Dec 18, 2017 - The Government is making it easier for people to understand and apply best practice when designing and constructing buildings. By launching a new building system search engine and sponsoring five commonly used building standards and a handbook, we hope to see improved compliance with the Building Code, and even more importantly, safer homes and buildings, says Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa.
“The online search engine, Building CodeHub helps people locate the latest building rules and guidance information for designing and constructing buildings,” says Ms Salesa. “It’s the definitive source of up-to-date rules and guidance from a range of sources.”
“New Zealand’s building regulator the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), has sponsored some of the most commonly-used standards, making them freely available to all users,” says Ms Salesa.
“We anticipate that providing free access to these standards, will make it easier for consumers to understand the building code requirements and apply best practice methods when undertaking home building projects.”
The sponsored standards and handbook, which can be accessed from the Standards New Zealand website, are:
“MBIE will continue to make the building system more accessible with further enhancements to Building CodeHub and considering ways to improve access to more design and construction building standards,” says Ms Salesa.
https://codehub.building.govt.nz/
https://www.standards.govt.nz/
| A Beehive release || December 18, 2017 |||
Dec 18, 2017 - The Whangaparaoa Community Recycling Centre has found a way to harness the power of the sun as it gears up for the busy festive season. The recycling centre recently began using a solar-powered wheelie bin lifter for glass recycling after being granted $11,000 by the Glass Packaging Forum (GPF). The machine, which was custom made by Simpro Engineering, lifts bins filled with colour-sorted container glass and tips it into a storage container at the small site.
The glass can then be transported to New Zealand’s only glass manufacturers O-I New Zealand to be remade into new glass bottles and jars. The previous system saw workers manually pull the bins up a ramp and tip the glass out.
Sustainable North Trust trustee Betsy Kettle says the bin lifter is a great addition to the operation. “The workers love it because it eliminates the manual strain on their backs and frees up the space taken by the rusty old glass ramp.
“Having the extra space also means that the glass collection truck doesn’t have to shift the bins in the parking lot across the street, making the Whangaparaoa Road safer, too,” she says.
The recycling centre is once again expecting a busy festive season as the number of recycled glass bottles and jars increases over the summer. The new bin lifter gives them the capacity to deal with the extra load, Kettle says.
The site does not have a power supply, meaning it is essential the bin lifter be solar-powered. It also powers the center’s eftpos machine and can recharge the staff cell phones, she says.
The Sustainable North Trust and Community Business and Environment Centre (CBEC) jointly run the recycling centre under contract to Auckland Council. The recycling centre handles around seven tonnes of glass a month.
The GPF promotes the environmental benefits of glass packaging and manages the accredited GPF Product Stewardship Scheme. It allocated grants to fund infrastructure, research, events and public place recycling to increase the volume of recycled glass going back to the furnace at O-I, or for alternative uses for recycled glass.
| A Glass Recycling Forum release || December 18, 2017 |||
Dec 18, 2017 - Kiwiana, heritage, steam punk and luxury have merged at one of Featherston’s most loved historic buildings, which is reopening this week writes Hayley Gastmeier in the Wairarapa Times Age.
In all its glory, The Royal Hotel will be back in business from Wednesday, after an extensive two-year makeover.
Owners Rob Allen and Janelle Harrington bought the prominent Revans St building when it came up for sale in 2015.
The couple has put in considerable effort to ensure the hotel reflects both its own roots, and the history of the town.
Inspired by the town’s rail history, the hotel has tapped into the steam punk genre, while also embracing the coming together of Maori and Pakeha, as well as the town’s military history.
The hotel’s 12 upstairs bedrooms each have its own “personality”, themed on a unique character.
Most have elegant ensuites, in which the basins have been cleverly crafted with vintage sewing machine bases.
The largest room “belongs” to King Tawhiao, who was leader of the Waikato tribes and was the second Maori King.
Other rooms are themed after Victorian writers, such as Jules Verne (author of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), classic children’s books, and inspiring people of the past, such as Meri Te Tai Mangakahia, a campaigner for women’s suffrage in New Zealand.
Continue here to read the full article
Dec 18, 2017 - New Zealanders’ wealth rose at its fastest pace in a decade, mainly driven by rising property values, Stats NZ said today. New Zealanders’ net worth rose $136 billion to $1.5 trillion in the year to 31 March 2016. The total net worth is equal to about $330,000 per person, mainly reflecting the value of property ownership.
“Net worth is the balance of what New Zealanders own over what they owe, and this is the biggest increase experienced in the last 10 years,” national accounts senior manager Gary Dunnet said.
Data used in this release comes from a range of sources, some of which is only available up to 2016. Therefore, the integrated data presented is up to the March 2016 year.
Household net worth increased 11 percent (or $134 billion). This was largely driven by rises of $84 billion in property values and $14 billion in currency and deposits, offset somewhat by additional loans of $12 billion.
Households own property worth $680 billion, about 45 percent of total household assets of $1,495 billion. The other main household assets are shares and other equity (38 percent), currency and deposits (10 percent), and insurance and pension funds (nearly 6 percent of total household assets).
From March 2015 to 2016, household deposits increased 10 percent to $154 billion, and provided an increased share of banking funding.
Financial assets, including bank deposits and shares, held by New Zealanders rose from $1,780 billion in 2007 to $2,575 billion in 2016 (up 45 percent). Most financial assets are held in equity ($1,045 billion) and loans ($769 billion).
Similarly, non-financial assets, including property, are $1,697 billion at March 2016, up 44 percent from $1,182 billion in 2007.
Dec 18, 2017 - Air New Zealand will fly nearly 6000 extra seats on its seasonal service between Christchurch and Fiji in 2018, an increase of more than 40 percent. The airline currently operates two services per week from Christchurch to Nadi International Airport between July and October, increasing to three services per week at peak times. Next year Air New Zealand’s Christchurch-Fiji service will start five weeks earlier on 26 May, with up to four services per week in the busy school holiday period. Air New Zealand Chief Revenue Officer Cam Wallace says the airline has tripled capacity between Christchurch and Fiji over the past five years. “Fiji is a clear favourite for Kiwi holidaymakers. We’re pleased these extra flights will offer South Island travellers greater flexibility for their holiday plans.” The new flights will be operated by the airline’s A320 aircraft and are available for purchase at www.airnewzealand.co.nz
| An Air New Zealand release || December 18, 2017 |||
Dec 18, 2017 - The boss of New Zealand’s census is confident Stats NZ's IT system is up to the job. But internal emails from October paint a shambolic picture of the $121 million project, with contractors pulled in to fix bugs in a key system, delays to crucial testing and blown budgets for individual projects. David Williams reports.
On October 20, a day after Winston Peters announced New Zealand First would form a government with Labour, the head of New Zealand’s 2018 census, Denise McGregor, emailed her staff the management team’s newly drafted list of cultural principles.
“We are one team, not a series of projects,” was the first of 11 principles inspired by a speech from legendary rugby sevens coach Gordon Tietjens. Others included “when things go wrong we collectively fix without blame”, “share the load” and “escalate early”. In a sign of the sweat being expended on Stats NZ’s momentous project, the bigwigs vowed to lead by example by having time off to “ensure we are fit for the job” and “getting out” at lunchtime.
Optimism turned to grim realism, however, in the “IT update” section of McGregor’s email, which focused on the crucial Salesforce system, used to manage field staff work. “The Salesforce issue continues to provide challenges for resolution and is impacting the delivery of the overall programme,” McGregor’s email said. “There are a number of priority one work packages blocked from completion, and a backlog of testing is starting to build.”
Salesforce testing had improved, she said. The full file of 2.1 million records – all street addresses in New Zealand – had loaded and “a number” of errors were being investigated.
Lurching from success to doom
Two hours later, McGregor wrote an unvarnished assessment to Stats NZ deputy chief executive Teresa Dickinson. The “good news”, she said via email, was that 2 million records loaded. However, 103,000 records failed and performance issues
Continue here to read the full article by David williams on Newsroom
Dec 18, 2017 - A major report released today shows that New Zealand has a significant and growing digital skills shortage, primarily due to the speed and scale of the increase in demand for tech skills. The report, commissioned by the New Zealand Digital Skills Forum, should sound a warning bell to industry, government and the education sector, the Forum’s chair Victoria MacLennan says. More than 120,000 people were employed in the tech sector last year and about 14,000 new jobs were created. However, only 5,090 tech students graduated in 2015, and 5,500 tech visas were granted in same period, demonstrating a shortfall. At the same time, New Zealand is facing an 11 per cent annual increase in demand for software programmer jobs, the report says. We also face a diversity challenge – in 2016, 36 per cent of tech students were female and only eight per cent were Māori “The growing skills shortage in New Zealand’s IT industry and broader economy is very real. Industry, government, and the education sector need to continue working closely together to accelerate plans and activities to address it, otherwise the future prosperity of New Zealand will suffer greatly,” MacLennan says. “However, it’s important to note the digital skills challenges our economy faces are not new and are certainly not limited to New Zealand. “This report represents a great opportunity. Technology is such an important part of day-to-day life for all New Zealanders, meaning that just about everyone has a stake in our success as we respond to the challenges of our changing digital world. “We need to continue working together to help nurture and develop local talent, and at the same time make sure that we fill any gaps from the best talent we can find worldwide. If we do this well then we have the opportunity to make New Zealand a technology powerhouse on the world stage. “The findings in this report show that the supply of people with advanced digital skills doesn’t meet demand and this gap is growing. Through the Digital Skills Forum, a collaborative group of leading tech industry and government agencies, we’re working together to address digital skills shortages. But more must be done. “There has never been a better time than now for action. Our school education sector has this year been reformed to give every Kiwi child a digital education. Through targeted reviews and industry recognition, our tertiary sector is better positioned than ever before to deliver the quality graduates needed. There are also more alternative pathways into digital roles than ever before. “As a country, we must help younger New Zealanders discover a prosperous future working in the technology roles where the median salary is $82,000, almost twice the average median salary. “Together, we need to remove barriers for our graduates finding their first job, make it easier for those seeking a career change, and improve the gender and cultural diversity in digital roles. None of us can do this on our own. “As a result of this report, we now have tangible and concrete data on the size, scale and nature of the digital skills shortage in our sector and across the New Zealand economy. This report identifies both a challenge and a massive opportunity, but it will take all of us to realise it. The New Zealand Digital Skills Forum includes NZRise, NZTech and IT Professionals NZ from the tech sector, and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Ministry of Education, the Department of Internal Affairs and the Tertiary Education Commission from government.
| A MakeLeomonade release || Dec 18, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242