Waikato Business News July/August 2018

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS July/August 2018 65
Cheryl Reynolds
is to head Xtreme
Zero Waste
Waikato entrepreneur and business leader,
Cheryl Reynolds, has been announced
as the new transitional chief executive at
Raglan’s leading community enterprise
Xtreme Zero Waste this July.
With Cheryl Reynolds
at the helm of the
resource recovery
centre, the Board and Team
are working together on the
re-positioning Xtreme Zero
Waste to meet the growing
demands from the Raglan
community and other communities
across New Zealand
and the South Pacific who are
keen to duplicate Xtreme’s
success over the past 18 years.
“I am thrilled to be taking
on this new challenge as CEO
of Xtreme Zero Waste because
I love Raglan, I’m proud of
Xtreme and the impact it’s
had over the past 18 years,
and I believe Xtreme’s successful
community enterprise
model provides an important
way forward for the rest of
Aotearoa and the world,” says
Cheryl.
Reynolds says to create
both roles within Raglan, in
and for the community and
more widely for the planet is
both exciting and challenging,
and the work that Xtreme Zero
Waste does is inspiring and
she is proud to be part of such
an influential and important
community enterprise.
“This new role at Xtreme
and the development of my
new venture complement
each other really well. They
both aim to support flourishing
communities on a thriving
planet and also have an opportunity
to continue making
Raglan a pioneering model for
stewardship of our planet,”
says Cheryl.
Rick Thorpe, Co-Founder
of Xtreme Zero Waste says
they are excited by the experience
and networks that
Cheryl will bring and the new
phase of planning, growth and
direction and the potential for
expanding the innovation and
“outside-the-box” thinking
that Xtreme is known for.”
“With all the changes taking
place with plastics and the
growing concerns globally
about waste, Xtreme needs
to be positioning itself ready
for a world without waste.
We believe Cheryl’s experience
and networks will take
Xtreme to the next level.”
says Rick.
Fiona McNabb, Chair of
Xtreme Zero Waste says that
“The Board are aware of the
environmental and climate
crises that the planet is facing
and feel that Xtreme Zero
Waste can and must step up to
find ways we can make quantum
changes in our thinking
BusinessNZ welcomes
micro-credentials
A
micro-credential
system
introduced by the New
Zealand Qualifications
Authority will help ensure
that New Zealand businesses
can access employees with the
skills they need in a world that
is rapidly changing, says BusinessNZ.
BusinessNZ chief executive
Kirk Hope has welcomed the
flexibility and innovation that
micro-credentials will bring to
New Zealand’s regulated education
and training system.
“This is a great new way
of engaging with employees
and responding to changing
employer skill demands, and
micro-credentials complement
longer-duration full qualifications,”
Mr Hope said.
“Business is changing
and so is the future of work.
Employees will need to continue
developing up-to-date
skills throughout their working
lives to future-proof
their employability and the
businesses they work for.
Micro-credentials will allow
them to upskill in a way that
suits their needs and circumstances
without having to
undergo a lengthy training process.”
“Micro-credentials - shorter
bite-sized “bits” of learning
- provide businesses and
employees with greater opportunities
for upskilling when
required. This means it will be
easier for employees to evolve
in their current roles or step
into new roles without having
to undergo a full qualification
or lengthy retraining process,”
Mr Hope said.
“Most importantly, they
will enable industry and businesses
to identify areas of
priority and unmet skill need
and then partner with tertiary
education providers and Industry
Training Organisations to
develop micro-credentials that
respond quickly to these skills
and knowledge needs.
“The fact that micro-credentials
cover smaller sets of
skills and learning and allow
for emergent skills related to
new technology and knowledge
to be brought to market
quickly is a big selling point.
This could be an opportunity
for businesses and industries
to develop their own
micro-credentials as part of
their in-house training,” Mr
Hope said.
“I look forward to seeing
how micro-credentials will be
embraced and used to extend
opportunities for learning, to
address skill shortages and
assist employees to develop
new up to date skills.
“BusinessNZ will work
with the NZQA and government
to build awareness of the
role micro-credentials could
play in addressing skill gaps,”
Mr Hope says.
Former Momentum Waikato chief executive Cheryl Reynolds is to head Xtreme Zero Waste.
about the use of resources
and how waste streams are
managed. The stage one focus
for Cheryl to undertake is to
strengthen and re-position
the core business before we
launch into this new phase of
development that we are all
very excited about.”
Audit New Zealand
report ‘clears the air’
Hamilton City Council chief executive
Richard Briggs says an Audit New
Zealand report into decision-making
around a proposal for a central city park
clears the air and confirms the council processes
were appropriate.
“I requested the report to address questions
and innuendo about the development of
the Central City Park proposal. This included
comments about members of the public as
well as council staff and council processes,”
Mr Briggs says.
The Audit New Zealand report examined
the process to develop a proposal for a central
city park near Victoria on the River, as part
of the 10-Year Plan. The report considered
the decision-making process of the council,
the process in which the chief executive was
given instructions by the council and actions
taken by the chief executive as a result.
In September 2017 the chief executive
was requested by the council to speak with
property owners in the area and report back
to the council. Some commentary has since
suggested these discussions gave some property
owners a commercial advantage.
“The report confirms these suggestions
have no basis in fact. The report finds it reasonable
to conclude one property purchase
was not due to these discussions, and it categorically
states there is no possibility other
nearby purchases were impacted as these
transactions occurred well before any discussions,”
Mr Briggs says.
The report also found:
• The meeting processes, including those in
public-excluded sessions, were appropriate
• The chief executive acted on council
instruction
• Debate on the concept was robust and
enabled councillors to express their views
“The final report took longer than initially
anticipated due to the review process but it
provides the facts and clears the air. It was
important to put to rest unfounded allegations
and we can now fully focus on providing
for a growing city and delivering our biggest-ever
10-Year Plan budget for Hamilton,”
Mr Briggs says.
The report was commissioned by the
chief executive in March 2018, and a draft
report produced by Audit New Zealand for
review of matters of fact and accuracy on 31
May 2018. Feedback was provided between
7 June 2018 and 10 July 2018 and the final
report sent by Audit New Zealand on 11 July
2018.
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