Award for community engagement

A project that has made major transport improvements in Panmure has been recognised for excellence in community engagement.

The Panmure stage of the Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative (AMETI) won the New Zealand Engineering Award for Excellence in Community Engagement Award.

The award is for “exceptional engineering activities that effectively engaged with and empowered community values” by Auckland Transport and Opus International during planning and then through three years of construction.

Auckland Transport opened the 1.5km Te Horeta Road, which has a 220m tunnel, cycle lanes and a shared cycle and footpath in November. Three new bridges, a new Panmure Station and stormwater upgrades have also been completed, with improvement to Van Damme’s Lagoon nearing completion.

Auckland Transport AMETI Project Director Peter King says the community was empowered to participate and have their concerns addressed throughout the design and construction of the project.

“There was a strong focus on working collaboratively with the community to refine options and resolve issues. We built strong relationships with people and kept businesses regularly updated on the major changes that come with construction of this size.”

Mr King says the project team were particularly conscious of iwi cultural values.

“We worked closely with six iwi groups to ensure the strong iwi associations with the Panmure site were reflected in design. We ensured that construction works were fully monitored and that items of cultural value were treated appropriately. For Van Damme’s Lagoon improvement, iwi were involved in relocating 450 native eels to other locations within the Tamaki Catchment.”

Lucy Tukua, Environmental Manager, Ngati Paoa Iwi Trust says that the AMETI project team embedded Mana whenua's aspirations throughout the project in a respectful and timely manner. “The recognition of kaitiakitanga and the imbued relationship that Mana whenua have with Whenua and Moana continues to be expressed. Integration of concepts and implementation could only have been achieved through meaningful relationships, kanohi ki kanohi.”

Auckland Transport thanks the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board and Panmure Business Association in particular for their strong support and involvement in their project.

Panmure Business Association General Manager Chris Sutton says engagement on AMETI in Panmure was quickly put in place and went well above expectations.

“Regular updates meant our Business Association hardly received any grumpy calls from businesses or the community.”

Opus Project Director Keryn Kilskey says that the size and complexity of the project meant it was imperative that the affected communities were able to share their views and concerns. “The community, iwi and key stakeholders were actively involved with the design process. The importance of this involvement was reflected in obtaining the statutory approvals for the project where relatively few submissions were received for a project of this size and complexity.”

For more details, visit: https://at.govt.nz/projects

ENDS

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