We are delighted to say the highly experienced Peter Bailey is joining Resolve Group this month. Coming from 14 years as a General Manager with Porirua City Council, first in Utilities Policy and then Asset Management and Operations, Peter will be working from Wellington, alongside Rick van Barneveld.

In his time at Porirua City he oversaw the reduction of major water main breaks from 52 a year down to just two, the reduction of dry weather sewer overflows from 300 to zero in the last year, the development of a Regional Waste Management and Minimisation Plan, the halving of the road accident rate, a reduction in graffiti in the City and the start of the 1 billion dollar Transmission Gully project.

Prior to Peter’s appointment to Porirua City Council he worked in various roles for Transit New Zealand from its formation in 1989. His final role in Transit was as Highways Engineer for the Wellington Region, which covers the bottom of the North Island and top of the South Island. In this role, Peter was responsible for the operations and maintenance of the highway network, and the planning and development on projects other than SH 1. Notable achievements in this role were the completion of the Thorndon Overbridge strengthening at 22% under the contract price, development of the business case for the construction of the Stoke Bypass and the setting up of the Marlborough Roads.

Peter has extensive experience in management and strategic business planning and won a Business Excellence Award in 2004. He has worked for both national and local government organisations in the areas of asset management, transportation, project management, contract administration and procurement. He has provided both strategic leadership and technical knowledge locally, regionally and nationally.

He is skilled at resolving issues and disputes so that all parties accept solutions. He is strong on innovation and initiative, as his Excellence in Building Professions Innovation Winner Award (1999) shows. He has volunteered as an IPENZ Assessor and sat on the Executive Road Controlling Authority Forum managing research and guidelines development.

Peter and his wife, Margaret, have three adult children, Anna, Tim and Joseph, who all live in Wellington. He is a keen dinghy sailor and competes with Joseph in the Flying Dutchman class.

Senior Consultant Karen Fehl recently attended a seminar in Auckland presented by the NZTA National Cycling Team, a group designed to promote and streamline planning and procurement, cycle safety and the optimisation of transport networks.

Cycling is currently the fastest growing mode of transport in Auckland and with the government announcement in March of a further $100 million in funding for cycling through the Urban Cycleways Fund (UCF), there is now an associated emphasis on delivering cycle projects.

The seminar was aimed at assisting future programming and planning for cycle projects in light of this investment and was attended by people from a range of backgrounds, including consultants, cycling advocates, coordinators and educators, project managers and funding specialists.

Topics of discussion included the current state of play with cycling and cycle strategy in NZ, funding and the business case approach, types of people on bikes and their needs, overview design concepts, community involvement and promotion, and evaluating the benefits of cycle schemes.

Karen, who worked on cycle facilities early in her career in Wellington, and is interested in how different road user’s needs are managed on arterial road projects such as the bus lanes project on Great North Road, found the seminar both stimulating and worthwhile.