The CKL Director Team 
L-R: Campbell Burrows, Bevan Houlbrooke, Bronwyn Rhynd, Geoff Webster, Mark Gilberd

Looking back across 2018, the main element that stands out is the number of large land development projects that CKL has been a part of in the Waikato and in Auckland. It is definitely a strong indicator of continued and confident economic growth and investment. The increasing demand for housing and changes to regional plans have generated opportunities for developers to create new communities with a mix of housing options as well as green spaces and commercial precincts, and for individual property owners to realise the development potential of their land. A number of large projects have been closed out this year and the hard work and dedication of teams who have been part of these developments for up to 10 or 15 years have been rewarded.

One example is the Greville Road project in Auckland’s Albany by CDL Land NZ Ltd. It has been a challenging site for a range of reasons, including poor ground conditions and the need for significant earthworks. There was also an existing waterway on the development, which required some innovative engineering to integrate it into the stormwater design and protect the flora and fauna of the area.
This multistage residential development was started in 2002 and put on hold for a while during the GFC. Some of our surveyors, planners and engineers have worked on this project since the start and are looking forward to obtaining title for the last stage soon after Christmas 2018.
Our client partnerships are based on strong collaboration in order to deliver the best possible land development solutions. Over the last year we have grown our team across all levels, providing us with the opportunity to bring even broader expertise to the table. We have had great people join our team across all of the offices and we have made strategic appointments to strengthen our leadership team.
Our most recent addition has been a dedicated Transportation Engineering practice with the appointment of Judith Makinson.
The 2015 merger with Stormwater Solutions has seen us go from strength to strength, integrating three waters and environmental design thinking into all of our engineering projects. Our work in this field has set new benchmarks both in NZ and internationally and was recognised in 2018 with Bronwyn Rhynd being named as Stormwater Professional of the Year. A well deserved honour, congratulations Bronwyn.
Across the course of the year we have also celebrated the achievements of a number of our team members obtaining the highest professional status within their relevant professional institutes. It is wonderful to see a real commitment across the board to professional development as we continue to invest in our people and create exciting career opportunities.
This year has also marked CKL’s 30^th Anniversary, a milestone we are all immensely proud of. Starting off as a small business serving the local Hamilton and Te Awamutu community, CKL has continued to grow, innovate and expand - pushing boundaries and challenging norms to ensure we stay at the forefront of the industry. Our pioneering spirit and dedication to delivering excellence for our clients has fuelled our passion and continues to drive us forward.
As we look to 2019, there are new clients who have recently joined us and some exciting projects scheduled. As we continue to grow in size and in our practice offerings, we are putting in place systems and processes to support this growth and deliver greater efficiencies for our clients.
2019 will be another busy and rewarding year for all of us and we look forward to sharing it with you. 
Geoff 

Christmas Giving – Getting into the spirit of the season
 

The first of our client events was held in Auckland at the gorgeous Bluestone Room on Thursday 1 November. Bringing together clients, suppliers, partners and members of the CKL Auckland team, there was great food, a well patroned bar, good conversation, and a speech or two by the Auckland based Directors. The Hamilton event, on Thursday 22 November, at Gothenburg, was well attended with clients and partners coming together for the event. All five of the CKL Directors were there and the celebrations continued well into the evening. The Te Awamutu celebration was held at Cosana on Wednesday 14 November. This was a smaller affair with a relaxed, casual, community vibe due ot the longevity of these strong client relationships. 
Each celebration was a wonderful night and it was a great opportunity to bring people together so close to Christmas. Thanks to everyone who joined us to celebrate our 30 years, it has been a pleasure to work with you. We look forward to working with you all over the next 30 years!

 

CKL has always been at the forefront of the industry when harnessing new technology to benefit our land development clients.
We were one of the first companies to use GPS technology, electronic distance measuring, and LIDAR in the 90s. We also used helicopters for aerial photography, and were early adopters of drones (UAV/RPAS) to conduct surveys of inaccessible or dangerous sites. We see the potential for technology to enhance our service offering, revolutionise our industry, and add greater value to our client projects.
Leading the technology charge is CKL’s Glen Balks, based in our Hamilton office. He is responsible for our drones as well as the photogrammetry software that is used to extract geometric information from two-dimensional images or video. Glen is always interested in how technology can be applied to advance our knowledge and over the years has shared his expertise with university students to look at real world applications.

Glen’s latest project, undertaken as a collaboration/mentorship with Manawa Huirama, a Masters student from Waikato University, is applying the photogrammetry techniques used with drones, to photographs and established trigonometry points to build 3D models of a riverbank to assess erosion over time.
Manawa is undertaking her Masters of Science and her interest in local ecology and river water quality, led her to develop a project to investigate riverbank erosion and identify the sources of sediment present in a Waikato stream. This project is of particular interest to NIWA and the local iwi.
Four different sites were selected along the stream in a pastural area surrounded by native bush. A series of overlapping photographs were taken of each site from set positions, and permanent or fixed structures were used as reference points. 
Glen has provided guidance on the 3D modeling and photogrammetry to produce a detailed model of the riverbank, which can be used as a baseline for future studies. Manawa is also looking at the ecosystem surrounding the stream in order to identify the main source of sediment. This information will contribute to a better understanding of how the process of erosion is occurring in the local environment and inform future management strategies. 
The technology has the potential to be applied to a range of other terrestrial modeling projects. One possible example could be to prepare an as-built model of a building and how it sits within its surroundings, which could be used for community consultation programmes.
Using the combination of drones and still photography allows us to overcome some of the shortfalls of drone technology alone, such as measuring vertical surfaces and under eaves. This could also be used for creating internal maps of buildings.
Collaborations like this one with Waikato University provide students with the opportunity to partner with industry organisations and access best practice methodologies.

Over the past 10 months we have had the opportunity to work on a project at Hamilton Pool’s Waterworld. A relatively small project with big community impact.
Waterworld is a complex that comprises a range of paddling, swimming and diving pools, hydroslides, hydrotherapy pool, gym, steam room and sauna, as well as café and outdoor playground and BBQ area. The indoor 50m swimming pool is used extensively for competitive swim meets but did not meet the latest FINA specifications for an Olympic-size pool.
Strict regulations have been put in place by FINA for pool length, width, depth, lane number, and lane width, as well as pool volume, and these must be met to ensure a pool can be used for World Championships.

As part of an upgrade of the indoor facilities, Hamilton Council planned to increase the depth of the pool to ensure it met the most recent FINA requirements, providing future opportunities for international competitions, or at least for swim times recorded in the pool to be accepted by FINA.
CKL’s survey team led by Stuart Lennox from our Hamilton office started work on this project in January 2018 to verify the dimensions of the pool and establish measurements at specified points across the pool.
After construction was completed, CKL was called back in to resurvey the pool and provide a certification letter to FINA.
The pool has since received certification so all competitive swimmers can rest assured that their swim times are in line with FINA requirements and can be regarded as world class. 

The older of the two hockey turfs at Innes Common, Hamilton, had issues of water ponding on the turf which impacted the pace of the hockey games and created an inconsistent play surface. It was thought that subsidence within the porous asphalt substructure might have contributed to these issues. As part of a review and remediation plan, CKL was brought in to survey the turf and provide a detailed grid survey, which plotted the contour of the entire playing surface. The area was divided up into 5x5m squares and survey measurements taken to an accuracy of 5mm. A 1:400 scale survey plan provided to the Council as part of the review.
The playing field has since been redeveloped, including the replacement of the subsurface and new turf was laid. Hamilton now boasts two high quality hockey fields, available to schools and clubs for training and competitions. 

For the fifth year now, CKL has participated in the Rodney Coast Challenge, increasing our numbers every year as the internal rivalry heats up!
This year four teams of four and one team of two set off from Muriwai beach to run, cycle, mountain bike, and kayak to the finish line in the Wenderholm Regional Park.

Cam Burrows and his mate Scott Macmorland (the only ring-in to the CKL team) made up team CamSco. Scott started off with the run and cycle legs and Cam took over for the mountain bike and kayak legs. They took the challenge rather seriously and crossed the line with a time of 3:56:54, just under their 4-hour target.
The other teams, each made up of four CKL team members, set a cracking pace and enjoyed some healthy rivalry along the way.
The Environmentals, comprising Chad Croft, Claire Donnelly, Eugene Salmin and Bronwyn Rhynd, crossed the line second with a time of 4:30:11.
The Fellowes, our young surveyors - Katie Anson, Tyler Treadwell, Henry Evans, and Josh Frazer, left the senior surveyors in their dust and finished in 4:31:20.
Taking their honours with a time of 4:38:54, Off The Scale (CKL’s planning team of Nic Brooker, Daniel Brown, Nadine Soutschka, and Zita Talaic-Burgess) were the fourth CKL team to finish.
True to their name, the Craft Beer Cruisers (our senior surveyors Simon Reid, Malcolm Dawson, Clive Valpy, Alan Frazer) cruised in with a respectable time of 4:59:36.
Simon Reid holds the cup for the team member who has taken part in five competitions, and together with Malcolm Dawson they are considered the ringleaders within CKL. They mobilise the troops, coordinate the teams and manage registrations in the lead up to the event. They also ensure the CKL tent is set up at the finish line with the BBQ on and cold beers (craft beers) waiting as a reward for their efforts.    
It is a great day out all round with strong family support along the route and a relaxed picnic BBQ lunch across the afternoon. Will we see you on the course next year? 

If any of our CKL team members can look back over the past 12 to 18 months and wonder if there is anything left for life to challenge them with, it is Dillan Hockly in our Hamilton office. Dillan joined CKL in January 2016, after completing his studies in Dunedin and working for 3 years in Wellington. He then moved into a house in Te Awamutu with his partner Michelle. On the day they moved in, Dillan got down on one knee and proposed to Michelle. They decided to get married on their upcoming 10 year anniversary which was also his Nana's wedding anniversary, on 12th May 2017.
They married at The Boatshed in Karapiro, a gorgeous venue, but it just happened to be the day of Tropical Cyclone Donna, one of the most severe tropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere that year. As expected, outdoor wedding photos were challenging!

Within two months of being married, Michelle and Dillan found out they were going to be parents, which was the first of a chain of significant events for this couple. 
During the early stages of the pregnancy, Michelle received devastating news that her father had died unexpectedly from heart failure following an exploratory surgery. This news rocked them both. 
Michelle suffered from severe morning sickness (hyperemesis gravidarum) throughout the entire pregnancy, resulting in periodic hospitalisation and forcing her to leave her job as an Architectural Designer at 6 weeks pregnant.
As they approached the baby’s due date of 12th April 2018, Dillan was informed that his application and submission for his Cadastral Survey license had been accepted and he was required to attend interviews in Wellington with the Licensing Board on the 10th April. He knew timing was going to be tight, but he never expected just how tight. 
On the 5th April, Michelle’s health took a dive. Her blood pressure became extremely high and she had started to lose vision in one eye. The baby was not engaged, and with concern for both Michelle’s health and that of the baby, she was rushed in for an emergency caesarian on the afternoon of the 6th April. Amongst the panic and confusion, Dillan and Michelle welcomed son Nathan into the world.  
Whilst juggling a newborn, Dillan remained focused on his LCS interview and planned to fly to Wellington for the day, leaving a still sick Michelle and baby Nathan in the hands of family members.
Cue another tropical cyclone! Dillan missed his flight and was rebooked onto a later flight, resulting in a panicked call to the LCS Board to postpone the start time of his interview. He eventually made it into Wellington and conducted the interview, albeit sleep deprived and exhausted. He did receive good news though and was informed he had passed the exam and would be awarded his license.
Keen to return home to Michelle and Nathan, Dillan boarded his flight to Auckland and sat in the plane on the tarmac for an eternity due to the high winds, before the flight was cleared to take off. Once they were in the air, they were informed that Auckland Airport has been closed due to the cyclone and their flight was to return to Wellington. But that didn’t eventuate as Wellington Airport was also closed down. His flight was redirected to Christchurch, resulting in an overnight stay and a second attempt to fly home to Auckland via Wellington the following day.
Not long after these events, Michelle’s grandmother passed away, losing her battle with cancer. Within the last two months, Michelle and Dillan have said farewell to each of their last remaining grandparents, and rallied together to support the family as Dillan’s dad went in to hospital for surgery for cancer.  Michelle herself was also hospitalised a few times with gallstones and then had surgery to remove her gall bladder. They also received a diagnosis of severe silent reflux for baby Nathan. Although it has been a challenging time for the new parents, they are pleased to finally have a diagnosis and a treatment plan that will help Nathan settle and thrive. 
As they reflect on the past 18 months, Michelle and Dillan are grateful for the unwavering support of their friends and colleagues at CKL and hope to put this sequence of events behind them.
After a significant time of disruptions resulting in periods away from the office, Dillan has thrown himself back into his projects and the broader scope of work now available to him as a Licensed Cadastral Surveyor. He is working on a number of two or three lot subdivisions within the Waikato and has also been responsible for the cadastral surveying for the final stages of Rotokauri Rise.
We wish Dillan, Michelle, and baby Nathan good health and happiness for 2019. 

© Copyright 2018 CKL, All rights reserved. 

Contact us: 
Auckland Office  •  Level 2, 25 Broadway, Newmarket, Auckland  •  Tel (09) 524 7029
Hamilton Office  •  58 Church Road, Te Rapa, Hamilton  •  Tel (07) 849 9921
Te Awamutu Office  •  103 Market Street, Te Awamutu  •  Tel (07) 871 6144
www.ckl.co.nz 

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.