Big DoC restructure

This looks like old news - just the end of the changeover period for 'shared services' being moved out of conservancies into 'regional hubs' that started last year. The wording of the artical makes it sounds like the conservancies themselves will go - but that seems unlikely.

DoC just did a major restructure of the conservancies last year (the one I refer to above) and are supposed to be looking at area-office restructure this year. So it seems unlikely they would go back and make another change at the conservancy level so soon and scrap the conservancies completely.

So: I suspect this is just a reporter either getting the wrong end of the stick, or wording the artical badly.

Anyone confirm?

You might be right. Thanks for the insight.

I recall an announcement a good year ago that DOC were cutting a hundred staff, so are were these redundancies announced previously, or are they are second round of redundancies?
I"d heard they were planning redundancies amongst field staff next...

Yup, heard that too. Hope y'all stocking up on silky saws, loppers and such like to do your share of track cutting!

well if it's good enough for doc to use bobcats now, it's good enough for me to take a chainsaw he he he he

A restructure at Area Office level would do no harm,as most of the work can done by contract .
The majority of permanent DOC staff never can get into the hills during the winter anyway, so why not contract out ?
Track cutting/clearing, hut building,structure maintenance,weed spraying are some tasks that lend themselves to contracting out really well, i have first hand experience of it. It also means you dont have to employ so many permanent staff, therefore less wages,uniforms, health and safety issues,vehicles,training , chainsaws, scrubsaws to maintain , the list goes on.
Contracting out is the way to go.

The winter is when we do most of our track cutting. They must be getting soft!

Doing a "voluntary " task is totally different from a permanent job especially in winter.
Volunteers can choose the weather and scenario they work in and how much work they want to do , not so for permanent DOC staff.
Health and safety plays a big part in DOC worker policy:
workers have to have a briefing on the job they do , carry e purbs,radios , if using a chainsaw at least 2 people must be together(solo use of chainsaws is not permitted)the list goes on and on .
The level of fitness has to be high as anyone who has used a chainsaw cutting windfalls for 9 hours interspersed with carrying the saw , fuel , helmets, safety chaps, food and normal pack will know.
A Trainee Ranger and i were dropped at Alpha Hut with all the gear , stayed the night and then next morning proceded to clear windfalls from the hut to Omega-Block 16 -Mt Marchant(Marchant Ridge track in other words) to Kaitoke
Thirty odd windfalls were cleared and we ran out of fuel just on the last log !
Needless to say the beer tasted good that night , and i didnt need rocking to sleep.
I must say the Trainee was the best one i ever had in my care , and i had a few over the years,a great worker and mate in the bush , could cook and put away a good feed.
Definitely not a softcock!

OldGoat, can you clarify the health and safety side of things with respect to contracting out versus permanent staff? I get the advantages with savings in the overheads and flexibility, but if Health and Safety is a significant reason why DoC won't do much of this work in winter, wouldn't it look suspect for DoC to be contracting out to others who have fewer Health and Safety standards than it'd require for its own staff?