2008 BRP YEARBOOK.pub

An informal record of the Massey BRP in 2008
as told by staff1 and students
The 2008 BRP Yearbook
2008 was a fantastic year for the BRP and this
yearbook is our informal record of all the great things
that happened during the year.
For those new to the degree we hope it showcases the
variety in our papers, the enthusiasm of our staff, and
the great social interaction among the students.
For those that are previous students and staff of the
BRP we hope it gives you a chance to reconnect with
the degree and to see where it is at now.
And finally for the students that lived the events in
2008 we hope it both serves as a faithful
documentation of your experience in the BRP in 2008
and gives you something to look back on in many years
time.
All the best to all who have a connection with the BRP
and we look forward to another great year in 2009!
The Students and Staff of the BRP
The Bachelor of Resource and Environmental Planning
Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
For contact details see the last page of this document.
2
Page 2
BRP Year Book 2008
Contents
First Years
132.111 Fieldtrip
132.112 Fieldtrip
Second years
Bruce on the 2nds
Third Years
132.305 Fieldtrip
Fourth Years
Fourth Year Dinner
Graduation
International
Staff
Caroline on 2008
Christine on 2008
Imran on 2008
Bruce on 2008
Social Committee
Flat Crawl
Planning Ball
Quiz Night
Netball
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
Page
04
05
08
10
12
14
16
19
21
22
25
26
27
29
32
35
37
38
40
43
45
Acknowledgements
A huge thanks to all contributors to this yearbook who
saw its potential and enthusiastically provided material.
There are too many people to thank individually but
particular thanks are due to the crew that got the whole
thing started and were the core of the social club for
most of 2008:
Cam Aplin
Matt Stulen
Simon Stewart
3
Page 3
Mike Duindam
Kevin Chan
Ian Luxmoore
FIRST YEARS
Our first years are a bit hard to track and many nonBRP students take first year planning papers along with
older students catching up on missed papers. However
check out the fieldtrip reports for 111 and 112 for some
great photos!
The following first year papers were taught by the
planning department in 2008
Semester One
Planning for Sustainable Development
(With Christine Cheyne)
Introduction to GIS
(With Derek Williams and Rachel Summers)
Semester Two
Planning and the Environment
(With Katharine Moody)
The David Spring Planning Prize for the top first
year student for 2008 was awarded to Nick Law.
Congratulations to Alana Standish who is the recipient
of the Don Linklater Memorial
Bursary.
4
Page 4
Sustainable Palmy
The 132.112 Fieldtrip around Palmy
The 132.112 fieldtrip this year
was
fortunate
weather
-
to
which
have
is
great
especially
important when you are on the
skyline ridge of the lower Ruahine
range at the Te Apiti Wind Farm.
Even on a good day it can be
chilly up there in that wonderful
wind resource that Palmy has long
been known for.
The fieldtrip started with a tour of
the Summerhill subdivision to look
at integration of land-use and
transportation planning as well as
urban design and 'green' building
(not
many
evidence).
From there we went to Turitea
Road to see the green corridor
being planted in the valley to
enhance the biodiversity of this
part of the city. Also, of interest
is
the
developing
recreational
facility in the form of the Te
Araroa Trail (the national walking
trail
that
Reinga
to
extends
Bluff
from
and
Cape
passes
through Palmerston North).
5
Page 5
solar
panels
in
From the Turitea valley we drove
to the proposed site of Palmeston
North's second bridge at Staces
Road,
Aokautere,
noting
the
prime horticultural land that will
be lost to roading development
and also the very wide flood plain.
Travelling along Fitzherbert East
road to Ashhurst we had clear
views of several windfarms: Te
Rere
Hau
under
construction,
Meridian Energy's Te Apiti wind
farm atop the Saddle Road
and
Trustpower's wind farm south of
the Manawtu Gorge. We went up
to the Te Apiti windfarm and had
good views across to the Puketoi
ranges where a further windfarm
is proposed.
Lunch was at Ashhurst Domain thanks Faye for ensuring that
everyone
was
well-fed!
-
and
there was also an opportunity to
see
some
more
biodivesity
enhancement in the form of the
wetland project in an old ox bow
of the Pohangina River.
6
Page 6
In the afternoon we travelled
back along State Highway 3 to
the city, stopping at Te Matai
Road to see the other end of the
proposed second bridge - again
prime soils for horticulture. Our
next destination was Awapuni at
the far western end of Palmy
(seeing some cycling facilities on
the way through town) where the
City Council has transformed the
former landfill into a Sustainable
Development Centre.
Anne Billing and her staff gave us a tour of the recycling facility and
talked about other features of the centre and its operation. The final
part of the day was spent learning about the heritage housing
precinct of Savage Crescent
featuring some innovative urban design
and CPTED long before the contemporary planning interest in such
things.
So that was the first year's first Big Day Out in Palmy... followed up by
a fieldtrip report in which we had to assess how sustainable Palmy is
(or is not).
Article by Christine Cheyne
7
Page 7
Finding Finbar
The 132.111 Fieldtrip to Kapiti
70% of the earth’s surface is
covered in water and as Nemo’s
friends will tell you, that’s a lot of
space to find one fish. The Kapiti
coastline is 40kms long and as
Finbar Kiddle will tell you, that’s a
lot of beach to find one class.
Our fieldtrip on the Kapiti Coast
began at the Waikanae Estuary
Scientific Reserve. Having pointed
Finbar in the direction of the
public toilet Mik Peryer, the Birdman
of
Waikanae,
guided
us
around the inner lagoons pointing
out terns, herons, shags, swans,
ducks and geese - alongside tales
of
the
unusual
arrangements
of
cygnet-rearing
Thomas
the
Goose and Henry (initially misAbout 40 minutes into the trip, we
taken as a Henrietta) the Swan.
noted Fin hadn’t returned. A quick
reconnaissance of the area proved
fruitless.
Unbeknownst to us he
thought we had moved on to the
beach so had headed down there
to join us. Only problem was, he
went north along the foreshore,
and we were going south.
8
Page 8
While the class checked out dune
reconstruction and native planting
projects on the Paraparaumu side
of the Waikanae River, Fin walked
half way to Otaki before doubling
back in time to catch us up for
lunch at the Kapiti Boating Club.
Estimated round-trip? 15kms.
Biggest obstacle?
Finding a way
across that [bleep bleep] river!
Lunch was followed by talks from
Kapiti Coast District Councillor,
Sandra Patton, Betty van Gaalen
of
Greypower
Kapiti
and
Ani
Parata of Te Ati Ati/Ngati Awa. We
finished
the
day
walking
the
length of the recently installed
rock revetment at Raumati Beach
to view the adverse effects of that
hard structure on the adjacent
unprotected coastline.
Then it was back on the bus for a
much more uneventful trip home
to Massey and just like Nemo and
his friends, 132.111 lived happily
ever after.
Article by Katharine Moody 9
Page 9
SECOND YEARS
Turns out the 2008 second years are a camera shy
bunch although we managed to catch a few of them
looking good at the planning ball!
The roll of 2008:
Michael Beech
Laura Clemens
Ben Courtman
Stacey Edgecombe
Tiffany Grey
Brad Greening
Scott Major
Sarah Mako
Regan Mansfield
Hannah Murphy
Kate Pascall
Michelle Perrott
Gareth Pottinger
Emily Rogers
Scott Ryan
Courtney Smithers
Amanda Staddon-Smith
Cole Taylor
Lynette Trewavas
Tiffany Williams
10
Page 10
The following second year papers were taught by
the planning department in 2008
Semester One
Planning Hazard-Resilient Communities
(With Bruce Glavovic)
Building Collaborative Communities
(With Bruce Glavovic)
Semester Two
Professional Practice I
(With Caroline Miller)
Policy Analysis & Evaluation
(With Ian Luxmoore)
The Ken Nairn Planning Prize for the top second year
student for 2008 was awarded to Courtney Smithers.
11
Page 11
nd
The 2 Years & Me
Bruce Glavovic on Teaching 217 and 218
Of course, it is a monstrous burden for students to have to
front up to lectures in two papers being taught by the same
lecturer … aagghhh … But who has the worst of it – the
students or the lecturer? I have decided that I need regular
therapy while lecturing the same students each week or else
I will be a basket case by the end of the semester. I suppose
it could be good if the lecturer is ok but really really bad if
not … I think that in future we will have to work out a compromise whereby I promise not to be horrible and boring provided students promise not to be horrible and bored!
Well, it took a little encouragement to get the second years
to get into the zone of studying. But they were an enthusiastic bunch and soon found out where the building with the
books is … that thing called a library which can be useful for
university studies. I suppose we learned to tolerate each
other pretty well and got into a routine of lectures.
We ran quite a complex roleplay in the Collaborative
Communities paper. It was well into the semester and as a
compulsory part of the course it was quite interesting to see
some new faces there… but oh well, I suppose that they must
have been busy doing something meaningful for their local
community rather than attending lectures.
12
Page 12
Cont.
After initially overcoming the steep learning curve about the
roleplay; and learning to ‘play roles’, the dynamic of the
roleplay seemed to take on a life of its own. Everyone
seemed to get something useful out of the experience. It
certainly is one way to get the class thinking and working
through real issues in a quasi-real situation.
Overall, it seems that this is a really effective way learning
about a topic rather than relying simply on lectures! So all
in all, I survived having to lecture to the same class for 6
hours a week. The second year class may opt for group
therapy to survive the rest of the BRP … Luckily for the students and me, there are no more two class semesters from
me for this cohort of students!!!!
To wrap up, some of my favourite comments from the
SECAT for the classes were:
•
“Two hour lecture sucked but possibly not Bruce’s fault”
•
“Stimulated thinking by using interactive activities”
•
“The group project was a challenge, maybe a natural
emergency in its own sense”
•
“Bruce knows everything about anything”
•
“Some stuff was really interesting, some stuff was
really, really boring”
•
“Bruce tried to get us to think for ourselves”
And a whole bunch of other stuff that was actually very
useful as I think about revising the courses for 2009!!!
Article by Bruce Glavovic
13
Page 13
THIRD YEARS
By far the noisiest of the classes of 2008, the third
years lead from the front at most social events.
The following third year papers were taught by
the planning department in 2008
Semester One
Heritage Policy & Planning
(With David Butts)
Planning Theory
(With most staff contributing)
Semester Two
Environmental & Planning Law
(With Marilyn Bramley)
Advanced Planning Techniques
(With Ian Luxmoore)
Urban Planning I
(With Imran Muhammad)
The J T Stewart Planning Prize for the top third year
student for 2008 was awarded to Bridget Venning.
14
Page 14
Danielle
Simpson
Lucy
Brophy
Alex
Reilly
Chris
Buhler
Bridget
Venning
Simon
Stewart
Brent
Cryer
Kevin
Chan
Bo
Zhao
Emma-Jane
Hayward
Jessie
Donovan
The Third Years of 2008
Cam
Aplin
Dave Bracey
Michael
Duindam
Lee
Matthews
Matt
Stulen
Wendy
Robinson
Sean
Harvey
15
Page 15
Bridget
Nicholson
Nick
Lynch-Watson
Kirsten
Hauschild
Monique
Robertson
Heritage in the ‘Naki
The 132.305 Fieldtrip to New Plymouth
In the first semester the third
year Heritage Policy & Planning
students (132.305) had a field
trip to New Plymouth to explore
the natural and cultural heritage
there and the planning provisions
for protecting them.
After a long trip in three minivans to New Plymouth, stopping
in Patea for lunch, the first stop
of the field trip was the NPDC for
a
discussion
with
the
local
heritage planners.
This was followed by a short walk
to the oldest stone church in New
Zealand, St Marys, to discuss the
methods used for protecting such
an important site.
Then it was on to the nights
accommodation after a dinner at
an Asian buffet restaurant.
The
dinner
the
was
good,
and
students made the most of the
rest of the night as well — no
need to mention golf courses.
16
Page 16
The next morning saw everyone
up bright and early and off to the
wonderful Pukeariki museum in
New Plymouth. Here there were
some
presentations
about
the
cultural heritage of Taranaki and
some opportunities to get hands
on with real museum artifacts.
This was followed by a trip out to
see
several
historical
pa
and
battle sites all described in detail
by the local expert.
The two
main sites discussed were the
Omata Stockade and the site of
the 1860 Battle of Waireka.
The trip finished up at a vineyard
which was built near two coastal
pa sites, and was an ideal place
to stop for a break before getting
back in the minivans for the trip
back to Palmerston North.
17
Article by Ian Luxmoore
Page 17
More Photos from the New Plymouth Field trip
18
Page 18
FOURTH YEARS
This group were relishing their fourth and final year
before preparing to head off into the workforce as
professional planners!
The following fourth year papers were taught by
the planning department in 2008
Semester One
Professional Practice III
(With Caroline Miller & Christine Cheyne)
Environmental Planning
(With Keith Calder)
Planning Project
(Double semester with all staff as supervisors)
Semester Two
Urban Planning II
(With Imran Muhammad)
Professional Practice II
(With Caroline Miller)
The Bernard J Forde Planning Prize for the top
fourth year student for 2008 was awarded to Daniel
Vruink.
19
Page 19
Amanda
Vallis
Daniel
Batley
Fiona
Meldrum
Daniel
Vruink
Cole
O’Keefe
Giles
Boundy
Fritha
Witton
Hannah
Thompson
Hamish
Beere
Ryan
O’Connor
Libby
Bayley
Xinran
Ji
The Fourth Years of 2008
Kristina
Mead
Laura
Burton
Juliana
Cox
Peter
Daly
Ryan
O’Leary
Isaac
McIntyre
Plus no photos
for:
Sarah
Matthews
Daniel
Collis
Sarah
Harris
Sean
Zieltjes
Rolf
Fuschs
Vanessa
Norwood
20
Page 20
David
Riley
THE FOURTH YEAR FINAL DINNER AWARDS
This list is not necessarily accurate or complete!
Libby Bayly for never taking notes but still being a nerd
Fritha Witton for living up to the blonde stereotype
Laura Burton for owning the least occupied bed in Palmy
Fiona Meldrum for the most likely to get drunk before presentations
Kristina Mead for being Sarah’s Kathmandu twin
Sarah Harris for wanting to take the Treaty of Waitangi paper twice
Amanda Vallis for being the photographer of the year
Hannah Thompson for best effort in dressing for class
Juliana Cox for her effort in the mock hearing
Vanessa Norwood for being the booziest
Xinran Ji for never being less than 5 minutes late for class
Isaac Macintyre for being the biggest rebel sports groupie
Hamish Beere for the most creative way to pass GIS
Peter Daly for being the biggest suck-up to Caroline
Sean Zieltjes for being the most likely to become a Speedo model
Cole O’Keefe for being the whitest black guy in class
Dave Riley for being the oldest yet youngest at heart
Ryan O’Connor for the most likely to lead a gondola commune
Ryan O’Leary for being the most likely to get married
Giles Boundy for being the most likely to lead the Green party
Rolf Fuchs for the best Imran impression
Daniel Vruink for being the biggest hard out & bossy pants
Daniel Batley for writing the world’s longest sentence in his project
21
Planning Couple of the Year: Juliana and Sean
Page 21
Graduation `08
2007’s Fourth Years sign off in style
Every year, usually in May, students who
completed their degrees in the previous
year
return
attend
to
Palmerston
graduation.
North
Accompanied
to
by
siblings, grand parents and parents, the
latter relieved that at last they are seeing a return on their many years of
devoted investment, care and concern,
the
graduands
become
the
as
centres
they
of
are
a
called
range
of
ceremonies and celebrations.
The celebration started with a morning tea provided by the School of
People, Environment and Planning, which this year took place at
Options Café on campus. It was a great opportunity to catch up with
fellow class mates and to try out their expensively hired gowns and
hoods. The staff of the programme also attended and enjoyed being
introduced to the families who helped to support the students they
came to know so well. In 2008 we had a great turnout of BRP and MRP
students and families and it was pleasing to see how professional all of
the students, now young planners, looked.
22
Page 22
Cont.
The graduation ceremony was held on the
Thursday afternoon and began with a
procession of the staff, resplendent in
gowns and often peculiar headgear, who
were seated on the stage of the Regent
Theatre. The ceremony opened with the
singing of some rather arcane songs
including Gaudeamus, the scholar’s song
that is all in Latin. The invited guest made
a speech before the Chancellor stepped
forward to ‘cap’ each graduate. Graduates
had their names read out and then proceeded across the stage to have a cap
waved over their heads and to shake
hands with the Chancellor. As they left
they could now don their caps as they had
now officially graduated.
When the ceremony had finished the graduates followed the staff out of
the Regent theatre and proceeded along Broadway to a large tent set
up in the Square where students and family meet up and enjoy a late
afternoon
tea.
This
also
includes
lots
of
photos
which
often
involve happy smiling graduates, families and staff all suitably relived
that they have all done a good job and that another bunch of students
had been launched into the planning profession.
23
Page
Page 23
23
Article by Caroline Miller
More Photos From Graduation 2008
24
Page 24
International
One feature of the BRP is that students from outside New
Zealand often visit for a semester or year to take our
papers, and sometimes our students head overseas to do
the same. The university has such exchange agreements
with universities all over the world.
This year two of our students went overseas to study for a
semester each:
Kirsten Hauschild is a third year who went to Canada in
semester one to study at the university of Guelph.
Alex Reilly is a third year who went to Canada in
semester two to study at the University of Northern British
Columbia.
Also in 2008 many students came to study with us from
overseas. Some of them included:
Jamie Barbaglia from the USA
Tim Hawthorn joined us from the USA
Hubert Sipa Smith joined us from Papua New Guinea
Jamie Ten Suwei joined us from Singapore
Justin Tucker joined us from the USA
Max Unger joined us from the USA
25
Page 25
STAFF
The teaching line up for 2008 was, in no particular
order:
•
Derek Williams
•
Caroline Miller
•
Bruce Glavovic
•
Christine Cheyne
•
Rachel Summers
•
Imran Muhammad
•
Ian Luxmoore
•
Marilyn Bramley
•
Jeff McNeill
•
Katharine Moody
•
Keith Calder
Plus no students could make it without the help of the
administrative staff:
•
Faye Sherriff
•
Kevin Butler
At the beginning of 2008 we lost both Jo Rosier and
Marco Amati from the BRP staff. In the first semester
Keith Calder was contracted to teach the Environmental
Planning paper with the fourth years and Katharine
Moody was contracted to teach Planning and the
Environment with the first years. This was Imran’s first
year of full teaching with us and Jeff joined us in
October ready to teach from 2009.
26
Page 26
2008 in Perspective
Dr Caroline Miller on 2008
Having been part of the Planning Programme at Massey
since 1995 I thought that I had seen everything, but 2008
proved me wrong.
I always knew the year would be a challenge from the first
time I looked at the numbers for 132.736, watching them
creep towards 40, then 50 before settling at 53. At that
point I knew this would be a busy year and on reflection I
think that was a rather modest assessment of the situation.
I hoped a week in Queensland to attend the 8th Australasian
Urban/Planning History Conference in February would
proved a nice sunny start to 2008. In fact it rained
torrentially all week only clearing as we were driven to the
airport! It was not just rain — it included lightning strikes
and flash flooding combined with humidity on par with that
experienced in Darwin. I arrived back as an exhausted heap
declaring I would never be dragged back to Queensland in
summer ever again.
The year started with the news that now Jo Rosier had fled
to sunnier climes in Queensland, that we would all do a
cooperative effort in teaching the third year Planning Theory
paper. I was first up and having assured the 2007 second
year students that they would not see me again until their
fourth year they must have been surprised and possibly
dismayed to see me appear before them to prattle on about
garden cities and Geddes. They recovered remarkably
quickly, possibly sedated by the chemicals emanating from
the new fixtures and fittings that greeted us in the upgraded
GLB 2.03. As usual this group of third years were an
enthusiastic bunch, immediately identified by the presence
of the lofty Cam who is ever willing to offer an innovative
solution to any of life’s little problems.
Cont.
27
Page 27
Post grads
In April my 53 students in 132.736 descended on Palmerston North from all points around New Zealand and beyond. This year we welcomed a group of overseas students
who hail from Iran, Nigeria, Malaysia, the Philippines and
Cambodia who have added some colour and more importantly a constant post-grad presence given they were joined
by two full-time New Zealand students. The block course
didn’t start very well — the room was cramped, the computer wouldn’t work and just as the students and I needed a
caffeine induced lift we discovered the zip wasn’t working!
Added to that we were in the Japanese lecture complex,
which was quickly labelled ‘Siberia’, given how far it was
from the rest of the campus. It was a challenging course
given the numbers and the wide variation in people’s experience but we all soldiered on and made it successfully to the
end.
The fourth years
However I spent most of my time with the fourth years and
a redoubtable group they are. Ever competitive and always
focused, they made my year both memorable and a challenge. I saw them in three different papers and I have to
say they didn’t let me down once.
In 132.419 I set up a group project which saw each group
presenting their advice on rural-residential development for
the city. Their presentations were made to David Murphy
and I, and I have to say I was nervous that the whole thing
would turn to custard in front of an outsider. I shouldn’t
have worried; the fourth year groups demonstrating a level
of sartorial elegance I didn’t know they possessed made
excellent presentations. David Murphy was so impressed
that he said several were better that he had heard from
consulting firms.
Through the supervision of the planning projects I also
became acquainted with a whole new suite of planning issues and I will forever view surfers in a quite different way.
Cont.
28
Page 28
The mock hearing
In the second semester the fourth years coped well with my
enthusiastic news that I was going to run a mock resource
consent hearing that would be before two properly
accredited hearings commissioners. Those selected accepted
their fates and threw themselves into their roles. Peter and
Dan were transformed into
traffic engineers in front of my
eyes,
Ro l f
became
a
passionate spokesman for
Bucklands Beach, supported
by David who chimed in at
appropriate points and Daniel
B and Giles became successful
and unruly gad fly protesters
complete with banner which
saw them threatened with
ejection by Alison Wall, the
Chairperson of the Hearing’s
Committee.
Hannah and Juliana were excellent planners for both sides of
the issue, though I did think that Juliana was going to expire
in front of our eyes when Alison requested a written opinion
from her within 5 days! Both were supported by Fiona and
Kristina who did an excellent job of convincing us that they
were urban designers.
Cont.
29
Page 29
Second Years
I have to say the most enigmatic group were my second
year students. They were at the start a very quiet group
who always turned up but rarely wanted to answer my
questions. However I gradually wore them down with the
assistance of chocolate fish and other chocolate inducements
to the point where they got quite chatty. They would
however take any prize for attendance as it was a rare event
for less than 19 people to turn up. Those who didn’t make it
to lectures were usually suffering some real problem — I
hope they keep up these excellent habits next year.
So all in all a busy year which got even busier for me
after all the students disappeared and my various research
tasks turned my focus in a different direction.
Article by Caroline Miller
30
Page
Page 30
30
Reflections on 2008
Dr Christine Cheyne on 2008
2008 has been a great year! Each of the four years has
been a pleasure to know (if not to mark!).
Thanks to the fourth years for a great dinner and awards
night at Cafe Nero on 5 November. Congratulations on some
excellent work in your Honours projects – amazing to see
what you managed to produce at the end of semester 2. I
enjoyed the contact we had in 132.419 (way back in March)
– among other things I was able to indulge my passion in
talking about land transport planning policy and legislation.
All the best for your future career as a planner!
The third years have been a lot of fun and some you gave
great support to the Massey open days (thanks especially,
to Kirsten, Mike, and Cam). The second years I’ve hardly
seen (they probably felt they saw enough of me in 132.112
in 2007!) but had a significant presence at the ball mid
winter. How fabulous you all looked!
And last, but by no means least, the 1st years who
impressed me greatly in semester 1 in Planning for Sustainable Development . Among the highlights for me this year
was our fieldtrip on April 11.
Palmy’s sustainable
development centre opened us up to new possibilities for the
resources we discard and we learned about the value of
green corridors.
I hope you are out there during the summer break checking
out how sustainable your home town is – where is the waste
going? (is there such a thing as waste or is it a mindset?)
how environmentally-friendly is your transport?
how
attractive and ‘green’ are those wind turbines? Should we be
planning for more wind farms in our backyard? Are the
objectors just NIMBYs? Remember those abbreviations:
CPTED, LULU, BANANA, RMA (what’s that?!), LTCCP...
31
Page 31
First Impressions
Dr Imran Muhammad on 2008
My first academic year at Massey was full of challenges and
excitement. Getting two research grants from LTNZ (now
NZTA) with my colleague A/Prof. Christine Cheyne and
academics in Australia would bring a great start to 2008.
In April I participated in the NZPI conference on the West
Coast. In July I felt lucky to present papers at the American
Collegiate School of Planning and European School of
Planning joint Congress and International Planning History
Society Conference both held in Chicago. All three
conferences provide me opportunity to meet ‘planners’ in NZ
and all over the world.
In the latter half of the year I spent most of my time with
the third and fourth years teaching the Urban Planning
papers. Overall I enjoyed both teaching and research in
2008 and wish that 2009 will also be a productive and
exciting year.
Fourth Years
I initiated the Urban Design Studio as a part of Urban
Planning II (132.414) which aims to develop the graphic
skills urban planner need in planning practice. The Studio
included five individual assignments (line drawings,
figure-ground plan, perspectives, subdivision plan and design-led cover for the report) and a group project. Some
examples of this work are below:
32
Page 32
The 414 group project was to assess opportunities that a
high quality public transport system (in this case Light Rail
Transit) coupled with improved non-motorised transport can
lead to, particularly considering the creation of enhanced
public spaces in the Wellington CBD (including a fieldtrip to
Wellington). At the end of this project, students produced a
‘field book’ and high quality reports representing the designled process and the design-led solution.
Two excellent examples are shown below:
33
Page 33
At the end of the Urban Design Studio I was impressed by
the quality of students work. It would be unfair to mention
any names and in fact I have no hesitation to state that all
students in the fourth year did hard work and produced high
quality professional work. I am sure they learned useful
skills from the Urban Design studio which will be helpful in
their professional careers.
Third Years
I was also the paper coordinator for 314 (Urban Planning I).
This paper mainly dealt with transport and urban
development processes. My lectures focused on sustainable
transport planning and I invited David Lane, the Road
Planning Team Leader from the Palmerston North City
Council, to present the engineer’s perspective on urban
transport planning.
To promote active learning all students produced a review of
an article from the book of readings and made a presentation in a class. This exercise helped students to be familiar
with articles in the book of reading and learning from their
peers. These sessions created a learning environment in the
class and promoted debate on different urban planning
issues.
The 314 students also completed a group project on
‘Transport Impact Assessment’ on a new development site
near James Line in Palmerston North. A site visit was
conducted and land use and transport integration was
assessed by the students.
Article
by Imran Muhammad
34
Page 34
What a Year!
Dr Bruce Glavovic on 2008
What a year! Lots of lecturing, interesting student research,
a conference in China and some cool fieldwork in the USA,
the publication of some ‘hard labour’ and some interesting
new research opportunities in 2009.
The first semester was full of lecturing: Planning Hazard
Resilient Communities (132.217) and Building Collaborative
Communities (132.218) - see page 11. I was also involved
in supervising some really interesting student research.
Three fourth year students did their Honours projects on
hazards-related topics. Juliana Cox looked at lessons learned
from Palmy’s Te Matai road development controversy and
what it teaches us about planning and ‘greenfield’
development in hazard-prone areas. Isaac McIntyre explored
lessons from the 2004 floods about debris disposal and
came up with guidelines for dealing with this issue. Hamish
Beere tackled the thorny issue of communities exposed to
repeat flooding and the dilemma of relocating at-risk
communities – based on experiences of the Whangaehu
community in the Manawatu. Some really interesting
insights were gained from this work!
I also supervised a Masterate student who looked at the
pros and cons of planning versus ‘engineering’ solutions for
dealing with flood risks and five doctoral students who are
doing challenging and interesting research, including work
on the science-participation nexus; innovation and planning
for hazard risk reduction; disaster recovery experiences and
the role of religious institutions in the 2005 Pakistan
earthquake; coastal governance; and social capital and local
knowledge for managing natural resources in Fiji … enough
to keep one distracted!
Cont.
35
Page 35
It was fun to see my own research on coastal issues turn
from thoughts into publications, including two books:
Ecological Economics of the Oceans and Coasts with Murray
Patterson who used to lecture in the Programme and now
runs the New Zealand Centre for Ecological Economics; and
Integrated Coastal Zone Management with colleagues from
India, Germany, the UK, China, Italy and the USA. Good
stuff to read if you have insomnia!!!
In the second half of the year, I had a great time working
with local and international experts in natural hazards
planning. We presented a workshop in Wellington about
unlocking the potential of planning for sustainable disaster
recovery. I also did another workshop with policy-makers,
practitioners and researchers to work out how to improve
communication between scientists and practitioners. I am
about to formalise a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a collaborative relationship between Massey’s Joint
Centre for Disaster Research and the Centre for the Study of
Natural Hazards and Disasters at the University of North
Carolina. This relationship will lead to exciting new collaboration in research and teaching and possibly student and
professional exchanges. So if you are interested in hazards
planning, there may be some interesting opportunities opening up to do collaborative work with people in the USA!
I had a fascinating trip to China to attend a conference on
coastal planning and management. I was also able to do
fieldwork in the USA on the extent to which climate change
risks and impacts are being mainstreamed into recovery
planning in New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico region which
will be key case study in a book that I am working on about
adapting to climate change that will be published in 2009.
So what a year indeed!
Article by Bruce Glavovic
36
Page 36
Social Committee
A couple of years ago it was
planning classes that after four
decided to form a planning social
years of doing mostly the same
committee
papers, and numerous group pro-
to
achieve
several
things for the planning degree.
jects that the fourth year classes
are a pretty close group.
Thirdly it gives the students a
chance to interact and socialise
with the staff members who can
otherwise seem inaccessible to
the students even though that’s
rarely the case!
Firstly most people who take the
BRP end up in very similar jobs in
the workforce and there are many
benefits
to
knowing
as
many
other planners in NZ as possible.
The easiest way to get a head
start in this networking is to know
students from up to seven years
worth of BRP students (from the
Finally it is good fun!
fourths when you’re a first to the
firsts when you’re a fourth).
If any current students want to be
involved in the social committee
Secondly it helps retention and
and to help organize fun events
enthusiasm
for
when
you
develop
close bonds among classes.
It
the
other
students
please
contact Ian via email or pop into
has always been the case among
his office.
37
Page 37
FLAT CRAWL
So the first social planning event of
the year went off with a bang with
the inaugural 8 flat Planning Flat
Crawl. The event began on Church
St at Biddy’s where everyone proceeded to drink their share (and a
few more for some, thanks Simon).
Under instruction from Cam and his
megaphone
the
next
stop
was
Chris's where the drinking continued and the first year girls took it
on themselves to explore the house
and
see
what
they
could
(apparently mouthwash).
We then proceeded to the next
stop at Ada Street where somehow
along the way Matt (3rd yr) happened to find a trolley and Dave
Bracey
decided
to
hop
in
and
nearly get taken out by a car reversing from a driveway.
By this
stage people were getting rather
intoxicated so off to Ranfurly St for
two stops thanks to Ryan and
Laura’s flats.
38
Page 38
find
At Laura’s some of us got a tour
around the place whilst others tried
to find those kittens that were apparently in the garage. Over the
road to Ryan and Dave’s flat we
drank some more and for some bizarre reason a trolley full of flammable materials ended up over the
road… alight.
Fire
Service
Thanks to the NZ
that
was
promptly
dealt to and BK was invaded a
short time after.
The last three flats were a bit of a
blur to most as an epic night in Ptown drew to a close. The first of
what is likely to become an annual
tradition had come to an end, the
t-shirts, some photos, some new
friends and good memories all that
were left, until next year that is!
Article by the Social Club
39
Page 39
PLANNING BALL
Grad
week
2008
saw
the
first
Planning Ball since 2001 and it was
widely regarded as a big success.
In the same weekend that MUSA
held their Winter Ball and had about
20 people turn up, our Planning ball
saw attendance of over 100 people;
a credit to our great degree!
The ball was held at the Palmerston
North
Convention
Centre,
which
turned out to be a good venue
despite being a bit big. With a well
stocked bar, tasteful decorations
and good music from the brilliant
cover band Urban Ersha it had all
the makings of a great night.
The King and Queen of the Planning
Ball
was
presented
in
the
late
stages with Peter Daly originally
taking out the King but as he had
skived off the crown was handed to
lecturer Bruce Glavovic who came in
a narrow second.
Planning Queen
was Kate Penman who was very
stoked to win the award despite
hints of a voting conspiracy.
40
Page 40
One of the features of the ball was
the interaction between 5 years of
planning students and staff as
well.
Six
graduates
(2007’s
4th years) made it along with four
staff members.
It is this inter-
year interaction that is becoming a
real feature of our degree.
After the success of the 2008 ball,
we all look forward to seeing you
at the 2009 Planning Ball! Anyone
that wants to help organise it
should talk to Ian.
Article by the Social Club
41
Page 41
The 2008 Planning Ball Poster
42
Page 42
Quiz Night
Continuing on from the success
The first bonus questions were
of the 2007 event, Scarfies bar
dingbats and the second was a
was the scene of the 2008 quiz
map of New Zealand where the
night. We had a great turn out
teams had to match the map
from
marker to it’s description (see
all
hint-hint!).
years
(except
staff,
The teams were
next page).
sorted with each team having a
mix of each year’s students.
The winning team was called
Super Surplus and consisted of:
Despite some complaints about
some
difficult
questions
and
•
Dave McKevitt
some
controversy
just
•
Sarah Harris
where precisely the north-west
•
Dan Vruink
corner of the square actually is,
•
Christine Cheyne
the teams did well.
about
However it
soon became clear those teams
Final Points table:
with staff (Imran in Rima and
Super Surplus
61.5
Rima
58.5
Luxmoore Lovers
48.5
Rileys Group of Angels
47.5
There were six rounds plus two
2 Easy
47.5
bonus question sheets:
Group 7
47.0
Group 6
43.0
Unphazed
39.5
No.1
38.5
Christine in Super Surplus) were
the teams to beat.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Music
General Knowledge
Sport
Science
Palmerston North
Planning
Article by the Social Club
43
Page 43
Quiz Night Bonus Question Sheets
Enter the letter of each of these places in the appropriate box on the map:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
K.
L.
M.
N.
O.
The first town in NZ supplied with public electricity
NZ’s largest lake
NZ’s oldest university
Longest straight section of state highway in NZ
NZ’s largest freshwater wetland
NZ’s longest rail tunnel
NZ’s largest electricity generator plant
New Zealand’s Largest Brewery
A hill with NZ’s longest place name
NZ’s first capital
Site of NZ’s first game of rugby
NZ’s highest mountain
The mouth of NZ’s longest river
NZ’s largest wildlife park
Site of NZ’s first Motorway
Locations approximate.
Hand in at the end of round 6.
44
Page 44
NETBALL
The annual planning Netball tournament for the Miller Plate was
another success.
This year the
Hokowhitu gym was the venue.
Sadly due to bad timing only one
staff member and only a couple
the first years made it. However
the turn out from the other years
more
than
made
up
for
it,
particularly the fourth years who
were determined to maintain their
vice grip on the trophy which they
In the end the winner was clear
had won the previous two years.
with
the
through
fourths
4
games
making
with
it
little
The format of the day saw three
danger of defeat.
teams (seconds in blue, the thirds
match was very first match of the
in
day when they beat the thirds by
green
and
the
fourths
in
yellow) in a double round-robin.
8 goals to 5.
45
Page 45
Their closest
The
thirds
also
suffered
the
biggest loss of the day in their
second
encounter
fourths,
going
with
down
by
the
a
remarkable 15 goals to 3.
Carrying
on
previous
years,
unleashed
a
their
tradition
the
of
fourths
The thirds didn’t have it all bad,
not-so-secret
beating
the
seconds
in
both
weapon for the last game with
encounters by 9 and 5 goals
the Speedo models strutting their
respectively
and
stuff.
comfortable
second
securing
a
although
given their scheming before the
event, one suspects they are
glad the fourths won’t be around
to defend their title in 2009!
The enthusiasm and sportsmanship shown by all teams was
excellent.
The referees also did
a great job controlling the games
The final results saw the fourths
in a fair but easy manner, and
with 4 wins, the thirds with 2
overall everyone seemed to have
wins and the under-represented
fun.
seconds with no wins.
The tournament was wrapped up
with a brief prize giving and
some fish & chips followed by
drinks at a flat in town.
Article by Ian Luxmoore
46
Page 46
Contact Details
Contacts
Formal Enquiries about the degree, enrolments
and so forth should be directed to:
[email protected]
or
Phone (06) 350 4343
Enquiries about the social club and
social club events should be directed to:
[email protected]
BRP Web presence:
For the official website go to http://pep.massey.ac.nz and
then click on Resource and Environmental Planning
We have a Facebook group called “Massey BRP”
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15703689466
We also have a student oriented Bebo page:
www.bebo.com/nzplanning
47
Page 47