"“Planning today is very much about listening to people, understanding their issues and using our experience to offer the most appropriate solutions."
The recent tsunami in Samoa was an eye-opener, showing the devastating effects on coastal communities that a disaster of this scale triggers. Keith was in Samoa at the time undertaking a series of training programmes on environmental impact assessment practice for the Samoan Government. "This project provides for the transfer of best practice knowledge to Samoa and takes practitioners in the country forward in terms of its environmental management," he says.
Beca's involvement in large projects was a key drawcard for Keith. As a large multidisciplinary consultancy, Beca lends itself to resourcing large projects, and takes pride in bringing innovation and progress to communities the company engages with. "These community experiences add so much to my knowledge," Keith says. "They maintain my interest in what I do and give me a reason to come to work in the morning."
Keith has been with Beca in Tauranga since 1995. He provides technical direction on a range of planning projects, extending from very small, minor consenting projects to quite large structure plans, district plans and hazards-related planning assessments.
Ten of his 30 years' planning experience has been spent in Africa and the Middle East where he was involved in many of his memorable projects. These include working on the preparation of Master Plans for major new towns including the Federal Capital City of Nigeria, Abuja and a New Town for 250,000 people in Kuwait.
Keith singles out the people at Beca as central to the consultancy's success. "Although incredibly diverse, we are all individually competent at what we do. Our point of difference is that, by bringing our vast experience together, we can offer teams that deliver so much more for our clients."
Technical Papers: