins Judges’ Choice Award for Outstanding Value and Service Delivery
- Rotorua Lakes Council – Rotorua Mountain Biking Strategy– The strategy to establish Rotorua as a globally recognised mountain bike destination has seen visits to the Whakarewarewa Mountain Bike Park increased from 55,000 in 2005 to 250,000 in 2016, with resulting job growth coming from increased investment in retail and support businesses.
