How to Change the World. Clare Feeney

identify responsible operators on a regular basis

      

enable operators to show evidence of their technical ability to meet the new standards

      

ultimately (perhaps) to create a qualification in erosion and sediment control.

      Industry engagement was seen as crucial to the success of the training. A focus group, comprising representatives from the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand, consultants, contractors, developers, environmental interest groups and local councils in the region, was set up to assess the options for upskilling the industry.

      On the focus group’s advice, and with their input, an introductory seminar and two training workshops were developed for the ARC by two external consultants, of whom I was one. Brian Handyside, who is still my co-trainer, was the other.

      The introductory seminar launched the training program to senior managers in the development, consulting and contracting sectors. It aimed to raise their awareness of the need for better environmental performance and the availability of training to help deliver it, in the hope that they would encourage senior management to release their staff to attend the workshops.

      In June 1996, together with key staff from the ARC and the focus group, we trialled the content and delivery of a one-day workshop for contractors (constructors) and a two-day workshop for consultants (designers) and selected a study site for the two-day workshop. The pilot was a lot of fun, and generated immensely helpful feedback. It allowed key players to promote the training to their constituencies, and improved both content and delivery before the first workshops began in July 1996.

      The training objectives were to improve:

      

understanding of the vulnerability of Auckland’s waterways to accelerated sedimentation from development activities, as well as the benefits to the region of a healthy environment

      

understanding of the principles and practices of erosion and sediment control

      

the preparation and implementation of erosion and sediment control plans

      

consultation with affected parties and the quality of assessments of environmental effects

      

awareness of the legal liabilities of developers, consultants and contractors for poor erosion and sediment control.

      As a result of this, the ARC hoped that:

      

plan preparers (usually consultants, the designers of developments and their environmental controls) would submit a higher standard of information in support of their applications for environmental authorizations

      

plan implementers (usually contractors) would better understand the importance of a high standard of construction of erosion and sediment controls and good attention to design detail

      

informed dialogue would take place among consultants, contractors and the ARC to ensure that controls were adapted to changing conditions on site.

      In March 1999, the ARC released a new technical publication, ‘TP90’, a much more comprehensive erosion and sediment control guideline. TP90³⁰ was a significant step change for the industry and gave an added boost to the training program.

      The industry was widely consulted during the preparation of the TP90 guideline. The ARC gave notice that it had made a significant investment in helping the industry meet the new standards by preparing a new guideline, delivering training and providing ongoing annual workshops and newsletters – and that it would be up to the industry to perform, or appropriate enforcement would follow. Over the following years, vigorous enforcement action by the Council sent a clear signal to the industry about the desired performance standard.

      Several thousand contractors and consultants have now attended their respective one- and two-day workshops since TP90 training began in 1995.

A gradual evolution

      By the time Auckland’s TP2 erosion and sediment control guideline had been published in 1992, a number of key elements of today’s program had developed – not with 20:20 foresight and a detailed plan, but as a natural development over the years.

      The key elements were:

      

scientific research that had defined the nature and scale of the erosion and sediment control problem; subsequently, small applied research projects began to evaluate the effectiveness of existing and new control measures

      

a policy framework that set out how the ARC, as the environmental regulator, would manage erosion and sediment control

      

a regulatory framework that required land developers to apply for environmental authorizations, thus enabling the ARC to impose a legal requirement for developers and their agents to install erosion and sediment controls

      

a technical guideline in the form of TP2, prepared to help contractors on big construction sites to build the measures required to control erosion and sediment runoff

      

an education program to address the lack of industry awareness of the new technical standards for erosion and sediment control. Although informal, it consisted of several newsletters and one or two seminars every year, involving service providers, councils, consultants and contractors, and these were well received by the industry

      

an industry liaison group, initially comprising the original focus group, that provided a forum for airing issues between regulators and regulated and that enabled other issues and opportunities to be discussed informally.

      With the introduction in 1999 of TP90, the more detailed technical guideline to help people comply with the policy and regulations, the Auckland erosion and sediment control program progressively added new elements, including:

      

the provision of regular training workshops on erosion and sediment control:

      

a two-day workshop for plan preparers: these are the project design consultants who prepare erosion and sediment control plans, apply for resource consents for the works, and instruct contractors on behalf of the client

      

a one-day workshop for plan implementers: these are the contractors who do the work on site and build, maintain and decommission the erosion and sediment controls