[video: Auckland Council logo (pōhutukawa flower over water). Music plays. Title ‘Good building site management’ shows over shot looking across a partially completed Auckland housing development and out to the sea]
Presenter ‘Sean’ (man in late 20s wearing a high vis vest): Hi, my name is Sean and I want to talk with you about how to manage your building site well.
[video: presenter stands in front of partially completed housing development. Caption pops up ‘Sean Brown, Brown & Brown Builders Ltd]
Sean: Building is a messy business. And one of the key things that council is concerned about is how to ensure that dirt and contaminants don’t come off your site and into our waterways.
[video: aerial shot of sanded shoreline with housing, grass and trees]
Sean: Sediment is one of our biggest pollutants. And when it gets in to our streams it can fill the spaces between the rocks and stones.
[video: closeup of water’s edge, long grasses in muddy looking water]
Sean: This affects the breeding grounds for many of our native species of marine life.
[video: closeup of small dead fish being held by two blue-gloved hands]
Sean: It clogs the gills of fish and ruins fish-nursery habitats.
[video: shot of dirty-looking stream running through grasses and trees]
Sean: So it really affects the whole ecology of streams.
[video: shot of muddy water at shoreline with established trees in the background]
Sean: Sediment can also turn our beautiful beaches and estuaries into mangrove forests, resulting in the loss of our shellfish beds.
[video: closeup of mangroves looking out to small bay with a few boats moored]
Sean: For all of these reasons, we don’t want sediment to be washed off the building sites and into our drains.
[video: shot of the front of a house being built, with soil and puddles of water, panning down to the kerb in front. Shot of man standing in an area where concrete is being used with mucky concrete and puddles]
Sean: That’s because drains run directly into streams and the sea.
[video: dirty water overflowing around a residential kerb. Shot of two men hosing the front of a large house being built]
Sean: This water is not filtered or treated. So whatever you allowed to go down the drain, goes straight into our waterways and the ocean.
[video: rusty brown water in a creek flowing into blue sea]
[video: Sean in front of housing development]
Sean: So doing a little bit of the preparation can help prevent costly clean-ups and reduce council monitoring costs. There are six main things you need to do with your building site.
[video: Sean conferring with a woman in a high-vis vest standing in front of a car with the Auckland Council logo. Caption shows ‘1. Read the consent conditions and follow them’. Sean and woman confer on paperwork Sean is holding and point to areas around the site]
Sean: Read the consent conditions and follow them. That means the resource consent as well as the building consent. You should have both these consents on site at all times. Be sure to read all your conditions, as they may require you to send documents in to Auckland Council for sign-off.
[video: dirty water running through a dip on landscaped land. Caption shows ‘2. Prevent soil being washed off your building site’]
Sean: The most important thing is to prevent soil and clay being washed off your building site.
[video: structure being used to contain soil and muddy water]
[video: Sean creating barrier over exposed soil with tree branches]
[video: Sean and a fellow worker hammering ground cover in]
Sean: You can do this with silt fences and bunds, and by stabilizing entranceways, so you don’t track mud and clay onto the road.
[video: barrier constructed at the front of a site, rain falling, arrows to show diversion]
Sean: It’s also important to divert clean rain water away from the sites. We have a video showing you how to do this.
[video: mound of dirt on a fenced, grassed section. Caption shows ‘3. Cover exposed areas and do your work in stages’. Music plays]
[video: closeup of a digger in action. Longer shot of the digger working at the side of a housing development]
Sean: As the build progresses, there are different ways of preventing soil run-off
[video: Sean covering the dirt pile shown earlier, with dry grass/hay]
Sean: So as you work, don’t open up more of the site than you need to, cover exposed areas of soil, and stabilize your entranceway.
[video: Sean and workmate hammering ground cover]
Sean: Look at our videos to see how to do this.
[video: men in high vis vests working on concreting. Caption shows ‘4. Take care with concrete’]
Sean: Take care with concreting. In particular, before concreting, remove dirty water from footings, trenches and pile holes.
[video: hole in the ground on a building site filled with dirty water]
Sean: Otherwise, when you pour concrete, the concrete mixes with the excess water, runs across your site and into the drains, polluting our waterways.
[video: digger on front of residential building site with dirty water running off in front of it. Dirty creek]
Sean: Pass this message on to all your subbies.
[video: closeup of man’s hands with paint roller and tray. Caption shows ‘5. Have a designated wash-down area’]
Sean: Have a designated wash-down area. This allows you to wash off equipment onto grass or gravel so it doesn’t go down into the drains.
[video: workmen on concreting site. Man tipping water out of a wheelbarrow into an area that appears designated to collect water]
[video: housing development with cables and empty containers on untidy soily ground. Caption ‘6. Keep your site tidy. Music plays]
Sean: There are always a lot of materials on a building site. Make sure they all stay within the footprint of your work site.
[video: sign saying ‘I am a rain garden’ in garden with rubbish strewn on it]
Sean: That includes rubbish, which can also fly away, make the area look messy and pollute the ground or streams.
[video: house in progress with large amount of materials around the section].
[video: timber strewn all over the footpath in front of a building site in a residential area]
Sean: And keep the footpaths clear. They are for the public.
Sean: So those are the six tips we’d like you to follow.
[video: soil and water in front of a building site in a residential area]
Sean: So do your part. Keep soil and concrete away from drains.
[video: man casting a fishing line off a wharf into sea. Surfers carrying their boards down a long rural path. Teenaged girls in bikinis running into the surf. People sitting on beach chairs in the shade of a pōhutukawa, looking out at sand, blue sea and swimmers. Older woman looking out at a little island in the sea from a lookout. Dolphins swimming in the wake of a boat with people watching and taking photos from the back of the boat.
Sean: We all enjoy our beautiful beaches. And this is an important way to keep them clean and safe.
[video: Sean standing in foreground of residential area]
Sean: So that’s it in a nutshell. Please look at some of our other videos which show you how to do this.
[video: Auckland Council logo (pōhutukawa flower over water). Music plays.