Jeff Devine
It was a couple of years ago, around the time that the Northland Transportation Alliance was being disestablished, that Jeff Devine and I were having a discussion.
I wanted to ensure that the road safety vote was still in place with the new arrangements, and Jeff was expressing frustration that a great working model for Northland roading was being thrown out, by some questionable local body political decision-making.
Here was a guy with 25 years’ knowledge and experience of how the system works, of dealing with various political environments, of getting the best value for money from various roading pockets, while maintaining a committed and stable staff, expressing frustration with local political decision-making.
“Don’t you retire Jeff, we need you,” I said.
He didn’t then, but a couple of weeks ago Jeff Devine retired after 27 years holding various titles, but ostensibly Whangārei District Council’s roading manager.
I heard Jeff once introducing himself to a local ratepayers gathering.
It went something like, “I’m WDC roading manager, I work with ‘X’ contractors, ‘Y’ professional engineers, ‘Z’ planning and design assistants, and 75,000 technical advisers”.
Such is the situation of the council roading manager.
It’s a philosophical recognition that the roads we drive on and use every day, have a wide range of opinions about how they should be, and be maintained.
Because all those people are the clients, the highly trained and qualified professionals need to be taking note of them, and work with those opinions.
We have a huge expectation of all the council services we use, to maintain our quality of life.
Those who create and maintain these assets are largely unappreciated by us, for the professionalism, commitment and expertise that they bring to their roles every day.
So, this is a shout out to all council staff, but focuses on the 27-year contribution that Jeff Devine has made to Whangārei District Council’s roading infrastructure.
When Jeff arrived from Taranaki’s Development Agency around 1998, he came at the tail end of the development of Whangārei’s 2020 Roading Vision.
That was a range of projects that accepted that Whangārei city was based around a harbour valley with all suburbs coming together at the CBD. Congestion was endemic, unless the roading network was designed to move through and around the central city more efficiently.
That vision was implemented over the next 15 years or so, in seven major projects including: Buying the old A & P society building and building the Dent/Quay St intersections; The five finger roundabout at bottom of Bank St; Porowini Ave extension from Maunu Rd to Okara Drive with roundabouts and bridges; Puna Rere Drive linking the Kamo Bypass extension with Tikipunga and the Tutukākā Coast; The second harbour crossing with a bascule opening bridge, two roundabouts and a new road across Pohe Island; and the final project, Mill Rd/Nixon St widening and upgrading.
All these projects came in under the planning and implementation by Devine’s team with various contractor and consultant involvements, with political oversight.
Those of us who have been around a while will appreciate that although the fundamental issues with Whangārei CBD remain, and congestion at certain times is an ongoing issue, that the 2020 Vision had made moving in and around the city much more efficient.
In 2002, it also became apparent that the vast hinterland of Northland planted in forestry, would create a “Wall of Wood” that would funnel through Whangārei District’s local roads on its way to Northport.
This would be a regional and national revenue line, pounding Whangārei’s roads to death. The Tairāwhiti (Gisborne) region had the same issue, and a joint political plea to Regional Development Minister Jim Anderton yielded an extra $100 million over the next seven years, to upgrade both regions’ roads, to be able to better sustain the heavy logging truck incursion.
This same “Wall of Wood” issue meant that the newly upgraded One Tree Point Rd, as well as the steadily deteriorating Otaika Valley and Mangakahia Rds, were taken over by NZTA, as state highways.
That deal spawned the Northland Transportation Alliance, as an expectation that the three Northland District Councils working together, would extract better value for money outcomes for Northland’s roading infrastructure.
This proved to be the case, with Devine’s extensive knowledge of the network and its needs, being integral to a great working model, until Kaipara and Far North District politicians spat the dummy.
Phil Halse, three-time deputy Mayor of Whangārei, and 33-year veteran councillor, has had a long-time working relationship with Devine. “Jeff had the most demanding job on council, ranging from emergency management to parking and major project development. He has handled everything carefully and calmly, always with good humour. I understood his constraints that there was never enough money but he always chased the subsidy, and whatever other sources he could muster. He made the money go a long way and he was famous for saying ‘The budget is only a guide’.“
Thanks, Jeff Devine for a great contribution to Whangārei and Northland’s roading infrastructure. I’m sure you might be puzzled though, at the significance of the mounted parking meter presented to you by your colleagues, as a mark of your contribution.