20 | Tararua: Tararua Alliance Karen Phelps Delivering value on infrastructure work Pahiatua town upgrade. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT “A collaborative working model allows us to bring in expertise from the private sector, focused on delivering the optimal outcomes for our community.” A collaborative partnership established between Tararua District Council and Downer NZ in 2014 is helping to deliver value on a variety of infrastructure projects across the district. The Tararua Alliance was set up as an unincorporated joint venture between the two parties for the management of the Tararua district’s road network and water, wastewater and stormwater reticulation infrastructure. It sees staff from both organisations working collaboratively in a single delivery team to deliver the optimal outcome. “In a traditional sense, which many local authorities still operate under, you need three parties to manage these networks,” explains Tararua Alliance Manager Matt Erard. “The client, which is the district or city council, the consultant, for professional services like contract management, and the contractor that delivers all the physical works. “This creates a lot of ‘contractual’ discussion between the different parties, and this doesn’t necessarily result in the best outcomes for the network. You also end up paying three sets of costs whereas under the alliance structure there is one overhead and one set of margin and is all open and transparent with all parties work together as one team.” Tararua District Council Group Manager - Infrastructure Chris Chapman agrees: “A collaborative working model allows us to bring in expertise from the private sector, focused on delivering the optimal outcomes for our community. “Time and effort previously spent on managing contractual requirements, maximising to page 22 profit, auditing auditors, etc. are taken away, so we can be focused on management of the infrastructure itself. “The expertise and experience from both organisations is utilised to deliver what’s best for Tararua. “Obviously there’s a large reliance on trust and integrity, which is why having the right people working within the Tararua Alliance is so important.” Another key advantage, according to Matt, is that the alliance has the opportunity to pull on a whole lot of different resources and specialised skillsets depending on what local needs are at the time.
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