Waikato Business News | July 3, 2024
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JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
Teeing up the next link<br />
This time last year the Southern Links project seemed<br />
another generation away - then National announced<br />
its roads of national significance. Senior writer Mary<br />
Anne Gill spoke to Finance Minister Nicola Willis about<br />
when construction might start.<br />
When Nicola Willis delivered the latest<br />
update on Southern Links to a hungry for<br />
information group of business people at<br />
Tīeke Golf Estate last month, the irony of<br />
the location was not lost on her.<br />
The internationally renowned 18-hole golf<br />
course - which borders Mystery Creek and<br />
the <strong>Waikato</strong> River - cost nearly $20 million<br />
to build with taxpayer funds.<br />
Six years ago, New Zealand Transport<br />
Agency bought The Narrows - one of<br />
Riverside Golf Club’s two golf courses -<br />
for Southern Links, and the club used the<br />
money to redevelop its Lochiel course,<br />
renaming it Tīeke.<br />
Before National made Southern Links one<br />
of its roads of national significance, the<br />
project was decades away from starting even<br />
though NZTA had bought several hectares of<br />
land on its route.<br />
“It’s a priority for us. It’s one of the<br />
projects of national significance that we<br />
want to see delivered,” Willis told The <strong>News</strong>.<br />
“It’s a critical growth enabling project,<br />
that will allow for additional housing<br />
development, better freight delivery and<br />
enhance the productivity of this region and<br />
indeed the <strong>Waikato</strong> economy.”<br />
So, instead of 20-30 years away, design<br />
should start this Parliamentary term and<br />
construction be underway in four years.<br />
Willis told the <strong>Waikato</strong> Chamber of<br />
Commerce Budget breakfast – held at Tīeke<br />
on day two of Fieldays – better times were<br />
ahead.<br />
“You (<strong>Waikato</strong>) are a poster child for what<br />
can happen to productive and economic<br />
growth when people get a decent road. And<br />
here’s to the <strong>Waikato</strong> Expressway,” she said.<br />
“When I look at Hamilton, I think we have<br />
a region that represents what is possible for<br />
our country because you have a primary<br />
production base, that has then evolved to<br />
have innovation, manufacturing and service<br />
industries. But what you also have got is<br />
entrepreneurial people.”<br />
Southern Links joins <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
Expressway’s Cambridge to Piarere on the<br />
roads of national significance.<br />
The $100 million project will link SH1<br />
from Kahikatea Drive in Hamilton to<br />
Tamahere, SH3 from Hamilton Airport to<br />
central and east Hamilton and establish a<br />
key transport in the city council’s Peacocke<br />
housing development.<br />
One of the two new bridges associated<br />
with it, in Hamilton East, is due to open<br />
later this year.<br />
Taupō MP Louise Upston whose electorate<br />
would benefit from Southern Links – as<br />
it would from the <strong>Waikato</strong> Expressway<br />
extension to Piarere – said unlocking<br />
housing growth, reducing congestion and<br />
improving safety were critical drivers.<br />
“Hamilton Southern Links will open up<br />
opportunities for districts in the <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
to connect. It will allow people to get where<br />
they need to go, quickly and safely, and<br />
boost productivity and economic growth in<br />
our region,” she said.<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> Regional Airport chief executive<br />
Mark Morgan said the ratepayer-owned<br />
company had been advocating for the<br />
project both locally and nationally for years.<br />
The development of its Northern Precinct<br />
industrial park north of the airport and<br />
Titanium Park would benefit from greater<br />
transport links, he told The <strong>News</strong>.<br />
“Southern Links is pivotal. There’s land<br />
bigger than Ruakura available for industrial.<br />
This is what Southern Links will unlock,<br />
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2<br />
Nicola Willis stands in front of the Tīeke golf course’s 18th green with Mystery Creek and Fieldays in<br />
the background. <br />
Photo: Mary Anne Gill.<br />
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2 JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
CONTACTS<br />
Editor<br />
Roy Pilott<br />
027 450 0115<br />
<strong>News</strong><br />
Mary Anne Gill<br />
021 705 213<br />
Viv Posselt<br />
027 233 7686<br />
Chris Gardner<br />
027 231 7007<br />
editor@goodlocal.nz<br />
maryanne@goodlocal.nz<br />
viv@goodlocal.nz<br />
chris@goodlocal.nz<br />
Advertising Director<br />
Janine Davy janine@goodlocal.nz<br />
027 287 0005<br />
Owner<br />
David Mackenzie david@goodlocal.nz<br />
Office<br />
07 827 0005 admin@goodlocal.nz<br />
Website<br />
waikatobusinessnews.nz<br />
Readers’ contributions of articles and letters are<br />
welcome. Publication of contributions are entirely at<br />
the discretion of editorial staff and may be edited.<br />
Contributions will only be considered for publication<br />
when accompanied by the author’s full name,<br />
residential address, and telephone number. Opinions<br />
expressed are not necessarily those of the publishers.<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong> <strong>News</strong> is published by Good Local<br />
Media Limited.<br />
Also publishers of<br />
Celebrating two decades<br />
By Viv Posselt<br />
The generosity of <strong>Waikato</strong>’s business community<br />
is being credited with bringing a unique Hamiltonbased<br />
family support organisation to its 20th<br />
anniversary.<br />
True Colours Children’s Health Trust is a<br />
community-funded organisation that offers<br />
continuing care to children with a serious health<br />
condition, and their families, through counselling,<br />
nursing and education. It also cares for families who<br />
have received a poor pre-natal medical diagnosis for<br />
their baby and provides support to families who have<br />
lost a child to a serious medical condition.<br />
Its support is centred around Dr Mason Durie’s<br />
Te whare tapa whā model, which recognises the<br />
physical, emotional, social and spiritual contexts of<br />
health and wellbeing.<br />
The organisation was started in 2004 by nurse<br />
specialist Cynthia Ward, who received a QSM in<br />
2018 for services to nursing and children’s health.<br />
The operational model she founded won a Westpac<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong> Award in 2019.<br />
With no government funding, the organisation<br />
is financed entirely through business sponsorship,<br />
grant applications and donations. The Hamilton<br />
house that is its base was gifted to the organisation<br />
by Annah Stretton in 2005, and the vehicles they<br />
use – primarily to access families in rural areas<br />
across the wider <strong>Waikato</strong> region – are supplied and<br />
maintained by Inghams Motors. Cleland Hancox<br />
and Harkness Henry provide their services free of<br />
charge.<br />
“The support we have had from the <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
business community, particularly from Hamilton,<br />
has been incredible. It has enabled us to continue<br />
and to grow to meet increasing need,” said True<br />
Colours operations manager Heidi Gleeson.<br />
Since its inception, over 3200 families across<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> have used the free service. That number<br />
grows each year, as does the number of re-referrals,<br />
which are families who may not need support for a<br />
time, but who return when their circumstances<br />
change.<br />
In March, True Colours launched its Nurse-<br />
Led Clinic headed by a clinical nurse specialist<br />
and aimed at strengthening the nursing arm<br />
of the operation.<br />
Gleeson said a key component of the<br />
Trust’s ability to continue delivering for<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> families was its own fundraising<br />
activity. From 2006, the organisation has<br />
held the Kerr & Ladbrook True Colours<br />
Long Lunch, an event held each year on<br />
Melbourne Cup Day.<br />
“That is a very important function<br />
for us. We want to be seen to be<br />
raising money for ourselves as<br />
well, and not solely relying on<br />
the kindness of the business<br />
community,” she said. “Tables<br />
for the Long Lunch are<br />
already taken for this year,<br />
and there is a waiting list,<br />
but there is still an option<br />
for people to offer their<br />
support by donating<br />
items we can auction<br />
at the event.”<br />
The event this year<br />
is on November 5.<br />
Heidi Gleeson, operations manager at True Colours, is grateful to <strong>Waikato</strong> businesses for<br />
their two decades of support. <br />
Photo: Viv Posselt.<br />
Teeing up the next link<br />
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1<br />
This newspaper is subject to NZ Media Council<br />
procedures. A complaint must first be directed in<br />
writing, within one month of publication, to the<br />
editor’s email address.<br />
If not satisfied with the response, the complaint<br />
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879, The Terrace, Wellington 6143. Or use the online<br />
complaint form at www.mediacouncil.org.nz<br />
Please include copies of the article and all<br />
correspondence with the publication.<br />
otherwise development will ultimately be<br />
constrained.”<br />
The general view is that Stage One would start<br />
in the south at Airport Road – the 6.7km long<br />
State Highway 21 - which has an average daily<br />
traffic count of 9430 at the Tamahere end and<br />
6471 at the SH3 end.<br />
“Traffic volumes have just gone through the<br />
roof, so there needs to be a solution. The Crown<br />
– Waka Kotahi – sees it and we see it,” said<br />
Morgan.<br />
Part of the work would involve replacing<br />
the 83-year-old Narrows Bridge –– an open<br />
spandrel deck bridge with a span of 31m and<br />
length of 34m – which an inspection in March<br />
concluded had a remaining lifespan of 30 years.<br />
It was strengthened from further bank erosion<br />
in 2010 when a 52m long bailey bridge was built<br />
in four weeks alongside it.<br />
Transport minister Simeon Brown said late<br />
last month all roads of national significance<br />
would be four-laned while the government would<br />
support use of alternative revenue, funding<br />
and delivery models. That could include Public<br />
Private Partnerships and tolling.<br />
Traffic counts at The Narrows Bridge over the <strong>Waikato</strong> River on SH21 Airport Road are<br />
increasing. <br />
Photo: Mary Anne Gill.<br />
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JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
Briefs…<br />
<strong>Business</strong> networking<br />
Economist Blair Keenan<br />
will set the scene for Raahui<br />
Pookeka/Huntly businesses<br />
at a free workforce<br />
development opportunity<br />
function at the Huntly Power<br />
Station on <strong>July</strong> 18. The event<br />
will involve service providers<br />
who are connected to the<br />
community who will discuss<br />
what is and is not working in<br />
local workforce development.<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> District Council is<br />
taking registrations for the<br />
event.<br />
Debt to income<br />
The Reserve Bank’s new<br />
debt-to-income (DTI) ratios<br />
which came in this month<br />
capped borrowing at six<br />
times household income<br />
(for owner occupiers) to<br />
curb excessive debt and<br />
enhance financial stability.<br />
For property investors,<br />
borrowing is capped at seven<br />
times their income.<br />
Rayner moves<br />
Former Fosters Group chief<br />
executive Richard Rayner<br />
has moved from Company<br />
X in Hamilton to become the<br />
new chief of Christchurchbased<br />
fleet safety provider<br />
Fleetcoach.<br />
Ellison on board<br />
Waipā Networks has<br />
announced the appointment<br />
of Shane Ellison (Ngāi Tahu,<br />
Te Atiawa, Ngāti Mutunga,<br />
and Ngāti Ruanui) as its new<br />
board director.<br />
Hotel work<br />
Major hotel work has<br />
been announced for the<br />
Hamilton central business<br />
district including a $120<br />
million development by<br />
the Templeton Group on<br />
the river side of Victoria St<br />
south to add a 4.5 star hotel,<br />
while work nearby across the<br />
road at Centreplace and the<br />
central city’s tallest building<br />
will add a 191 room hotel<br />
there to open in 2026. Work<br />
is also continuing on a new<br />
boutique hotel in central<br />
Cambridge to open later this<br />
year.<br />
Garden date<br />
Hamilton Gardens’ visitor<br />
centre is on target for a<br />
September opening, when<br />
paid entry to the 18 enclosed<br />
gardens will be introduced.<br />
In the comfort zone<br />
Paul Charman checks out a<br />
business pedalling a mix of comfort<br />
and rugged scenery.<br />
Over 50s who prefer<br />
E-bikes are the backbone<br />
of a business providing<br />
accommodation to those<br />
wishing to ride through the<br />
rugged King Country back<br />
blocks.<br />
Sitting near the centre<br />
point of an 85km trail<br />
through the ancient Pureora<br />
Forest, the Timber Trail<br />
Lodge operates year-round.<br />
The concept revolves<br />
around an older comfortloving<br />
demographic who<br />
enjoy sipping wine and<br />
nibbling pizza, while their<br />
electric cycles are charged for<br />
the next day’s ride.<br />
Part owner Guy Whitaker<br />
said the 40-bed lodge<br />
owed its existence to the<br />
Government’s push in 2009<br />
to create Nga Haerenga<br />
(New Zealand Cycle Trails).<br />
By 2012 DOC was running<br />
presentations to explain the<br />
opportunities which would<br />
flow from incorporating<br />
Pureora in the national trail.<br />
The pitch was that with<br />
giant native totara, rimu,<br />
matai, miro and kahikatea<br />
trees, plus native birdlife, the<br />
78,000ha forest park had<br />
everything weekend cycle<br />
adventurers could want.<br />
“From that initial meeting<br />
I pretty much decided that<br />
the need for accommodation<br />
was a no-brainer,” said<br />
Whitaker - a former deputy<br />
mayor of Te Kūiti<br />
The electronics retailer<br />
and his wife Nicky got<br />
involved with several other<br />
shareholders. including Bruce<br />
Maunsell and Wellington<br />
investors, Dave Bamford and<br />
Jeremy Ward. They received<br />
some North King Country<br />
Development funding for<br />
a business plan and began<br />
applying for consents.<br />
This turned out to be a<br />
lengthy process, not finalised<br />
until 2014/2015. Along the<br />
way the company received<br />
a $1.2 million dollar grant<br />
from what turned out to be<br />
the last round of the Tourism<br />
Growth Partnership Fund.<br />
The design needed to<br />
accommodate the realities<br />
of such an isolated spot.<br />
Part owner Guy Whitaker.<br />
The lodge was to be entirely<br />
off-grid, being powered by<br />
solar panels and backup<br />
generators. It also needed to<br />
be self-sufficient in its water<br />
reticulation and sewerage<br />
treatment. An intense<br />
waste management regime<br />
remains.<br />
Building of the facility<br />
began in 2016 and the shared<br />
ablution wing and main hub<br />
were completed in April<br />
of the following year. The<br />
second wing, comprising<br />
staff accommodation and<br />
ensuite rooms was completed<br />
in late 2017.<br />
Whitaker says it took three<br />
years to become profitable,<br />
then Covid hit. “We were<br />
thinking this is an absolute<br />
disaster, but what actually<br />
happened in the end was that<br />
Covid was actually good for<br />
business because everyone<br />
couldn’t travel overseas<br />
so they looked locally<br />
for holidays and leisure<br />
activities.<br />
“Within the business,<br />
around 90 per cent is drawn<br />
from domestic tourists rather<br />
than international, and this<br />
only helped us. We certainly<br />
hope eventually to build up<br />
the international side, but<br />
that’s still a challenge for the<br />
future.<br />
In an effort to boost winter<br />
sales the lodge has added a<br />
meeting room and begun<br />
advertising for corporate<br />
retreats.<br />
The operation has its own<br />
fleet of vehicles which serve<br />
as a shuttle service, fetching<br />
and carrying cyclists and<br />
their luggage at certain points<br />
to maximise the down-hillrun<br />
between Pureora village<br />
in the north and Ongarue in<br />
the south.<br />
A large portion of the<br />
clientele is late, middle-aged<br />
with disposable income, and<br />
the lodge concentrates on<br />
pampering them. The core<br />
clientele are also big fans of<br />
the electric bikes. “Initially<br />
only 10 to 20 per cent of the<br />
bikes were hired out were<br />
E-bikes, now it’s more than<br />
50 per cent.”<br />
Whitaker is certain the<br />
lodge has played its part in<br />
fulfilling the government’s<br />
original vision of creating a<br />
cycle trail which helped to<br />
boost regional development.<br />
“The majority of staff<br />
we employ are local, our<br />
maintenance is done by local<br />
trades, our food purchased<br />
from local providers. When<br />
you visit Te Kūiti in summer<br />
you see cars with bike<br />
racks on the back lined up,<br />
as they stop to eat in local<br />
restaurants.”<br />
An economic impact report<br />
from last year said Timber<br />
More than a quarter of New<br />
Zealand small and mediumsized<br />
enterprises (SMEs) are<br />
aiming for growth this year<br />
and many prioritise training<br />
and upskilling.<br />
An MYOB survey of more<br />
than 500 SME owners<br />
and decision-makers has<br />
revealed that business<br />
leaders believe the skills or<br />
knowledge that will be most<br />
important over the next five<br />
years are customer service,<br />
sales and marketing, and<br />
business development.<br />
MYOB general manager<br />
Emma Fawcett said <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
businesses had seen the<br />
value and opportunities<br />
that can come from ongoing<br />
investment in training.<br />
Confinement Escape<br />
Rooms’ <strong>Business</strong><br />
Development and Events<br />
Manager, Deb Bunyard, said<br />
as a small business, it often<br />
came down to price-driven<br />
decisions and compliance<br />
requirements.<br />
The Timber Lodge concept revolves around a comfort-loving<br />
demographic who enjoy sipping wine and nibbling pizza while<br />
their electric cycles are charged for the next day’s ride.<br />
Trail users exceeded 22,000<br />
a year. On average these<br />
people had an average stay<br />
of 4-5 nights in the Waitomo<br />
District and 3-4 nights in<br />
the Ruapehu District. It was<br />
estimated in 2023 that the<br />
Timber Trail had generated<br />
SMEs train for growth<br />
“We have a liquor<br />
license now, so we have<br />
put considerable time,<br />
funds and effort into<br />
gaining duty management<br />
qualifications. But we also<br />
look at opportunities from<br />
the <strong>Waikato</strong> Chamber<br />
of Commerce and our<br />
accountancy firm, which<br />
offers courses on managing<br />
cashflow and improving<br />
profitability.”<br />
For commercial real estate<br />
business NAI Harcourts,<br />
those in the team that hold<br />
a real estate license are<br />
required to do 20 hours of<br />
training a year.<br />
Managing director Mike<br />
Neale, believes it’s important<br />
to have strong presenters<br />
sharing relevant content for<br />
these sessions.<br />
Hamilton-based Precious<br />
Metals Group offers both<br />
ready-to-wear and customdesigned<br />
jewellery and<br />
creative director Alicia<br />
Platje routinely attends<br />
Emma Fawcett<br />
3<br />
$12-15 million a year.<br />
“Nicky and I have not had<br />
a return on our investment<br />
yet but is looking positive<br />
in the near future. But this<br />
project benefits the district<br />
as well as the shareholders,”<br />
Whitaker said.<br />
trade fairs and conferences,<br />
and attends webinars and<br />
online training courses.<br />
“On top of other digital<br />
tools like social media, AI is<br />
now a big consideration for<br />
us; finding out how we can<br />
use it to free up time and<br />
complete menial tasks so<br />
we can focus on the bigger<br />
picture is really important,”<br />
she said.<br />
Procuta Associates<br />
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www.pauaarchitects.co.nz<br />
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4 JULY <strong>2024</strong>
JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
5<br />
A self-funded sanctuary?<br />
Good Local Media exclusively revealed last month that Sanctuary<br />
Mountain Maungatautari’s funds would not get it beyond August.<br />
Chris Gardner looks at one of the solutions.<br />
Sanctuary Mountain<br />
Maungatautari general manager<br />
Helen Hughes is tackling the<br />
operation’s cash crisis head on<br />
with a five-year plan to make the<br />
world’s largest predator-proof<br />
fence self-funded.<br />
Last month Hughes revealed the<br />
$5000 a day 3363ha operation was<br />
at risk of closure by the end of next<br />
month because it had been “going<br />
backwards in terms of revenue for<br />
a long time”. The project is funded<br />
by grants and ticket sales. Closure<br />
would see habitat disappear for<br />
kākāpō, takahē and kiwi - and the<br />
loss of 18 full time positions.<br />
Hughes took <strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong><br />
<strong>News</strong> on a short tour of the maunga<br />
where, against the backdrop of<br />
native bird call, she shared how<br />
she had been working 80-hour<br />
weeks to develop a plan to make<br />
Maungatautari internationally<br />
recognised and nationally<br />
cherished.<br />
“That means self-funding,”<br />
said. “Not where we are at the<br />
moment. That requires the whole<br />
organisation to have a bit of a shift<br />
in terms of how we approach our<br />
work programmes, what we do,<br />
how we stick to our budgets.”<br />
Hughes is hoping to realise<br />
$1.5 million a year by selling<br />
3363 conservation management<br />
hectares at $450 a hectare through<br />
Ekos’ market-based conservation<br />
financing mechanism.<br />
“If the cost of running the<br />
organisation last year, excluding<br />
tourism, was $1.5 million then<br />
dropping $1.5 million into<br />
this business today would be<br />
groundbreaking.”<br />
Hughes is hoping to go live<br />
with a conservation management<br />
registry in the next month.<br />
“Why? Because it comes<br />
down to the ESG (environment,<br />
social, governance) space for<br />
organisations globally that are<br />
looking to emphasise the work that<br />
they do in the environment,” she<br />
said.<br />
“It’s no longer just acceptable<br />
to be able to make profit, you<br />
need to talk about how you’re<br />
improving social outcomes,<br />
environmental outcomes and how<br />
your governance structures work,<br />
and I think we can tag to all of that.<br />
It’s how do we become market<br />
ready and tradeable, and that’s the<br />
question we’re in at the moment.<br />
“If we deliver on this the<br />
opportunity for every other<br />
community-led conservation<br />
project in New Zealand to come<br />
into that market space and be<br />
tradeable would change the<br />
whole way that Government need<br />
to fund things and it would be<br />
groundbreaking.”<br />
“Everybody knows us as a<br />
conservation project. What a lot of<br />
people don’t get, and what we need<br />
to be better at telling, is we are<br />
hugely social outcomes focused,”<br />
Hughes said.<br />
The trust runs conservation<br />
and education programmes and<br />
employs mana whenua.<br />
“We’ve just started to connect to<br />
areas of the community that need<br />
healing, that need an opportunity<br />
to be able to come out to the<br />
maunga and heal.”<br />
The trust partnered with Ko<br />
Wai Au Trust in Te Awamutu,<br />
whose mission is to ensure all<br />
whanau have the skills to thrive<br />
independent and maintain<br />
violence free environments, to run<br />
a 10-week programme.<br />
“They came out with a group of<br />
teenagers to be at the maunga and<br />
to heal.”<br />
The trust is also discussing with<br />
the Department of Corrections how<br />
to work with people on probation.<br />
“Māori talk about this being a<br />
transaction. So, we protect, and<br />
the maunga give us back.”<br />
“This truly is a partnership. We’ve<br />
got iwi, we’ve got landowners, and<br />
we’ve got community.”<br />
Hughes is also looking to<br />
attract more of the hundreds of<br />
thousands of tourists who visit<br />
Hobbiton Movie Set Tours and<br />
Waitomo Caves to Maungatautari<br />
by scheduling bespoke half-hour<br />
tours that suit visitors to the other<br />
attractions.<br />
Sanctuary Mountain is<br />
discussing partnering with both<br />
Helen Hughes plans to make Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari self-funding.<br />
organisations to draw on decades<br />
of institutional knowledge of the<br />
tourism sector.<br />
“It’s under a teach us to fish<br />
mindset, to help us work out what<br />
we can do,” Hughes said.<br />
Hughes’ plan includes “investing<br />
in our visitor experience, refreshing<br />
the guiding programme, improving<br />
the visitor centre, getting an onsite<br />
café, and looking at what we can<br />
do in education.<br />
“We’re looking for grant funding<br />
to allow us to run a north-south<br />
shuttle so that people can go over<br />
the mountain and be conveyed<br />
back.”<br />
An air bed and breakfast has<br />
been set up next to the visitor<br />
centre to accommodate anyone<br />
who wishes to stay overnight.<br />
“We’ve got three bookings so far,<br />
one in <strong>July</strong> and two in December,”<br />
Hughes said.<br />
“One of our guides has offered<br />
to put an outdoor kitchen in our<br />
education centre, so that opens us<br />
up to scouts and guides.”<br />
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6 JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
Emma’s shock cancer<br />
diagnosis<br />
In December last year, Emma<br />
Kettlewell was diagnosed with stage<br />
3 cervical cancer.<br />
“I had a horrendous Christmas and<br />
New Years. I’ve never struggled with my<br />
mental health ever, and those were the<br />
darkest six weeks of my entire life. It<br />
was awful.<br />
“I have a long history of abnormal<br />
smears so I’d decided to have a<br />
hysterectomy. They found cervical<br />
cancer that had already spread into my<br />
pelvis so that started my journey with<br />
oncology.”<br />
Emma, who is also a mum and a<br />
nurse, says she felt hopeful when she<br />
was given a treatment plan but it was<br />
an added worry knowing she needed<br />
to find a base in Hamilton five nights a<br />
week.<br />
“I haven’t been at work since<br />
November last year so finances are<br />
already really tight. We’ve got a young<br />
family, a mortgage - how are we going<br />
to afford this? To find out I could stay at<br />
the Cancer Society’s Lions Lodge was a<br />
huge relief.”<br />
The alternative would have been<br />
driving back and forth from Taupō<br />
each day which Emma says would have<br />
been impossible with the effects of<br />
chemotherapy.<br />
Arriving at the Lodge for the first<br />
time, Emma says she had no idea what<br />
to expect.<br />
“I was really scared. I was expecting<br />
everyone to be older than me, expecting<br />
to see sick people everywhere and to be<br />
confined to my room. But it wasn’t like<br />
that at all.<br />
“Every single person has been<br />
Emma Kettlewell<br />
ADVERTORIAL<br />
invigorating and full of life. It’s like a<br />
home away from home.”<br />
As Emma nears the end of her<br />
treatment, she is positive about the<br />
future.<br />
“It’s definitely not a walk in the park<br />
but you know there’s an end coming so<br />
you can take that.”<br />
Emma’s stay at the Cancer Society’s<br />
Lions Lodge was made possible<br />
thanks to the ongoing contribution<br />
of the community. Please fundraise<br />
this Daffodil Day; find out how at<br />
daffodilday.org.nz<br />
Rugby, Rotary<br />
and education<br />
Rotary is one of the largest service organisations in<br />
the world and has been going in New Zealand for<br />
more than a century, so it seems odd the international<br />
president had never visited, until now. Senior writer<br />
Mary Anne Gill meets Gordon McInally.<br />
Rotary International president Gordon McInally speaks at the Lake Rotopiko Wetlands Project<br />
supported by Te Awamutu Rotary Club. <br />
Photo: Mary Anne Gill.<br />
It was an eight-yearold<br />
girl in an Indian<br />
school sponsored by<br />
Rotary International<br />
that was the highlight of<br />
Gordon McInally’s year as<br />
international president.<br />
The Scot was part way<br />
through visiting New<br />
Zealand, the 63 rd country he<br />
and wife Heather had been<br />
to during his term which<br />
ended last month.<br />
The <strong>News</strong> asked him what<br />
had stood out. He had only<br />
been home for nine days and<br />
five of those were around<br />
Christmas.<br />
His three days in the<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> were a whirlwind<br />
which took in Matamata,<br />
Hamilton Airport, Lake<br />
Rotopiko Wetlands project<br />
near Te Awamutu, Urban<br />
Miners in Cambridge<br />
and a Rotary function in<br />
Hamilton.<br />
“I’m humbled by it all,”<br />
McInally says of what he<br />
has seen around the world<br />
from Rotary’s four million<br />
members in the fields of<br />
health, education and the<br />
environment.<br />
“It affirms what everybody<br />
does. I may be the president,<br />
but the work is done by<br />
them. If you took all that<br />
away, there would be a huge<br />
void.<br />
“(But) what has really<br />
struck home with me is what<br />
we’re doing in the education<br />
field. If young people are<br />
given an education…”<br />
He catches his breath<br />
with some emotion and then<br />
shares the story of the eight<br />
year old girl who came up<br />
to him to thank Rotary for<br />
what the club did for her.<br />
“She said to me ‘education<br />
is the key to the golden<br />
door of a more hopeful<br />
future’. That was a profound<br />
statement and to hear that<br />
from the lips of an eightyear-old.<br />
I will take that to<br />
my grave,” he said.<br />
McInally, 67, joined<br />
Rotary in 1984 when he was<br />
a dentist in Edinburgh and<br />
newly-married.<br />
Two of the things he<br />
retained, after he sold his<br />
dental practice in 2016 –<br />
and retired to the Scottish<br />
Borders - were his car park<br />
and seats at Murrayfield,<br />
home to his beloved<br />
Scotland rugby team.<br />
He has seen the All Blacks<br />
play Scotland several times<br />
and never win. “One of these<br />
days,” he says wistfully.<br />
Another thing he wants to<br />
see achieved in his lifetime<br />
is the eradication of polio.<br />
Following anti vaccination<br />
campaigns the infectious<br />
disease has “bubbled up”<br />
again, something which<br />
clearly irks him given Rotary<br />
was a founding partner of<br />
the Global Polio Eradication<br />
Initiative in 1979.<br />
The six recent cases<br />
have been on the Afghan-<br />
Pakistan border.<br />
“We’ll do it, we’ll beat it.<br />
We’re certain of that and<br />
our partner World Health<br />
Organization and the Gates<br />
Foundation are with us.”<br />
McInally was astonished<br />
to find he had been the first<br />
international president to<br />
visit New Zealand with the<br />
exception of Aucklander Bill<br />
Boyd who served during the<br />
2006-2007 term.<br />
Along with the gifts he and<br />
Heather are taking back to<br />
their Scottish Borders home<br />
– where they will reunite<br />
with daughters Rebecca and<br />
Sarah and granddaughters<br />
Ivy and Florence – are<br />
projects for their Rotary<br />
club.<br />
McInally was intrigued<br />
with what he saw in<br />
Cambridge where the<br />
Rotary’s Urban Miners<br />
project is collecting e-waste<br />
and diverting it from<br />
landfills.<br />
There is an area in his<br />
local rubbish dump where<br />
televisions, microwaves and<br />
other electric appliances are<br />
separated but he concedes to<br />
not knowing what happens<br />
after that.<br />
“I’m very impressed with<br />
what Urban Miners are<br />
doing. We only have one<br />
planet and unless we take<br />
proper care of that planet,<br />
then we’ve got a problem.”<br />
And with that, McInally<br />
was off making the most of<br />
his final days on the road as<br />
international president and<br />
with the promise of taking in<br />
a match at Auckland’s Eden<br />
Park, happy to be in the land<br />
of rugby.
JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
7<br />
Signals look good for 2025<br />
If Kiwibank economist Mary Jo Vergara<br />
knows her stuff, interest rates will fall later<br />
this year. Senior writer Mary Anne Gill<br />
listened in on her predictions.<br />
<strong>Business</strong> and consumer<br />
confidence might be weak and the<br />
economy in slow down, but it is<br />
all part of a plan, says Kiwibank<br />
senior economist Mary Jo Vergara.<br />
“It is all by Reserve Bank design<br />
and it’s intended to get inflation<br />
back under control,” she told<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> Chamber of Commerce’s<br />
After Four function in Kiwibank’s<br />
Hamilton headquarters in Union<br />
Square last month.<br />
“It’s all about inflation at the end<br />
of the day.”<br />
Vergara was guest speaker and<br />
told a packed audience, <strong>2024</strong><br />
was a year of slow growth but an<br />
improvement on 2023.<br />
“2025 will be better.”<br />
By November, she and<br />
Kiwibank’s economists expect the<br />
Reserve Bank to make a crucial call<br />
and finally cut the official cash rate<br />
from 5.5 to 3 and not by increments<br />
of .25 or even .5 basis points.<br />
“When they decide to go, it will<br />
be to three per cent,” she said.<br />
In her explanation as to why,<br />
Vergara said Purchasing Managers’<br />
Index indicators – the prevailing<br />
direction of economic trends in<br />
the manufacturing and service<br />
sectors – were starting to move<br />
into positive territory in countries<br />
like China and the United States.<br />
Watching the United States<br />
economy evolve had been<br />
“incredibly fascinating,” she said.<br />
“They’ve had just as much<br />
inflation as us, maybe a little bit<br />
more, they’ve been able to get it<br />
down north of nine per cent, where<br />
it is now at three per cent, without<br />
having a recession and without<br />
a deterioration in their labour<br />
market.<br />
“This is a signal for 2025 – it<br />
should be better (here).<br />
“As these expectations start to<br />
turn, we should see the market<br />
pick up again.”<br />
But she warned there were<br />
tailwinds to watch out for such as<br />
migration and regulatory changes.<br />
Others were council rate rises,<br />
increased insurance costs and<br />
unemployment, particularly in<br />
places like Wellington where there<br />
are public service layoffs.<br />
Regulatory changes include the<br />
Bright Line property rule – a way<br />
to tax financial gains people make<br />
when they buy and sell a house for<br />
income – have reduced from 10<br />
years to two years from <strong>July</strong> 1.<br />
Interest deductibility will be<br />
fully restored by this time next<br />
year and the loan-to-value ratio<br />
restrictions eased.<br />
That should see investors come<br />
back into the property market<br />
and they were expected to test the<br />
Kiwibank senior economist Mary Jo Vergara during her presentation to <strong>Waikato</strong> Chamber of Commerce.<br />
<br />
Photo: Mary Anne Gill.<br />
waters a bit more come spring,<br />
said Vergara.<br />
New Zealand’s inflation had<br />
gone from 7.3 to 4 per cent easily<br />
but getting that down to 2 per cent,<br />
was going to be tougher.<br />
Hence the Reserve Bank was<br />
unlikely to change the official<br />
cash rate until November, or even<br />
February.<br />
The bank had little influence<br />
over soaring local government rate<br />
rises and insurance increases.<br />
“We still see it (the OCR) going<br />
below 3 per cent this year. We do<br />
think we will get back to that 2 per<br />
cent target; we see inflation back<br />
below 3 per cent by the end of this<br />
year and that should really open<br />
up the Reserve Bank to rate cuts.”<br />
They would come a year earlier<br />
than Kiwibank economists had<br />
earlier predicted.<br />
Public service layoffs would have<br />
an impact on the unemployment<br />
rate – expected to level out at five<br />
per cent nationally but even higher<br />
in Wellington where businesses<br />
are already closing.<br />
“If you walk in Wellington now,<br />
you can feel that anxiety in the<br />
air,” said Vergara.<br />
But given all that, 2025 is<br />
expected to see an improvement<br />
in the economy and a boost for the<br />
flagging property marked.<br />
Vergara joined the Kiwibank<br />
economics team in 2019 and has<br />
a keen interest in how the Kiwi<br />
economy fits within the global<br />
landscape.<br />
Her research ranges from<br />
macroeconomics to environmental<br />
economics to New Zealand’s<br />
economic history. She is skilled<br />
in quantitative analysis including<br />
statistical and econometric<br />
modelling.<br />
Prior to joining Kiwibank, she<br />
worked in economic consulting as<br />
a research analyst following five<br />
years of university study where she<br />
obtained a master’s in economics<br />
at Auckland University.<br />
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8 JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
The visa conundrum of<br />
working remotely in<br />
New Zealand<br />
Remote working became the<br />
norm during Covid, and not<br />
just from home, but also from<br />
different countries and now,<br />
globally, some 35% of organisations<br />
allow their workers to work remotely<br />
from other countries – including<br />
Pathways.<br />
Advancements in technology have<br />
made remote work increasingly<br />
normal and feasible across<br />
international borders but people<br />
considering this option need to be<br />
mindful of the potential challenges<br />
arising from time differences, tax<br />
consequences, living conditions and<br />
costs, and, most importantly, visa<br />
requirements.<br />
New Zealand immigration policy<br />
has largely been silent on any visa<br />
holders’ ability to work remotely<br />
for an overseas employer while in<br />
New Zealand. Current policy defines<br />
“work” as any activity undertaken in<br />
New Zealand for gain or reward and<br />
is irrespective of whether such work<br />
is for a New Zealand or overseas<br />
entity, and in order to undertake any<br />
work an overseas person must hold<br />
a visa allowing such work. Recently,<br />
Immigration NZ issued guidance<br />
that a person holding a partner work<br />
visa, only allowing work for any NZ<br />
accredited employer, would be in<br />
breach of their visa conditions if they<br />
worked remotely for an overseas<br />
employer.<br />
Given the current definition of<br />
“work” it appears that some work<br />
visas which allow work for any<br />
employer in any role and location<br />
can facilitate remote work for an<br />
overseas entity – and this would<br />
include all working holiday visa<br />
holders. However, the crunch issue is<br />
in regard to visitors in New Zealand.<br />
While on holiday we all check our<br />
emails and try and keep on top of our<br />
work, so how much of this “remote<br />
working” is allowed for visitors to<br />
our shores? We can all imagine the<br />
impact on our tourism industry<br />
if visitors were deemed to be in<br />
ADVERTORIAL<br />
breach of their visitor visas simply by<br />
checking their emails! Of course, this<br />
is nonsensical, but is the reality given<br />
the current immigration definition of<br />
“work”, and while there are no clear<br />
“remote working” policy parameters.<br />
The simplest solution is to change<br />
the work definition so that the visa<br />
status of genuine visitors is not<br />
compromised.<br />
In its’ pre-election immigration<br />
manifesto the National Party<br />
committed to the introduction of a<br />
Digital Nomad Visa – limited to 250<br />
visas in the first year. The DNV does<br />
not address the above issues but does<br />
cater for a growing cohort of people<br />
who want the benefits and experience<br />
of living in another country, while<br />
continuing to work for their overseas<br />
employer. There are now around 60<br />
countries throughout the world who<br />
have a digital nomad-type visa. Italy<br />
is the latest country to join this list<br />
while a number of countries, including<br />
New Zealand, are also now looking to<br />
introduce such visas.<br />
Digital Nomad Visas are generally<br />
issued for 12 month periods and<br />
may be able to be extended for one<br />
or more years depending on the<br />
country. Most DNVs have minimum<br />
income and private health insurance<br />
requirements, and the main areas<br />
of difference are in the nature of the<br />
work allowed, and in the tax treatment<br />
of the income earned while working<br />
in the country. It is this tax treatment,<br />
as well as New Zealand’s high cost<br />
of living, which are likely to prove the<br />
deciding factors in the take-up of the<br />
New Zealand DNV if, and when, this is<br />
introduced.<br />
The issue of being able to work<br />
remotely, and to what extent, in<br />
New Zealand has long been a grey<br />
policy area that the Government<br />
has purposefully shied away from<br />
addressing. However, the nature of<br />
work and how it is undertaken in the<br />
modern world have now overtaken<br />
New Zealand’s policy settings - and it<br />
is time to catch up!<br />
Getting the big<br />
(Mac) picture<br />
Visitors to Fieldays ask why multinational<br />
food giant McDonald’s is there giving<br />
away free soft serve ice cream and apple<br />
pies. Senior writer Mary Anne Gill talked<br />
to the company after a sustainable beef<br />
roundtable discussion and finds out why.<br />
Beetroot takes about four<br />
months to mature.<br />
When you are growing<br />
thousands of tonnes for an<br />
iconic hamburger brand,<br />
you need plenty of advance<br />
warning.<br />
That’s why McDonald’s tell<br />
beetroot growers a year in<br />
advance when they plan to sell<br />
Kiwi Burgers, the company’s<br />
Impact and Communications<br />
head Simon Kenny reveals.<br />
“Our impact on the supply<br />
chain on the scale we operate<br />
is interesting,” he says in a<br />
laid back way which belies<br />
the impact McDonald’s has<br />
on New Zealand’s primary<br />
industries.<br />
Kenny had just been part<br />
of a panel discussion at<br />
Fieldays by the New Zealand<br />
Roundtable for Sustainable<br />
Beef members.<br />
McDonald’s - an inaugural<br />
member of the panel – sources<br />
about 10 per cent of the beef<br />
produced in this country.<br />
The company bought 6601<br />
tonnes of beef and 589 tonnes<br />
of Angus beef for its burgers<br />
here and 37,000 tonnes of<br />
beef was exported to other<br />
McDonald’s markets.<br />
“So, while we’re a minnow<br />
in the McDonald’s world in<br />
terms of restaurants, we’re<br />
a strategically important<br />
country in a supply chain<br />
that feeds around 70 million<br />
people around the world each<br />
day.”<br />
Getting the country’s beef<br />
farmers, producers and<br />
industry experts talking<br />
to each other was therefore<br />
critical, says Kenny.<br />
Because beef farming is the<br />
single biggest contributor to<br />
McDonald’s greenhouse gas<br />
emissions, it explained why<br />
the restauranteur works with<br />
the beef sector to look at ways<br />
to further reduce methane<br />
emissions.<br />
But it is not just beef for<br />
the patties that McDonald’s<br />
sources locally. There are<br />
potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce,<br />
chickens, milk, cheese, eggs,<br />
buns and beetroot for the<br />
Kiwiburger. The burger -<br />
which was initially trialled<br />
and proven a success in five<br />
Hamilton restaurants in the<br />
early 1970s – only returns as a<br />
limited-time item.<br />
Consumers often think it<br />
is in response to competitors’<br />
actions but Kenny quickly<br />
disavows that notion by saying<br />
the company needs to tell<br />
growers months in advance<br />
so they can grow thousands of<br />
extra tonnes of beetroot.<br />
“There’s the number of<br />
extra (free range) eggs as<br />
well. You can’t just whip up a<br />
million extra eggs,” he says.<br />
Many beef farmers do not<br />
know what happens to their<br />
product when it leaves the<br />
farm gate and the stand gave<br />
the company the opportunity<br />
to tell that story.<br />
The panel discussion<br />
included roundtable chair<br />
Richard Scholefield, a beef<br />
farmer, Rabobank sustainable<br />
business development head<br />
Blake Holgate, AgResearch<br />
scientist Grant Rennie, Beef<br />
and Lamb NZ chief executive<br />
Simon Kenny<br />
Sam McIvor and SPCA chief<br />
scientific officer Arnja Dale.<br />
They discussed the future<br />
productivity, profitability and<br />
resilience of the beef sector<br />
and how working together<br />
contributes to improvement<br />
across the industry.<br />
Kenny also revealed<br />
he overheard one farmer<br />
saying when he spotted the<br />
McDonald’s stand: “That that<br />
American beef.”<br />
“I wanted to tap him on the<br />
shoulder and say no,” he told<br />
the panel.<br />
Dale says New Zealand’s<br />
beef production is world<br />
leading in its care of animals.<br />
“There are things we could<br />
do better – shade and shelter<br />
for our animals for example,”<br />
she says.<br />
Scholefield managed<br />
Whangara Farms - 8500ha on<br />
the North Island’s East Coast<br />
with 7500 head of cattle and<br />
60,000 sheep – and became<br />
chair of the roundtable when<br />
it was established in 2019.<br />
He is also a Beef and Lamb<br />
farmer councillor.<br />
The roundtable supports<br />
the continuous improvement<br />
of beef and celebrates the<br />
work done by the beef industry<br />
value chain.<br />
“We don’t tell our stories<br />
well enough,” he says.<br />
www.pathwaysnz.com<br />
Level 2<br />
586 Victoria Street<br />
Hamilton 3204<br />
0508PATHWAYS<br />
enquiries@pathwaysnz.com<br />
Level 3<br />
50 Manners Street<br />
Wellington 6011<br />
Where McDonald’s sources its food in New Zealand.
JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
Back on a roll<br />
Forgotten<br />
Highway<br />
Adventures is<br />
getting back<br />
in track after<br />
a challenging<br />
2023 season.<br />
Paul Charman<br />
catches up<br />
with the new<br />
conductor.<br />
Before buying his<br />
King Country tourism<br />
business Grant Ross played<br />
professional rugby in France,<br />
then a TV executive there.<br />
Today the Cambridge man<br />
heads up Forgotten Highway<br />
Adventures, running golf<br />
carts over the defunct rail<br />
track between Taumarunui<br />
and Stratford.<br />
Travelling at up to 22 kph,<br />
these machines trundle<br />
past working hill country<br />
farms, native forest and pine<br />
plantations.<br />
There are 24 tunnels (three<br />
more than 1 km long),<br />
90 bridges, viaducts and<br />
steep saddles along the 142<br />
km route.<br />
“But the main appeal is<br />
history rather than scenery,”<br />
Ross says. “Judging by the<br />
comments on Trip Adviser<br />
our customers go in expecting<br />
to be wowed by the scenery,<br />
and they see plenty, but they<br />
leave with the history.<br />
The view stokes the<br />
imagination regarding<br />
derelict farmhouses and<br />
schools, plus old decaying<br />
shops, homesteads and<br />
shearing sheds.<br />
The line was built in<br />
the pick and shovel days<br />
between 1901 to 1933,<br />
sustaining numerous tiny<br />
rural communities when<br />
New Zealand made its living<br />
off the sheep’s back.<br />
Villages and settlements<br />
flourished along the track<br />
and the Forgotten Highway<br />
(SH43), which runs parallel<br />
for some of the way. They<br />
were even serviced by a<br />
railcar, which ran daily<br />
between New Plymouth and<br />
Taumarunui.<br />
But with wool’s decline<br />
the villages and settlements<br />
began disappearing and are<br />
now mostly a memory. The<br />
track was mothballed in<br />
2009.<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> farmer and keen<br />
outdoorsman Ian Balme saw<br />
the potential for railcarts and<br />
launched the business 2012.<br />
The gamble soon paid off.<br />
The business grew to 9000<br />
visitors a year and employed<br />
40 staff in peak season. But<br />
after 10 years Balm was<br />
looking to sell and along<br />
came Ross.<br />
The former professional<br />
rugby player had received<br />
a one-way ticket to South<br />
Africa for his 21st birthday,<br />
played rugby there for two<br />
years and then moved to<br />
south-western France to play<br />
for Mont-de-Marsan and<br />
later Brive Clubs. Brive were<br />
European champions at the<br />
time.<br />
Ross moved one last time,<br />
finishing his rugby career<br />
with Stade Français, in<br />
Paris, where he was French<br />
champion.<br />
“When I played there the<br />
owner, Patrick Sébastien,<br />
was probably the biggest<br />
television star in France,<br />
with a show then watched by<br />
13 million people.”<br />
Ross recalls Sébastien<br />
gave him a job on his show<br />
Views on line – Forgotten World Adventures takes customers<br />
from Taumarunui to Stratford.<br />
Grant Ross, right, two years ago after ankle replacement surgery,<br />
with wife Laura and family. <br />
Photo: Supplied.<br />
talking entertainment. “I<br />
was the dumb guy with the<br />
foreign accent; I didn’t mind<br />
the ribbing and being the butt<br />
of all the jokes, but I hated<br />
the limelight. So, when they<br />
offered me an alternative<br />
off-camera, selling television<br />
shows abroad I jumped at it.”<br />
Initially this involved<br />
taking in-house shows and<br />
selling them into other<br />
countries. Later he got a<br />
job acquiring and adapting<br />
television programmes<br />
for the biggest production<br />
company in the world,<br />
Endemol France. And<br />
eventually Ross set up his<br />
own production company,<br />
buying the likes of Survivor<br />
and Wheel of Fortune, before<br />
adapting them for use in<br />
other countries.<br />
Then, when he and his<br />
English wife Laura decided<br />
to move to New Zealand he<br />
began surfing the internet to<br />
look for a Kiwi business to<br />
buy.<br />
“I was advised not to touch<br />
anything to do with tourism<br />
or hospitality, but once I’d<br />
read about Forgotten World<br />
that was it.”<br />
Ross has no regrets but<br />
acknowledges the last season<br />
was a shocker.<br />
“It was tough due to the<br />
economy and the election.<br />
Okay, obviously not for<br />
everybody, Queenstown had<br />
an incredible season thanks<br />
to their nine flights-a-day<br />
from Australia.”<br />
During<br />
June,<br />
<strong>July</strong> and August/<br />
September Forgotten<br />
World’s railcarts stay in their<br />
tunnel, while the company<br />
concentrates on taking<br />
bookings for the forthcoming<br />
season.<br />
“Last year we started<br />
operations in October behind<br />
8 Ball and just stayed that<br />
way.<br />
“But already its looking<br />
better for next year. Sales<br />
were really good in May and<br />
June. So hopefully we’ll go<br />
from what was a bad season<br />
to a fairly good one. Roll on<br />
2025.”<br />
Commercial fit-outs are<br />
expensive, they depreciate over<br />
time and may or may not be of<br />
any value to a future Tenant.<br />
Landlords often prefer not to own them,<br />
as they are frequently Tenant specific,<br />
although this can vary between retail,<br />
office and industrial premises.<br />
What to consider as a Landlord,<br />
before entering into ownership of fitout<br />
items:<br />
1. Customization and Specificity:<br />
Fit-outs are often highly customized<br />
to the specific needs of the Tenant,<br />
such as layout, decor, and even<br />
specialized equipment. These<br />
customizations might not be<br />
desirable or even useful to a future<br />
Tenant. This is particularly so for<br />
retail tenancies.<br />
2. Cost and Depreciation: Fit-outs can<br />
be expensive to install and may not<br />
significantly increase the property’s<br />
value or future desirability. There can<br />
be some tax benefits for Landlords<br />
in owning and depreciating items of<br />
fit-out. However for Tenants, the tax<br />
treatment of fit-outs might be more<br />
advantageous.<br />
3. Maintenance and Responsibility:<br />
Owning the fit-outs would usually<br />
mean the Landlord is responsible for<br />
maintaining, repairing, and replacing<br />
these items. This responsibility can<br />
potentially be burdensome and<br />
costly.<br />
4. Tenant Turnover: When Tenants<br />
leave, they often remove their<br />
fit-outs, which depending on the<br />
lease reinstatement provisions, can<br />
involve additional costs and effort<br />
for the Landlord to restore the space<br />
to a leasable condition.<br />
5. Higher Rent Premiums: Landlords<br />
can often charge higher rents for<br />
spaces that come with modern,<br />
well-designed versatile fit-outs, as<br />
Tenants might be willing to pay a<br />
premium for the convenience and<br />
cost savings of not having to invest<br />
in their own fit-outs. This particularly<br />
applies to office.<br />
6. Flexibility for Tenants: Tenants<br />
often prefer to handle their own<br />
fit-outs to ensure the space meets<br />
their specific operational needs, but<br />
may request an incentive from the<br />
Landlord.<br />
We are seeing incoming and potential<br />
Tenants with requests to upgrade.<br />
Below are some regular items, that may<br />
be of benefit to the Landlord and future<br />
Tenants. These would be worth<br />
consideration, either all or in part:<br />
Industrial<br />
• motorised roller doors<br />
• LED lighting<br />
• Heat pump(s) in the<br />
office area<br />
Office<br />
• Fixed floor coverings<br />
• LED lighting and<br />
ADVERTORIAL<br />
Owning The visa Commercial conundrum Fit-Outs of<br />
– working Who Benefits remotely and Who in<br />
Should New Zealand Own Them?<br />
ceilings / ceiling treatments<br />
• Air conditioning / heat pumps<br />
• Kitchen and toilet facilities<br />
Retail<br />
• Possibly heat pump(s) to the main<br />
retail area<br />
• Small kitchenette and toilet facilities<br />
• Very little else, as many items are<br />
unlikely to be of direct value to<br />
future Tenants<br />
Once it has been agreed as to what<br />
items are the Landlords, having an<br />
itemised list of “Landlord’s Fixtures<br />
and Fittings” included in the lease<br />
should be a mandatory requirement<br />
– a photographic catalogue at the<br />
commencement of the Lease will not<br />
only identify the items, but also provide<br />
an indication for both Landlords and<br />
Tenants of their current condition.<br />
Having a robust ‘make-good’ clause<br />
in your lease is important for when the<br />
lease ends and before a new Tenant is<br />
sourced. Ensure you get professional<br />
legal and accounting advice before<br />
agreeing to contribute to fit-outs, as<br />
there are longer term implications for<br />
these decisions. Several recent cases<br />
where reinstatement was required:<br />
• One Landlord agreed to the scope of<br />
works provided by the Tenant, but<br />
requested the Tenant undertake the<br />
works to their satisfaction, which<br />
was duly completed.<br />
• Another Landlord agreed the scope<br />
of works and the Tenant’s quote for<br />
those works, but agreed instead<br />
to a lump sum payment (slightly<br />
discounted), in lieu of the works<br />
being completed. As there were<br />
existing fit-out elements that may<br />
benefit an incoming Tenant, this<br />
allowed the Landlord discretion<br />
to use the lump sum as a fit-out<br />
incentive for an incoming Tenant.<br />
Overall, avoiding extensive<br />
ownership of Tenant fit-outs allows<br />
Landlords to reduce financial risk,<br />
simplify property management, and<br />
maintains the flexibility and<br />
appeal of their properties. While<br />
there are benefits to owning fitouts,<br />
it’s important for Landlords<br />
to carefully assess the specific<br />
needs of their market, the types<br />
of Tenants they aim to attract,<br />
and the overall return on<br />
investment before deciding to<br />
invest in fit-outs.<br />
9
10 JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
Helping hand at play<br />
TOURISM<br />
Using story<br />
telling<br />
By NICOLA GREENWELL<br />
Whatawhata School pupils enjoying their new playground courtesy of a Hamilton company ‘Helping<br />
Hands’ initiative.<br />
By Viv Posselt<br />
Whatawhata School children are enjoying<br />
a $90,000 playground funded by a Hamilton<br />
business.<br />
The facility was funded by Mitre 10 Mega<br />
Hamilton as part of ‘Project Playground’,<br />
a nationwide company Helping Hands<br />
initiative aimed at establishing play spaces<br />
and encouraging physical activity and<br />
creative play.<br />
Four of the more than 20 <strong>Waikato</strong> schools<br />
that vied to receive a new playground went<br />
through to a public voting round.<br />
Judges from Mitre 10 and its partner<br />
Playground People then visited each of those<br />
four schools, and based on a set of criteria<br />
that included the condition and number<br />
of existing playgrounds, roll size and the<br />
difficulty of self-funding based on local<br />
demographics, Whatawhata School was<br />
voted the winner.<br />
Principal Rob Gunn described the opening<br />
of the new playground as a milestone<br />
achievement for the kura and community.<br />
He said the school’s PTA had worked<br />
tirelessly for some time to fundraise for a<br />
new playground. They entered the national<br />
Project Playground competition in 2021 but<br />
missed out on that occasion, so gave it<br />
another shot.<br />
“We are very thankful that Mitre 10 Mega<br />
Hamilton had a big enough heart to give<br />
back, and we are so thankful to those who<br />
supported us to make this happen, especially<br />
our school PTA,” said Gunn.<br />
Hayden Camp, owner of Mitre 10 Mega<br />
Hamilton stores described the project as<br />
a great example of a business helping a<br />
community.<br />
Corban Fray, marketing co-ordinator for<br />
Mitre 10 MEGA Hamilton stores managed<br />
the campaign.<br />
“Seeing the incredible impact of opening<br />
this new playground for Whatawhata School,<br />
I am really proud of what we have achieved.”<br />
Telling the world how wonderful our<br />
region is has to be one of my favourite<br />
parts of working for Hamilton and <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
Tourism.<br />
So, I am really proud of our recent<br />
partnership with Hamilton City Council to<br />
showcase the Tiaki Promise through a series<br />
of videos and articles about organisations<br />
making standout contributions to the<br />
environment, community and cultural<br />
storytelling; as well as creating resources to<br />
inspire others to embrace the promise.<br />
Launched in late June, Tiaki in Kirikiriroa<br />
is an initiative highlighting examples of<br />
tiaki (caring for people, place and culture).<br />
It includes interviews with individuals from<br />
businesses across the visitor sector.<br />
This nitiative follows in the footsteps of<br />
our earlier Tiaki in Waitomo series, created<br />
last year to share the work done by tourism<br />
operators in and around Waitomo to<br />
embody and encourage tiaki in the area. In<br />
both cases, the aim is to instil pride in the<br />
work many businesses are doing to give back<br />
to the people, land and communities around<br />
them, as well as to share the innovative<br />
approaches being taken so other businesses<br />
can learn from them.<br />
Some of the initiatives highlighted by<br />
Tiaki in Kirikiriroa really are leading the<br />
way, from the 5000-square-metre solar<br />
farm powering the terminal at Hamilton<br />
Airport to the truckloads of produce from<br />
Hamilton Gardens feeding some of the city’s<br />
most vulnerable.<br />
MORTGAGE ADVICE<br />
That’s not to mention the e-bikes used by<br />
zookeepers and groundskeepers at Hamilton<br />
Zoo, the staff wellness initiatives and gully<br />
restoration undertaken by the teams at<br />
Novotel and Ibis Tainui, the plastic-saving<br />
jar library at Bare Refill, or the efforts<br />
to minimise food waste and buy locally<br />
championed by Hayes Common and Weave<br />
Eatery.<br />
These are all real examples of tiaki in<br />
action. They demonstrate that no matter the<br />
size of your business or organisation, there<br />
are opportunities to make a meaningful<br />
difference.<br />
I know there are many tourism operators,<br />
venues, hospitality businesses and retailers<br />
across the city setting out each day to do<br />
their part by making changes to the way they<br />
do things.<br />
Our Tiaki in Kirikiriroa and Waitomo<br />
initiatives have been created as part of<br />
the regenerative tourism kaupapa of our<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> Destination Management Plan; a<br />
guiding document articulating our strategy<br />
for ensuring the visitor economy positively<br />
contributes to <strong>Waikato</strong> communities.<br />
It’s an honour for us to share the stories<br />
showcasing the passion for doing things<br />
better and we hope the videos, guides<br />
and articles help to inspire this same<br />
commitment to people, culture and the<br />
environment in fellow Hamilton businesses.<br />
• Nicola Greenwell is Chief Executive,<br />
Hamilton and <strong>Waikato</strong> Tourism<br />
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While New Zealanders for a long time<br />
have enjoyed a love-affair with property<br />
investment, the shifting regulatory<br />
environment from government and the<br />
Reserve Bank has confused a lot of wouldbe<br />
investors keen to have an impact on the<br />
shortage of rentals.<br />
Recent adjustments in debt-to-income<br />
ratios (DTIs), interest deductibility, the<br />
Bright Line Test, and loan-to-value ratios<br />
(LVRs) have opened up the attractiveness of<br />
investment property and had an impact on<br />
what might be your next move.<br />
Debt-to-income ratios (DTIs) have<br />
unofficially been in place for a while with<br />
most banks, but until now the practical<br />
applications have been vague. With most<br />
bank servicing calculations still restricted<br />
by stress-testing interest rates, it will be<br />
some time before the DTIs actually have any<br />
impact. Rates will need to drop considerably<br />
to affect capacity of borrowers, so this will<br />
be one to watch in the coming years.<br />
Interest deductibility has been the most<br />
confusing of all tax policy in the last few<br />
years, where the ability to deduct mortgage<br />
interest from rental incomes was reduced<br />
incrementally in October 2021 by the then-<br />
Labour led Government. For each financial<br />
year a different percentage of all interest<br />
costs could be claimed, but earlier this year,<br />
things were simplified.<br />
From April this year you can claim 80<br />
per cent of the interest incurred for funds<br />
borrowed for residential property. This<br />
is regardless of when the property was<br />
acquired or when the loan was drawn down.<br />
From April next year interest deductibility<br />
will be fully restored, and you will be able to<br />
claim 100 per cent of the interest incurred.<br />
Another key tax change is the Bright Line<br />
Test, which assesses the need to pay tax<br />
on the profit after the sale of a property.<br />
Following <strong>July</strong> 1, this time period will<br />
reduce, meaning investors will not be<br />
required to pay income tax on the profit (or<br />
loss) from selling a rental property if they’ve<br />
owned it for two years or more.<br />
Loan-to-value ratios (LVRs) are the way<br />
the Reserve Bank regulates how much<br />
lending can be put in place for different<br />
property types, on <strong>July</strong> 1 this year, this<br />
requirement for investment properties will<br />
increase to 70 per cent , meaning a lower<br />
deposit (or less equity) is required for the<br />
purchase of a rental property.<br />
So what does all this mean for investors?<br />
In a nutshell, the changing regulations<br />
have an interesting effect on the average<br />
property investor. Their equity (or deposit)<br />
will go a bit further than it did for the past<br />
few years, their income position will be<br />
relatively unchanged, and their cashflow<br />
with interest deductibility will improve,<br />
particularly come tax-time.<br />
As we move forward, investors should<br />
treat these changes as a new set of rules in<br />
the property investment playbook. Those<br />
who do not adapt will get left behind and<br />
there will be plenty of investors who have<br />
decided it’s easier to sell up and invest in<br />
less regulated assets.<br />
Now is a key time to get the right advisers<br />
on your team. Opportunities are endless in a<br />
slightly slower property market, but getting<br />
advice from a tax specialist, lawyer and<br />
mortgage adviser will ensure you’ve got all<br />
the tools and are set up to succeed.<br />
• Claire Williamson is a mortgage advisor<br />
for My Mortgage.
JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
11<br />
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12 JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
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JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
13<br />
Property and Development across <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
FEATURE<br />
Hope for granny flats<br />
and tiny homes<br />
Rodney Stirling<br />
Rodney Stirling<br />
EXPERT CONCRETE GRINDING, POLISHING & SEALANTS / COATINGS FOR FLOORS & WALLS<br />
Rodney Stirling<br />
Stirling<br />
Rodney<br />
EXPERT CONCRETE GRINDING, POLISHING & SEALANTS / COATINGS FOR FLOORS & WALLS<br />
EXPERT CONCRETE GRINDING, POLISHING & SEALANTS / COATINGS FOR FLOORS & WALLS<br />
Rodney Stirling<br />
EXPERT CONCRETE GRINDING, POLISHING & SEALANTS / COATINGS FOR FLOORS & WALLS<br />
“High housing costs<br />
have a greater impact<br />
on Māori, Pasifika, and<br />
people with disabilities,<br />
as well as seniors – so<br />
unlocking the space in<br />
the backyards of family<br />
members opens the<br />
door to new ways of<br />
living,”<br />
The rule changes around the 60sqm<br />
buildings that NZFirst and the<br />
coalition government announced<br />
earlier this month are currently<br />
undergoing submissions as to how the<br />
legislation could or should look. It’s been<br />
touted as affordable answer for families<br />
who are spending more than 40% of their<br />
incoming on putting a roof over their heads<br />
according to Deputy Prime Minister Winston<br />
Peters and RMA Reform Minister Chris<br />
Bishop.<br />
“High housing costs have a greater<br />
impact on Māori, Pasifika, and people with<br />
disabilities, as well as seniors – so unlocking<br />
the space in the backyards of family<br />
members opens the door to new ways of<br />
living,” Winston Peters said.<br />
“Over a quarter of households that do not<br />
own their home spend more than 40 per<br />
cent of their income on housing.<br />
He said that while granny flats were<br />
a great option for seniors, they’ve also<br />
become increasingly popular with other<br />
families such as those who want homes<br />
where their university-age children can live<br />
at home but maintain some privacy and<br />
independence, or families who want to<br />
provide extra support to a loved one.<br />
It does however, mean amendments of<br />
both the Building Act and the Resource<br />
Management Act.<br />
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Doing so will remove the requirement for<br />
building consents other than an expected<br />
engineers report.<br />
“Many district plans already allow granny<br />
flats without resource consent, but there’s a<br />
lack of consistency and different standards<br />
across the country. We’re proposing a<br />
National Environmental Standard (NES) to<br />
require all councils to permit a granny flat on<br />
sites in rural and residential zones without<br />
resource consent. An NES means changes<br />
can come into force quickly,” Chris Bishop<br />
said.<br />
The Government released a discussion<br />
document with proposed changes to the<br />
Building Act and the resource management<br />
system which included changes across both<br />
systems.<br />
How it may work is that a new schedule<br />
would be added to the Building Act 2004<br />
to provide for simple standalone houses<br />
up to 60 sqm in size. The building system<br />
proposals include:<br />
• the conditions and criteria for these<br />
homes to be exempt from a building<br />
consent;<br />
• assessment of the associated short and<br />
long-term benefits, costs and risks;<br />
• sufficiency of occupational licensing<br />
requirements to ensure all building work<br />
will meet the building code;<br />
• potential barriers to the uptake of the<br />
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proposed exemption;<br />
• time and money savings compared to the<br />
status quo;<br />
• additional or alternative ideas to the<br />
proposed options.<br />
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“Removing the regulatory red tape will not<br />
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only speed up the build process, it is also<br />
estimated to save up to $6,500 just in the<br />
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fees per build, not to mention all the savings<br />
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in time and resource,” Chris Bishop said.<br />
Certified Contractor<br />
Final policy decisions Certified Contractorwill be made later<br />
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this year, with the legislative<br />
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changes<br />
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expected to be in place from mid-2025.<br />
The consultation opened on June 17<br />
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and submissions can be received until<br />
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5pm Monday August 12. The public can<br />
provide feedback online or by emailing<br />
grannyflats@mbie.govt.nz<br />
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EXPERT CONCRETE GRINDING, POLISHING & SEALANTS / COATINGS FOR FLOORS & WALLS<br />
Stirling<br />
Rodney Rodney Stirling<br />
EXPERT CONCRETE GRINDING, POLISHING & SEALANTS / COATINGS FOR FLOORS & WALLS<br />
EXPERT CONCRETE GRINDING, POLISHING & SEALANTS / COATINGS FOR FLOORS & WALLS<br />
EXPERT EXPERT Rodney CONCRETE CONCRETE GRINDING, GRINDING, Stirling<br />
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Rodney Stirling<br />
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Stirling<br />
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www.thepolishedconcretecompany.co.nz<br />
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14 JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
Out and about…<br />
More Out and about photos wbn.co.nz<br />
Send us your contributions to Out and about – editor@goodlocal.nz<br />
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:Terry Pidduck, founder of<br />
Cambridge Travel Lines and who now lives in Ruakura was<br />
manning the <strong>Waikato</strong> Veteran & Vintage Car Club’s spare<br />
parts department during the annual double 50 classic car<br />
rally. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.<br />
Bernice Mene was a regular visitor to Mystery Creek as<br />
a Silver Fern and Southern Sting netballer earlier this<br />
century – this year she was an ambassador for National<br />
Fieldays Society sponsor Hyundai and came suitably<br />
decked out in her Red Bands. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.<br />
Hamilton Operatic Society’s production of The Hunchback<br />
of Notre Dame opens at the Clarence Street Theatre in<br />
Hamilton this month and members of the cast have been<br />
hard at work learning the music. The musical is directed<br />
by David Sidwell and is based on the Victor Hugo Novel<br />
with songs from the Disney film. Photo: Sarah Hughes.<br />
Volunteers at the ready inside the main gates at Fieldays<br />
just before the Southern Hemisphere’s largest agricultural<br />
expo gets underway on day one last month. From left,<br />
Duncan Johnstone, Michelle and Alexandra Perry. Photo:<br />
Mary Anne Gill.<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> Chamber of Commerce’s <strong>Business</strong> After 4<br />
function last month was hosted by Kiwibank. Economist<br />
Mary Jo Vergara was on hand to give attendees the low<br />
down on the state of the economy. From left: Danielle<br />
Quigg, Heather Connolly, Don Good, Jenny MacGregor,<br />
Rohit Sharma, Mary Jo Vergara, Bridget Smith, Grant Kyd,<br />
Rakesh Kumar, Eddie Stocks. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.<br />
Hamilton Bunnings’ team in Melville ran a sausage sizzle<br />
to help raise funds to fight Motor Neurone Disease – and<br />
across the country staff raised $33.500. Pictured from left<br />
were Daniel Siciliano, Jacob Perrin, William Pokaina, Linda<br />
Scott, Helen Palmer, Pieta Mace and Deidre McRobie.<br />
Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
Out and about…<br />
More Out and about photos wbn.co.nz<br />
Send us your contributions to Out and about – editor@goodlocal.nz<br />
15<br />
Heather McInally’s version of Amazing Grace on the native timber guitar hand made for Rangitunoa<br />
Black (Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Apakura) was a highlight of her visit to Rotopiko Reserve near Ōhaupō<br />
last month. The classically trained former professional opera singer and music teacher is the wife of<br />
Gordon McInally, Rotary International’s world president. <br />
Photo: Mary Anne Gill.<br />
Colin and Donna Storey of Hamilton with their 1938 green MG SA catch up with Tracey<br />
Winterbottom of Auckland before the start of the <strong>Waikato</strong> Veteran and Vintage Car Club’s annual<br />
double 50 classic car rally last month. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.<br />
Platform 1’s Tom and Heather Rodden of Te Awamutu won one of the lucky<br />
prize draws at <strong>Waikato</strong> Chamber of Commerce’s <strong>Business</strong> After 4 event last<br />
month. <br />
Photo: Mary Anne Gill.<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> Pacific <strong>Business</strong> Network had a table at the <strong>Waikato</strong> Chamber of Commerce Budget breakfast with Nicola Willis<br />
at Tīeke Golf Estate during Fieldays. From left: Joe Fuavao, for Australian Trade and Investment Commission Senior<br />
<strong>Business</strong> development manager, Tony Begbie, business broker at ABC <strong>Business</strong> Sales Limited, Rachel Afeaki, network<br />
chairperson, Suria O’Brien, network <strong>Business</strong> Development and Marketing navigator, Tonga Robertson, NEST Interiors<br />
and Design owner, John Wilkinson, ASB Bank senior commercial manager. <br />
Photo: Mary Anne Gill.<br />
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was a popular visitor among Fieldays patrons last month at Mystery Creek in the Waipā district.<br />
Here he is pictured with a group from the Philippines and Malaysia. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.<br />
Hamilton’s Murray Davies, 74, works on wetlands’ maintenance<br />
for Waipā District Council and has a lifetime experience in the<br />
bush. He is pictured during the International Rotary president’s<br />
visit to Rotopiko Reserve north of Te Awamutu.<br />
<br />
Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
16 JULY <strong>2024</strong><br />
Fosters’ ability to manage<br />
resources to deliver this project<br />
on time and on budget despite<br />
the challenges... was outstanding.<br />
They are a trustworthy and<br />
capable construction partner who<br />
impressed us from the word go.<br />
Aaron Fergusson,<br />
Veros Development Manager<br />
Blending modern aesthetics with the comforting ambience of a<br />
traditional pub, Fergus Bar and Kitchen has been loved by locals since<br />
it opened in Rototuna on Valentine’s Day <strong>2024</strong>.<br />
Located on the corner of Fergy Place and Turakina Rise, it’s an inviting<br />
space where friends, families and neighbours can pop in for a morning<br />
coffee, enjoy a laid-back lunch or relax with a pint over a delicious evening<br />
meal.<br />
“We always had high expectations for a quality finish, and we’ve been<br />
very happy with the outcome,” said Veros Development Manager Aaron<br />
Fergusson, who oversaw the facility’s construction process.<br />
“It’s an awesome space. It’s exactly as we envisaged, and it ties in with the<br />
architecture of the surrounding development, so it looks fantastic.”<br />
The project was launched in a time of “high construction cost volatility”,<br />
Aaron said, and Fosters won the tender after backing themselves to offer a<br />
lump sum design and build contract.<br />
“It was clear they understood exactly what our clients wanted to achieve,<br />
so we had complete confidence they would provide both a high-quality<br />
build for our tenants, and cost clarity prior to committing funds,” he said.<br />
There were multiple challenges for the Fosters construction team, including<br />
difficult ground conditions and wet weather.<br />
A raft slab designed to span low-strength soils worked brilliantly to<br />
minimise excavation work, Aaron said.<br />
“Fosters demonstrated their experience by questioning some original<br />
geotechnical advice, seeking a second opinion and coming up with a better<br />
solution under programme pressure.<br />
“They were really good – really collaborative in terms of pushing for a<br />
better result.”<br />
Also impressive was Fosters’ willingness to integrate a tenant fitout into<br />
the original base build programme.<br />
“It would have been easier for them to run separately, but they took on the<br />
challenge to achieve a better outcome.”<br />
Late changes to the kitchen layout were not a problem either, as Fosters<br />
collaborated with the tenant, consultants and kitchen designers to satisfy<br />
Hamilton City Council consent requirements.<br />
“Fosters’ ability to manage resources to deliver this project on time and<br />
on budget despite the challenges that arose during construction was<br />
outstanding,” Aaron said.<br />
“They are a trustworthy and capable construction partner who impressed<br />
us from the word go.”<br />
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