Dunedin City Council – all reports posted, belatedly!

Annual reports for council-owned companies were withheld from public and media scrutiny, without notice, prior to the council meeting held on Monday, 29 October 2012. The Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull and DCC chief executive Paul Orders are individually responsible for deliberately withholding this financial information. Although, along with them, we suspect other players in the woodpile.

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### ODT Online Wed, 31 Oct 2012
Report about stadium loss slips under radar
By Chris Morris
A worse-than-expected $3.2 million loss recorded by the company running Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium did not rate a mention at this week’s Dunedin City Council meeting. It emerged yesterday Dunedin Venues Management Ltd and Dunedin Venues Ltd’s annual reports had quietly slipped through Monday’s full council meeting without a question or word of debate. There had been no mention of DVML or DVL on the meeting’s public agenda, and it appeared the reports had not been circulated publicly, to media or even some council staff, as required, in the days before the meeting, the Otago Daily Times discovered yesterday.
Read more

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DUNEDIN CITY COUNCIL AGENDA
MONDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2012, 2.00 PM
COUNCIL CHAMBER, MUNICIPAL CHAMBERS29 October 2012

Agenda – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 118.9 KB)

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 77.9 KB)
ISCOM Approved Out of Water Supply Area Connection – Mr J D MacDonald, 3509 Sutton-Clarks Junction Road, RD 2, Outram 9074

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 1.1 MB)
Approval and Adoption of Annual Report

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 788.2 KB)
Vehicle Access John Wilson Ocean Drive

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 4.6 MB)
Speed Limits Bylaw Review

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 978.0 KB)
Speed Limits – Safer Speeds Demonstration Area

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 1.8 MB)
Submission on the Local Government Regulatory Performance Issues Paper

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 155.1 KB)
Meeting Schedule for 2013

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 1.2 MB)
Aurora Annual Report 2012

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 1.8 MB)
Delta Annual Report 2012

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 813.7 KB)
Dunedin International Airport Annual Report 2012

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 1.0 MB)
Dunedin Venues Limited Annual Report 2012

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 1.1 MB)
Dunedin Venues Management Limited Annual Report 2012

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 225.0 KB)
Taieri Gorge Railway Annual Report 2012

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 2.8 MB)
Dunedin City Treasury Annual Report 2012

DCC Link

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### ODT Online Wed, 31 Oct 2012
Stadium finances dismay
By Chris Morris
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull says the Forsyth Barr Stadium’s finances are “not sustainable”, after confirmation the company running the venue lost nearly $1 million more than expected in its first year of operation. The result was contained in Dunedin Venues Management Ltd’s 2011-12 annual report, released to the Otago Daily Times yesterday, which showed the company lost $3.2 million in its first year. That was $814,000 worse than the $2.4 million loss forecast in May, when DVML’s revelations of a half-year, $1.9 million loss prompted the council to launch a review of the entire stadium operation.
A copy of Dunedin Venues Ltd’s annual report was also released yesterday, and showed the company that owned the stadium – and received rent from DVML – recorded a $4.312 million loss for the same period.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Cull’s council takes business away from retailers

Mayor refuses to recognise chaos created by buses and council-imposed parking changes in the CBD.

Dunedin City Council moves to activate commercial activity in the city’s warehouse district south of the Queens Gardens pose risks for existing business, gallery owner says.

### DScene 31 Oct 2012
Businesses slam council focus (page 5)
By Wilma McCorkindale
David McLean was adding his voice to jeweller Brent Weatherall’s recent criticism of the council’s support of business in the city. Weatherall said the Dunedin City Council (DCC) was dictatorial rather than consultative on some aspects of its economic development strategy, in the wake of a battle over the proposed council banning of footpath signs. Otago Chamber of Commerce retail committee members believed consultation was largely ignored, Weatherall said.

The council needed to focus on parking concerns and attracting businesses into empty main street shops.

Constant requests for a CBD shuttle appeared to have been ignored, even though [McLean] mooted it several times. He believed a free or cheap shuttle would help circulate shoppers throughout the city business district. The Otago Regional Council, which administers public transport in the city, did not have a responsibility for keeping activity going in the CBD, he said. “And yet buses are an issue for that.”

Transport issues in the city held the town to ransom, especially struggling businesses south of the Octagon, some of which had already been forced to shut. “Now we’ve got a focus on the new warehouse district. They’re going to end up with a city ghost town.”

Concerns over loss of main street parking, replaced in some cases by bus stops – with buses sitting on them pumping out dirty diesel – remained a problem. [McLean] had repeatedly asked for free 30-minute parks to be reinstated in the main street to encourage people into the Princes St side of the Octagon. However, the loss of parks continued to be an issue in the wake of council’s botched 2009 parking restructure, he said.

“Council is very aware of the strength of the main street – of the main shopping street,” Cull said. “We wouldn’t do anything to compromise that.”

Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said the council consulted widely with the business community as well as those in the wider community, and that such decisions did not always please everyone. Some may have misunderstood the focus of the proposed warehousing precinct, which was intended to have a creative and residential focus. Cull understood parking issues had been sorted.
#bookmark

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

Related Post:
17.10.12 “But there’s more to Dunedin than just bloody cruise ships”

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

NZIER on big events #RWC2011

When a new stadium and RWC 2011 at Dunedin were first floated as ideas we easily saw them as losers.

### ODT Online Tue, 30 Oct 2012
Business
Big events don’t make host countries richer: NZIER
By Jamie Gray
Big events like the Rugby World Cup do not make the host countries richer, independent economic research group NZIER said. NZIER said major international events tended to “suck in” visitors from before and after the time they are held, creating a displacement effect. It said most event analysis doesn’t stack up because it missed the displacement effects. “It means the benefits are often far smaller than people think,” NZIER said in a report. The displacement effect meant the net number of visitors an event generates is much lower than the visitors to the event, and NZIER said the Rugby World Cup 2011 was a good example of this. “We estimate there was little overall boost to visitor arrivals because there were fewer visitors before and after the 133,000 international visitors that came to New Zealand for the tournament,” it said. “Crucially, domestic tourism is displaced expenditure that would occur elsewhere in the economy. This significantly reduces the overall benefit from the events. Simply put, major domestic events do not make New Zealanders any wealthier.”
Read more

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NZIER – established in 1958 as the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research Inc – is a non-profit incorporated society based in Wellington. Its team of economists is one of the largest in New Zealand outside government.

http://nzier.org.nz/publications

Report: The host with the most? Rethinking the costs and benefits of hosting major events (30 October 2012)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCHL ‘run by a bunch of fools’ -agreed

Comment received.

JimmyJones
Submitted on 2012/10/30 at 5:43 pm

DCHL is financially very sick: if it was a horse, you would have to shoot it to put it out of its misery. It is amusing to see how sensitive Dave Cull is to Lee Vandervis stating-the-bloody-obvious, that DCHL doesn’t make enough real money to pay its interest and dividends to the DCC, as well as the subsidies to DVL and DVML.
The DCC are forcing DCHL into more and more debt every year. For the 5 years that I have Annual Reports, DCHL has always paid for its distributions to the DCC by increasing their debt. Not just part of the distributions are borrowed money, but the whole amount each year.
In 2012 they added $50.3 million to their debt (page 37), so you can see that even without being forced to provide distributions of $23.2 million, it already had a severe cash-flow shortage. This negative cash-flow is the result of their own incompetence from spending very large amounts on new investments and expanding their operations. The incompetence comes from the fact that there has been no expansion in profits as a result of this low quality spending. They seem to be followers of the Homer Principle (if something doesn’t work, keep doing it), because not once in the last five years have they earned enough cash to pay for their spending on new stuff. Poor-old Dave and the new-guy, Paul, don’t seem to understand the problem. Let me summarize –

● DCHL is heading towards bankruptcy
● It is going bankrupt because DCC councillors and staff have been using it like a magic money-box where distributions are paid from debt (debt that doesn’t show up on DCC books – because of their choice)
● The LTP shows that they fully intend to continue this foolish practice, despite the DCHL Chairman’s aspirational comments to the contrary and Mayor Cull foaming at the mouth about it
● DCHL has been, and mostly still is, being run by a bunch of fools that need to be kept well away from anything financial or owned by the People Of Dunedin.

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### ODT Online Tue, 30 Oct 2012
Mayor sees red over Vandervis questions
By Chris Morris
Sparks flew as Mayor Dave Cull and Cr Lee Vandervis clashed repeatedly over debt and dividends at yesterday’s Dunedin City Council meeting. In what at times resembled a running battle, an angry Mr Cull eventually accused Cr Vandervis of giving in to his “obsession” and threatened to prevent him from speaking. The pair found themselves at loggerheads over reports detailing Dunedin City Holdings Ltd’s latest financial results and the council’s annual report.[…]Cr Vandervis attacked the figures at yesterday’s meeting, claiming the entire $23.2 million – which helped keep council rates increases to a minimum – had been funded from loans.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
29.10.12 DCC consolidated debt substantially more than $616m…
26.10.12 DCHL borrowed $23 million to bail DCC
26.10.12 DCHL: New directors for Aurora, Delta, City Forests
25.10.12 Dunedin Venues Limited – 2012 Annual Report now 2 months overdue
17.10.12 The only thing up…. (for sale)
17.10.12 DCC on DCHL, subsidiaries and DCTL
12.10.12 DCHL, subsidiaries and DCTL
28.9.12 The End of The Golden Weather?
25.9.12 Cull’s state of denial…
24.9.12 DCC against imposition of local government reforms
11.9.12 Delta Utility Services Ltd
6.9.12 DCC pays out $millions to cover loss making stadium…
30.8.12 DCC seen by Fairfax Business Bureau deputy editor Tim Hunter
7.8.12 DCC, DCHL, debt, democracy (and professional rugby)
26.7.12 Cull’s council thinks $750,000 per annum to DVML…

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Stadium turf-day +@#!$%^*&

Tweet (9:28 AM – 30 Oct 12):

@ForBarrStadium #CommunityPitchInvasion Our turf is open to you this Sun (4 Nov) to enjoy & use as you would your local park, 2:30-4pm ow.ly/eRvP8

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Does this mean the hallowed turf is completely poked?
While the pitch at Carisbrook is maintained to perfection…

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC consolidated debt substantially more than $616m to June 30, 2012

Your council doesn’t want you to know that.
Massage. Lack of accountability.

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### ODT Online Mon, 29 Oct 2012
Council debt to peak at $600m
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council and its companies are about to reach the top of a $600 million debt mountain and start down the other side. However, it was likely to be years before there was room on the council’s books for any major new projects, potentially leaving the council exposed if “something untoward came along”, Mayor Dave Cull said.

Council figures showed consolidated debt – spread across the council and its companies – had risen to $616 million by the end of the 2011-12 financial year on June 30, including core council debt of $216 million.

Overall debt was expected to peak in the next eight months, but would then begin a gradual decline as two decades of major capital projects and upgrades came to an end. The details are contained in the council’s latest annual report, for the year to June 30, to be considered at today’s full council meeting.
Read more

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Dunedin City Council
Meeting: Monday, 29 October 2012
Council Chamber, Municipal Chambers, at 2pm

Agenda – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 118.9 KB)

Report – Council – 29/10/2012 (PDF, 1.1 MB)
Approval and Adoption of Annual Report

Other reports

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At ODT Online:

This is what we owe
Submitted by russandbev on Mon, 29/10/2012 – 10:09am.
Based upon the $616m debt figure, which is not necessarily the correct level of debt, each ratepayer owes $10,807. Compare this to Kaipara where a debt level of $4,395 per ratepayer was considered to be unsustainable and a commissioner was appointed by Government. This Council is out of control and does not yet recognise that the decision to build the stadium based on the PWC proven falsehoods was wrong, and by the continued pouring of money into keeping it open makes no sense whatsoever.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Govt to open up more land for houses

Twenty years ago the average price of a house cost around four times the average income but now it is nearly double that.

### tvnz.co.nz 5:30AM Monday October 29, 2012
‘No silver bullet’ for housing affordability crisis – PM
Source: ONE News
Prime Minister John Key says fast tracking the supply of land should help solve the current housing affordability crisis. The long-awaited housing plan is due to go before Cabinet today to be signed off, seven months after the Productivity Commission released a report on housing affordability. […] “The sorts of things the Productivity Commission is talking about, and the Government’s going to adopt, is how do we speed up the supply of land so that’s both what we call greenfields, paddocks sitting out there that you extend the urban limit, and secondly brownfield development, so that’s where you don’t have a lot of intensification in a certain area but you allow that to happen more quickly.” […] The soaring price of property has been blamed on a shortage of availability, and Key told TVNZ Breakfast this morning that changing the Resource Management Act (RMA) to speed up the development of land will help solve the supply and demand issue. He said the RMA process at the moment it is often arduous and long – to the detriment of the consumer.
Read more + Videos [Link not available]

█ New Zealand Productivity Commission
http://www.productivity.govt.nz/

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“We’ve got to be careful about Government not blundering in here too much into council business because we don’t understand all the local issues.”

The Government plans to change local government legislation and the Resource Management Act to make it easier for developers to build houses. Finance Minister Bill English wants to make more land available for housing – and to speed up consent processes. [Today] he will take a paper to Cabinet, outlining a response to a Productivity Commission report on housing affordability. Finance Minister Bill English said the cost of building is too high and there is a supply shortage, particularly of good quality, lower priced housing.
DOMINION POST

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“The Government owns $15 billion worth of houses, and, in most cities, the best opportunities … [are] on the government-owned Housing Corp land.”

Tackling the high cost of home ownership:
* Government will work with councils on urban planning to make it easier to build houses on “greenfield” sites outside city boundaries and on “brownfield” sites within cities.
* Further Tamaki Transformation-style redevelopments of state housing assets will be done.
* Changes will be made to the Local Government and Resource Management Act to make it easier, quicker and cheaper to build houses.
* Building costs will be reduced through work on the Building Act.
NZ HERALD

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### radionz.co.nz Monday 29 October 2012
Morning Report with Geoff Robinson & Simon Mercep
07:15 Government to change rules to make houses more affordable
The Finance Minister, Bill English, has indicated that changing the planning and consent process is among the changes. (4′57″)
Audio | Download: Ogg Vorbis MP3 | Embed

### radionz.co.nz Monday 29 October 2012
Morning Report with Geoff Robinson & Simon Mercep
08:12 Cabinet to decide today to relax planning rules for housing
The Cabinet will decide today on changes aimed at making new houses more affordable. (3′13″)
Audio | Download: Ogg Vorbis MP3 | Embed

### radionz.co.nz Monday 29 October 2012
Nine To Noon with Kathryn Ryan
11:07 Politics with Matthew Hooton and Josie Pagani
Talking today about the Governments response to the productivity commission. (24′02″)
Audio | Download: Ogg Vorbis MP3 | Embed

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCHL borrowed $23 million to bail DCC

Why are the Otago Daily Times (Allied Press) and DScene (Fairfax) refusing to print the truth about Dunedin City Holdings accounts?

The $23 million that DCHL reportedly PAID as dividend etc to Dunedin City Council, is borrowed.

DCHL borrowed $23 million to bail the spendthrift DCC and make it look like we have a 5% rates increase instead of the real 25% increase without the new borrowing.

You’ll find all the details here:

DCHL Annual Report 2012 (PDF, 2.1 MB)

The ‘debt-deniers’ from DCHL are trying to characterise this year’s disastrous council-owned companies annual accounts as one of ‘ups and downs’.
ODT 18.10.12

The DCHL annual report actually shows:

● Delta business goodwill – Down
● Jacks Point/Luggate property values – Way Down
● City Forests carbon credits, log returns and valuations – All Down
● City Forests Milburn Wood Processing Mill – Down
● DCHL cashflow – Down
● DCHL profit – Down and Out and Negative: minus $5 million
● The only significant ‘Up’ is more DCHL borrowing

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Repeat:
What DCHL has delivered is another $23 million of debt which they have had to borrow against company assets because the council has already spent it.

The claim that DCHL’s borrowing to supply dividends will stop from next year is a claim with onerous consequences.

– The council’s gross spending continues unabated.
– Together, DCC and DCHL have racked up all possible debt.

Without serious moves to slash staff and shrink the number of company directors, the only option that remains is Asset Sales.

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A note on two DCHL subsidiaries

The directors of Delta Utility Services Ltd and Delta Investments Ltd are guilty of having made the decision(s) to speculate on property at Queenstown’s Jacks Point and Luggate, using ratepayer funds. No other conclusion is able to be drawn, they are all responsible. They are all liable.

The value of the properties has been written down by millions of dollars, a loss to the ratepayers who were unaware of the purchases until the deals were concluded.

This is not simply a matter of loss of ‘book value’.

The directors of the two companies had real and perceived conflicts of interest in conducting the property deals. They continue as directors with clear conflicts of interest.

The directors should be SACKED. Meanwhile, we await news of ‘board restructuring’. [see post]

DCHL chairman Denham Shale should be SACKED for misrepresenting the facts and condoning the actions of the two boards.

Who are/were the directors responsible?

Delta Utility Services Limited
[formerly Delta Energy Limited; The Electric Company of Dunedin Limited]
Michael Owen COBURN
Norman Gilbert EVANS
Ross Douglas LIDDELL
Stuart James MCLAUCHLAN
Raymond Stuart POLSON

Delta Investments Limited – property subsidiary
[formerly Newtons Coachways (1993) Limited]
Grady CAMERON [also, Chief Executive of Delta Utility Services]
Michael Owen COBURN
Stuart James MCLAUCHLAN
Raymond Stuart POLSON

Throw out Athol Stephens, DCHL Secretary, for good measure.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

No cloud has lifted off DCC, the sins are too great and numerous

Dunedin City Council
Media Release

More transparent official information

This item was published on 26 Oct 2012.

A New Zealand first has been launched on the DCC website with Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) responses now published at www.dunedin.govt.nz/oia

Mayor Dave Cull is thrilled with this significant step towards improved transparency of the DCC’s information.

“We are constantly looking for ways to make our information and our processes more transparent. Alongside recent changes, such as releasing previously non-public committee items, this will be another step towards ensuring open and transparent local government.”

Not every request will be placed on the site, to ensure Privacy Act considerations are met (such as ensuring requesters cannot be identified if they do not wish to be). If requests are made that have no public interest, they won’t go up either.

Responses to media requests will always be published on the site as will responses to public organisations and Members of Parliament.

DCC Governance Manager Sandy Graham says, “The site is a first iteration and we invite users to provide feedback and suggestions, which can be directed to officialinformation@dcc.govt.nz .”

The site includes an online form for requesting information under LGOIMA. The form will enable staff to track and collate data more efficiently, to ensure the information requested is clear and accurate and help ensure responses are provided within the statutory time frame. A search tool will be added as the store of information grows, to ease the process of searching topics that may have already been requested.

The first three months of responses, from July – September of this year, have been made available and it is expected that the site will be updated monthly.

Contact Dave Cull, Mayor of Dunedin on 477 4000.

DCC Link

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### radionz.co.nz Updated at 12:34 pm today
Dunedin council puts more information online
Dunedin City Council has begun publishing its responses to official information requests online – the first in the country to do so.

The Ombudsman, Beverley Wakem, says she is delighted with the council’s move and hopes it will spread to other councils.

Like all authorities, the council receives dozens of official information requests a month from ratepayers, the news media, public organisations and Members of Parliament. Many are multiple requests for the same information, creating double-handling for council staff, and are only selectively made public. The council’s governance manager, Sandy Graham, says from now on every response with a public interest will be available on the Dunedin City Council website. It is part of a wider transparency drive at the council which has already shifted large parts of its meetings from closed-door sessions to the public agenda, and will soon begin publishing its credit card spending records online.
RNZ Link

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCHL: New directors for Aurora, Delta, City Forests

Dunedin City Council
Media Release

New Directors for Dunedin City Holdings Company Boards

This item was published on 26 Oct 2012.

Appointment of New Directors to the Board of Aurora Energy Limited and Delta Utility Services Limited

The Board of Dunedin City Holdings Limited is very pleased to announce that Dr Ian Parton and Mr Dave Frow have been appointed as new Directors of Aurora Energy Limited (“Aurora”) and Delta Utility Services Limited (“Delta”). Both of the new Directors come to the Company with distinguished careers as engineers and extensive governance backgrounds.

Effective from 1 November 2012, the directors will join Mr Ray Polson and Mr Stuart McLauchlan on the two boards which will comprise four members in the meantime.

Dr Parton is a Distinguished Fellow and Past President of the Institution of Professional Engineers of New Zealand. Dr Parton was for fifteen years Managing Director of Meritec Group Limited (formerly Worley Group Limited) and more recently was Transition Chief Executive of Watercare Services Limited managing the integration process with respect to amalgamation of the wholesale and retail water companies which resulted from the “Super City” initiative in Auckland. Dr Parton is a Director of Auckland Transport Limited and Skellerup Holdings Limited and is also Pro-Chancellor of the University of Auckland.

Mr Frow’s background since coming to New Zealand from South Africa in 1979 has largely been in the electricity industry. He worked with the Ministry of Energy for nine years before joining Electricity Corporation of New Zealand where he became Chief Executive in 1992 through until 1999. Subsequently Mr Frow has served on the Boards of Waste Management Limited and Unison Networks Limited. He was a member of the Telecom Independent Oversight Group through to December 2011 and is currently a Director of ETEL Limited and Holmes Fire & Safety Limited both of which companies are involved in the electricity industry. Mr Frow is a Fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers of New Zealand.

Dunedin City Holdings Limited is very pleased to have obtained the services of these two Directors who will bring to the Boards of Aurora and Delta vast experience in the areas in which each of these companies operate.

Appointment of New Directors to the Board of City Forests Limited

Following agreement from the Dunedin City Council, Dunedin City Holdings Limited is pleased to announce the names of two new directors for the board of City Forests Limited. The appointments are to be effective from 1 November 2012.

The two new directors, both from Dunedin, are Mr John Gallaher and Mr Tony Allison. They will join Mr Ross Liddell and Mr Mike Coburn on the board which will comprise four members.

Mr John Gallaher is a senior investment professional with Forsyth Barr Limited who began his commercial career with roles in banking, finance corporate management and marketing 35 years ago. John is Chairman of TracPlus Global Limited, Daestra Holdings Limited, United Way NZ Limited, Tui Motu Foundation Inc. and the Upstart Investment Committee and he has several other directorships.

Mr Tony Allison is currently the CEO of Night ‘N Day Foodstores Limited that in the last few days ranked very highly in the Deloitte Fast 50 List. Prior to that he was the Chief Operating Officer and a director of Calder Stewart Industries Limited where he gained experience of forestry operations. Tony is also currently a director of AA Cleaners (Otago) Limited, St Clair Beach Resort, Southern Team Co 2008 Limited and the Southern Steel Netball Team.

Both these two Dunedin directors have excellent corporate governance understanding and collectively they will bring to the board experience of governance and the forestry industry relevant to the business of City Forests Limited.

Contact Denham Shale, Chairman, DCHL on 021 375 112.

DCC Link

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) – CULPABLE #pokierorts

● The Trusts Charitable Foundation (TTCF Inc) ● The Trusts Community Foundation Ltd (TTCF Ltd) ● Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU) ● Professional Rugby ● Centre of Excellence for Amateur Sport ● Harness Racing ● Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) ● Gambling Commission ● Pokies ● Rorts ● Organised Crime ● Serious Fraud ● Political Interference

### ODT Online Fri, 26 Oct 2012
Trust audit labelled ‘a white wash’
By Hamish McNeilly
[Whistleblower Martin Legge] says an Internal Affairs audit is a “whitewash” after it failed to act on his material involving the Otago Rugby Football Union, South Auckland bars and a pokie trust.[…]An audit of The Trusts Community Foundation Ltd (TTCFL) was released last week under the Official Information Act. Earlier this year, the ODT reported the union had bought three Auckland-based bars and entered a relationship with the pokies trust, then called The Trusts Charitable Foundation (TTCF).

“At each change of ownership, it was looked at, and there was no evidence of illegality, and we had no reason to not approve the changes,” the [DIA] audit noted.

Mr Legge alleges that relationship – concerning the ownership of the South Auckland bars known as the “Jokers Group” – resulted in the union receiving more than $6 million in pokie grants from the trust between 2005 and 2011.
The Internal Affairs audit, which covers the period April 1, 2010, to January 31 this year, noted “the Department has undertaken a number of separate investigations into ‘Jokers Group’ and its ownership company over the years”.

ORFU general manager Richard Kinley said he could not comment because the audit concerned an earlier administration, and he had not read the released audit.

The audit also examined three Jokers Group grants given to the ORFU from the trust totalling $379,767 in approved payments. They were found to be compliant.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Venues Limited – 2012 Annual Report now 2 months overdue

UPDATED POST 26.10.12 at 1:46 am

JimmyJones at ODT Online today mentioned this timing anomaly. DVL is late with its 2012 annual report. We all know how steep the numbers will be and just approximately, how decimating!

We don’t hold out any hopes for DVL.

● DVL 6-monthly result, $5.2 million loss.

● DVML (with the same board as DVL) annual result, $1.9 million loss.

● DCHL annual result, $5m loss for the group.

Dunedin City Council, the companies’ owner, persists in keeping public eyes away from the true state of the books, and the activities and wrongdoings that have led to gross mismanagement of council finances.

Fudging, obfuscation, corruption, fraudulence, lack of transparency and accountability – this is your council. Breaching its own prudential limits…

It keeps coming… (sample)
26.7.12 Cull’s council thinks $750,000pa to DVML represents good value?
30.8.12 DCC seen by Fairfax Business Bureau deputy editor Tim Hunter
11.9.12 Delta Utility Services Ltd

Denham Shale, Bill Baylis and Co have been hired to make it all go away.

Then, ah-ha! There’s our man Slippery aka Warren Larsen, who authored the report to salve DCC’s conscience and not much else.

Governance = ineptitude, manipulation and lots and lots of crime…

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Council bid lacks cost/benefit analysis: Fifa under-20 World Cup 2015

Interesting. DCC and DVML aren’t sharing information on the cup bid. General manager Sue Bidrose looks like a fool again (perhaps she is), and Darren is Darren. Nevertheless, all councillors are responsible for the lack of a full cost/benefit analysis.

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### ODT Online Thu, 25 Oct 2012
Code clash with cash implications
By Chris Morris
The Highlanders could be kicked for touch, and the company running the Forsyth Barr Stadium left out of pocket, if Dunedin secures a share of hosting rights for the Fifa under-20 World Cup in 2015. That was because Fifa required exclusive use of all tournament venues, beginning 10 days before each venue’s first match and continuing until a day after the last match, tournament organising committee interim project manager Peter O’Hara said. That could mean a clash between Fifa’s tournament and the Super 15 rugby competition at stadiums around New Zealand, as the two tournaments would overlap.

[Dunedin Venues Management Ltd chief executive Darren Burden] did not yet know the details of Dunedin’s bid, which was being handled by the Dunedin City Council, but hoped “sensible solutions could be found”.

The council was expected to contribute up to $450,000 towards Fifa’s tournament costs if its bid was successful, but council city strategy and development manager Sue Bidrose said that was if the city won the right to host a number of matches, including the final. The cost could be reduced if the city’s bid was only partially successful, but the true cost – including lost revenue if other stadium events were disrupted – was not known, she said.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Bad press for ORFU –NZ Herald

● The Trusts Charitable Foundation (TTCF Inc) ● The Trusts Community Foundation Ltd (TTCF Ltd) ● Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU) ● Professional Rugby ● Centre of Excellence for Amateur Sport ● Harness Racing ● Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) ● Gambling Commission ● Pokies ● Rorts ● Organised Crime ● Serious Fraud ● Political Interference

### nzherald.co.nz 5:30 AM Wednesday Oct 24, 2012
Opinion
We’re relying on money poured through pokies
By Brian Rudman
The latest Pub Charity advertisement, promoting the $20,186,931 distributed to good causes over the past six months, has a certain similarity to the advertising blitzkrieg being conducted by the cigarette industry. Both try to distract us from the distinctly unpleasant underbellies of their respective industries.[…]Pub Charity chief executive Martin Cheer, in last Sunday’s advertisement[…]claimed that “charitable donations” that are “critical for causes from air rescue to opera” will be in jeopardy. He said Auckland Council was about to feed community groups and charitable organisations “a super size pile of bull about the future of charitable gaming machines in their territory” and that staff were using incorrect and misleading statistics to persuade community boards that “gaming machine funding is not that important or effective”. Mr Cheer’s comments are just a rehash of an earlier statement he issued in May, but they did draw my attention once more to where Pub Charities funds come from.

Two years ago, the former chief executive of the Community Gaming Association, Francis Wever, wrote to the Minister of Internal Affairs claiming that corrupt behaviour in his own industry was “all-pervasive and pernicious” with “endemic non-compliance”.

This year we read of how the Otago Rugby Union bought three South Auckland pubs then siphoned $5 million in pokie profits out of the areas – mainly Manurewa – to help prop up the failing Dunedin sporting body. What’s protecting the pokie industry from reform is that it props up respectable New Zealand.
Read more

● Brian Rudman is a Herald columnist looking at Auckland and national issues.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Stadium crowd, Friday 19 October – how many?

Otago v Tasman (ITM Cup)

Received today.

Calvin Oaten says (via email):
“In Sat. ODT it credited the Friday night game crowd at 6780. These are a scan of the crowd by Jeremy. Can you see any more than about 2000?”

Rugby: Otago gets up to make final
http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/231255/rugby-otago-gets-make-final

Images [JPGs] supplied by Jeremy Belcher. Screenshot: What if?

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Malcolm said the Stadium would be Dunedin’s future, providing lots of jobs

No Dunedin company should dare to think it’s immune from the need to be competitive, even with what’s on offer from ‘outside’, be it for good or bad – cosying is always a risk.

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### ODT Online Tue, 23 Oct 2012
Job fears as stadium contract goes out of town
By Chris Morris
Dunedin businessmen say jobs will be on the line after an audiovisual contract at Forsyth Barr Stadium was awarded to a recently formed, out-of-town company with links to a former Australian bankrupt.
It was confirmed last week DV Audio Visual Ltd had been signed as the preferred provider for audiovisual services inside the stadium. The decision by Dunedin Venues Management Ltd – which runs the stadium and other Dunedin venues – left the owners of Dunedin companies Strawberry Sound and Southern Lights and Services fuming last week. Both told the Otago Daily Times they were concerned the move could be replicated at other DVML-controlled venues, including the town hall, and lead to job losses for their employees.
Read more

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Related Post and Comments:
19.10.12 Weak boys, Cull and Burden on rugby stadium

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Weak boys, Cull and Burden on rugby stadium

One year on from the All Blacks winning the World Cup at Eden Park, what is the state of rugby at the so-called “Stadium of Four Million”? APNZ reporters Patrick McKendry, Daniel Richardson and Matthew Backhouse investigate.

### nzherald.co.nz 4:16 PM Friday Oct 19, 2012
Sport
Rugby: What is the state of our game?
By Matthew Backhouse, Patrick McKendry, Daniel Richardson
Andrew Maddock will be at EcoLight Stadium in Pukekohe early today for Counties-Manukau’s biggest game of the season, an ITM Cup semifinal against Southland. The Counties Rugby Union chief executive will be at work about 8am for a game which kicks off at 2.05pm and which he expects will attract only 4000-5000 spectators. “It’s a little bit hard to know as it’s Labour Weekend,” he says. “That for us is a reasonable crowd because we’re a pretty small community.” When that match kicks off the All Blacks will be preparing for tonight’s Bledisloe Cup match against the Wallabies in Brisbane which will attract a full house of more than 50,000 to Suncorp Stadium and a worldwide audience of millions. Such is the divide in New Zealand rugby, a ravine growing by the year despite, or perhaps because of, the All Blacks’ success in the World Cup, which on Tuesday will be exactly 12 months ago.

Mr Cull says there was a great atmosphere during the tournament, but whether that justified the expenditure was another matter.

One year on from the Rugby World Cup, the tournament’s costly and sometimes controversial stadium projects have left a legacy of ongoing debt and questions over their future.[…]For NZRU chief executive Steve Tew, the World Cup’s legacy is a positive one, despite doubts remaining over Eden Park which had a massive overhaul before the tournament and now mostly sits empty apart from when the All Blacks play there.

“We’ve got a sound platform to build on going forward. Of course there are significant challenges ahead financially, but when I look to the future events that we’ve got coming up, the events calender is looking pretty robust.” -Darren Burden, DVML

Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium is struggling to attract the big events it needs to remain financially viable, while Auckland’s revamped Eden Park has been dragged into a review of the city’s stadiums as it looks to shake off $55 million in debt. Critics say the tournament failed to deliver on its promised financial returns and are questioning the long-terms gains of the $555m spent nationally on upgrading stadiums. – APNZ
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

LGOIMA request: Breakdown of DVML recruitment costs [emails]

Received.

Bev Butler notes:
The recruitment agency [Select Recruitment] was paid $40,500 to recruit Darren Burden compared with the $30,000 paid to Sheffield for the recruitment of David Davies. This is a 35% increase.
Also, Sir John Hansen, had no grounds to refuse the release of this information. I would have expected a higher standard of transparency from a former judge.

From: bevkiwi@hotmail.com
To: darren.burden@dunedinvenues.co.nz; sgraham@dcc.govt.nz
CC: porders@dcc.govt.nz
Subject: LGOIMA request: Breakdown of recruitment costs of CEO of DVML
Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2012 09:20:00 +1300

68 Russell St
Dunedin Central

Thursday 3rd October 2012

Dear Darren and Sandy

I request a copy of the breakdown of the costs for the recruitment of the new CEO of DVML.
I note that Sir John Hansen, Chair of DVML, refused to supply this information to the media.
However, the breakdown of recruitment costs for the former CEO of DVML, David Davies, was released after I made a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman. Therefore, there are no grounds for the refusal of this request. I also expect that a response to this request should not take 20 working days as is the normal requirement under LGOIMA because this request had no grounds for refusal in the first place.
I expect an early reply.

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

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From: jo.scully@dunedinvenues.co.nz
To: bevkiwi@hotmail.com
Subject: LGOIMA – breakdown of recruitment costs
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2012 07:01:25 +0000

Dear Bev

Please see attached response sent on behalf of Darren Burden,

Kind regards

JO SCULLY
COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

031012 – Bev Butler (DOC, 174 KB)

****

Yesterday, following a request from a member of the public, the company released a breakdown.

### ODT Online Fri, 19 Oct 2012
Firm got $40,000 to replace Davies
By Chris Morris
The recruitment company searching for David Davies’ replacement at Dunedin Venues Management Ltd was paid $40,500 for its work, new figures confirm. The fee to Select Recruitment, of Dunedin, represented the bulk of the $51,307.45 bill for the recruitment drive paid for by DVML. The search concluded with last month’s appointment of DVML operations director Darren Burden as chief executive, but only after 109 candidates – 90 of them from outside New Zealand – were sifted through.
Read more

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Related Post:
11.10.12 Darren Burden plays LGOIMA game like Davies #DVML …
24.9.12 Dunedin’s stadium ‘burden’
7.9.12 Ombudsman assists release of CST file information
29.6.12 DCC recruitment process: DVML chief executive position
22.6.12 DVML chief executive recruitment
3.5.12 Davies gave it a shot, next…

Critical and deliberative journalism

“It is an irony that media executives who are so quick to invoke media freedom for themselves can be equally zealous about suppressing academic freedom or alternative media freedom.”

### scoop.co.nz 22:54 October 16, 2012
Pacific Scoop
Media blind spots overcome by ‘critical’ journalism, says first Pacific j-professor
By Alex Perrottet – Pacific Media Watch
Restoring public trust, engaging in critical journalism, and opening the media’s eyes to common blind spots were all on the agenda for the inaugural address of the first professor in journalism studies in NZ and the Pacific. Professor David Robie spoke to a crowded conference room of almost 200 people at AUT University tonight after receiving his professorship last year.

“Not only is he an academic, a journalist, he is a committed person whose questions will always be: What is the truth and what will we do about it?”

Beginning with the current so-called Hackgate media crisis and visiting plenty of other “hot spots” throughout the presentation, Professor Robie charted the course of his life’s journey throughout New Zealand, Africa, Europe and back to Oceania. He warned that the current media crisis seemed to be facing a growing “soft” reporting of the Leveson Inquiry in Britain – with a report due next month – and the Finkelstein and Convergence Reviews in Australia. “Already there are concerns by critics that the media has started soft-peddling the issue,” he said. He said the latest edition of Pacific Journalism Review examined the issue of rebuilding public trust in the media.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
30.8.12 DCC seen by Fairfax Business Bureau deputy editor Tim Hunter
3.8.12 Extraordinary editorials
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

The only thing up…. (for sale)

Email received.

—— Forwarded Message
From: Lee Vandervis
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:51:39 +1300
To: Debbie Porteous , Chris Morris
Cc: EditorODT
Conversation: DCHL claim of ups and downs
Subject: DCHL claim of ups and downs

Hi Debbie and Chris,

The debt-deniers from DCHL are trying to characterise this year’s City Companies Annual Reports as one of ups and downs.
Delta business goodwill is down.
Jacks Point/Luggate property values are way down.
[City Forests] carbon credits, log returns and valuations are down.
[City Forests] Wood Processing Mill is down.
DCHL cash flow is down and profit is down and out and negative.

The only thing significantly up is DCC funding requirements for the Stadium, met by significant borrowing again this year, but with a promise that the DCHL borrowing will now stop.
Without the courage to slash and burn staff costs and biff all directors responsible for scandalously speculative Jacks Point/Luggate, Wood Processing Mill etc, the only option that remains is asset sales.
Look out City Properties, Waipori Fund, Forests etc.

Kind regards,
Lee

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC on DCHL, subsidiaries and DCTL

UPDATED POST 18.10.12

“It’s probably good to take all your bad news at the same time and look forward to the future.” -Denham Shale, DCHL

PROPERTY SPECULATION BY DELTA DIRECTORS WITH LOCAL COMPANY LINKS, IS THE MISUSE OF PUBLIC FUNDS. STOP.
GLARING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ARE INVOLVED. STOP.
DCHL CHAIRMAN IS FULLY COMPLICIT, ALONG WITH DCHL BOARD OF DIRECTORS. STOP.
DUNEDIN CITY COUNCILLORS FAIL RATEPAYERS AND RESIDENTS SEVERALLY. STOP.

See link to ODT report added below.

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DCHL Annual Report 2012 (PDF, 2.1 MB)
Dunedin City Holdings Ltd Annual Report 2012

Warren Larsen Report (PDF, 3.9 MB)
Governance review of all companies in which Dunedin City Council and/or Dunedin City Holdings Limited has an equity interest of 50% or more.

BUT WHAT’S THE REAL STORY?

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Dunedin city Council
Media Release

Dunedin City Holdings Limited Annual Result for the year ended 30 June 2012

This item was published on 17 Oct 2012.

This past year has been a challenging year in which there has been a well publicised change in governance of the parent company. It has been a year that has been affected by a slow economy and poor export log prices and a year in which the subsidiary companies decided to write down the values of assets where impairment occurred.

Revenue has increased for the year by 3.7% to $254.9m, however, the profit has been affected by a series of factors that are fully explained in the Annual Report of the company. These factors are the effect of the Dunedin City Holdings (DCHL) group providing subvention payments directly to Dunedin Venues Limited in lieu of dividends to the Council, the effect of asset impairment provisions made by the Delta group in respect of goodwill on a number of past business acquisitions and land at Luggate and Jacks Point, pressure on margins in a slow economy, and lower carbon credit income in comparison with last year.

Separately from the activities of the subsidiaries the holding company board has been active working on a number of issues arising from the Larsen report. “Last December I stated that we have been charged with restructuring a number of aspects within the group. You have seen the recent appointment of two additional directors to the parent company board. We anticipate further announcements by year end from suggestions to be made to the Council over the next two months.” comments DCHL Chairman, Denham Shale.

“As a matter of principle, the current board has taken the view that borrowing should not be entered into for the payment of dividends. But it is important to note that much of the drop in profit last year was caused by the agreement in respect of Dunedin Venues Limited and accounting provisions rather than cash outflows. Against this, dividends in this current year will be paid from surpluses that we would expect to make over the year to June 2013. Therefore it is not necessarily correct to assume that because last year was poor that there will be no dividend this year. ”

Aurora Energy Limited has traded well although the economy has slowed the growth in the quantity of electricity carried on the network.

The NZ forestry industry has had another difficult year and, as the public is aware, City Forests Limited decided to cease operating its timber processing mill. The Milburn asset has been leased to Craigpine Timber Limited.

The electrical asset planning and maintenance businesses of Delta Utility Services Limited have operated well. But the demand for other infrastructure services weakened and company was forced to conduct a series of adjustments to reposition the company to match reduced demand. The land holdings of the Delta group, which have attracted media attention, are under close management.

The summer tourism season last year was well underpinned by the visits of cruise ships. We expect an improving cruise ship season over this next summer.

Overall passenger numbers into Dunedin International Airport were 9.9% up for the year. The operating surplus after tax achieved by the company for the year was an improvement on both budget and the same period last year. A substantial revaluation of the assets of the company has increased the carrying value of the investment in the books of the DCHL parent company.

Contact Denham Shale, Chairman, DCHL on 021 375 112.

DCC Link

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### ODT Online Thu, 18 Oct 2012
$5m loss for DCC group
By Chris Morris
A $9 million write-down in Delta’s investments – including property at Jacks Point and Luggate – is partly to blame for a multimillion-dollar loss booked by the Dunedin City Council’s group of companies.[…]Mr Shale was reluctant to criticise yesterday when asked if the property purchases had proven to be a mistake. “I wouldn’t call it a mistake, no. As we see it today, it could be called an unfortunate decision, but that is very much in hindsight. It’s very easy in hindsight.” He also saw no need for the new DCHL board to investigate the rationale behind the purchases, saying they were “a fact that’s there”. “We can’t do anything to change it.” He blamed the result on the world economy…
Read more

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Related Posts:
12.10.12 DCHL, subsidiaries and DCTL
30.8.12 Dunedin City Council seen by Fairfax Business Bureau deputy editor Tim Hunter

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

“But there’s more to Dunedin than just bloody cruise ships’’

### DScene 17-10-12
Big brother is watching (page 1)
Jeweller Brent Weatherall says Dunedin City Council is being dictatorial and ineffectual when it comes to some aspects of economic development. See p3. #bookmark

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

CBD not just for tourists
‘Dictatorial’ council angers city businessman (page 3)
By Wilma McCorkindale
City retailer Brent Weatherall says Dunedin City Council (DCC) is dictatorial rather than consultative on some aspects of its economic development strategy. The George St jeweller said Otago Chamber of Commerce retail committee members were ‘‘hot under the collar’’ after a recent meeting with Cr Kate Wilson over proposed city council changes, such as banning footpath signs. “I think [the DCC] is being quite dictatorial in what they’re trying to push through council in regards to the economic development strategy.” Weatherall said during forming of the strategy the Chamber retail committee was approached in consultation and made a submission on changes to the council’s commercial use of footpaths policy, aired at a hearings subcommittee in May. The council’s response? A talk from subcommittee member Cr Kate Wilson on the virtues of introducing the ban because DCC saw them as a hazard. It left the Chamber retail committee “all up in arms”, Weatherall said. “Everyone that was there said ‘for God’s sake – we opposed this.’ I feel that our suggestions at times fall on very deaf ears in Dunedin. It’s a real shame.”
{continues} #bookmark

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Jim Sullivan on DCC culture

On February 25, 2011, the DCC customer services manager, Grant Strang, purchased for $69.38 two books from Whitcoulls. They were charged to his DCC credit card. Both books are held at the Dunedin Public Library.

### ODT Online Mon, 15 Oct 2012
All will be revealed – it’s on the cards
By Jim Sullivan
OPINION For Dunedin journalists, given that the opportunities for being knocked off by a drug-crazed Afghan tribesman are limited, attempts at fearless investigative journalism usually involve an unflagging pursuit of information about credit card use by Dunedin City Council staff. The result is a shining beacon to those who espouse the cause of freedom of information. Recent revelations tell us much about the DCC culture and, while having the latte put on the DCC credit card is being rigorously stamped out by executive orders (the pun is irresistible), other examples of profligacy remain. The $1202 bill for a meal for delegates here for matters relating to the Chinese Garden certainly helps to explain the deficit facing the garden.
Read more

● Jim Sullivan is a Dunedin writer and broadcaster.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCHL, subsidiaries and DCTL

UPDATED

Agenda – Council – 15/10/2012 (PDF, 36.1 KB)
Extraordinary Council Meeting

Report – Council – 15/10/2012 (PDF, 32.2 KB)
DCHL Governance Structure

### ODT Online Fri, 12 Oct 2012
Further shake-ups for boards
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council’s stable of companies is set for another injection of fresh blood as part of major restructuring prompted by a dividend shortfall last year and the political storm that followed. The changes will affect the boards of Delta Utility Services and Aurora Energy – governed by the same directors – and City Forests. Two directors from each are to be replaced by two new recruits, with fresh talent and skills. In addition, the board of Dunedin City Treasury Ltd (DCTL) will be completely replaced by the recently appointed directors of the council’s holding company, Dunedin City Holdings Ltd. The changes were outlined in a report by DCHL chairman Denham Shale and will be considered at an extraordinary council meeting on Monday.
Read more

Warren Larsen Report (PDF, 3.9 MB)
Governance review of all companies in which Dunedin City Council and/or Dunedin City Holdings Limited has an equity interest of 50% or more.

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Related Posts:
1.11.11 Dunedin City Holdings Limited
28.10.11 DVML, DVL and DCHL annual reports
16.9.11 DCHL and subsidiaries: shuffling, no real clean out?
2.9.11 Dunedin City Council is buggered
13.8.11 Ridding DCHL of conflicts of interest, Otago business monopoly ‘by director’, and other ghouls
11.8.11 CRITICAL Dunedin City Council meeting
9.8.11 CRITICAL Dunedin City Council meeting
3.8.11 D Scene broke the news
29.7.11 WE ALL SAID IT #DunedinCityCouncil #SHAME
9.2.11 DCC and DCHL, was there ever any doubt?

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Darren Burden plays LGOIMA game like Davies #DVML #PsychoAnswer

DVML’s attempts to deceive ratepayers continues under Burden’s control. Mayor Dull is fully complicit.

### ODT Wed, 10 Oct 2012
Letters to the editor (page 8)
Concern over attendance of rugby games
Recent national news stories regarding widespread concern over the NZRU’s ITM Cup competition, which report that the number of spectators are down in significant numbers, along with reduced ratings on Sky TV for their coverage of these matches, lead to some financial concerns for Dunedin ratepayers.
Can Darren Burden, chief executive of DVML who runs and manages the stadium used for these professional rugby matches, confirm that:
1. The average attendance at these matches at the Forsyth Barr Stadium is in the region of 5000.
2. The average ticket price for these 5000 attendees is approximately $20.
3. The gross income from ticket sales is, therefore, approximately $100,000.
4. The NZRU returns approximately 10% of gate sales revenue to the venue operator.
5. The income to DVML from gate sales is, therefore, approximately $10,000.
6. The cost of opening the stadium for a professional rugby match is approximately $100,000.
7. These matches held at the stadium therefore lose approximately $90,000 each time they are held.
If Mr Burden disputes these figures, can he supply in detail his version of the above statements, as well as an accurate profit/loss statement for the ITM matches held at the stadium?

Russell Garbutt
Wakari

[Dunedin Venues chief executive Darren Burden replies: “The ITM Cup provides variety and entertainment to our event schedule and has value to the stadium beyond just financial. The cost of opening the stadium varies depending on the size of the event. However, it is nowhere near $100,000 for an ITM cup match, as suggested. The information requested by Mr Garbutt is complex. I invite him to contact Dunedin Venues directly and we’ll happily review his request for information.”]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr