Dale was an Architectural Designer/Technician, responsible for the design and detailing of many institutional buildings, industrial and complex residential for the early part of his working life. Building construction completed the circle and his company has been Registered Master Builders for almost 40 years, and is now one of the oldest family construction companies in NZ. Dale was also an expert witness for a decade in mediations, due to the leaky building problems.

He has trekked and hunted NZ’s back country for many decades, having built a deep love and concern for the environment, influenced in part by observations. He and his family have been Forest & Bird members for 30 years and has seen the improved influence and successes. His experience as an architect, builder and businessman has helped Matuku Link execute its extensive construction projects over the past years, the metamorphoses of a barn into the current Wetland Education Centre, hundreds of meters of boardwalks and the Jobs4Nature funded pedestrian bridge over the Waitakere River, enabling an accessible route for people using wheelchairs, buggies, walkers and the like.