Michelle Whitaker Email & Phone Number

Auckland, Nz

Auckland, New Zealand

I am passionate about enabling resilient and sustainable infrastructure that makes Auckland thrive. As part of this role I lead Watercare’s engagement with key developers on large-scale, complex residential and commercial developments. Particular focus of the role is early engagement to assess infrastructure servicing options and issues. I work closely with Auckland Council and CCO’s (Council Controlled Organisations) to coordinate infrastructure master planning and am designing and developing new processes and procedures for the team. Current programmes I lead are:• Tamaki Regeneration, a placemaking, 20 year, large urban transformation project (brownfield), 12km east from CBD Auckland providing new homes, with a mix of social, affordable and market houses. Intentions are holistic, including pathways to employment, housing independence plus town centre revitalisation, amenity upgrades and high-quality urban design. • Working with large scale developers in Massey, Whenuapai, Redhills, 18 km north west of Auckland. In 2018, Government provided funding through the Housing Infrastructure Fund to unlock major infrastructure projects in the northwest, in turn enabling new housing development. The Redhills Precinct was enabled by the Auckland Unitary Plan and the Whenuapai Structure Plan, which sets out the framework for transforming Whenuapai from semi-rural to urban over next 10 – 20 years. Watercare is New Zealand’s largest company in the water and wastewater industry, supplying around 437 million litres of water to Auckland every day. We draw water from 23 sources, treat and supply it to homes and businesses via a vast network of pipes. We collect, treat and dispose of around 460 million litres of wastewater daily, including trade waste from industry. We carry out significant work to upgrade and build infrastructure so we can maintain levels of service and provide capacity for a fast-growing population.

As Planning Advisor I led consents policy and specialist advice functions for multi-unit developments which included:• Advised developers, architects, consultants and waste companies regarding waste plans• Established SLA (service level agreement) with regulatory services including agreement on specialist advice triggers and statutory timeframes• Achieved non-rates revenue income for the unit for advice provided• Gained budget for and recruited, trained and managed consultants/external contractors• Set up new consents system to administer incoming queries plus reporting functions• Developed the waste design element of the Auckland Design Manual• Delivered training to town planners, urban designers, development and traffic engineers to encourage understanding of good design and effective and efficient waste systems• Provided subject matter expertise (design, input and review) to technical working groups developing Auckland Transport and Auckland Council Codes of Practice• Member of intensification technical working group working with Auckland Council Chief Engineering Unit and Healthy Waters.Another core function of this position was development and lead for regional operational waste policies, involving working collaboratively with teams, designing, facilitating and presenting policy review workshops to enable decision making by senior management and PCG (Project Control Group).As I really enjoy sharing my knowledge I developed a ‘policy 101 induction session’ for new staff and other personnel from Council to understand waste requirements as laid out in the Waste Minimisation Act, the waste plan, bylaw, goals, policy and waste data. I received awesome feedback from these sessions and they enabled new staff to understand legislative background, why council is involved in waste minimisation and the KPIs the unit were working towards.

Auckland

This role provided strategic planning advice to support delivery of Auckland Council’s first Waste Assessment (published 2011) and first Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP published 2012).The role required initiation of and relationship building with internal and external stakeholders including elected members, the waste industry, community groups, residents and other councils in New Zealand.During my time in the role I oversaw the statutory analysis of special consultative process (SCP) working with democracy services and subject matter experts to review submissions received to the WMMP. My responsibilities included annual reporting monitoring progress of the WMMP, and input to council’s annual and long term plans.I was given responsibility to deliver Auckland Council’s first waste minimisation fund, we landed on the name 'the Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund' (WMIF 2013), this fund distributes $500,000 annually to support projects to reduce waste to landfill. I led the design of all aspects of the fund including guidelines, eligibility criteria, funding requirements and setting up and being a member of the the first funding panel. I project managed multi-unit services design, carrying out stakeholder consultation and engagement with residents, building managers, developers and the waste industry. The report I produced (2014), along with international case studies enabled the operations team to consider customer needs and satisfaction in service contract design.Responsibilities in the role developed to include waste data reviewing, such as Solid Waste Analysis Protocols (SWAP) and I produced the monitoring and reporting framework for the unit (2014).

Contracted to regulatory services (Auckland Regional Council) to carry out investigatory work to enable transfer of orphan assets (stormwater consents) to relevant owners.This role involved working with district council staff throughout the Auckland Region in a proactive and professional manner. During my time in the position I initiated and implemented process solutions for difficult consent transfers. Working with the network discharge team, stormwater and compliance teams this role allowed for better understanding and hands on experience with NZ statutory consent and compliance operations.

London Investment Management 2002 - 2008Transaction Support Investment Administrator, Client Services and Back Office OperationsOver the seven years I was employed at Thornhill Investment Management I worked in several departments within the company. Responsibilities included client and trade administration, client enquires, unit trusts, OEIC, fixed interest and bond trade settlement and project work. I was approved by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to carry out unit trust customer trading (a controlled function which required security and background checks) and worked in a support capacity to the dealers and fund managers on the investment desk. I trained and introduced new staff into the company and had to ensure job procedures and relevant databases were kept updated. I supported managers in many capacities such as research, testing and training in new systems. I provided statistical information to the executive committee and legal and compliance team, which had to be collated, interpreted and reported on a monthly basis. Working in a smaller company meant my roles were varied and each staff member had to be prepared to work independently and occasionally outside their immediate area of responsibility, sometimes at short notice.

Bachelor Of Science - Bsc, Physical Geography

Activities and Societies: Student Mentor and Trainer - GIS department, Kayaking Club Bachelor of Science

Masters Of Science, Environmental Management, Merit

MSc Environmental Management