David Davies: “The university wants a better finish and therefore they are going to have to pay for it”

### ODT Online Wed, 10 Feb 2010
Upgrade for stadium plaza
By Chris Morris
Plans for the plaza beside the Forsyth Barr Stadium are being scaled up, after the University of Otago decided it wanted the area to “make a statement”. The stadium complex – officially titled Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza – was always going to feature a plaza as part of the stadium and university building development.

Discussions between the university and council were continuing over who “foots the bill” for the additional cost.

Read more

****

Tweet from @ForBarrStadium
Can’t wait to see the Plaza standing tall and proud beside the stadium:) http://bit.ly/cekiNz

Oh good grief.

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

D Scene – “Stadium debate has fresh legs”

### D Scene 10-2-10
It’s being built – will they come? (front page)
A confidential report warns crowds will have to flock to the Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza for it to succeed financially. See page 3.

Editorial: Stadium debate has fresh legs (page 2)
Reports that Auckland City ratepayers may need to pay out millions to underwrite the redevelopment of Eden Park for the Rugby World Cup have no doubt been noted by opponents of the stadium fast emerging on Dunedin’s waterfront . . . Debate over the merits of the Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza will no doubt be stoked by PriceWaterhouseCoopers report into the Otago Rugby Union, details of which are revealed today in D Scene.
{continues}

Report sounds warning (page 3)
By Michelle Sutton
A confidential report warns Dunedin City Council the financial success of the city’s new stadium relies on rugby fans pushing it over the financial try line – at a time when crowds for the national game are waning. D Scene can today reveal the contents of a DCC-commissioned PriceWaterhouseCoopers review of the Otago Rugby Football Union . . . the PWC report, specifically, cites the embattled Highlander’s franchise as affecting the financial success of the stadium to a “huge extent”.
{continues}

Register to read D Scene online at http://fairfaxmedia.newspaperdirect.com/

Pre-draft plan approved (page 6)
Dunedin city councillors have approved their 2010-2011 pre-draft annual plan and are about to consult on the document. D Scene’s Wilma McCorkindale asked how satisfied they are with the finished document and what they most like about it.
{continues}

****

Talk: Dunedin on Dunedin
Your say: Letters to the editor (page 11)
Spending on the stadium by Dr Graham Bishop, Roslyn. The spending on the stadium is spiralling out of control. The council must rein it in and start some serious saving.
{continues}

Council meeting by Bev Butler [Dunedin]. Whilst present at the DCC meeting (2/2/10), I noted that Cr Stevenson reported a breach of the Local Government Act to the chair, Mayor Chin.
{continues}

****

Details: The finer points
Forging ahead (pages 12-13)
Little is settling at Otago Settlers Museum, least of all the dust. Multi-millions are being spent moving the facility into the future, and more than a century down the track the pioneering spirit it was founded on remains. Wilma McCorkindale reports.
{continues}

Academic predicts struggle for stadium (page 14)
By Michelle Sutton
An Otago University senior academic is critical of Dunedin City Council relying on rugby fans to financially score at the city’s new stadium. Steve Jackson, a professor in the socio-cultural analysis of sport, predicted Dunedin and other New Zealand centres would struggle to fill stadiums for the upcoming Rugby World Cup. He was critical of DCC’s decision to fund the new stadium, and its reliance on rugby crowds to protect ratepayer money.
{continues}

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Stray letters received at What if?

Just watched TV news – would appear Canterbury, despite being successful are also suffering in a similar way to the ORFU – when will people realise that it is about how boring rugby is, not success, not lack of parochial spirit, but that rugby just isn’t our lives anymore if it ever was.
[from aggrievedandbored]

Dear Mr Reid and Mr Palenski, now that ORFU is a ratepayer subsidised professional sport would you please enlighten your compulsory supporters as to why you believe it is the recession and your players that are to blame for the result. I note that in a similar vein your northern neighbours are also in strife – bad season ticket sales, low turnout yet their team has performed admirably. Do we likewise need super hero cartoon characters larger than life too, then please get Tremain on the case. But maybe it is something else. Maybe like gladiatorial sports, rugby has had its day. Or shall we next blame the referees – especially those from England, or waitresses called Suzie…..
[from hardenup]

oh

addendum
Dear Messrs Reid and Palenski, I somehow think Tremain might be a bit too sharp for you guys, but don’t shoot the messenger!…..
[from hardenup]

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Stadium images by Paul Le Comte (@five15design)

Tweeted by @five15design
@ForBarrStadium New pics of the construction site from Tuesday http://tr.im/NpK8

Post by Elizabeth Kerr & Paul Le Comte

John Key made NZ fall apart #FAIL

### Nzherald.co.nz 3:00 PM Tuesday Feb 9, 2010
Bernard Hickey: Leave the country now Gen X & Y
By Bernard Hickey
John Key has just sent Generations X and Y a clear message: Leave the country now. He may as well have directed those younger taxpayers who are stupid/poor/unlucky enough not to own property to the websites for AirNZ, PacificBlue and Jetstar and suggested they buy one-way tickets to Australia. He had a chance to follow up all the talk of real reform to create a ’step change’. He had all the experts under the sun from inside and outside of government telling him he needed to do something. He commissioned reports. He talked a good game. Today he did nothing. He did worse than nothing. He shut down the debate.

[John Key] decided not to challenge a generation of voters who are now rich because of the property boom and don’t want to give it up.

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

fubar website development

Tweet today…

@ForBarrStadium
Working on new website for Forsyth Barr Satdium [sic], hopefully up and running in the next couple of weeks:) if all goes well

****

Yikes, another message received for publication here:

Does the annual plan require to go through a public submission process before the extra $1.1 million is approved for DVML? If that is the case as i believe then why are they doing an interim site…. or is it that the funding is a fait accompli because of the Councillors already committed?
[from fuzzy]

Who dares answer this?

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

What does Auckland City Council know that DCC doesn’t.

UPDATED

### ODT Online Tue, 9 Feb 2010
Eden Park redevelopment looking for $40m
Ratepayers are being asked to underwrite about $40 million to cover the cost of redeveloping Eden Park which is being revamped for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. NZPA
Read more

****

### TVNZ News 8:06AM Tuesday February 09, 2010
Ratepayers to underwrite $40m park shortfall
Source: ONE News
There has been a breakthrough over who will pay the shortfall in funding for the Eden Park re-vamp. Auckland’s mayor’s look set to underwrite $40 million to complete the job in time for next year’s Rugby World Cup. The loan would also give the Eden Park Redevelopment Board time to find sponsorship, something that has proven difficult given the economic climate.
Read more + Video

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

DVML plans multi-agency bid for Wellington Sevens

### ODT Online Tue, 9 Feb 2010
Stadium boss checks the competition
By Chris Morris
[David] Davies, the chief executive of Dunedin Venues Management Ltd (DVML) – which will run the Forsyth Barr Stadium – has confirmed he made a scouting trip to Wellington’s Westpac Stadium to watch the Sevens on Friday night.
DVML was … planning a multi-agency bid to try to poach the annual event from Wellington for the Forsyth Barr Stadium from 2012.
Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Otago Rugby Football Union

### ODT Online Tue, 9 Feb 2010
By Steve Hepburn
Recession, results behind ORFU loss
The Otago Rugby Football Union has recorded an operating loss of more than $750,000 for the past year, with its chief executive blaming the recession and saying players had under-performed.

The total loss was $5.9 million, but that included a more than $4.5 million loss on the one-off sale of Carisbrook and the write-off of almost $650,000 in development work.

ORFU financial results
For past five years up to November 30

2005: $52,000 profit
2006: $1.14m loss
2007: $1.5m loss
2008: $467,000 loss
2009: $764,000 loss

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

IRB has not requested 3-D coverage

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 08:53 08/02/2010
Rugby World Cup may be in 3-D, but not in NZ
By Tom Pullar-Strecker – The Dominion Post
The 2011 Rugby World Cup may be broadcast in 3-D, but if so, it will probably only be television viewers in Britain who will be able to watch.
Tournament director Kit McConnell says the International Rugby Board’s (IRB) contract with host broadcaster Sky Television does not provide for 3-D coverage.
But the IRB has yet to sign a contract with a broadcaster in Britain, which would probably bring its own cameras and might be interested in filming matches in 3-D.

“We have established ourselves as a global leader in terms of 3-D capability. With this amount of time and the resources that exist in New Zealand, why wouldn’t we be looking to be the first country in the world that runs a 3-D world event?”
-Brett O’Riley, New Zealand Information and Communications Technology Association (NZICT)

Televisions capable of showing programmes in 3-D are due to go on sale in New Zealand later this year.

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

ODT: ‘voters expect a frugal council’

### ODT Online Mon, 8 Feb 2010
Editorial: A spendthrift tendency
Track Dunedin City Council rate increases over the past 15 years and a pattern emerges. As expected, most increases outstrip inflation levels. Councils have complained about being saddled with more responsibilities, major infrastructure upgrades have been required and it is the nature of local government to spend more and more. Empires built on other people’s money will expand without assiduous and active watchdogs. But less obvious is the effect of elections.

‘the post-election prospects for ratepayer purses are bleak’

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

“Wellington Sevens face extinction”

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 05:00 06/02/2010
Wellington loses permanent sevens bid
By Dave Burgess – The Dominion Post
Auckland and Dunedin are trying to poach the NZI Sevens after Wellington city officials failed in a proposal to host the $15.6 million event permanently. Wellington’s contract to host the two-day party event, part of the International Rugby Board’s sevens world series, expires after next year’s event. Wellington City Council met New Zealand Rugby Union officials to seek permanent hosting rights. Mayor Kerry Prendergast said that, after 10 successful years, this made sense. “But the rugby union told us there was regional pressure [from other cities to host the sevens] and they wanted to go through the tender process, which is usual business practice.”
Read more

****

### TVNZ News 6:21PM Saturday February 06, 2010
Wellington Sevens under threat
Source: ONE Sport
The Wellington Sevens is facing possible extinction after their bid for permanent hosting rights has been turned down by the New Zealand Rugby Union. The iconic event that attracts thousands of fans and revellers to the capital will be up for open bidding after next year’s event the NZRU announced on Saturday. According to the NZRU many centres around the country are very interested in hosting the lucrative event. The main competition will most likely come from Auckland and Dunedin whose main stadiums are both undergoing a major upgrade ahead of the 2011 World Cup.
Link + Video

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

More on “misleading or incompetent”

And DCC duckshoving…
Wherein the true meaning of “start-up capital” defeats the deputy mayor.

### ODT Online Sat, 6 Feb 2010
DVML funding over to council
By David Loughrey
A decision to provide start-up capital for the company that will run the Forsyth Barr Stadium one year earlier than expected was behind the impost of $2.48 million approved for the company this week, Dunedin deputy mayor Syd Brown says. And the oversight was not the responsibility of the Carisbrook Stadium Trust, but the Dunedin City Council, it emerged yesterday.

The sudden and seemingly unexpected financial hit has reignited fears the stadium and related ventures may result in just this sort of unexpected budget requirement in the future.

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

‘October’s vote should not be about “payback”’ – WHY NOT!?

### ODT Online Sat, 6 Feb 2010
Councillors, courts and construction
By David Loughrey
The Forsyth Barr Stadium is rising from the Awatea St dirt at a remarkable rate, but while the opening day closes in, the end of the debate about the issue does not. Senior Dunedin City Council reporter David Loughrey looks at the latest flash-point issue, in the context of a looming local body election.
Read more

****

### ODT Online Sat, 6 Feb 2010
Issue still very much alive for local voters
By David Loughrey
At this year’s local body election, the Forsyth Barr Stadium will, no doubt, be sitting high on the list of matters voters will consider when they make decisions about the candidate they choose.
Read more

****

### ODT Online Sat, 6 Feb 2010
Stadium claims rubbish – Farry
By David Loughrey
Claims there have been design changes to the Forsyth Barr Stadium, or any change to the number of seats at the facility, have been scotched by Carisbrook Stadium Trust chairman Malcolm Farry.
Read more

Stadium seating capacity

South stand: 10,784 permanent seats.
North stand: 8450 (6458 permanent seats, 1992 standing).
East stand: 6060 (4324 re-locatable seats, 1696 standing).
West stand: 5220 (re-locatable).
Total: 30,514

8.2.10 ODT Link to comments received about seating numbers.

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Commercial manager Guy Hedderwick on stadium sponsorship

### The Star February 4, 2010 (page 3)
Sponsorship deals ‘ahead of’ target
By James Boucher
Despite a less-than-ideal economic climate, the Forsyth Barr Stadium is ahead of where it expected to be in sponsorship deals, stadium commercial manager Guy Hedderwick says.

In addition to the main naming rights, “sponsorship opportunities” related to the Forsyth Barr Satdium to date included three supplier sponsorships, as well as agreements in place for the stadium’s east stand and entrance foyer. Negotiations were under way for the stadium’s two level-four lounges, Mr Hedderwick said.

Although opportunities were still available, the stadium was close to meeting the only real sponsorship milestone it faced.

“We have to reach $30.3 million to cover the private-sector sales, and everything over that goes back into operational revenue. At the moment, we are sitting at the $29.84 million mark, so I’m confident we’ll hit our target. We know who we’ll be pitching the remaining opportunities to and we’ll be making contact with some of them in the next couple of days.”
{continues}

The full article is available in print and online editions of The Star.

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Channel 9 News: A further $1.6m for stadium expenses has opponents seeing red

[[[ Like we didn't ask CST and DCC where the operational budget was from the start. That said, Mr Davies sounds to be a rational man. ]]]

When David Davies, chief executive of Dunedin Venues Management Ltd, began his job he didn’t have “a single piece of marketing collateral for this venue that I can give you as any inducement to bring a show here, or you to buy a seat”.

He won’t be asking for any more funding before the stadium is built and open.

OK. Expect further funding requests after the stadium is built and open.

Don’t forget Cr Syd Brown says it’s necessary to do a bit of a tidy-up in Dunedin (presentation, presentation) before we host rwc 2011. How much????

****

### Channel 9 Online February 4, 2010 – 8:38pm
Latest News
Stadium allocated an extra $1.6 million
With the recent allocation of a further $1.6m of Council money for stadium expenses, stadium opponents have had more reason for discontent.
Asked to explain the extra hand-out, the Stadium’s boss says it’s necessary to provide the product required, and while he would have preferred not to have to ask for the money, he doesn’t have time to dwell on any poor management that may have led to the shortfall in budget.
Video Link

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

LEAVE our schools alone (rwc)

Ruck off, NationalGovernment-RugbyBoysUnited.

### ODT Online Thu, 4 Feb 2010
Rugby World Cup to dictate school calendar next year
As the Rugby World Cup beast gathers strength and pace, schools have been told to step out of the way next year. The Ministry of Education has instructed schools they must adjust their school terms to allow for a longer than normal holiday in October, when New Zealand hosts the final stages of the international sporting event. Terms one and two have been extended, forcing the term breaks to fall later than they normally would.
Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Elizabeth Kerr will be supporting and engaging in non rugby activities for the whole rwc season of 2011. That is her faithful mission.

Stadium: CST labelled “either misleading or incompetent”

6.2.10 All is well. The ODT Online story is back, with the Clarification at end… Further $1.8 million for stadium

4.2.10 For further updates refer to comments on this thread.

3.2.10 Update. The ODT weblink to this story says “Access denied”.
Being of an older generation, my colleagues and I, let’s say, appraise daily online and print editions of the Otago Daily Times. We are fond of our local rag.

The online version might be blocked but the print version is alive and well and is now a collectible item. We have carefully plastered copies of the Wednesday, 3 February 2010 front page of the Otago Daily Times (note, the story continues on page 5) on our private walls and personal noticeboards all over town. Some have added the item to their stadium scrapbooks. Some of us at the council meeting took notes of councillors’ discussion, debate and emphatic statements.

The fact remains, of a councillor’s honest opinion – spoken in the public session of the Dunedin City Council meeting, held Tuesday 2 February, reconvened to consider the Pre-Draft Annual Plan 2010/11.

If there is a dispute or other over the way the Otago Daily Times represented the spoken word of the councillor in today’s newspaper, then the offended parties ought to let down their hackles.

As stated in the comments to this post… awaiting further developments.

[confession: we've moved our precious copies of front-page and page 5 news to safe and secure archives - they are, in a word, bunkered]

****

### ODT Online Wed, 3 Feb 2010
Further $1.8 million for stadium
By David Loughrey
The Forsyth Barr Stadium swallowed another $1.8 million yesterday, and the Carisbrook Stadium Trust and its consultants were labelled “either misleading or incompetent” for budgeting far less than that for the company set up to run it. Even Dunedin Venues Management Ltd (DVML) chief executive David Davies said some of the assumptions he had heard had been made before he arrived last year had been “optimistic”.

“Our belief is there is no second chance; if we get it wrong we will be forever condemned.”
-David Davies, Chief Executive, Dunedin Venues Management Ltd

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

“Tax codes, zoning, community boards, and financing are a straitjacket on new types of development”

### fastcompany.com Mon Feb 1, 2010
Introducing The Master Plan: A Chronicle of New Urbanism and Exurban Decay
By Greg Lindsay
“I was in California,” the consummate ad man Don Draper rhapsodised last season in Mad Men. “Everything’s new, and it’s clean. The people are full of hope. New York is in decay.” The suburban landscape that awed him circa 1963 was the fruit of a warm climate, middle-class manufacturing jobs, Federal Housing Administration mortgages, brand-new interstate highways, and tax code changes that made shopping malls a slam-dunk for developers. The immediate result was master-planned communities such as Lakewood, California, “the Levittown of the West,” which started from nothing in 1950 and had grown to 17,500 homes by the time Don Draper rolled through town. The rest is post-war geographic history.

What a difference a half-century makes. America’s suburbs are now home to the largest and fastest growing poor population, according to a recent report by the Brookings Institution. The country’s largest metro areas saw their poor populations grow by 25% between 2000 and 2008, faster than either primary cities or rural areas. (The suburban fringes of Los Angeles were expected to take the biggest hit last year.) Part of this has do with math–the suburbs grew three times faster during that span. But faced with aging infrastructure, higher maintenance costs, and growing numbers of poor, this increase could become self-perpetuating, a la the inner cities in the 1960s and 1970s. “Clearly,” the Brookings Report concluded, “the balance of metropolitan poverty has passed a tipping point.”

The places that thrive today are those with the highest velocity of ideas, the highest density of talented and creative people, the highest rate of metabolism.
-Richard Florida, creative class demographer

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

“Environmentally progressive” Los Angeles NFL Stadium

### archdaily.com 01 Feb 2010
Los Angeles NFL Stadium / Aedas Sport
By Sebastian J
Designed by Aedas Sport, the innovative 75,000-seat stadium will be the first LEED-certified building in the NFL and will capture the luxury and drama of the world’s entertainment capital. The project anticipates completion for the 2013 season. Both the NFL and the client, Majestic Realty, are committed to making a progressive statement with this building and are exploring a number of initiatives that will make this the most environmentally progressive stadium in the U.S. Aedas Sport has employed the unique topography of the site to build the stadium into a hillside, reducing the steel structure by 40% and allowing at least two-thirds of the seating bowl to be built on grade.

A significant coup for the architect, developer and owner, this strategy resulted in an US$800m design — US$400m-$500m less than any other recent NFL stadium proposal. An asymmetrical configuration allows all of the suites and VIP areas to be loaded on the west side of the stadium and integrated into the adjacent retail promenade. While primarily for the NFL, this 365 day-a-year entertainment destination can also accommodate soccer, college and high school football, and large concerts. The stadium powers a retail and entertainment destination, offering flexibility with large, interchangeable sponsorship zones for various audiences. Slated to become the NFL’s first LEED compliant stadium, Aedas’ design includes reduced CO2 emissions, recycling initiatives, and — due to the great reduction of steel in the structure — a significant decrease in hazardous environmental effects associated with material manufacturing and transportation.
Link + Images

See www.LosAngelesFootballStadium.com for more information.

vetelul56 29 September 2009
A slideshow showing pictures of the proposed $800 million 75,000 seat football stadium to be built 12 miles east of Los Angeles in the City of Industry where Hwy 60 and Hwy 57 meet.

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

bringing in consultants to improve the city’s dangerous image

[oh, some lovable phrases!!!]
[as residents of Dunedin City reel in horror from vile crooked budget news]

. . . the problem in [Dunedin] was not branding . . . we didn’t need to come up with a style campaign . . . our challenge has been to open doors in that sealed wall, doors so that people can pass through and go on participating in the construction of hope . . .

### utne.com 1/28/2010 3:06:04 PM
Politics
How Architecture Transformed a Violent City
By Danielle Maestretti
Over the past ten or so years, the city of Medellín, Colombia, has undergone a high-profile transformation, shedding its reputation as one of the world’s most violent cities. In an interview with architect Giancarlo Mazzanti in the art magazine Bomb, former Medellín mayor Sergio Fajardo discusses the vital role of architecture and design in the city’s renewal, which he explains was driven by the concept of “the most beautiful for the most humble”—a departure, or “rupture,” he says, from the notion “that anything you give to the poor is a plus.”
Read more

****

Not making light of Medellín’s situation, rather we’re soaking in the concept of “concrete community improvement”, as we make behind-the-scenes arrangements (including the payment of enormous backhanders) to take over and adapt the new stadium at Dunedin, by June 2010.

Someone has already suggested it should become a holding pond for sludge – yeah, but we can turn that into future renewable energy generation.

Did you really think encasing rugby in a concrete box was a long-term cash-maker, something you could throw into the deep blue sea of “branding” to remove evidence of squandering citizens’ meagre stash (sorry, trash) piles?

SOS DUNEDIN

Related Posts and Comments:
28.1.10 Brand strategy for Dunedin
14.1.10 Dunedin, let’s explore “renewal partnerships”
14.1.10 Superficial Dunedin sloganism
12.1.10 Learning curve 4 SLOGANS
11.1.10 #NewDunedinSlogan by twerps (darn, tweeps)
11.1.10 Collaboration for Dunedin’s promotional strategy

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

ODT on “fiscal creep” + the 3 Waters bonanza

### ODT Online Sat, 30 Jan 2010
Editorial: Restraint inertia
It is good finally to see some vigour coming from Dunedin City councillors as they examine ways to tackle spiralling rate increases, even if such efforts are years too late. The mayor and councillors for far too long have acquiesced to plans and proposals that have ratcheted up costs.
Read more

Related Post:
20.1.10 ODT sounds the warning!

****

### ODT Online Sat, 30 Jan 2010
Water infrastructure challenges identified
By Chris Morris
Climate change, peak oil and a $1 billion bill are just some of the challenges identified in the Dunedin City Council’s 3 Waters strategy document. However, the 3 Waters Strategic Direction Statement 2010-2060, to be considered at Monday’s infrastructure services committee, also outlined the high-level thinking behind plans to tackle each, as well as identifying opportunities.
Read more

****

### ODT Online Sat, 30 Jan 2010
City’s $1b water bill
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council is facing a billion-dollar bill to maintain existing water services over the next 50 years. The forecast costs were outlined in the council’s “3 Waters” strategy, along with a warning “trade-offs” would be needed – reducing funding for some non-essential water services – to minimise the effect.

Cr Butcher said the ["3 Waters"] document showed the council’s decision to invest in the Forsyth Barr Stadium, despite concerns held by some about the financial position of the council, was “coming home to roost”. She also accused staff of deliberately withholding details of the pending bill during earlier stadium deliberations. “I’m pretty upset about it . . . We should have had this information before we made the stadium decision, because it makes a huge difference.”

Read more

>> Agenda and reports for the Infrastructure Services Committee meeting on Monday 1 February, Edinburgh Room, Municipal Chambers, commencing 2pm.

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin City Council meeting Monday 01/02/2010

Starting at 10am in the Edinburgh Room, Municipal Chambers, the meeting to consider the Pre-Draft Annual Plan held on 21 January resumes. Apologies have been received from Councillors Paul Hudson and Richard Walls.

UPDATED 30.1.10
The agenda and reports are now available on the DCC website.
They were uploaded this morning.

Agenda – Council – 01/02/2010 (PDF, 56.5 kb, new window)

Report – Council – 01/02/2010 (PDF, 54.8 kb, new window)
Water and Waste Services – Proposed Changes to Annual Plan Measures

Report – Council – 01/02/2010 (PDF, 230.0 kb, new window)
Tahuna Wastewater Treatment Plant Stage 2 Upgrade

Report – Council – 01/02/2010 (PDF, 123.2 kb, new window)
2010-2011 Community Housing Rent Increase Proposal

Report – Council – 01/02/2010 (PDF, 205.7 kb, new window)
Library – Rate Funding Reduction Options

Report – Council – 01/02/2010 (PDF, 190.3 kb, new window)
Stadium 2010/11 Draft Annual Plan Update

Report – Council – 01/02/2010 (PDF, 2.7 mb, new window)
Kerbside Recycling – Clarification of Financial Modelling in the Pre-Draft Plan 2010/11

Report – Council – 01/02/2010 (PDF, 108.5 kb, new window)
Dunedin Venues Management Limited Budget 2010/11

Report – Council – 01/02/2010 (PDF, 289.7 kb, new window)
Logan Park Public Toilets and Change Rooms

Report – Council – 01/02/2010 (PDF, 87.0 kb, new window)
2010/11 Pre-Draft Annual Plan Update – Development Contributions

Report – Council – 01/02/2010 (PDF, 594.6 kb, new window)
Otago Settlers Museum, Dunedin Centre, Regent Theatre – Opportunities for Staging

****

Make what you will of the Dunedin Venues Management Limited Budget.
The budget recommendation raises many questions about the way funds are being amassed and siphoned for DVML.

The bold assumptions, the lack of financial transparency and diligence underlying the report demonstrate the poor thinking of senior executive staff and that of at least two senior councillors, heading Finance and Strategy Committee and Dunedin City Holdings Limited (DCHL) respectively.

Starter questions:
Will the Council call the bluff of the report writers?
Will councillors ask the hard questions on Monday?
How is money being prioritised to the stadium in this way, what are the processes?
Has no consideration of spending priorities (legitimate issues and options) been given to the money?
Should the sums be put to alternative use – or other investments with better returns?
How can this ‘report’ skim to the top of annual planning considerations without honest open hard talk?
Why does the Council operate on back room deals of this magnitude?
What shoddy manipulations of power and money are at play?

…oh no, not us, we would never let down the ratepayers…

yeah, right

****

What was that we heard? That a further $900,000 (or so) is sloshing around in the Annual Plan budget – for the stadium, to be spread across two years.

Meet the runaway stadium project, AGAIN.

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Tweet your building and MORE

N Building AR project by Teradadesign + Qosmo

### buzz-beast.com January 2010
N Building Featuring Augmented Reality
Everyday applications for augmented reality are becoming more and more commonplace, and Japan may soon be home to one of the first adapted augmented reality societies.

N Building is a commercial structure that is located in a Tokyo shopping district. Instead of covering the facade with typical billboards and neon lights N Building is covered with QR code. This allows passers-by to view the QR Code with their mobile device’s for a very unique augmented reality experience that will display up to date shop information, interactive advertisements and even display the tweets that are coming out of the building. You can also browse shop information, make reservations and download coupons.
Link + Photos + Video

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

NZHPT restructure: branch committees disestablished, oh but we’ll keep the 23,000 membership

Press Release by New Zealand Government at 4:06 pm, 27 Jan 2010

Preliminary findings of the 2009 review of the New Zealand Historic Places Act will help to focus the Historic Places Trust on its significant regulatory responsibilities while providing opportunities for more effective advocacy in local communities, Arts Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson announced today.

The National Party arts, culture and heritage policy during the 2008 election campaign promised a review of the Historic Places Act. The Ministry for Culture and Heritage is undertaking the review and the Government is considering changes to the way the New Zealand Historic Places Trust operates, as well as archaeological consenting processes.

“The Government intends for the Historic Places Trust to focus on its important regulatory role while allowing for better advocacy in local communities,” Mr Finlayson said.

“The Trust has been a Crown entity since 2005, and exercises significant regulatory powers to effectively protect and preserve heritage sites on behalf of the Crown, which contributes around 80% of its funding.”

The review confirmed the Trust will remain a mass membership organisation providing access to heritage sites and education (the Trust currently has about 23,000 subscriber members, who contribute around 5% of its funding). However, the new arrangement would clarify the respective roles of the Trust and its membership.

Under the proposals local branch committees, which are involved in advocacy by members, would be disestablished. The Trust will discuss with branch committees ways in which new arrangements might be put in place for local heritage advocacy.

“Separating the local advocacy interests of branch committees from the regulatory functions of the Trust along the lines of the British model means better outcomes for both,” Mr Finlayson said. “For example, local activists will not be constrained by having to work within the priority-setting framework of a Crown entity.”

The size of the Trust’s national board would be reduced from nine members to eight. All members of the new board would be appointed by Government. Currently, three positions are elected by the wider membership of the Trust. The preliminary review concluded that this change would clear up confused accountabilities on the board.

Letters have been sent to all members and branch committee chairs advising them of the proposed changes, and meetings will be held with committees across the country to discuss and present the changes.

ENDS

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Listen to the Minister’s interview:

### Radio New Zealand National Thurs, 28 Jan 2010 at 06:42AM
Historic Places Trust branch committees may be disestablished
The Government is backing a proposal to scrap the local branch committees of the Historic Places Trust.
Audio Ogg Vorbis MP3 (duration: 4:02)

Note: The members of NZHPT branch committees are elected by their local membership.

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Disclaimer: Elizabeth Kerr is a former NZHPT Otago Branch Chair (2000-08). Elizabeth is no longer a subscription member of the Trust. She left the Trust to pursue her interest, fostered during her time with the Trust, from 1998, in heritage matters for Dunedin City.