Pacific Practitioners Special Interest Group (the PPG)

08 December 2017

NZPI are pleased to introduce the Pacific Practitioners Special Interest Group (the PPG)

The New Zealand Planning Institute Board approved the establishment of the Pacific Practitioners Special Interest Group (the PPG) on Monday, 4 December 2017.

Papa Pounamu has been the platform for pacific people’s participation in Aotearoa, and recently a more proactive and stronger pacific presence has been established under the NZPI which stemmed from the CAP Fiji Conference 2016.

The PPG sets to bring pacific resource management practitioners of Aotearoa together, as a voice reflecting pacific values of sustainable peoples and places. It also sets to action the NZPI endorsement of the CAP Fiji Declaration 2016 in accordance with the NZPI primary objectives.

Senior members in the planning industry, all of who have associations with the pacific islands and are members of the NZPI have been running the PPG.

The group comprises of the following:

• Vishal Chandra, National Planning Lead, Babbage Consultant Limited (Lead/Chair)
• Ueli Sasagi, Senior Planning Practitioner, Whangarei District Council
• Orchid Atimalala, Principal Planning Practitioner, Ministry of Education
• Rebekah Pokura-Ward, Director and Principal Planning Practitioner, New Zealand Transport Agency
• Aruna Pillay, Team Leader Planning, Auckland Council, and
• Namouta Poutasi, Manager Water Policy, Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

Further details of the PPG and contacts will be available in the next Planning Focus bulletin.