News and Views

New solution to an old problem

Maintaining public facilities also involves continuously looking out for new ideas and innovative ways to assist our customers and maximise value for community initiatives.

Heat Pump Installation Nears End

Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (ŌCHT) and Christchurch City Council (CCC) are on track for completion of heat pump installations into nearly all OCHT managed properties by the end of July 2020. The number of installations currently stands at 2000 with Citycare Property one of eight accredited installation contractors for the programme.

Inspirational libraries

Community libraries are treasures in New Zealand and Citycare Property is proud to have refurbished three of these neighbourhood assets in two different cities recently.

Safely managing traffic

Road works create potential hazards for traffic, pedestrians, cyclists and shoppers, so Citycare Civil’s traffic management crews play a crucial role to keep everyone safe while work proceeds.

Turf transformation for polocrosse

A fiercely competitive front row tussle can rough up the rugby field, but nothing like the impact of constant, thundering, steel horses’ hooves over a weekend of polocrosse.

A small leak leads to a massive hillside clean-up

Innovative thinking by the Citycare Water maintenance team was needed recently to solve the difficult problem of a hillside washout caused by a small water leak at Taylor’s Mistake, Christchurch.

A much loved tropical sanctuary

Tauranga’s Tropical Display House is a botanical wonderland maintained by Citycare Property horticulturalists with special devotion.

Walking around Lyttelton Harbour

Kilometre by kilometre, Citycare Civil is helping Christchurch City Council by connecting communities around Lyttelton Harbour via an aspirational walkway from Godley Head to Adderley Head.

Continuous road maintenance

Even with fewer vehicles on the roads, faults such as potholes still appear.

Local knowledge essential

Locals taking care of critical assets in their communities – that’s the role of the 22-strong Citycare Water team providing three waters services to the Clutha District.

Autumn’s essential street clearing

The autumn colours are beautiful but the leaves dropping in streets can create messy havoc and block stormwater systems, so Citycare Civil’s street sweeping teams have been on essential duty recently keeping local environments clear.

On call 24/7

Wastewater pipes still get blocked regardless of New Zealand being in Alert Level 4 or 3 and Citycare Water teams are on call 24/7.

Water and humour essential in Dunedin

Sharing a laugh is an essential part of the team culture as the Dunedin Citycare Water staff provide continuous water supplies, stormwater drainage and wastewater treatment for the city’s residents and businesses through a 1,450-kilometre pipe network.

Essential access to toilets

Bus drivers and waste management teams need access to public toilets during the national COVID-19 lockdown and councils around New Zealand have kept some public restrooms open for their use.

Fixing burst pipes

Work is different every day for the Citycare Water construction team in South Auckland – and that’s how John Quinn loves it.

Maintaining healthy buildings

Keeping buildings healthy is an essential service for Citycare Property teams around the country who maintain heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) services whether or not people are working in or using the facilities.

Aquatic weeding to prevent flooding

Aquatic weed removal crews in Christchurch have received lots of compliments from the public as they’ve walked by during their exercise breaks in the COVID-19 lockdown.

Essential work in all weather

A few days of rain in the early stages of the national COVID-19 lockdown has meant a team of 28 workers in the Citycare Water Christchurch land drainage and waterways team has been busy clearing stormwater grates and checking essential stormwater outflows.

H2O appreciation

With most Kiwis at home presently, there’s extra pressure on our water systems.

Massive bollards in place

As locals take some solo exercise time in Seaside Park in Otahuhu, South Auckland, during the national COVID-19 lockdown, they’ll notice the huge new bollards in place separating the road and car park from the recreational area.

Seaside hot pools for Christchurch

While opening day is postponed during the national state of emergency due to COVID-19, a new seaside facility in Christchurch will provide lots of relaxing and soothing fun for bathers once things are back to normal.

Helping protect our kauri

South Auckland’s first urban kauri dieback hygiene stations have been installed by Citycare Property at Clevedon Scenic Reserve in South Auckland and Kirks Bush in Papakura.

Drought-stricken rural Aucklanders get emergency water

Residents in rural Auckland are tapping into Citycare’s water expertise to relieve unprecedented dry conditions.

Kayak ramp makes a big splash

The big splash of a kayak launching into the Avon River was a key part of the official opening of Christchurch’s Avon Loop by the Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration Hon Megan Woods recently.

New Build Underway

Citycare Property is currently working on a new build at Linwood Avenue School in Christchurch. Stage one of this two stage project was completed in December 2019 and comprises four teaching spaces and a high dependency unit.

Protecting the Plant

Tauranga City has recently completed a significant project to connect the Matapihi community facilities and nearby properties to the public wastewater network. The Council agreed to connect the community’s two marae, Waikari and Hungahungatoroa, the kura and kohanga reo to the network at the same time.

Driving Inclusiveness

Misty Soper began her career at Citycare Civil as a temporary labourer cleaning the streets of Christchurch. She joined the team on 23 February 2011, one day after the Canterbury earthquakes. Her previous experience had been working as a manager of the Treehouse karaoke bar in the heart of Christchurch city.

Christmas Clean Up

When thousands turn up to a party, it takes a lot to clean up!

Christmas at Christchurch Airport

The Christmas decorations at Christchurch Airport are always a bit of a talking point for visitors to the city. This year, Citycare Property adorned several large Christmas trees, both inside and outside the terminal, and put up more than 45 metres of Christmas garland.

Getting the green light

In New Zealand’s second biggest city, maintenance on and under the roads is a daily occurrence. The cones go up and traffic is diverted or safely navigated around the workers who are going about their jobs repairing pipes, mending road surfaces or improving and building new roading systems. The planning...

Sleeping Easy

Citycare Property has secured the contract for scheduled maintenance work on the new Novotel Hotel at Christchurch Airport, with an anticipated start date of mid to late November.

MAINTAINING OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS DURING BUILD

Citycare Property is fast gaining a reputation for delivery of excellence in the education sector, with new builds requiring the important capacity to accommodate ongoing school activities during the construction process. This requires a special skill set and transparent client relationship.

Avon Loop Work Underway

In October, Citycare Civil started regeneration work on Christchurch’s Avon Loop contract for Ōtākaro. This is the last stretch of work required to complete the new pedestrian and cycle friendly pathway from Fitzgerald Avenue to the Health Precinct.

The Lakeside Soldiers Memorial Hall was closed in September 2010 due to earthquake damage. Selwyn District Council contracted Citycare Property to begin construction of the new hall in April 2018. It is the third community hall that Citycare Property has worked on with the local council.

PRIORITIES RESET KEY TO FUTURE CITYCARE SUCCESS

The Citycare Group has reported a net loss after tax of $724k for the 2019 financial year.

Like baking a great cake

Out on Springs Road, Christchurch, on a site that used to be a gravel pit for the Christchurch City Council quarry, there is a small but busy area of land behind a Citycare fence where there is some hot stuff going on.

On Site with Emily Sutton

Emily Sutton works at Citycare as a Sheet Piling/Digger Operator in the Civil team. Not for the faint hearted, her role involves operating a large, complex piece of machinery, driving large sheets of steel into the ground to make a safe structure to work in.

Woolston Community Facility Wins Award

Citycare are proud to have been awarded a Silver for the Woolston Community Facility at the recent Master Builders Commercial Project Awards. Citycare was engaged by Christchurch City Council to construct this new contemporary library for the local community.

Stratford District Council – Three Waters Contract

Citycare Water have added Stratford District Council to our long list of District Council clients, meaning we now provide maintenance for this critical infrastructure for some 1.9 million New Zealanders.

Cutting a rock with persistence

When Renuka Narayan began her career at Citycare as a gardener for the streetscape contract in Christchurch in 2008, she never dreamed where her career would take her. Now more than a decade later, she lives in Auckland as Operations Manager Auckland OSM for Citycare Group.

Simple Steps to Strong Relationships

Relationships matter and a good relationship is built on trust, follow through and most importantly collaboration, says Cindi Crooks Relationship Manager at Citycare.

Reeling and Marking

Dunedin's Sunnyvale Park football pitch is ready for action in this season's football season, with the Citycare Property team preparing the ground to host home games in the national men's and women's leagues.

Citycare Group - steadily growing a national presence from the rubble of the Canterbury earthquakes

In the wake of the Christchurch earthquakes, Citycare Group became known as an exemplar of the notion that adversity breeds character, with its people working around the clock to restore essential services. Seven years on, the business has grown into one of the country's largest council-owned maintenance and construction companies.

As a founding partner of WIN (Women in Infrastructure Network), Citycare Group is actively supporting more women to take leadership roles in the infrastructure and construction industries. At the first networking event for WIN's Canterbury Chapter, four women leaders provided practical advice and Kilmarnock Enterprises CEO Michelle Sharp shared her inspirational story.

Smart solutions for parks and recreation management

Smart technologies are increasingly allowing communities to cater for the recreational needs of all individuals, including people of all ages and abilities. Citycare Property is enabling this shift towards greater inclusion by developing better, smarter, more connected open space maintenance solutions.Read about it in NZ Local Government Magazine