We are very pleased to announce that BCL has recently merged with MPC Planning. This is great news for our clients many of whom already utilise the services of both firms.

We are excited about our new combined team and feedback from our clients has been really positive.

We invite you to call our team to discuss your next project and can promise that you will be impressed with the crisp clear thinking and succinct solutions that we offer. Now our services include:

• Strategic development advice.
• Landuse consent applications.
• Expert evidence.

For the crisp clear thinking, call YOUR team, the BCL team.

We have just received a briefing from the Auckland Council Spatial Plan team regarding progress of the Spatial Plan. Their mantra of 'fast and simple' is encouraging and it appears they are meeting implementation deadlines thus far.

Basically the Auckland Plan or Spatial Plan is the overall 30 year guideline document that will steer growth and development in Auckland to create the world's most liveable city. Well that's the plan!

The Unitary Plan is basically a new District Plan that will help implement the Spatial Plan; again they are keeping it simple and working towards a concise outcomes based document rather that the verbose doorstops we have currently.

This is all very exciting but can they deliver? Can they transform Auckland into the world's most liveable city? Can the leopard change its spots? We shall see.

The new Auckland Council GIS system has arrived!! Whilst officially being launched on the 28th of this month we have been had a sneak preview and it looks fantastic. Based on the Alggi GIS this new system is smooth, quick and very cool with the ability to fade layers, jump to street view, save and load settings and heaps of other stuff. The contours and aerial ortho-photography is also from the Alggi GIS (Lidar derived) and is a great resource.

Public drainage is not up yet however we understand that it will be added in the next few days.

This is a wonderful resource, perfect for planning etc however like all GIS information use it with caution it is definitely not reliable enough for design purposes.

Follow the link below to check it out yourself.

http://maps.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/aucklandcouncilviewer/

Great Barrier, Rakino and Waiheke Islands have all been visited by our teams over the last few months. We love working on the Islands! Whether it’s a fishing lodge on a rocky islet, a bach on Medlands or a bush hideaway we are your team.

Clode Consultants

This forty eight unit residential development in Albany creates a strong statement on the northern edge of the City.

BCL Surveyors had the lead survey role on this project, responsibilities included topographical survey, resource consents, setout of all structures (drainage, buildings, roading etc), asbuilts and Unit Title survey.

Key to the success of this project was the availability of our surveyors on an as required basis throughout the setout process. The fast pace of construction required setout of items to be carried out with little lead in time.

The client appreciated BCL’s ability to respond to pressure and ensure the construction teams had survey on demand.

In order to improve standards of practice, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) has instigated an audit process of Licensed Cadastral Surveyors. BCL Surveyors was recently chosen to be audited, which provided a good opportunity to test our systems and processes against the LINZ and KPMG auditors’ expectations.

We are very proud to have passed with flying colours, and have a few comments to brag about! Here are a couple which come directly from the Audit Report:

BCL Surveyors have good quality control processes in place for the production and submission of complete and accurate CSDs.

…the Audit Team is impressed with the thoroughness of QA processes, and an evident focus on quality shown by members of the firm. We have no further recommendations or process improvement ideas and commend BCL Surveyors for their sound business practice.

Robust quality assurance practices are in place, including a comprehensive checklist
which is completed and signed by a Licensed Cadastral Surveyor prior to lodgement of CSD.

The Audit Team also noted the following observations and positive practices during the audit:

• Good supervision of technicians and survey graduates.
• Processes to maintain equipment including calibration are at a high level, including the development of an electronic register to monitor servicing due dates, regular manual checking of equipment using marks set out in the firm's car-park, and the retention of hard copy records.
• A good level of preliminary planning performed, including preparation of an occupational diagram with highlighted marks to search for.
• Regular team meetings are held with LCSs and field staff, which includes discussion of
  technical issues and requisitions.
• Field audits undertaken by the audit team found surveys to be well executed, and no items of non compliance were identified.

So what?

Our robust systems mean less risk to our clients, the company and the government (whom guarantee land titles).

BCL Surveyors purchase additional 12D survey software. In line with our on going investment in advanced technologies this purchase will significantly increase our ability to produce very high quality surveys. In the past two years this Australian developed software has taken the New Zealand survey industry by storm our early involvement with the 12D team has allowed us to customise the GUI to our exact specifications. The powerful processing engine in 12D allows us to take full control of the huge volume of information that our field teams are able to capture. Thus we are able to minimise risk and maximise the quality and quantity of information that we provide to our clients.