Women of Meridian - Catherine Williams

Nestled next to the Motueka River some 76 kilometres southwest of Nelson, on a road skirting Kahurangi National Park, Tapawera is the type of place you might have heard of but probably haven’t been to.

Having sprung into life as a railway construction town at the dawn of the 20th century, Tapawera’s peak featured the four pillars of all great New Zealand small towns: post office, pub, railway station and grocery store.

In 1902 some industrious locals used a traction engine to relocate the Upper Motueka Valley School building to the site of what is now Tapawera Area School.

Just over a century later, Meridian Energy’s Environmental Programme Manager Catherine Williams would carve out her own little piece of educational history.

“I got dux of the school in my final year,” laughs Catherine. “There were five of us in the class! My friends still tease me about that.”

These days the settlement of about 350 people is best known as a hub for the local hop farming industry and a waypoint on a couple of inland cycle trails.

Growing up on a sheep and beef farm in that remote, beautiful part of the upper South Island, Catherine developed an affinity with the natural environment that would ultimately lead to a career in environmental planning.

Following that triumphal finish to her school days, Catherine studied Resource and Environmental planning at Massey University, while her summer holiday jobs included working as a sheep handler with shearing gangs at remote locations like D’Urville Island.

After graduating with honours, she began her professional career as consents officer for Environment Canterbury, before trading the beauty and tranquillity of the South Island for the hustle and bustle of southwest London, where her job with Merton Council provided a healthy dose of cultural immersion.

“People from all walks of life, all kind of cultures and ethnicities, would just come in and start talking to you about what they wanted to do in their property,” recalls Catherine.

“You just had to find a pathway through. It kind of felt like part counselling service, part ‘let's see what we can do with your property’.

“Working with Merton Council was rewarding as they were doing some real cool housing developments and projects in the borough. I wasn't changing the world, but I worked with some incredibly talented people. I've always had the opportunity to work with really experienced, well-regarded people and that's how you learn.”

The three roles Catherine’s held over her seven years at Meridian Energy have been in an environment team that navigates, influences, advises and reports on environmental, regulatory and consenting requirements and aspirations.

“We work over the whole company in an environmental space,” says Catherine

“For Generation, we support the existing assets in hydro schemes and wind farms, and we also support new developments in terms of seeking consent and supporting them through that stage.

“We involve ourselves in national policy so we can influence regulation. And then we also support the retail team for things like EV chargers.”

A key aspect of the role is ensuring the company operates in a way that preserves its social license with Kiwis and builds enduring relationships with stakeholders.

“Our team is often in that space of engaging with neighbouring properties, engagement with iwi, and we're also the point of contact for Councils and DOC. So, we have quite an outward facing role.

“A key role of planners is to bring experts together. I see myself as being a connector, joining the dots. I work with technical experts like traffic engineers, dam safety engineers and landscape architects. My job isn't to understand everything that they do. I sit in the middle and balance that expert advice against our environmental responsibilities and legislation.

Meridian’s 12-strong environment team also advocates on policy matters, making submissions on regulations, providing information to parliamentary select committees and contributing to district planning hearings.

“The goal is to create a pathway that's favourable for renewable energy because that's what the country needs,” says Catherine.

Meridian’s strong environmental purpose and values make the company a natural, comfortable fit for Catherine, who these days resides on the Kāpiti Coast but still makes it home to Tapawera for regular visits.

“I love the open spaces and the rural community where I grew up. That's been a huge part of my growth. Small communities make you really appreciate the people and the connections.

“And at work I’m surrounded by amazing, talented people who are fully invested in supporting others.

“Plus we're doing quite cool stuff. We're navigating hard things and that's really inspiring.”

Meridian is an equal opportunity employer with Advanced GenderTick accreditation. To learn more about working at Meridian, check out our careers homepage.