Keeping in touch with people in the Bay of Plenty / East Coast
Branch update – 1 July 2024
Kia ora!
We are half way into 2024, and I’m now 5 months into my stint as East Coast/ BOP Branch Chair with Āpōpō.
It’s been a busy time for all of us, with a new government settling in, councils adopting Long Term Plan(s), and the East Coast continuing to be battered with wet and windy weather. Our infrastructure continues to be tested, and highlights the role infrastructure plays in protecting and serving our communities as a vital lifeline.
There is plenty of discussion at the moment on the need for investment, the tools for funding and financing this investment. But, none more important than how we manage our assets, how we get the best out of our existing assets, and on the decisions we make when replacing, renewing or building new assets.
Hot off an insightful, diverse, and engaging Āpōpō congress in 2024 that traversed all this and some – I look forward to hosting members and non-members that can make our next branch event in Heretaunga I Hastings on the 2nd August 2024 where the theme is Asset Resilience, and we will hear from a number of asset managers and infrastructure professionals who are in the thick of managing assets, making decisions and building resilience for our communities.
See you then!
Ngā mihi,
Darren de Klerk
Āpōpō Bay of Plenty | East Coast Branch Chair
Open to everyone
Our branch meetings are open to everyone, and we encourage Āpōpō members to bring colleagues along.


Branch Chairperson
Chair: Darren de Klerk
Business Director, Beca
Email: Darren.deKlerk@beca.com
Branch area
At the 2021 AGM we made some changes to the Āpōpō branch boundaries to combine our former East Coast Branch with the Bay of Plenty region (which used to be part of our Northern Branch). View the map of branch areas.
This change helps to balance branch member numbers and will increase the opportunity for participation in branch activity in this newly formed Bay of Plenty East Coast Branch.
Branch meetings are like free mini-conferences
for people in Asset Management
Branch news

Āpōpō East Coast / BoP Branch Event in Tauranga
On Friday 1 November 2024 we were hosted by The University of Waikato, Tauranga Campus. Thank you to our sponsors Tonkin and Taylor for the venue and a lovely lunch for attendees, and our Branch Chair Darren de Klerk for being MC and stepping in to do a presentation.

Āpōpō is a WPiAM Partner Organisation
The World Partners in Asset Management (WPiAM) Board last week unanimously decided to admit Āpōpō as a Partner Organisation.
Upcoming local events
Ideas and suggestions?
If there is a topic you’d like to hear more on or to present on, please contact the branch Chair with your ideas.
Feature presentations
Feature presentations of note are available on the links below.
June 2017 meeting
- Asset management and long-term planning – Martin Richardson
August 2016 meeting
- External Relationships – Matthew Rodwell
- Optimised Decision Making – Dylan Stuijt
Free mini-conference
These meetings are a free mini-conference!
Share this learning opportunity with younger team members, and let’s build the next generation of public works professionals.
Bring them along to meet new contacts and network, learn from expert speakers, and present at future sessions.
Past meeting presentations
This year
We hosted the first 2022 Bay of Plenty | East Coast branch meeting on 20 May 2022 in Tauranga. Click here for agenda and see presentations below:
- Janine Speedy RM Reforms
- Jodie O’Doherty IPWEA NZ Update
- Mark Ivamy Natural Hazards
- Cathy Davidson | Orapai Woon Three Waters Collaboration
- Tim Haig Takitimu North Link
Last year
None recorded