From the Chair
Welcome to the first edition of NZUAG News. We plan to publish 4 issues per year, providing an update after each of our Board meetings. The purpose of NZUAG News will be to keep you updated on current issues of interest to members and to let you know what the Board is working on. From time to time we will have a guest columnist. There will be times when we ask for your feedback on particular issues. We are always open to your feedback, and especially ideas on how NZUAG News can be made more relevant for you.
Hopefully you will find this useful and informative. Please feel free to circulate this newsletter to friends and colleagues. Regards,
Paul Swain
Chair, NZUAG
Board Update
There has been a lot of activity since the consultation process with members on the formal review of the National Code. The Board met on 17 June in Auckland, and spent time on the following items:
Revised Code: The Board signed off the revised Code in February 2015 following lawyers Webb Henderson confirming that, with a few minor amendments, it complies with the relevant legislation. With the amendments incorporated, the revised Code was sent to the Minister of Finance and the Infrastructure Unit in Treasury for formal sign-off. At the invitation of the Minister, Ross Malcolm (Utility Operators), Ian Cox (Corridor Managers) and Paul Swain (Board Chair) met with Treasury officials to discuss the revised Code, the consultation process and the current Board work programme (see below).
Treasury advised that that they are comfortable with the changes to the Code, and will be reporting to the Minister accordingly. It is anticipated that the new Code will be formally approved by the Minister by mid-July. Our thanks to the Code Review team, particularly Ian, Barry Williams, Rachel Nottingham, and Ross, for the hours of work that were donated to get us to this point.
Working Groups: In February 2015 the Board approved its 2015/16 work programme. The Code review raised some issues that were not able to be included in the revised Code, but were considered important to the work of NZUAG. It was agreed that these should be pursued by way of a series of working groups that would report back to the Board with recommendations for action. It is important that the momentum gained from the Code review be maintained, and that members see value in belonging to the organisation during non-Code review years. It was agreed that the major work streams would be Education, Awareness and Training; Code Compliance and Enforcement; Constitution review; and Website Upgrading.
The full paper outlining the various work streams, Terms of Reference, timeframes and budget implications are available in the members-only section on the website.
- The Education Awareness and Training Working Group, chaired by Ross Malcolm, presented a draft framework for the development of a strategy and programme to deliver awareness and education of the Code of Practice throughout New Zealand. This was adopted by the Board. Work on developing the strategy will occur over the next couple of months. Implementation will see workshops being offered in various North Island centres between March and May 2016, and in South Island centres from May to July 2016.
- The Code Compliance and Enforcement Working Group, chaired by Geoff Thorn, has identified the need to paint a clear picture of the problem as a critical first step towards eventually being able to identify potential models or frameworks for Code compliance going forward. Next steps will involve identifying alternative compliance frameworks and then reviewing their applicability via a series of focus group discussions with key organisations within the sector. Changes to current compliance/ enforcement provisions may well require discussions with Government agencies, so changes should not be expected in the short-term.
- A draft set of changes to the society’s rules was presented by Ross Malcolm on behalf of the Constitutional Review Working Group. As well as removing some redundant content, suggestions were included to streamline the rules and organisational processes. Following discussion, a revised draft will be submitted for legal review, before being re-presented to the Board at its next meeting in August. Once adopted by the Board, any proposed changes will be presented to members for approval at the AGM in November.
- Work by the Website review Working Group has seen both NZUAG Administrator Colin Lewis, and Working Group convenor Geoff Thorn receive training in use of the content management package used to update and maintain the website. This means changes to the site will largely be brought back in-house. A number of areas where changes can be made to the layout of the site have been identified, with these to be implemented over the following few months.
Members will be asked for their comments on activities of these Work Groups in due course.
External Agency Presentation: A feature of recent Board meetings has been the invitation to an external agency with linkages to NZUAG to present to the Board on their activities. Past presentations have been made by SCIRT, LGNZ, and Treasury’s National Infrastructure Unit. Where appropriate copies of presentations will be uploaded to the NZUAG website for viewing by members.
The June Board presentation was from CoPTTM. In his presentation administrator Stuart Fraser noted that the Code is designed to reflect best practise in traffic management as identified by the rest of the industry, and is currently in its 4th edition. It is continually open for revision with suggestions for change able to be made via a feedback form available on the CoPTTM website. Submissions for change are reviewed quarterly with accepted changes then being made to the online version. Stuart highlighted an on-going issue around clarification of how responsibility for various components of the overall work site are shared between the STMS and the work site Principal. This especially relates to control of the actual working space, as opposed to the safety zone around it which constitutes the rest of the work site. This is an issue which is currently being considered by the Coroner. It is likely that changes could be made to the Code once the Coroner’s findings are finalised and released.
A number of wider issues were also discussed at the June Board meeting. All changes will be within budget.
NZUAG Board in Action
Minutes from each Board meeting are posted to the members-only area of the website once they have been approved at the subsequent Board meeting.
Civil Contractors NZ Meeting
Ian Cox and Paul Swain reported on a recent meeting with Alan Stevens from Civil Contractors NZ (CCNZ), a recent merger of NZ Contractors Federation and Roading NZ. The meeting focused on improving the relationship between Contractors and NZUAG. The possibility of CCNZ having representation on both the Education Awareness and Training, and Compliance and Enforcement Working Parties was raised. This was agreed to at the meeting and subsequently endorsed by the Board at its June meeting, with an invitation seeking their participation having been sent.
Changes around the Board Table
- LGNZ Rep: John Visser, from the Dunedin City Council and LGNZ rep on the Board has stepped down after his term had expired. John has been replaced by Phil Consedine from Tauranga City Council. We thank John, on behalf of the Board, for his constructive and professional contribution to our work and wish him well for the future. We welcomed Phil at our June meeting.
- LGNZ and RCA Rep: After many years of service, Peter Dodge from Wellington City Council has stepped down and has been replaced by Brett North also from WCC. On behalf of NZUAG we thank Peter for the tremendous contribution he has made to NZUAG and the industry, and we wish him well for his retirement. We look forward to working with Brett, who has hands-on experience working with the Code in his current WCC role.
Road Infrastructure Managers Forum
This forum was held in Auckland on 25 and 26 March, with NZUAG as one of the event sponsors. Ian Cox, Ross Malcolm and Paul Swain contributed on day 2 of the forum in the stream entitled “Corridor Access Management”. This was a useful forum for NZUAG to promote its work, and provided an opportunity to participants on the Code review process. A panel discussion involving Utility Operators and Corridor Managers was well received by participants.
Following discussion at the June Board meeting around the level of future involvement, it was agreed that NZUAG should be actively involved in the 2016 event, to be held in Rotorua. Brett North agreed to take on a liaison role with the RIMS planning team.
Updated Board Contact List
The following table provides contact details for NZUAG Board members, should you have need to contact one of them.
| Name | Representation | ||
| Corridor Managers | |||
| Ian Cox | GovernmentRoads | Ian.cox@nzta.govt.nz | |
| Brett North | RCA Forum(LGNZ) | brett.north@wcc.govt.nz | |
| PhilConsedine | LGNZ | Phil.consedine@tauran ga.govt.nz | |
| BarryWilliams | Auckland Road corridor (LGNZ) | barry.williams@auckla ndtransport.govt.nz | |
| GregHackett | Rail Corridor | Greg.hackett@KiwiRail.co.nz | |
| Utility Operators | |||
| RossMalcolm | ElectricitySector (ENA &EEA) | Ross.malcolm@vector.co.nz | |
| GeoffThorn | Telecommunica tions Sector | Geoff.thorn@tcf.co.nz | |
| SteveGleadell | 5th Utility Operator slot | steve.gleadell@chorus.co.nz | |
| Dylan Stuijt | Water Sector | dylans@hdc.govt.nz | |
| PeterGilbert | Gas Sector | peter@lpga.org.nz | |
| Board Support | |||
| Paul Swain | IndependentChair | paul.swain@paulswain consulting.com | |
| Colin Lewis | Administrator | info@nzuag.org.nz | |
Future Board Meetings
The Board meets on a quarterly cycle, with the next meeting to be held on Wednesday 19 August in Wellington. Any items for agenda consideration will need to be with the NZUAG Administrator by Thursday 6 August.
This will then be followed by the November Board meeting and AGM to be held in Auckland on
Wednesday 25 November. This will be held at Vector’s offices in Newmarket. Details on any AGM remits will need to be submitted by Thursday 5 November to the Administrator. Further details on both these meetings will be included in the next edition of NZUAG News.