Congratulations to all the councils whose entries were selected as winners, highly commended and finalists in the 2016 LGNZ EXCELLENCE Awards. Sixty-three applications were received across five categories from a total of 32 councils nationwide. The results were announced at the Fulton Hogan conference dinner and LGNZ EXCELLENCE Awards ceremony on Monday July 25, 2016, in Dunedin.
Fulton Hogan EXCELLENCE Award for Community Engagement
WINNER Hamilton City Council – Hamilton Central City Safety Plan Hamilton City is restoring public confidence in the safety of its CBD with a two-pronged approach to address anti-social behaviour and homelessness.
HIGHLY COMMENDED Christchurch City Council: Dudley Creek – Long-Term Flood Remediation Project This project was focused on long-term reduction in flooding in the Flockton / Dudley Creek area for a vulnerable community trying to recover from the Canterbury earthquakes.
HIGHLY COMMENDED Rotorua Lakes Council – Te Arawa Partnership Project The project took a collaborative approach to establishing an innovative, strategic and enduring partnership between Te Arawa, the predominant iwi confederation of Rotorua district, and Rotorua Lakes Council.
FINALIST Central Otago District Council: Young Driver Programme – Skills Not Thrills A driving skills programme targeted at young drivers who live and work in Central Otago. It is designed, sponsored and run by locals to support young drivers in the region.
FINALIST Environment Southland: Towards a New Plan – Water and Land A new approach for the council to developing a plan. Set up to seek ideas and feedback from communities to develop the Southland Water and Land plan and ensure it was practical.
FINALIST Greater Wellington Regional Council – Hutt River City Centre Upgrade Project Intensive community engagement, working with Hutt City Council to protect its CBD from flooding disaster risk, while rejuvenating the area’s lifestyle and regional transport links.
FINALIST Thames-Coromandel District Council – WWI Memorial Forest The WWI Memorial Forest is a series of forests of native trees planted across the Coromandel to pay tribute to the New Zealand men who were killed in WWI.
FINALIST Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management Group (Waikato Regional Council) – Civil Defence Social Media Strategy Strategy developed to engage communities in civil defence emergency management through social media, using unique, original, educational and informative content.
FINALIST Whangarei District Council – Summer Safe Car Parks A programme which has reduced theft from vehicles in tourist destinations and across the district. Patrols by local volunteers have encouraged personal and property safety
through a highly effective ‘Hide it-Lock it-
Report it’ campaign.
MartinJenkins EXCELLENCE Award for Best Practice Contribution to Local Economic Development
WINNER Kawerau District Council and Matamata-Piako District Council – Seamless Boundaries Kawerau and Matamata-Piako District Councils partnered with local industry and government agencies to deliver a programme that helped a business in
Te Aroha prosper and changed lives in Kawerau.
FINALIST Canterbury Mayoral Forum – Canterbury Regional Economic Development Strategy Mayors standing together for Canterbury, to lead economic development and position the region for long-term sustainable growth when the earthquake build is substantially complete.
FINALIST Grey District Council – Grey District Community Economic Development Strategy Following a perfect storm of negative external influences, the Grey District Community Economic Development Strategy was developed to unite community stakeholders, working together to build a self-reliant, sustainable and competitive future.
FINALIST Whanganui District Council – Digital Leadership – Whanganui’s Commitment to the Benchmarking for Intelligent Community Status The council successfully applied for its digital strategy to be benchmarked against an internationally-recognised set of criteria by the New York-based Intelligent Community Forum, resulting in it being recognised as a Top7 Intelligent Community internationally.
Chorus EXCELLENCE Award for Best Practice in Infrastructure Management
WINNER Southland District Council – Changing Direction, The Way Forward for Southland’s Roads The project is about using new technology, resource allocation tools and procurement methods to make smart decisions on managing Southland District roads.
HIGHLY COMMENDED Hamilton City Council – Low River Contingency Project In 2015/16 Hamilton City needed an innovative solution as falling river levels, climate change and a forecast El Nino summer threatened the city’s sole access to water.
HIGHLY COMMENDED Napier City Council – Marine Parade Outfall and Viewing Platform The Marine Parade Outfall and Viewing Platform uniquely delivers an outlet pipe directly into the ocean to avoid flooding in Napier’s CBD while creating an architecturally-designed viewing platform.
HIGHLY COMMENDED Westland District Council – Water Water Everywhere. Nor Any Drop to Drink.
(Blue Spur Water Treatment Plant Expansion Project) Innovative partnership between Westland District Council and Westland Milk Products to transform Hokitika’s water infrastructure at no extra cost to ratepayers.
Air New Zealand EXCELLENCE Award
for Environmental Impact
WINNER Auckland Council – Hunua Ranges Pest Management Programme A major pest control effort to protect the future of Hunua Ranges
and its treasured native species.
HIGHLY COMMENDED Bay of Plenty Regional Council – Ohiwa Harbour Strategy Implementation The strategy has brought together local communities, iwi and agencies to sustainably manage the harbour and catchment in a holistic way, including improving water quality and protecting biodiversity.
HIGHLY COMMENDED West Coast Regional Council – The Lake Brunner Water Quality Enhancement Project Successful project to engage farmers and other parties to voluntarily change their practices to address concerns about the water quality of Lake Brunner.
Creative New Zealand EXCELLENCE Award for Best Creative Place
WINNER New Plymouth District Council – Len Lye Centre The newly-created Len Lye Centre at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth is one of the most internationally-heralded arts and culture construction projects in recent years.
HIGHLY COMMENDED Dunedin City Council – Ara Toi Otepoti – Dunedin’s Arts and Culture Strategy Dunedin City Council worked with the community to develop the city’s new arts and culture strategy, to push for greater things in the arts and culture space.
HIGHLY COMMENDED Hamilton City Council – Community Transforms a City Dump An old landfill site has been transformed into the ‘International Garden of the Year 2014’. The Hamilton Gardens tells ‘the story of gardens’ and is enjoyed by more than one million visitors each year.
FINALIST Napier City Council – Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans A groundbreaking public art project, hosted in Napier, combining talented international street artists to paint large scale murals about the plight of the world’s oceans.
FINALIST Rotorua Lakes Council – Percent for Arts Rotorua Lakes implemented its Percent for Arts policy in 2013, which allows for one percent of annual capital expenditure to be ring-fenced and invested in public art development and urban and suburban infrastructural enhancement.
All the winners and fully commended projects are profiled in the August issue of NZ Local Government Magazine delivered to all delegates at the LGNZ Conference in Dunedin on the morning after the awards were announced.