South Wairarapa District Council is humbled by the recognition for its dog pound project. The Council won the SuperIdea category award and was a runner-up for the Supreme award at the Local Government New Zealand SuperLocal conference last week. This is an incredible achievement for our small council.
As a territorial authority, we are required to operate a dog pound that provides proper custody and care of impounded dogs. It needs to be economically and animal health-wise sound, and functionally as well as aesthetically pleasing. Through the vision of the Environmental Services Manager, Rick Mead, and his team, we have delivered exactly that.
The design is scalable, safe, secure, easy to maintain and comfortable. Housing up to four dogs, the pound uses solar energy as its main power source, collects rainwater to fill the water tanks, and designed to fit within the environs. This ensures a small carbon footprint and an off-the-grid, sustainable structure.
Councillor Rebecca Gray who attended the conference said it was wonderful to see how well thought of this initiative was. “The competition was pretty massive and to win our category as well as come second overall in the Supreme Award, was unbelievable. A very proud moment for Council staff.”
A robust procurement process was followed; quotes were very time-sensitive, and fluid especially given the current circumstances faced by the construction industry and the wider inflationary pressures. The projected costs were estimated to be $415,000 excluding contingency, or $456,500 with a 10% contingency included. This amount is just over half of the cheapest option floated as part of a cross-region shared-service. Councils we spoke with at the conference have advised their quotes are in the millions.
The brainchild behind the dog pound design was the Environmental Services Manager. Rick Mead said, “As a small council with limited means, we are often required to achieve the same as other larger councils but working with so much less. To be able to work with like-minded people including staff, elected members and suppliers who understood the vision and supported us to deliver this project is amazing.
“I am especially grateful to my team for the extra effort they put in, going above and beyond normal duties to make this happen. As the award presenter said – our entry demonstrated all of the required criteria for this category and that was only possible through the efforts of everyone involved in the project right through to the last lick of paint. We can now fulfil our responsibility to meet and exceed the standards for animal welfare”.
Note: The dog pound is at Soldiers’ Settlement Road North in Featherston.
Media contact:
Sheil Priest, General Manager, Communications & Engagement
South Wairarapa District Council
Mob: 027 252 2863
Email: media@swdc.govt.nz
