Community Plan Forum

Nigel came over from the UK ten years ago and took up a position at Auckland Regional Council where he managed the Pollution Response Team for over 5 years. Towards the end of this time Nigel ‘battled through’ the amalgamation process and the formation of the new Auckland Council but left shortly afterwards to take up a position in industry.

He then worked as an Auditor covering Environmental, Health and Safety and Quality systems across a wide range of industries including waste management operations in New Zealand and Australia. Nigel decided to leave the rat race of Auckland and moved with his family to sunny Whakatane where he took up the position of Manager Solid Waste. Nigel is now responsible for all Solid Waste Activities including strategy, kerbside collections, recycling, waste minimisation initiatives, transfer stations, landfills etc.

David is currently the Group Manager Strategy & Development at Horowhenua District Council. A town planner by trade, David has spent the last 18 years in local government in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom carrying out a range of planning related roles.

During that time David has been able to experience most aspects of planning in the local government and resource management context with a few steep learning curves along the way.

He continues to enjoy the challenges and opportunities that working in local government brings, and thrives on the chance to make a real difference for local communities.

Andrea has more than 12 years' experience in local government policy and community planning. Since leaving her role as senior policy advisor at Waitaki District Council, where she led the production of the consultation document which won 'The Great Taituarā LTCCP Summary Competition' in 2009, she has worked as an independent contractor. Much of her work centres on stakeholder engagement planning and facilitation, and the production of documents to enable effective decision-making. Andrea indulges her passion for learning and stakeholder engagement through ongoing training with IAP2 Australasia and the University of Otago - and through talking less and listening more.

Shivani joined Taituarā in September 2015 as our Advisor, Sector Improvement. Her role involves providing sound advice and guidance to the sector. She is excited about joining our team, and having the opportunity to further work with local authorities. Shivani holds a Master of Arts in European studies with Distinction, Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management, and Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and European Languages and Cultures from the University of Canterbury. Her passion for local government brings relevant experience to a newly created role.

Raymond re-joined Taituarā in June 2014 as Sector Improvement Manager, before commencing his current role as Chief Advisor at Taituarā. He has spent most of the last 20 years in local government related roles, most recently with the Department of Internal Affairs.

He describes his job as two-thirds providing assistance to the local government sector and one-third providing advice to central government on local government matters. His ambition is to help develop a Local Government Act that doesn’t require changes every 18 months. He asks that you wish him well with this task.

Arapata is of the Ngai Tuahuriri hapu, one of the five primary hapu of Ngai Tahu in Te Waipounamu. He currently manages the Whakapapa Unit of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, the corporate entity of Ngai Tahu. This team oversees the registration process and maintenance of the Iwi members database.

Arapata is heavily involved in whanau, hapu and tribal affairs and with his wife and children still live on their whanau lands in Tuahiwi. He is very well grounded in whanau values, the same values that have been passed down through the generations. These values are called upon in many of his decision making roles, from National Trusts to whanau and Marae Trusts.

Peter Allen is a second term elected councilor on the Waimakariri District Council. He holds the portfolio of Community development and is on the Community and Recreation Committee and the Regulation and Resource Management Committee for the Council.

Peter has a background in secondary and tertiary education having been principal of Rangiora High School for 13 years and then a director at the Christchurch College of Education in charge of teacher professional development.

Peter has been a member of the panel considering the revised bylaw for Pegasus Bay which is the subject of the presentation he and Arapata Reuben will make to the Taituarā Conference.

I am currently the Invercargill City Councils City Centre Co-Ordinator and previously spent the past two years working as a Policy and Planning Analyst for the Council. In my previous role I worked on a number of stakeholder engagement planning projects and facilitation, as well as the production of key Council documents to enable effective decision-making. I thrive off working in community engagement and have been very excited to work on multiple engagement platforms for the Council. A self-professed “big picture” thinker, I have a passion for bold, innovative ideas and a drive to see them reach fruition.

Andrea is currently balancing a full time role at Whangarei District Council in information, records and data management with her role on the ALGIM board as vice president, an enjoyable role being involved with the future direction of IM in local government.

While having enjoyed a wide and varied career to date, commonality between all roles has been managing and organising information including the processes that produce and rely on information either digital or hardcopy in nature.

Andrea is passionate about business process and what can be achieved using technology as an enabler.
Outside of work she enjoys gardening, fishing and relaxing with a book - the order of which is very much weather dependant.