Staff achievements

Our staff achieve great things every day, but every now and again, something extraordinary happens! 

We'd like to share a few of these with you.

Tertiary study achievements

On-going learning and development of our staff is important and strongly supported throughout Council.  Here are a few great achievements for some of our team:

The 'Young Operator of the Year 2009' was awarded to our Apprentice Plant Technician (working at our treatment plants) by Water Industry Training to recognise up-and-coming talent in the water, wastewater and reticulation industries.

Becoming an Associate Member and Registered Landscape Architect with the NZ Institute of Landscape Architects recognised the strong commitment to continued personal development and the significant contribution to shaping our city through the plant palette, earthworks and design of certain structures for one of our Landscape Architects.

Graduating top of your class is a fantastic achievement for anyone, but doing it while working fulltime, is no mean feat!  This was acomplished recently by one of our Systems Analysts who was studying part-time to complete a Graduate Diploma in Information Technology whilst working full-time!

Top achievements were  awarded to two of our Hamilton Gardens team at the Young Horticulturalist of the Year (Amenity) competition with a first and third placing! 

Building our reputation

The Building Act requires all territoial authorities carrying out building regulatory functions to become reaccredited as a Building Consent Authority (BCA) through a 3-phase assessment provess by International Accreditation NZ (IANZ).  Council has achieved phase 2 two years ahead of schedule through huge efforts of the staff involved.  Instead of using high-cost consultants, Council utilised the skills of our own staff to acheive a result which is held in high regard by others and at a low cost.  It's a commendable achievement to all those involved.

0800 Tagbusters

Following a year or two of planning and preparation, Council has consoldiated its graffiti removal service to a single team - the Employment Development Team.  You'll see them out and about across the city removing graffiti and tagging in their distinctive sign-written van and in the team looking smart in bright coloured glow vests! 

To Report it, Remove it, Stop it simply phone the 24/7 graffiti hotline:   0800 tagbusters (0800 824 287)

Or click here to find out more about graffiti removal in our city. 

Staff member awarded QSM

The manager of Council's Community Facilities has been awarded a Queen's Service Medal  for his service to the community over the last 12 years.  The manager has acknowledged that his success would not have been possible without the mana he has earned over the years a s a committed member of and friend to the Enderley community. 

Gardens director honoured

The Director of Hamilton Gardens has recently been awarded an honorary directorate from the University of Waikato in recognition for masterminding  the Gardens from "what was a former dog-dosing strip, sand quarry and go-cart track into a 58ha park that contributes to the social, cultural and economic life of the city".   

It's all about Zoo poo!

Hamilton Zoo's poo is being put to good use!  With the cost of removing animal waste doubling, and the Waste Minimisation Bill being pushed through parliament, Hamilton Zoo staff decided it was worth its while to become more proactive about handling its waste matter.

Following the investigation of options from other zoos and councils, there was no single solution that fitted with the limited room, labour and budget constraints that Hamilton Zoo faced. 

The result of two significant strokes of luck led Council staff to get in touch with Compostech who designed and built a machine which simply attaches to the side of the zoo's existing tractor - slicing, dicing, aerating and remounding the compost pile.  The compost is then processed on site to kill any harmful bacteria and weed seeds and left for 6-8 weeks.  At the end of the process, the compost is then used on gardens and other areas around the zoo - not only saving considerable money and lessening their carbon footprint, but proving it's leading the way in recycling and becoming more self sufficient. 

Kerbing technology in demand

The inaugural Hamilton 400 has been and gone but for three Council engineers the event has a long lasting effect.

Three staff specially developed giant concrete 'lego-like' blocks that were used to create the Hamilton street race's portable traffic islands and roundabouts which can be easily removed and refitted each year - an innovation estimated to save Council more than $400,000 over seven years.

Initially the project group planned to use the same pre-cast concrete block concept use in Surfers Paradise, however decided they could improve it by removing the links and bolts in the design.  The new kerbing technology soon developed into a range of shapes to form corner blocks and nose blocks - around 1200 stationed around nine locations on the track.  Each block is just over 1m long, 200mm high and weighs 230kgs.

These new blocks have proved to be so successful that Council is considering patenting the design and has been approached by other organisations interested in using the new kerbing.

Podium placing for Council team

Hamilton City Council staff narrowly missed out on representing New Zealand after placing second in the 2008 LGMA Management Challenge.  Consisting of six staff members, the HCC team participated in this annual competition which is open to all local authorities in New Zealand and  Australia.  The event saw the team act as general managers for an imaginary Australasian city and complete tasks crafted to develop individual and team competencies in predetermined management areas.

Waitakere City Council was the highest scoring New Zealand team and participated in the Australasian final.

National prizes awarded

Two Hamilton Zoo staff members were recognised by their peers at the Conservation Management Group Conference in June 2010.  Hamilton Zoo Director was elected President of the NZ Branch of the Zoo and Aquarium Association, and a Hamilton Zoo Team Leader was one of two recipients of the Conservation Management Group Individual Award for outstanding contribution to conservation during the past 12 months.  Well done!

The NZ Planning Institute presented a Distinguished Service award to our Planning Guidance Manager in November 2009 for his "significant contribution (almost 20 years in a key role at Hamilton City Council) to the image and practice of planning". 

Hamilton Gardens have achieved a Qualmark Silver Enviro Award which is an internationally recognised award acknowledging responsible NZ tourism business working towards sustainable practices.With more than 1.3 million visitors to the Gardens each year, this award assures them of our commitment to being a sustainable visitor site.

Up against very strong competition, Hamilton City Council picked up a National Sponsorship Award in the best sponsorship partnership category for the Hamilton sponsorship of the Hamilton 400 (our partners being CSM Ltd the promoters and organisers of the event).  These are highly prestigious awards with other winners on the night including Vodafone for their Warriors sponsorship, Westpac for the rescue helicopters and ASB for the tennis.

Council was also named as finalists in the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ) Awards in the Special Event/Project section for the communication plan for the 2008 summer sprinker ban and in the Sustained Public Relations Programme category for City News magazine. 

A Highly Commended Award was granted in the Government/Quasi-government Public Relations category for communication work around the city's pigeon cull.

The Regional Initiative of the Year with Distinction for Bravo! our rewards and recognition programme was awarded to us at the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand Awards and Silver was awarded at the National Marketing Awards for our strategic planning and vision for the Hamilton brand.

This is excellent recognition for the Council and further demonstrates there is a lot of excellent work going on throughout our business.

Well done to everyone involved.
 

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Human Resources
Level 1, Council Offices
Garden Place
Hamilton City Council
Private Bag 3010
Hamilton 3240
New Zealand Phone (+64) 7 838 6799
New Zealand Fax (+64) 7 838 6599
Monday to Friday 8.30am-4.30pm

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