QLDC – National Forward Works Viewer // QLDC from 360 New Zealand on Vimeo.
The Queenstown Lakes District has experienced considerable and consistent growth over many years. This growth pressure has led to significant investment in the area over the next ten years, including an ambitious programme of works costing over $2.5 billion. QLDC were after a tool which could support the team to coordinate and plan their works programme to ensure minimal disruption to residents and visitors. They chose to implement the Forward Works Viewer (FWV) in early 2021, and since then the tool has helped various organisations to coordinate and collaborate together in the district.
A successful onboarding process saw QLDC host a launch event for the FWV, inviting developers, architects, event planners and construction organisations from the district to hear first-hand how the tool could benefit their operations. Two major stakeholders in the region – QLDC and Kā Huanui a Tāhuna, the Whakatipu Transport Alliance, have already shared their forward works programmes and currently there’s over 10,000 projects published for the district.
Being able to view each other’s work programmes allowed the two organisations to identify potential clashes or collaboration opportunities, such as any asset renewals due in the QLDC programme which fell under the same footprint as the Alliance works. Ryan Cooney, Senior Advisor, Temporary Traffic Management for the Alliance says that “the Forward Works Viewer has allowed us to have conversations that wouldn’t have happened previously because we wouldn’t have known about the asset upgrade renewals the council had planned. Through collaboration like this, it saves ratepayers money and reduces transport impacts, benefiting everyone in the region”
Being so picturesque and accessible, Queenstown is a popular filming location in the TV and film industry. “My biggest fear is turning up to a planned shoot and the road is being dug up”, says Cam Wood of Reelnz, a film production company based in the district. To prevent this, along with public notifications, he uses the FWV to input his filming dates and any traffic impacts the filming will have, and reviews it regularly for any other construction works that could affect his shoot. A recent TVNZ show filmed in the region involved the closure of a one lane bridge for a period of time. Cam was able to use the FWV to see what other works were happening in the area, and it led to him being able to contact the project manager of some scheduled works to delay it slightly so that filming could continue uninterrupted. “It’s really handy, it means everyone is on the same page across the various different industries – a single source of truth” says Cam.
