- Kia ora
- PP2Ō Expressway video diary
- Te Waari Carkeek comes back to his roots as Project Kaiarahi
- Christine Papps to chair Community Liaison Group
- Ōtaki College Careers Expo
- Construction update
Kia ora
You’ll see from this month’s construction update that work on the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway (PP2Ō) is ramping up. Preparations for expressway construction are about to become very visible to members of the public. Safety signage and construction fencing will become a common feature around our work sites – these signs are designed to keep us all safe, so please observe and follow what they say.
Earlier this year we kicked off a project with Ōtaki College media studies students to record and document the progress of the PP2Ō Expressway on camera. We’re really pleased to share the first installment of this talented bunch of students' work in this issue of Express CONNECT. We’re really proud of their professional attitude and the quality of production they’ve come up with and are looking forward to these becoming a regular feature of this newsletter!
We’ve also seen big progress behind the scenes, with the appointment of Te Waari Carkeek as Project Kaiarahi and Christine Papps as chair of the Community Liaison Group (CLG).
Both roles are important to our connection with the community and the district. Te Waari will lead a team charged with monitoring and mitigating the project’s impact on sites of significant cultural and natural history.
Christine will lead a group which will represent community wide interests and keep the public in the loop as the PP2Ō Expressway takes shape.
We are committed to high levels of iwi partnership and community liaison and welcome these two new members to the team.
Ngā mihi
Andy Goldie, Project Manager
PP2Ō Expressway video diary
Ōtaki College media studies students' coverage of the PP2Ō Expressway sod-turning event on 7 July 2017.
Te Waari Carkeek comes back to his roots as Project Kaiarahi
Te Waari Carkeek, Project Kaiarahi
PP2Ō Expressway is the first Civil Construction project in the country to appoint a Project Kaiarahi to its management team. The new role and its work is embodied in the Ngā Hapū o Ōtaki Mitigation Plan (NHoŌMP) agreed between Treaty partners the NZ Transport Agency and Ngā Hapū o Ōtaki who hold mana-whenua over the area covered by the PP2Ō Expressway.
For Te Waari, the newly-appointed Kaiarahi, the role involves looking after his own roots and cultural heritage.
As Kaiarahi, Te Waari will be the leader or mentor of a group of kaitiaki (guardians) charged with monitoring and mitigating the project’s impact on sites of significant cultural and natural history, including urupā, marae, pā, awa and manga (rivers and streams), mahinga kai (food gathering areas) and sites for cultural ceremonies.
Five hapū created Ngā Hapū o Ōtaki to provide a collective voice for hapū in this district and represent parties having to give up ancestral lands to build the expressway.
Te Waari says that in practice, the role involves working as part of the PP2Ō Expressway team on the planning process and requirements to meet consent outcomes, and co-ordinating activities which Ngā Hapū will be directly involved with.
“I will be sharing information with the hapū and providing feedback on a very wide range of activities, ensuring that we all have no surprises.
“It’s a new opportunity to give expression to a Treaty partnership through becoming more closely involved in the construction of the expressway. What we do here will probably be an example of our efforts to work collaboratively as partners.”
Te Waari is an Ōtaki resident and was born and brought up here, one of 14 children.
“There are still 12 of us alive. We are well known as the Māori Carkeeks in Mill Road, our mother being one of the very few full-blood Māori in Ōtaki.
“I attended the primary school in Mill Road and Ōtaki College. My family lived in Mill Road on our ancestral land for generations, opposite Raukawa marae and we have been associated to all our marae for many generations back to the first arrival of our ancestors Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata in Ōtaki.
“We come from Waitohi the mother of Rangihaeata and sister of Rauparaha. Waitohi had a daughter called Te Rangitopeora who signed the Treaty of Waitangi on Kāpiti Island, her son Matene te Whiwhi also signed the Treaty. Our Raukawa ancestor Kiharoa signed the Treaty at Ōtaki. So we are pretty much embedded in the cultural framework of the community.”
Te Waari’s work in the cultural field is well-recognised in the Greater Wellington region. He has just completed a tenure at Te Papa Museum for Ngāti Toa as their kaumatua in residence while the Ngāti Toa exhibition was showing.
At the same time the Gallipoli exhibition opened which featured his grandfather Rikihana Carkeek as a member of the Pioneer Māori Battalion. Te Waari is named after Waari Te Rei, also a veteran of WW1 and Gallipoli.
Other governance roles include ones at Kāpiti Coast District Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council, and he has worked for the Department of Conservation and on Kāpiti Island with his relation John Barrett in tourism.
Te Waari is a local historian, having been trained by elders from youth to speak Māori and to speak on the marae in a traditional context.
His most immediate task is to appoint kaitiaki (guardians) to be on site when construction begins at places of great cultural importance. Kaitiaki have been put forward by Māori landowners and NHoŌ.
All will have to meet the normal PP2Ō Expressway requirements such as workplace drug and alcohol tests and observe Health and Safety standards.
Te Waari sees the importance of his work as Kaiarahi because land is a taonga tuku iho, a gift passed down from the ancestors to the present-day kaitiaki, the caretakers of the land, and a manifestation of rangatiratanga.
Christine Papps to chair Community Liaison Group
Christine Papps, Chair – Community Liaison Group (CLG)
Ōtaki Community Board chair Christine Papps has been appointed chair of the Community Liaison Group (CLG) which will represent community interests and keep the public in the loop as the PP2Ō Expressway takes shape.
Christine says she’s really pleased to be taking on what she regards as a very important role. “The CLG exists to ensure the community has input as the roadway progresses and that the views of ordinary people are heard. I am very happy to be part of making that happen.”
The recently-formed CLG brings together members of key community groups and organisations who will initially meet monthly with the project team to get an update on what’s happening during the various stages of construction. The meetings also provide an opportunity for members to raise any issues on behalf of the groups they represent.
“It’s all about two-way communication. Making sure everyone is on the same page and that there are no surprises,” says Christine.
Around 15 organisations attended the Group’s first meeting. Christine says she hopes the high level of engagement will continue and that even more organisations will come on board as construction gets underway.
“If people don’t get involved and have their say, they can’t complain if things don’t shape up the way they envisaged. This roadway is something we and future generations are going to have to live with for a long time to come so we have to get it right.”
The CLG is still open to anyone who represents a group within the community. Members have a responsibility to accurately brief their interest groups about matters discussed at the meeting and to bring any feedback to the project team and stakeholders for discussion.
If you’re not already involved and would like to be please contact the team on pp2o@nzta.govt.nz
Ōtaki College Careers Expo
Design Coordinator Emma Boon with student from Ōtaki College.
Last month PP2Ō Expressway staff from different project teams, packed up some state of the art gear and headed off to the Ōtaki College Careers Expo. "We’re passionate about what we do, so getting the opportunity to share it with others, particularly youth, is pretty cool," says Design Coordinator Emma Boon.
On show were seven of the many different career options that are offered in the construction industry. These included Stakeholder and Communications, Environmental Management, Design and Architecture, Survey, Engineering and Civil Construction. The students learnt about some of the local endemic species, had a go with water testing turbidity sensors, used virtual reality goggles to view designs, played with some of the most advanced GPS survey technology available and had a go at designing their own version of the new Ōtaki River Bridge.
"On the bridge front we’ll definitely be looking into whether large helium balloons are a viable long term option for holding up the new Ōtaki River Bridge!" said Emma.
Nine senior students were taken through one of our pre-start work essentials, the Job Safety and Environmental Analysis (JSEA) before jumping in diggers and rollers to lay a new car parking area at the back of the College. The Civil Construction crew who supervised these students came away excited that these students were not only keen to get into the industry, but had the right skills and attitude too!
We’re not sure who got more out of it, the students or the team and it just goes to show work can be fun! Thanks for having us Ōtaki College.
Construction update
Map showing PP2Ō Expressway alignment. View larger image [PDF, 1.5 MB]
This month expect to see some big changes occurring in the local landscape as enabling works start to ramp up. As works increase, so will the detail in these newsletter updates.
For ease of understanding we’ve split updates into two zones – North and South. North Zone includes works from the north bank of the Ōtaki River to Taylors Road and South Zone includes works from the south bank of the Ōtaki River to Peka Peka.
North Zone
We’re clearing vegetation around Rahui Road, Pareo-o-Matangi Reserve and to the east of State Highway 1 where it crosses over the railway tracks. The top terrace of Pare-o-Matangi Reserve will be closed to the public while this happens (approximately four-to-six weeks). Signage has been placed at the entrance of reserve while this is underway.
We're working on getting houses around Rahui Road ready for relocation. We’ll also start getting ready for work on the new Ōtaki River Bridge – initially this will include fencing off work areas and then vegetation clearance. The public walkway will remain open at all times during construction of the new bridge but at times may need to be diverted.
South Zone
In the south vegetation clearance will begin near Mary Crest and Te Horo around the ends of Beach Road and School Road. We’ll also be setting up work sites and entrance points.
New southbound off-ramp location for Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway approved
Following consultation and a consenting process the location of the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway southbound off ramp has been moved. The revised plan moves it closer to Ōtaki town, away from its original location near Taylors Road to north Ōtaki Main Road. View the updated plans. [PDF, 2.6 MB]
Things are changing. Please be extra careful when travelling through or past our work areas, observe any temporary speed limits and site signage and keep safe.
