The NZ Defence Force has formed an alliance with professional service companies EY and Beca to help deliver the NZ$2.1 billion regeneration of the Defence estate.
NZDF is four years into its 15-year plan to regenerate the Defence estate. The professional services alliance is for five years with options to extend by up to six years.
“This a game-changer for the way we partner with industry to deliver infrastructure in NZ,” Head of Estate and Infrastructure Mark Brunton said. “The alliance will improve our resilience and self-sufficiency, and maximise technology and innovation. It will also reduce the risk created by the scale and pace of this regeneration.
“NZ has a world-class Defence Force. To support this we need a Defence estate that has the right infrastructure, in the right places, that is safe and supports the delivery of the important work that is delivered by our personnel every day of the year.
“This alliance is an innovative way to deliver estate infrastructure both effectively and efficiently which will result in greater public value.”
“We are incredibly excited about the opportunity to work with the NZDF to develop innovative solutions and deliver a Defence estate that supports the 14,000 men and women who work and live on the Defence estate,” Grant Hodges, EY Partner, said. “The whakataukī (Maori proverb) that underpins our approach speaks to bringing the best of all parties in the alliance to achieve this: Nāku te rourou, nōu te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi – with your food basket and my food basket, the people will thrive.”
“We are absolutely thrilled to be working with the Defence Estate and Infrastructure team to deliver this important regeneration programme for the NZDF,” Thomas Hyde, Beca Group Director said. “Investment on this scale will fundamentally change the way we can deliver large scale infrastructure transformation programmes in NZ.”
The list of projects being worked on in the first 12 months of the alliance is extensive and supports new and upgraded facilities across most camps and bases. Ohakea Air Base and Burnham Military Camp will benefit most in the first phase.
A key role of the alliance will be to leverage the scale of the regeneration to deliver a sustainable Defence estate. Tuku Iho, the Defence estate’s sustainability strategy, will see the enhancement and protection of Defence estate’s natural, financial, manufactured, intellectual, social and human capital.
“Defence Estate and Infrastructure, with EY and Beca are rapidly mobilising to start building a better future for NZDF - one with better infrastructure, better camps and bases, and better workplaces for our 14,000 military and civilian staff so that we continue to protect and enhance the security of Kiwis and our neighbours,” Brunton said.