ODT Public Notice 31.3.14 (page 26)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Audit services to (paying) local bodies #FAIL ● AuditNZ ● OAG ● LynProvost

Typically, local government pays Audit New Zealand to audit and review annual financial statements. It’s a tame, tick-box sort of exercise. Audit NZ does a remarkably poor job and is certainly not in it to protect the Community from institutional or corporate misuse of public funds, or indeed from what amounts to perversion or defeat of the course of justice.

Audit NZ is paid handsomely to not see failures of tansparency and non-accountability — such that the enlightened Mangawhai Ratepayers and Residents Association (MRRA) has had Audit NZ sacked from providing audit services to Kaipara District Council.

In an opinion piece last week at Otago Daily Times, City ratepayers let down again, Russell Garbutt cleverly and succinctly summarised the depth of the problem with the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) investigation into Delta Utility Services Ltd. He also noted: “It may seem strange, but if a local government body goes feral, the body which investigates this and the one which provided audit services to that local body are both business units of the Auditor-General.”

Dunedin City Council (DCC) has ‘overseen’ the Auditor-General’s probe into property purchases at Luggate and Jacks Point by Delta Utility Services Ltd, which also involved the council’s holding company (DCHL). A more scandalous, politically slant and irresponsible report from a Government agency it would be difficult to imagine.

(Thank-you, Mayor Dave Cull and the individual Stuart McLaughlan.)

Criminally, the OAG’s Delta report is what passes for ‘honest and comprehensive’ investigation of fraud and corruption in New Zealand… such that the main Delta complainant, Cr Lee Vandervis of Dunedin City, who holds evidence obtained from over 350 emails, was NOT interviewed by the Auditor-General. Nor was his evidence examined.

The fact that for years Audit NZ has refrained from investigating or bringing attention to underhand dealings of the DCC and with respect to DCHL, Delta, Aurora, and Dunedin City Treasury Ltd (DCTL), to identify just some of the ‘group companies’ involved in financial mayhem with public funds, is fully SYMPTOMATIC.

And now we have DCC — and DCHL (again) — in relationship with Dunedin Venues Management Ltd, tied directly to Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU) and The Highlanders through shared staff and facilities at the Stadium, and the facilities at Logan Park. Meaning that DCC continues to squander millions and millions of dollars of public funds each year, yet Audit NZ is nowhere to be seen under ‘the Roof’. Don’t mention the black hole, Carisbrook.

█ Inquiry into property investments by Delta Utility Services Limited at Luggate and Jacks Point. The Auditor-General’s Overview and Full Report are available at http://www.oag.govt.nz/reports/2014/delta

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WHERE TO FROM HERE ???
In yesterday’s Business section of the Sunday Star-Times came inklings of hope that the tide of fraud and corruption created by local bodies and ‘their mates’ is up for possible scrutiny through a change of legislation. Greater public and professional awareness of fraud by local councils and their companies (as well as private trusts and other means used to launder public monies) is coming to bear.

[Message to ALL: Those of us working quietly away to expose Dunedin City Council and Otago Rugby will never give up in a month of Sundays.]

SST Business 30.3.14 (page D5)

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NEWS: SFO has got into Mighty River Power and there are ‘reasons’ for non-disclosure of MRP fraud to the NZX…

A consultant says:

The following article goes on to cite other cases, one from last year mentions two men sentenced to prison and home detention following the payment of $849,000 in council funds for road and berm projects that were never completed.

█ Think DELTA, think AURORA, think DCC, think DCHL, think DCTL, think CWP, think CST (CSCT), think DVML…

█ Think of the individuals you know by name who fail to be prudent and conservative with Dunedin Ratepayer and Resident monies, whose actions (deliberate or otherwise) have been fraudulent and corrupt.

█ These entities and the individuals you know by name have been aided and abetted by Audit New Zealand, the Office of the Auditor-General, the Department of Internal Affairs, and indeed the Serious Fraud Office which doesn’t always show a clean pair of hands in assisting investigations by other Government agencies — if ‘supervised by’ mayors, local body politicians, local body employees, Members of Parliament, and Ministers of the Crown.

Welcome to the underbelly of New Zealand local government and the parties it pleases. STEAL from the poor to FATTEN the rich, by any means. Backed by Central Government.

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SST Business 30.3.14 (pages D1 and D8) [click to enlarge]

*Links to articles not yet available at Stuff.co.nz.

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Related Posts and Comments:
30.3.14 Paul Pope on local body annual plans
27.3.14 Jeff Dickie: Letter to the Auditor-General Lyn Provost
25.3.14 Delta blues . . . and Easy Rider
20.3.14 Delta: Report from Office of the Auditor-General
14.3.14 Delta: Mayor ignores Cr Vandervis’ official complaint
22.3.14 DVML, ‘Money for jam…..fig jam’
19.3.14 ORFU: Black-tie dinner, theft or fraud?
17.3.14 ORFU: Black-tie dinner on ratepayers

For more, enter the terms *carisbrook*, *cst*, *cull*, *cycle*, *dcc*, *delta*, *dia*, *draft annual plan*, *dvml*, *farry*, *orfu*, *nzru*, *pokie rort*, *pokies*, and *stadium* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Paul Pope on local body annual plans

Is the Annual Plan like Christmas? Photo: Paul Pope

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Received.
Thursday, 20 March 2014 3:17 p.m.

http://paul-pope.co.nz/2014/03/20/is-the-annual-plan-like-christmas/
I wrote this on my personal political blog partly for my own amusement, you might find parts of it amusing also, though it does have a serious message regarding participation and scrutiny of the local government annual planning process. I’m trying to write more about issues in our area.
Regards

Paul Pope
Deputy Chair Otago Peninsula Community Board

Read Paul’s personal blog about life and issues on the Community Board at www.paul-pope.co.nz

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DRAFT DCC ANNUAL PLAN 2014/2015
The draft annual plan sets out the Council’s proposed annual budgets and performance measures for 2014/15 and updates the information for the 2014/15 year that in contained in the Council’s ten year plan or Long Term Plan (LTP) which was put in place last year.
Please tell DCC whether you agree or disagree with spending priorities for 2014/15 outlined in the draft plan by making a submission.
The consultation period is your opportunity to “Have Your Say” about what you want to see included in the Council’s plans.

Submissions close at 5pm, Tuesday 15 April 2014.
Timeframes and Meeting times

Read more (downloads):
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/your-council/draft-annual-plan-2014-2015

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Related Posts and Comments:
20.1.14 DCC Draft Annual Plan 2014/15

For more, enter the terms *draft annual plan*, *cull*, *cycle*, *dvml*, *hotel*, *stadium*, or *annual plan* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Jeff Dickie: Letter to the Auditor-General Lyn Provost

Received.
Thursday, March 27, 2014  at 10:47 AM

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Lyn Provost
Controller and Auditor General
Office of the Auditor General
Thorndon
Wellington

Dear Lyn, your shameful handing of the inquiry into Dunedin City Council subsidiary Delta’s acquisition of land at Jacks Point and Luggate is both unprofessional and an insult to Justice and Democracy in NZ. You personally have done a massive disservice to the 53,000 ratepayers of Dunedin.

Your very selective choice of “evidence”, and general lack of thoroughly seeking evidence, has amounted to a complete whitewash for the individuals under investigation. Why, for example did you choose to competely ignore Councillor Lee Vandervis’ extensive evidence?

Your conclusions of unsound business practices are completely at odds with failing to note the massive conflicts of interest, personal gain and any notion of personal accountability.

Further, your ham-fisted and gutless handling of this inquiry has been a complete waste of time and public money. You have been a lackey and have orchestrated the sort of politically motivated sham one would expect from Russia or North Korea. You should resign.

JEFF DICKIE

[ends]

Individual letters may be sent to:
Lyn Provost
Controller and Auditor-General
Office of the Auditor-General
04 917 1500
100 Molesworth Street, Thorndon
PO Box 3928, Wellington 6140
lyn.provost@oag.govt.nz

OAG | Our people: http://www.oag.govt.nz/our-people
OAG | Contact us: http://www.oag.govt.nz/contact-us

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Dunedin City Council critic Russell Garbutt reacts to the recently released report by the Office of the Auditor-general on Delta’s move into property development.

### ODT Online Thu, 27 Mar 2014
Opinion: City ratepayers let down again
By Russell Garbutt
I have two major concerns. The first is the quality of the report and the second is that of a lack of accountability – particularly on the part of directors of council companies.
Audit NZ provides audit services to many local bodies, but the fact is the Local Government Act 2002 gave councils the power of ”general competence” – sweeping powers to undertake many projects or actions.
At the same time, the Office of the Auditor-general (OAG) provides investigative services such as this report into the actions of Delta.
It may seem strange, but if a local government body goes feral, the body which investigates this and the one which provided audit services to that local body are both business units of the Auditor-general.
So, bearing that in mind, what has the OAG found about the dealings of Delta and its foray into property development? It found the actions of Delta and its directors and the directors of council umbrella company Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL) as well as the actions of the Dunedin city councillors at the time were such that ”expensive lessons were learned”.
This is corporate gobbledygook for saying this was a gigantic cock-up.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
25.3.14 Delta blues . . . and Easy Rider
20.3.14 Delta: Report from Office of the Auditor-General
14.3.14 Delta: Mayor ignores Cr Vandervis’ official complaint

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Delta blues . . . and Easy Rider

ONE News: Victim’s relative feels ‘sorry’ for Easy Rider widow
Published: 9:17AM Wednesday March 19, 2014
A relative of one of the people who lost their lives in the Easy Rider sinking in 2012 says he feels sorry for the woman charged over the tragedy. Judge John Strettell released his judgement today, finding Gloria Davis and her company AZ1 Enterprises guilty of three charges under the Health and Safety in Employment Act and the Maritime Transport Act in relation to the tragedy. She originally faced five charges but two were dropped. Ms Davis is the sole director of the company that operated the fishing boat which capsized in Foveaux Strait on March 15, 2012, claiming eight lives, including Ms Davis’s husband, Rewai Karetai, who was skipper of the vessel. Link to Video/Article

Stuart McLauchlan

From the video:
The New Zealand Institute of Directors agrees the judgement serves as a warning. “When you take on a role as a director you cannot sit there passively,” says NZID’s Stuart McLauchlan. “You’ve got to understand what the risks are, you’ve got to understand the operations of the business, and ultimately you’re responsible.”

The same applies in the failed Delta land deals at Luggate and Jacks Point. Board directors for Delta Utility Services Ltd, Delta Investments Ltd (previously, Newtons Coachways (1993) Ltd), and Dunedin City Council’s holding company (DCHL) are ultimately responsible to Dunedin ratepayers for the multimillion-dollar loss.

Note: Stuart McLauchlan has been a director for Delta Utility Services Ltd since 01 Jun 2007; Delta Investments since 16 Jul 2009; and Dunedin City Holdings Ltd from 01 Jun 2007 to 31 Oct 2011. Altogether, this represents a “perceived conflict of interest” and more.

█ Inquiry into property investments by Delta Utility Services Limited at Luggate and Jacks Point. The Auditor-General’s Overview and Full Report are available at http://www.oag.govt.nz/reports/2014/delta.

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Related Post and Comments:
20.3.14 Delta: Report from Office of the Auditor-General

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: tvnz.co.nz – video still re-imaged by whatifdunedin

Hotel We LIKE: Distinction Dunedin Hotel at former CPO

Reopening the former Chief Post Office building “marks a significant milestone for the restoration project, with more tenants, a three-level car park building and, eventually, the 120-apartment four-star-plus Distinction Dunedin Hotel, all to follow”. (ODT)

Dunedin Chief Post Office (1930s)

### ODT Online Tue, 25 Mar 2014
Office workers light up CPO
By Chris Morris
The return today of a commercial tenant to Dunedin’s former chief post office building for the first time in more than 15 years marks a significant milestone in the restoration project. About 145 staff from Silver Fern Farms are expected to start work in their new headquarters – occupying the first two floors of the partially-restored building – this morning. It was the first time the building had been home to a permanent tenant since closing its doors in 1997, building owner Geoff Thomson, of Distinction Hotels, said.
Read more

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Dogged controversy.
Submissions in opposition to the proposed waterfront tower hotel at 41 Wharf Street (LUC 2012-212) make frequent mention of a preference to see the old Chief Post Office restored and in use as a city hotel in The Exchange.
Dull criticism from the anti-heritage brigade has often been cast at the old building’s owner for lack of speed in making the redevelopment happen.
Geoff Thomson, a canny and diligent man, has proceeded with the retrofit of this very large government architect-designed building at the pace he can afford in the up-down market he faces. Geoff Thomson deserves significant praise for his passion and perseverance in seeing the project through as well as attending to quality tenanting and leases.

[history and significance]
█ Heritage New Zealand (HNZ) registration report: List No. 2145 (Category II)

Photo: Gerard O’Brien – Reroof, May 2011

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Related Posts and Comments:
22.6.13 Dunedin’s former Chief Post Office
5.3.11 Former Chief Post Office, Dunedin – magazine feature…
14.8.2010 No surprises with former CPO redevelopment
12.5.10 DScene – Geoff Thomson buys back former CPO
11.5.10 DCC Media Release – Chief Post Office
16.3.10 Planning the future of Dunedin heritage buildings [recent comments]
10.11.09 Dunedin public library services
24.10.09 Rodney Wilson: Dunedin as national heritage city
20.7.09 DCC + former CPO + others(??) = a public library (yeah right)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: rootsweb.ancestry.com – Dunedin Chief Post Office (1930s) re-imaged by whatifdunedin; odt.co.nz – Gerard O’Brien: CPO Reroof, May 2011 [screenshot]

Dunedin Heritage Re-use Awards @Wall Street mall

This year’s Dunedin Heritage Re-use Award winners will be announced later this week at Wall Street mall.

The Awards celebrate excellence, innovation and sensitivity in the re-use of heritage buildings in Dunedin and include categories for earthquake strengthening, interiors and overall re-use. A student design competition is also held during the year, which challenges students to develop innovative solutions to the re-use of Dunedin’s older buildings.

If not invited to the Awards Ceremony check out the exhibition during shop hours. The board display is located near Marbecks cafe and the Lifts at Wall Street. [● Inconveniently. the exhibition closed on the night of the Awards, Wednesday 26 March]

Enticements. Here’s a selection of student ‘re-use’ studies for the Athenaeum in the lower Octagon, taken by cameraphone on Friday. The building is owned by entrepreneur Lawrie Forbes.

Love the (lowrise) tower, it accents the building successfully for functional and community use.

The Awards are judged by a panel that includes Dunedin City Councillors, representatives from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, the local branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects and the Institute of Professional Engineers of New Zealand, and building owners.

█ This year’s Award winners are revealed here.
The names of last year’s Award winners are listed here.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DVML, ‘Money for jam…..fig jam’

Why does no-one want to discuss invoices created by DVML commercial manager Guy Hedderwick on his extensive travels, except for Dunedin campaigner Bev Butler? Who signed them off? Neville Frost (DVML finance manager) and Darren Burden (ex DVML chief executive). Why is Hedderwick at Adelaide working part-time for DVML when there’s an empty, brand new multimillion-dollar stadium sinking into the mire at Dunedin? Doesn’t Hedderwick also work for the Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU)? What’s really happening?

This morning we have seen media reaction to Bev Butler’s investigation into Guy Hedderwick’s expenses using the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) to obtain invoices —we have also seen Otago Daily Times reporting various replies it has sought from the local burghers about this.

Some invoices show stays in five-star hotel rooms costing up to US$300 per night. There is a swathe of rib-eye steaks and expensive bottles of wine attending Hedderwick’s travel across the world and domestic.

█ What did Butler say in her Media Release to upset DVML finance manager Neville Frost (ex ORFU)? Find out below.

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### ODT Online Sat, 22 Mar 2014
DVML head slams Butler’s allegations
By Chris Morris
Allegations of inappropriate spending by a former manager at Forsyth Barr Stadium have prompted an angry retort from the company running the venue. The claims came from former Stop the Stadium president Bev Butler in response to invoices and other documents released to her by Dunedin Venues Management Ltd, which runs the stadium. The material showed DVML’s former commercial manager, Guy Hedderwick, had accrued nearly $80,000 in travel costs and expenses while taking 51 work-related trips since 2010.
Read more

### ODT Online Sat, 22 Mar 2014
Company threatening to charge for OIA answers
By Chris Morris
The company running Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium is threatening to charge for future responses to official information requests after being inundated with questions from stadium critic Bev Butler. The move by Dunedin Venues Management Ltd was immediately slammed by Ms Butler yesterday, who said it was ”an attempt to keep me off their trail”.
Read more

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█ MEDIA RELEASE Sunday 23 March 2014
By Bev Butler

MONEY FOR JAM…..FIG JAM

Ratepayers of Dunedin will once again be amazed with the news that they have paid over $80,000 for the activities of the “departed” commercial manager of DVML, Guy Hedderwick, to travel the world leading the life of Riley with little noticeable benefit.

Readers of some newspapers will have learned recently that Dunedin Venues Management Ltd (DVML), the Dunedin City Council owned company that runs the stadium, paid out over $54,000 in entitlements to former chief executive David Davies when he returned to Wales, and just on $30,000 when CEO Darren Burden left to run the Christchurch stadium after a year’s work with DVML. The amounts and details of any “entitlements” paid to DVML’s commercial manager were refused on the basis of Mr Hedderwick’s privacy after the DVML board chairman, Canterbury resident, Sir John Hansen was advised by DVML staff that Mr Hedderwick’s privacy outweighed public interest.

While these details remain hidden, what has surfaced is just what it has cost Dunedin ratepayers to keep Mr Hedderwick in the manner to which he clearly has become accustomed.

Mr Hedderwick left Dunedin around August of 2013 to pursue a role with DVML in Adelaide similar to the one he had in Dunedin; with arrangements in place that see DVML continuing to employ Mr Hedderwick and meet his expenses while he pursues his role of attracting acts and sponsors to the stadium. His efforts have been almost totally in vain. The only act to appear at the stadium since Mr Hedderwick has been living in Adelaide has been an Australian based franchised Abba look-alike band, Bjorn Again, who in their previous visit to Dunedin appeared at the Regent Theatre. The act attracted 3500 people to the stadium. It was reported at the time that while a similar event the year before had attracted twice this number, DVML were “pleased” at this response. The rationale for this pleasure is hard to fathom.

But the cost of Mr Hedderwick’s “work” has been, in contrast to his work achievements, simply staggering. The facts behind Mr Hedderwick’s spending have been revealed after constant requests for information by Bev Butler to Neville Frost, financial manager of DVML. The information has had to be teased out over a significant period of time, but now is starting to be revealed in some sunlight.

Mr Hedderwick’s travel, in his quest for acts and sponsors for the stadium, has taken him to:

● Italy
● Singapore
● USA
● Brisbane
● Gold Coast
● Sydney
● Melbourne
● Adelaide
● Auckland
● Wellington
● Christchurch
● Napier
● New Plymouth
● Rotorua
● Hamilton

The vast number of these visits has been listed as “seeking potential sponsors”. Sufficient to say that few new sponsors for the stadium have been notified by DVML or DCC. Mr Hedderwick also seems keen on attending “conferences” around the world. There is no indication or record of any significant contributions that Mr Hedderwick has made to such conferences, nor of any benefit whatsoever to DVML for such attendances.

But it is in Mr Hedderwick’s spending that some light shines upon what appears to be a lavish lifestyle endorsed and approved by Mr Neville Frost and Mr Darren Burden. It is neither reasonable nor justifiable for expenditure down to chewing gum and shaving gear at one end of the spending paradigm, to the luxury of five-star hotels and pursuit of fine wines – an interest of Mr Hedderwick according to his Facebook page* – that really takes the cake.

Mr Hedderwick has visited many of the above destinations on several occasions. The list supplied by Mr Frost for Mr Hedderwick’s travel outside Dunedin numbers 55 trips. However, there appear to be numerous invoices missing from the almost 300 invoices already supplied. Some invoices are for trips not actually listed; and some invoices are for five-star hotel bills (including The Hilton, The Sheraton, and Radisson Resort Gold Coast for as much as $US300 per night in some instances) and rental cars, but no flights to get to the destination. Yet other invoices include expensive meals, blocks of chocolate, boy’s t-shirts, hat and gloves.

With the recent Dunedin City Council announcement of a review of the governance and management of DVML, it would well be advised, in the interests of Dunedin ratepayers, for the council to include a full investigation of all the DVML finances especially the excessive personal expenditure of the DVML management.

Contact for further information:
Bev Butler
Ph (03) 477 6861

[ends]

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*The Facebook page is in dispute, only because Neville Frost went to the wrong page. We refer our readers to Hedderwick’s recent writing (February 2014) for International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM):

### venuenet.iavm.org Mon, Feb 10, 2014 07:15 PM
I am number 9344728427550
By Guy Hedderwick, AEVP
I am number 9344728427550 or at least that is what my loyalty rewards card at my local food store says I am. I presume that large scale food stores issue customers with loyalty cards so they can reward them for their loyalty. I also imagine that it is a great way to collect buying habit information of individual customers so they can target them with relevant advertising, know exactly what products customers buy, when they buy them, monitor their buying patterns and treat them as individuals. […] We live in a small village outside Adelaide […] I am a Million dollar customer […] I wonder how I would be treated as a million dollar customer if I walked into your business.
Venues, along with their teams and ticket providers, have huge amounts of personal data and should understand the emotional reasons guest [sic] attend their events. I don’t really expect my local food store to know me by name, but I do expect to be treated with the dignity “my spend” should demand. There is a huge discussion about big data and the use thereof. How understanding buying patterns and buyer behaviour can be used to sell tickets, merchandise, seat upgrade and improve the customer experience. […] People no longer buy products or services, they buy experiences. We sell the live experience but we need to understand people’s motivations for coming, their behaviours and touch points in order to make the experience truly personal. Then I will happily part with my hard earned dollars. At the end of the day, entertainment and sport (along with good wine) is what makes life worth living.
I am not number 9344728427550, I am Guy Hedderwick and I want to feel like a million dollar customer.
Read full article

● Guy Hedderwick at LinkdIn
● Guy Hedderwick at Twitter @GuyHedd
● Guy Hedderwick (GuyHedd) at Facebook

█ Guy Hedderwick is now General Manager of Arena Stadium Management Pty Ltd (ASM). He took up the appointment at the privately owned Adelaide Arena in 2013. ASM is Adelaide Arena’s new management company formed by joint owners Scouts Stadium Incorporated and Savethearena Pty Ltd. (Link)

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Related Post and Comments:
5.3.14 Stadium: Mayor Cull stuck in his rut, ‘going forward’
4.3.14 Bev Butler: Guy Hedderwick’s departure package (LGOIMA)
24.1.14 Stadium: It came to pass… [stadium review]
30.11.13 DVML in disarray
14.11.11 DVML, Guy, wth ?
26.9.11 Donations – the quest for clarification
26.9.11 Private sector funding (donations) to stadium construction
12.9.11 Stadium: Private sector funding
9.2.11 DCC and DCHL, was there ever any doubt?
5.11.10 International connections
16.2.10 Owing $45.5 million in private sector funding
5.2.10 Commercial manager Guy Hedderwick on stadium sponsorship

For more, enter *dvml*, *hedderwick*, *burden*, *davies*, or *stadium* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin North care less filthy slum

—– Original Message —–
From: Jeff Dickie
To: Elizabeth Kerr
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2014 5:45 PM
Subject: Sunday in the slums of North Dunedin

Hi Elizabeth, your comments re the new hotel [“Cull’s Cockup”, the new “Farry’s Folly”] are very good and congratulations on the National Radio coverage.

In the next day or so I’d like to post something on your Whatif site regarding the implications of the DCC neglecting core business and services. We’ve watched as the North End has transformed from an integrated community combining residents and students to an intensely populated and filthy slum. Largely as a result of poor planning by the DCC and University. I took these photos on Sunday, 16 March.

While Dave preens himself in front of the mirror and is distracted by the latest snake oil salesmen, there are some very serious social issues developing.

Regards, Jeff

—

George Street

Castle Street

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Related Post and Comments:
19.3.14 Dunedin North drunks
15.2.14 University of Otago: Starter questions for Harlene
10.2.14 University of Otago major sponsor for Highlanders
25.3.13 University of Otago: NEGATIVE PRESS: Weekly disorder…
20.2.12 University of Otago student orientation
17.12.11 Stadium + Cull love = University of Otago + OUSA party
23.11.11 Judge Oke Blaikie finally said it

For more, enter *university* or *campus* in the search box at right.

Delta: Report from Office of the Auditor-General

Inquiry into property investments by Delta Utility Services Limited at Luggate and Jacks Point.

The report on the OAG probe was tabled at Parliament at 2pm today.

█ AUDITOR-GENERAL’S OVERVIEW and FULL REPORT available at http://www.oag.govt.nz/reports/2014/delta

“My staff found no evidence of impropriety or of poorly managed conflicts of interest in relation to either investment [Luggate and Jacks Point]. However, they did identify some breaches of the Local Government Act 2002 and the Companies Act 1993 and instances of Delta using artificial business structures to avoid public accountability.” –Lyn Provost, Controller and Auditor-General

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█ Inquiry into decisions by Delta Utility Services Limited to invest in residential development at Luggate, near Wanaka, and at Jacks Point, Queenstown. 14 November 2012. Link

What was the probe about?
The OAG probe was to cover all aspects of the council-owned company’s decision to spend $14.12 million on property at Jacks Point, in Queenstown, and Luggate, near Wanaka, in 2008 and 2009. That included how and why the purchases were made, consideration of risks, compliance with legislation, and the identification and management of any conflicts of interest, the OAG said at the time. The OAG would also consider to what extent the Dunedin City Council – as the shareholder of Delta’s parent company, Dunedin City Holdings Ltd – was involved, and any other matters considered ”desirable” to report on. (ODT article 14.3.14)

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████ Updated 21.3.14 – essential listening ████

### radionz.co.nz Friday 21 March 2014
Morning Report with Geoff Robinson & Simon Mercep
Delta complainants not satisfied with critical report
Reporting by Ian Telfer
08:41 People who made complaints about failed property deals from a Dunedin council subsidiary say it is unacceptable no-one is being held to account.
Audio | Downloads: Ogg   MP3 ( 3′ 38″ )

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Related Post and Comments:
14.3.14 Delta: Mayor ignores Cr Vandervis’ official complaint

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

State Housing matters

All state house tenants, regardless of age or disability, will find themselves subject to the government’s new policy of reviewing state house tenancies.

### NZ Herald Online 11:45 AM Wednesday Mar 19, 2014
Elderly, disabled included in state house review
By Simon Collins
More than one in five of the first 780 state house tenants facing possible eviction under a new Government policy will be elderly or disabled. A paper taken to Cabinet last month by Housing Minister Nick Smith and Social Development Minister Paula Bennett reveals that the two ministers have decided not to exempt the elderly and disabled from the new policy of reviewing all state house tenancies, ending the previous policy that a state house was “a home for life”.
The full paper, placed on the Social Development Ministry website last week included a detailed breakdown showing that 20 per cent of the first batch of tenants to be reviewed would be 65 or over and 27 others would be “permanently and severely disabled”. The paper was later removed and an edited version was subsequently posted with the breakdown of affected tenants deleted.
The controversial policy is intended to “shift expectations away from social housing for life to social housing for the duration of housing need”. It takes effect after the Social Development Ministry takes over allocating social housing from Housing NZ on April 14, and the first affected tenants will be notified before the end of next month.
Read more

█ Cabinet paper on state house tenancies

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### ODT Online Tue, 18 Mar 2014
Fewer Kiwis own their own homes
The number of homeowners in New Zealand continues to fall, with less than half of all Kiwis owning their own property, new Census figures show. In 2013, 49.8 per cent of people aged 15 years and over owned or partly owned the home they lived in, compared with 53.2 per cent in 2006, according to census results released by Statistics New Zealand today. 2013 Census Quickstats about housing, which contains detailed information about New Zealand’s housing stock, also reveals trends in the number, type, and size of the dwellings we are living in. APNZ
Read more

█ 2013 Census QuickStats about national highlights

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: APN – State Housing

ORFU: Black-tie dinner, theft or fraud?

[screenshot]

• Dave Goosselink — Dunedin face (and voice) for TV3 News & Sports
• Samuel Gilchrist — social media handler for The Highlanders @Highlanders

Retweets by @whatifdunedin and @SearleJamie
• Jamie Searle — Southland Times racing reporter

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Correspondence received.
Wednesday, 19 March 2014 10:58 a.m.

From: Bev Butler
To: Steve Tew [NZRU]; Doug Harvie [ORFU]
CC: Murray Kirkness [ODT]; Steve Hepburn [ODT]; Rebecca Fox [ODT]; Ian Telfer [RNZ]
Subject: Black-tie dinner bill to be paid?
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:56:35 +1300

Wednesday 19th March 2014

Dear Steve

The following was posted on a local blogsite “What If Dunedin”.

“The conscience of the ORFU is totally absent. The normal procedure for staging an event such as the black-tie dinner is to budget all costs, set the entrance fees to cover those costs and establish a profit level. That is both normal and straightforward – some I’m sure, would say honest, business practice..

The way the ORFU operated was to set the costs, pay out the organiser – who just happened to be the wife of Laurie Mains – ignore the costs and bank the difference. Can anyone tell me that if this scenario happened with anyone else other than the dear old rugby-mad idiots on the Council involved, would this be tolerated? Not on your nelly. Can anyone tell me why this isn’t either theft or fraud?” *

What especially interests me about this post is the question posed as to whether theft or fraud is involved.
It feels like it to me but I’m not sure whether it would hold up in a court of law.
Maybe it could…maybe it couldn’t.
My limited understanding of the Crimes Act is that the hardest part to prove is intent.
In the case of the black-tie dinner, did the ORFU have any intent on paying the bill?
In my opinion, if they did they would have paid it when they received the money from the guests – because obviously it was the intent of the guests for their money to be paid for their evening out.
What do you think, Steve? I’d appreciate your view on this.

I noticed on twitter, media and rugby officials tweeting about this issue.
Strange how the Highlanders’ social media official, Samuel Gilchrist, refers to me as a ‘warmonger’ because I am asking for some honesty from the ORFU. The problem down here is that there is no decent leadership in rugby and hasn’t been for years.
We have Roger Clark as the current CEO of The Highlanders – he was the CEO of Southland Rugby Union at the time when they
they owed over $100,000 in booze. I fear that nothing much has changed.

I had hoped that with the new ORFU board that some leadership would be shown over the black-tie dinner scandal but, to date, that hasn’t happened. Change needs to come from the top so that people like Samuel Gilchrist understands that it is not okay to run off without paying your bills. He doesn’t seem to be able to figure this out for himself. I guess when things have been bad down here for so long those who can’t think for themselves look to the leaders for guidance which is lacking.

That is why I have turned to you, Steve, to finally show some leadership and right this wrong.

I hope I don’t have to continue to prod any deeper.

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

Previous letter to Steve Tew deleted, read it here

[ends]

*Link to source

—

Related Posts and Comments:
17.3.14 ORFU: Black-tie dinner on ratepayers
14.3.14 ORFU flush to pay creditors

For more, enter the terms *orfu*, *dinner*, *jeremy curragh*, *bailout*, *martin legge*, *dia*, *pokies*, *jokers*, *ttcf*, or *pokie rorts* in the search box at left.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin North drunks

Mr Gable stressed not all the partygoers exhibited bad behaviour, with others trying to calm the more aggressive young men.

### ODT Online Wed, 19 Mar 2014
Man attacked by St Patrick’s revellers
By Hamish McNeilly
A Dunedin man says he had his shirt ripped, glasses pulled off his face and his car’s wing mirror yanked off after he confronted drunken St Patrick’s Day revellers who were urinating on his property. Walking from work to his Malvern St home, Chris Gable encountered a large crowd of green-clad revellers in the area of the former Woodhaugh Hotel, about 5pm on Monday. […] He later had to leave the property, and while he was away, his neighbour, Jeff Dickie found an estimated 40 people on Mr Gable’s section, including some bouncing on his trampoline and others urinating on his property.
Read more

****

Figures released under the Official Information Act show the Fire Service recorded 586 nuisance fires in the North Dunedin student area between February 20, 2009, and February 20, 2014. Of those, 179 were recorded last year – compared with 77 in 2009.

### ODT Online Wed, 19 Mar 2014
Student fires dampened
By Hamish McNeilly
Nuisance fires in the student quarter hit a five-year high last year, with Castle St the area’s top hot spot. To dampen fire threats, the Fire Service, police, University of Otago and Dunedin City Council have taken a zero tolerance approach to such fires in the city. Fire Service East Otago area manager Laurence Voight said that approach, coupled with fire prevention activities during Orientation Week appeared to have ”reduced the unwanted behaviour”.
Read more

—

Meanwhile Vice-chancellor Harlene Hayne, on advice received from the likes of Stuart McLauchlan and John Ward (did we mention Mayor Cull?), ‘decides’ the University of Otago should sponsor, yes, the ‘drinking culture’ that attends a professional but barely coherent and losing rugby team, The Highlanders. Some things are cumulative by fragile branding connection… a marketing marriage borne in heaven: A GREAT EXAMPLE TO ALL. This, a ‘subtle’ buttering device, before the DCC’s Stadium gets offloaded to the University for nothing, and Hail Mary/Harlene! the University doesn’t have to pay rates.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development

By properly and logically establishing the significance of a historic port, plans can be laid that enhance and build on that significance and that incorporate difficult heritage buildings and structures.
–Simon Thurley, English Heritage

Dunedin Harbourside Historic Area
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust registered the Dunedin Harbourside Historic Area on 4 April 2008 (List No. 7767). The historic area takes in properties at 25, 31-33 Thomas Burns Street, Birch Street, Fryatt Street, Fish Street, Willis Street, Cresswell Street, Tewsley Street, Wharf Street, Roberts Street and Mason Street.

Image: Heritage New Zealand

The Dunedin Harbourside Historic Area is made up of the core of the port operations and associated businesses surrounding the steamer basin at the Upper Harbour in Dunedin which had developed by the first decades of the twentieth century. It includes a major portion of the land in Rattray, Willis and Cresswell Streets which was reclaimed by the end of the nineteenth century. It also includes the Fryatt Street and Cross Wharves, including the wharf sheds on Fryatt Street Wharf, as well as the former Otago Harbour Board Administration Building at the Junction of Birch Street and Cross Wharves, the former British Sailors’ Society Seafarers’ Centre, and the former Briscoe’s Wharf Store and Works on the corner of Birch, Wharf and Roberts Streets [since lost to fire], and the walls and bridge abutment on Roberts Street which are the remnants of the bridge which linked that Street to the city.
█ Read Registration report here.

Dunedin City Council has refused to list the Dunedin Harbourside Historic Area in the District Plan.

Image: ODT [screenshot]

### ODT Online Sat, 15 Mar 2014
‘Potential new harbourside developments ‘exciting’
By Chris Morris
Excitement is growing about the potential for fresh development of Dunedin’s harbourside, including a new marine science institute featuring a public aquarium being considered by the University of Otago. The Otago Daily Times understands university staff have already held preliminary talks with Dunedin City Council staff about a possible new marine science institute in the harbourside zone, on the south side of steamer basin. The Otago Regional Council has also met Betterways Advisory Ltd, which wants to build a waterfront hotel in the city, to discuss the ORC’s vacant waterfront site, it has been confirmed.
Read more

Potential for contemporary reuse – Fryatt Street wharfsheds
Images: 4.bp.blogspot.com; m1.behance.net

Historic ports are places that need intelligent interrogation before we start to reinvent them for the future: understanding their heritage significance is the first step.

On the waterfront: culture, heritage and regeneration of port cities

HERITAGE IN REGENERATION: INSPIRATION OR IRRELEVANCE?
By Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive, English Heritage

I had better come clean at the start. I live in a port. As it happens, it is a port which was, in its time, and on a different scale, as successful as Liverpool was in its heyday. But that time is rather a long time ago now, in fact over four hundred years. In 1600 my home town of King’s Lynn was amongst Britain’s leading ports, bigger than Bristol in numbers of ships and with trading tentacles reaching into the Baltic and far into the Mediterranean. Lynn’s position as a port was destroyed by the railways and although it still has working docks today the tonnage that passes through is very small. Yet anyone visiting it can instantly see that this was once a port; the customs house, the old quays, the merchants houses, the big market places and the fishermen’s houses all add immeasurably to Lynn’s sense of place.

We not only ask developers to build new structures that respect the old, but we also require them to incorporate old ones that have value.

It is this sense of place, this character, that we at English Heritage will always say that needs to be understood. For us the first and most important thing is that any developer and the relevant local authority should have a full understanding of the place in which major change is are planned. Various tools have been invented over the years to try and help that process. These include characterisation, historical studies, view studies, urban analysis and more. But does this actually make any difference? What happens to the richly illustrated historical reports produced by consultants? Are they handed to architects who then use them as their bible? Are they taken up by the planners and turned into supplementary planning guidance? Or do they just get put on a shelf?

There can be a broad consensus about what constitutes successful development that preserves aesthetic values. The trick for planning authorities is finding a way to capture it.

The answer is that normally it just gets forgotten because for most developers and many local authorities heritage is just a hindrance. If a report on heritage is commissioned they will have ticked off a process that they need to say they have done, but once completed it can be set aside and everyone can get on with the business of making money. Ipswich is an example of this. Like many ports, it has refocused its commercial hub away from the historic centre leaving a lot of land in the historic trading heart for regeneration. The city decided to prepare what it called an Area Action Plan for the redevelopment of the historic port. This included some work on the history, archaeology and development of the area: all very useful. The process was then to take this forward to create a series of planning briefs and master plans to inform individual developments. This would reinforce general points in the action plan about storey heights, vistas and through routes as well as issues about historic character. Regrettably, this latter part was not done and what Ipswich got was lots of poorly designed high-rise flats built on a budget. And they got it with the heritage studies still sitting on a shelf.
Read more

—

Image: English Heritage – Tobacco Warehouse 1903, Stanley Dock LP

Liverpool World Heritage Site
Liverpool was inscribed as a World Heritage Site as the supreme example of a maritime city and its docks are testimony to that claim. Jesse Hartley’s Albert Dock, opened in 1845, is the finest example of a nineteenth century wet dock in the world while the nearby Canning Graving Docks and Waterloo and Wapping Warehouses are also of note. North of Pier Head with its magnificent ‘Three Graces’, Stanley Dock, Victoria Clock Tower and Salisbury Dock lie derelict, awaiting re-use. Link

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Contemporary development — Shed 10 and The Cloud, Queens Wharf, Auckland
Images: (from top) conventionsnz.co.nz; queens_wharf.co.nz; queens_wharf.co.nz; upload.wikimedia.org

█ For more, enter the terms *loan and mercantile* or *harbourside* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Jeff Dickie: Stadium rates burden

Copy received [click to enlarge]

ODT 15.3.14 Letter to the editor (page 34)

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Ngai Tahu featured in Wall Street Journal (12.3.14)

### ODT Online Mon, 17 Mar 2014
Ngai Tahu’s financial acumen praised
By Hamish McNeilly
The economic foresight of Ngai Tahu has won the praise of the influential Wall St Journal. The article, published last week, noted the iwi had gone from being ”impoverished, virtually landless” to one of New Zealand’s wealthiest tribes with group assets totalling $1.03 billion. Following the $170 million treaty settlement the iwi took part in a series of ”astute investments”, enabling it to restore marae and support health and education programmes for its 50,000 members.
Read more

—

Source:
New Zealand Tribe’s Bet Transforms Its Fortunes: The Ngāi Tahu See Their Investments Pay Off
Original article published by The Wall Street Journal; March 12, 2014
online.wsj.com – this is a paysite. You can read the whole article by Lucy Cramer of WSJ for free at USNZcouncil.org

—

“If you look at 15 years since settlement, this entity has done really well,” said Trevor Burt, a former executive board member of German chemicals giant Linde Group who the tribe tapped four years ago to run its investment arm. Over the past four years, the fund’s average total annual return, based on comprehensive income, was 14 per cent, beating the average 12.9 per cent annual return by the benchmark share index. –Lucy Craymer, WSJ
New Zealand tribe’s bet transforms its fortunes – posted by david at the United States New Zealand Council blogsite
March 12, 2014 Link

While you squabble, Ngai Tahu is worth more than a billion dollars, is making hundreds of millions of dollars in well placed investments, and is even outperforming well known philanthropic funds like the ones owned by Yale and Harvard. –Cameron Slater, Whale Oil Beef Hooked
Wall Street Journal praises tribe: Are you watching up north?
March 13, 2014 at 5:30pm Link

Twitter accounts:
Ngai Tahu @NgaiTahu
Wall Street Journal @WSJ

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ORFU: Black-tie dinner on ratepayers

Correspondence received.
Monday, 17 March 2014 9:28 a.m.

From: Bev Butler
To: Steve Tew [NZRU]; Doug Harvie [ORFU]
CC: Steve Hepburn [ODT]; Rebecca Fox [ODT]; Murray Kirkness [ODT]; Ian Telfer [RNZ]
Subject: FW: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 09:26:55 +1300

Monday 17th March 2014

Dear Steve

It is a while since we corresponded and Doug [Harvie] has indicated he doesn’t intend to respond any further (always best to keep the lines of communication open when in a leadership role) so thought I would let you in on the current situation of the ORFU.
Please read from the bottom up and then read the rest of this email.

Either Doug doesn’t fully appreciate the situation or is just hoping the issue will go away.
Let me explain the situation from a different perspective so that both you and Doug may have a deeper understanding of the full implications.

Let’s say that you and Doug decide to borrow a considerable amount of money to build a new restaurant with a state of the art glass roof. Absolutely stunning – is going to be just wonderful for me to conduct my business dealings there. Just days after your restaurant opens I come along and make a booking for 350 guests. Unfortunately, my business hasn’t been going that well so am using your new restaurant to have a fund-raising dinner. I employ one of my close friends, Elly-May, to organise the dinner for my business. She sells tickets for this dinner for $250 each. Now 350 guests at $250 each is $87,500. You charge me about $75 per guest – a total of about $26,000. Now after the event I pay my close friend Elly-May about $10,000 and have a few other expenses which leave me with a ‘profit’ of $52,000. BUT instead of paying you the $26,000 I put the lot in my ‘pot’ and cry that I’m poor. You and Doug were such wonderful hosts, our guests were well fed, plenty of booze and cleaned up after us. Thanks for that.

One of your colleagues gets a bit shirty and accuses me of being dishonest. How dare him [sic]. I just wanted to spend the money on something else – I had other bills to pay even though my 350 guests were under the impression they were paying for the night out I just wanted to use the money for something else. Done it before – ask Jeremy Curragh. Well. I have some very important friends, you know. So I get them to sue him for defamation. Felt good when your colleague had to apologise.

Do you really think I have acted honestly and with integrity?

Now do you understand why the Dunedin ratepayers are still angry about this?
I am still being approached by people (as recently as yesterday – some of them rugby coaches) upset by the ORFU’s actions.

I suggest you two have a chat and do the right thing and pay this bill now that the ORFU have announced a ‘profit’ for the year. Someone needs to show some leadership over this. The Dunedin community deserve better. Personally I believe you have a moral obligation to pay this bill and set this wrong right. It is but a small gesture for the many indiscretions perpetrated by the ORFU on the Dunedin community.
Some people in the Dunedin community think that the ORFU are rotten to the core but I don’t actually agree with them. I am an optimist at heart and believe that there is human decency in everyone. In the ORFU’s case it just requires a bit of deeper prodding.

The ORFU have a moral obligation to show some human decency and pay this bill. It is a matter of principle. I will not be silenced on this. You have my word on that.

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

—————————–

From: Bev Butler
To: Doug Harvie [ORFU]
CC: Steve Hepburn [ODT]
Subject: RE: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 09:43:19 +1300

Dear Doug

Saying that “ALL creditors have been satisfied in full, in one way or another” is not the same as saying that all creditors have been PAID in full.
I know it is uncomfortable for you to be reminded of this but it still does not excuse the ORFU from doing the decent thing and paying their obscene black-tie dinner given they already had the money but decided to pocket it instead.
How about showing some decency or goodwill towards those that bailed you out of your financial mess now that you are flush with $406,859 profit?

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

—————————–

From: Doug Harvie [ORFU]
To: Bev Butler
CC: Steve Hepburn [ODT]
Subject: RE: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 20:16:32 +0000 [sic]

You have your facts wrong Bev – ALL creditors of ORFU have been satisfied in full, in one way or another.

I will not be responding to any further correspondence on this matter.

D J Harvie

Partner
Harvie Green Wyatt

(P O Box 5740, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand. Phone +64 3 4775005 or +64 21 2234169. Fax +64 3 4775447

—————————–

From: Bev Butler
Sent: Friday, 14 March 2014 7:32 a.m.
To: Doug Harvie [ORFU]
Cc: Steve Hepburn [ODT]
Subject: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill

Friday 14th March 2014

Dear Doug

In today’s ODT the ORFU have reported a profit of $406,859 for the 2013 financial year and a profit of $134,656 for the 2012 financial year. Part of this so called profit is just pocketing of monies from unpaid bills.

As you are fully aware, the ORFU ran up a DVML bill of $25,352 for their black tie fund raiser at the stadium on 5th August 2011. This was for food, booze, soft drinks and cleaning.

Not only did the ORFU run off without paying this bill but the ORFU paid no venue hire for this brand new venue. Then to top it off the ORFU pocketed $52,000 from this fundraising event into their ‘pot’ which then is reported as profit for the 2012 financial year.

The fact that the ORFU then pressurised the Council to ‘write it off’ does not excuse the ORFU from the moral obligation to pay this bill.

I was quoted in the ODT as saying this was ‘obscene’. It is like booking a large restaurant, gorging yourselves on all their food and drink and hospitality then doing a runner.

It is ‘obscene’ and I expect this bill to be paid in full.

Laurie Mains, and his wife, Anne-Marie, refused to answer questions as to whether Anne-Marie was paid for her services in organising this event. I actually have no problem with her charging for her professional services. What I do have a problem with is that it is standard practice for professional event organisers to ensure all outstanding bills are paid before the ‘surplus’ is paid to the organisation. This did not happen. I don’t know whether Anne-Marie was paid $10,000, $12,000 or even more but whatever the amount the issue is that the other bills should have been paid first.

I fully expect this bill to be paid as the ORFU did actually have sufficient funds to pay this bill as evidenced by the reported profit of $134,656 for the 2012 financial year.

I also remind you that the $350 guests to this black-tie dinner paid $250 per ticket which would have been paid with the understanding that this would cover the costs. When a function such as this is organised, the ticket price is to cover the costs of the meal, venue hire, cleaning etc. Once the bills are paid, then any surplus is genuine ‘profit’ and the organisation then can legally pocket this ‘profit’.

The fact that the ORFU pocketed this money instead of paying their bill is unacceptable.

It is time the ORFU did the decent thing and pay this bill.

Yours sincerely

Bev Butler

[ends]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Mayoral DISGRACE: DCC won’t ask ORFU to repay $480K bailout

█ Related Posts and Comments:
14.3.14 ORFU flush to pay creditors

The Otago Rugby Football Union has recorded a $406,800 profit, just over two years after it faced going out of business because of debts of more than $2 million. The union now has reserves of more than $500,000, and is predicting a small profit for the coming year. […] When asked whether the union would consider repaying some creditors who lost money when the deal was agreed to save the union from liquidation, Union chairman Doug Harvie said that would not happen. (ODT 14.3.14)

24.5.12 ORFU board announced

The recovery package involved the NZRU providing a long term loan for working capital of $500,000 and Dunedin City Council writing off debt of $480,000. In addition, costs have been cut and additional sponsorship arranged. […] Almost $500,000 has been raised to allow the union to settle with creditors. A total of 156 non-profit organisations and other creditors who are all owed less than $5,000 will be paid in full. The remaining 24 creditors will be repaid the first $5,000 and half of what they are owed above that. The repayments are due to be made by the end of the month. (ODT 24.5.12)

—

Copy received. ODT 15.3.14 (page 14)

For more, enter the terms *orfu*, *dinner*, *jeremy curragh*, *bailout*, *martin legge*, *dia*, *pokies*, *jokers*, *ttcf*, or *pokie rorts* in the search box at left.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/295236/council-will-not-welsh-deal

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Delta: Mayor ignores Cr Vandervis’ official complaint

### ODT Online Fri, 14 Mar 2014
Land purchases report imminent
By Chris Morris
The findings of a major investigation into Delta’s multimillion-dollar land acquisitions at Jacks Point and Luggate are expected to be released next week.
However, exactly what the Office of the Auditor-general has found after more than a year investigating the purchases remained a closely-guarded secret yesterday. The report was due to be officially published by Parliament’s speaker – who would table the report at 2pm on Thursday – and it would appear on the Auditor-general’s website minutes later, OAG staff confirmed.
Read more

The OAG probe was to cover all aspects of the council-owned company’s decision to spend $14.12 million on property at Jacks Point, in Queenstown, and Luggate, near Wanaka, in 2008 and 2009. That included how and why the purchases were made, consideration of risks, compliance with legislation, and the identification and management of any conflicts of interest, the OAG said at the time. The OAG would also consider to what extent the Dunedin City Council – as the shareholder of Delta’s parent company, Dunedin City Holdings Ltd – was involved, and any other matters considered ”desirable” to report on. (via ODT)

Delta Utility Services Ltd: Directors past and present (go to Show History)
Delta Investments Ltd: Directors past and present (go to Show History)

—

Related Posts and Comments:
25.1.14 Stadium: Some helped it along, or themselves!
15.7.13 Delta, Carisbrook, Fubar Stadium —Councillors “weak”, or worse
12.7.13 Delta Utility Services Ltd, missing column…
9.7.13 Delta Utility Services Ltd, full investigation needed
18.12.12 Delta hasn’t fixed Union St West after EIGHT WHOLE MONTHS
█ 12.11.12 Delta purchases | Vandervis OAG complaint accepted
26.10.12 DCHL: New directors for Aurora, Delta, City Forests
11.9.12 Delta Utility Services Ltd
30.8.12 DCC seen by Fairfax Business Bureau deputy editor Tim Hunter
20.12.11 Delta and the GOBs #DCHL #DCC
18.11.11 Delta rebrand
26.8.09 DScene: Delta, STS, DCC larks
9.7.09 Delta dawn what’s that flower…

█ ODT 20.6.13 Lee Vandervis (opinion): Council firms must get back to basics
█ ODT 30.10.12 Mayor sees red over Vandervis questions

█ Fairfax | DScene publishes Cr Vandervis’ questions (page 3):
[click to enlarge]

For more, enter *dchl* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ORFU flush to pay creditors

When asked whether the union would consider repaying some creditors who lost money when the deal was agreed to save the union from liquidation, Union chairman Doug Harvie said that would not happen.

### ODT Online Fri, 14 Mar 2014
Profit pleases ORFU
By Steve Hepburn
The Otago Rugby Football Union has recorded a $406,800 profit, just over two years after it faced going out of business because of debts of more than $2 million.
The union now has reserves of more than $500,000, and is predicting a small profit for the coming year. […] In March 2012, the union was a few days away from going out of business, with debts of $2.2 million and creditors failing to come to agreement. But a rescue package was nailed down and the union traded its way out of difficulty, albeit with some concessions from creditors.
Read more

****

Correspondence received.

From: Bev Butler
To: Doug Harvie [ORFU]
CC: Steve Hepburn [ODT]
Subject: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 07:31:59 +1300

Friday 14th March 2014

Dear Doug

In today’s ODT the ORFU have reported a profit of $406,859 for the 2013 financial year and a profit of $134,656 for the 2012 financial year. Part of this so called profit is just pocketing of monies from unpaid bills.

As you are fully aware, the ORFU ran up a DVML bill of $25,352 for their black tie fund raiser at the stadium on 5th August 2011. This was for food, booze, soft drinks and cleaning.

Not only did the ORFU run off without paying this bill but the ORFU paid no venue hire for this brand new venue. Then to top it off the ORFU pocketed $52,000 from this fundraising event into their ‘pot’ which then is reported as profit for the 2012 financial year.

The fact that the ORFU then pressurised the Council to ‘write it off’ does not excuse the ORFU from the moral obligation to pay this bill.

I was quoted in the ODT as saying this was ‘obscene’. It is like booking a large restaurant, gorging yourselves on all their food and drink and hospitality then doing a runner.

It is ‘obscene’ and I expect this bill to be paid in full.

Laurie Mains, and his wife, Anne-Marie, refused to answer questions as to whether Anne-Marie was paid for her services in organising this event. I actually have no problem with her charging for her professional services. What I do have a problem with is that it is standard practice for professional event organisers to ensure all outstanding bills are paid before the ‘surplus’ is paid to the organisation. This did not happen. I don’t know whether Anne-Marie was paid $10,000, $12,000 or even more but whatever the amount the issue is that the other bills should have been paid first.

I fully expect this bill to be paid as the ORFU did actually have sufficient funds to pay this bill as evidenced by the reported profit of $134,656 for the 2012 financial year.

I also remind you that the $350 [sic] guests to this black-tie dinner paid $250 per ticket which would have been paid with the understanding that this would cover the costs. When a function such as this is organised, the ticket price is to cover the costs of the meal, venue hire, cleaning etc. Once the bills are paid, then any surplus is genuine ‘profit’ and the organisation then can legally pocket this ‘profit’.

The fact that the ORFU pocketed this money instead of paying their bill is unacceptable.

It is time the ORFU did the decent thing and pay this bill.

Yours sincerely

Bev Butler

——————————

From: Doug Harvie [ORFU]
To: Bev Butler
CC: Steve Hepburn [ODT]
Subject: RE: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 20:16:32 +0000

You have your facts wrong Bev – ALL creditors of ORFU have been satisfied in full, in one way or another.

I will not be responding to any further correspondence on this matter.

D J Harvie
Partner

Harvie Green Wyatt
(P O Box 5740, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand. Phone +64 3 4775005 or +64 21 2234169. Fax +64 3 4775447

——————————

From: Bev Butler
To: Doug Harvie [ORFU]
CC: Steve Hepburn [ODT]
Subject: RE: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 09:43:19 +1300

Dear Doug

Saying that “ALL creditors have been satisfied in full, in one way or another” is not the same as saying that all creditors have been PAID in full.
I know it is uncomfortable for you to be reminded of this but it still does not excuse the ORFU from doing the decent thing and paying their obscene black-tie dinner given they already had the money but decided to pocket it instead.
How about showing some decency or goodwill towards those that bailed you out of your financial mess now that you are flush with $406,859 profit?

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

[ends]

For more, enter the terms *orfu*, *dinner*, *jeremy curragh*, *bailout*, *martin legge*, *dia*, *pokies*, *jokers*, *ttcf*, or *pokie rorts* in the search box at left.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Carisbrook Stadium Trust: Financial statements for the year ended 30.6.13

Received via Bev Butler
Wednesday, 12 March 2014 1:48 p.m.

The CST’s latest financial accounts – link to full financial statements and a copy of the summary below [click to enlarge].

Source:
[enter in your browser] *Carisbrook Stadium CT 30.6.13 signed Accounts.pdf*

Download: Carisbrook Stadium CT 30.6.13 signed Accounts (PDF, 255 KB)

For more, enter the terms *cst*, *csct*, *carisbrook*, *charitable*, *trust*, or *farry* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Hotel MOU: DCC #fail

█ Hotel Memorandum of Understanding (PDF, 297 KB)

—

Comment received from Rob Hamlin
Submitted on 2014/03/11 at 10:54 am

Perhaps the most unfortunate thing about this is the precedent that it sets. The MOU essentially commits the Council to make it happen by whatever means and by whatever council costs are necessary. The ludicrous conflict of interest that this sets up between the Council as developer regulator and Council as developer agent is breezily dismissed early on. If the DCC fails to deliver what the developer wants, then they (we) get to pay all the developer’s costs too. Thereby setting up a situation with considerable motive for the developer to increase the toxicity of this regulatory ‘poison pill’ by inflating these costs a la Carisbrook Stadium Charitable Trust.

There is nothing in this document that indicates why it is a special case or anything that defines it as a ‘one off’. This means that the next time a large developer wants to carve up rural zoned land on the Taieri or build an exclusive shooting resort next to the Albatross Colony all they have to do is download the .pdf of this MOU from McPravda’s website, replace Jing Song’s name with their own and present it to Cull and Bidrose with a request to ‘please sign this forthwith’. I can see no legal grounds on the basis of equity of treatment of development proposals by the territorial authority upon which Cull and Bidrose could reasonably refuse to do so. Refusal would therefore promptly lead to court action.

[ends]

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Related Posts and Comments:
10.3.14 Hotel: DCC and COC sell out Dunedin community to Chinese trojans
26.2.14 Hotel: Rosemary McQueen on consent decision LUC 2012-212
14.2.14 Hotel: The height of arrogance
25.6.13 Hotel/Apartment Tower decision to be appealed

█ For more, enter *hotel* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Hotel: DCC and COC sell out Dunedin community to Chinese trojans

‘Perceived’ Conflict of Interest:
Dave Cull (also Mayor of Dunedin) has used Steve Rodgers (partner in Rodgers Law; also a director of Betterways Advisory Ltd) as his personal solicitor in recent times. The mayor is welcome to confirm or deny this in order to set the record straight.

Dunedin’s Old-Boy CARGO CULT is disabling your City

ODT Online 21.12.12 (screenshot)

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Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Next Step for Waterfront Hotel Proposal

This item was published on 10 Mar 2014

Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull and Betterways Advisory Limited have today announced the signing of an agreement to work together to try to achieve the construction of a five-star hotel for Dunedin.

The parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that establishes a framework and a process to address issues raised by an earlier resource consent application.

Betterways’ application to build a 27-storey, five-star hotel at 41 Wharf Street was declined resource consent in June last year.

Mr Cull says, “Since that time, the DCC has worked extensively with Betterways to find whether a hotel can be constructed on this site that both realises Betterways’ investment ambitions and benefits the city.”

The DCC and Betterways agree that connectivity issues are a major focus going forward and have committed to work together to seek solutions.

If solutions can be found, the DCC will set up an urban design panel to provide independent design review and subsequent advice. Their focus will be on sustainable development and the creation of a design that contributes to a safe, healthy and attractive urban environment.

The panel will encourage best practice approaches to development, specific to the hotel’s site. This process provides an independent peer review from leaders in a variety of relevant professional institutes, including the development sector, practitioners and academics.

“Urban design panels are widely used in other centres. We’re really delighted to have an opportunity to use this successful formula here in Dunedin, and on such an important project for the city,” Mr Cull says.

Once the design panel and DCC staff members were satisfied the new hotel proposal had resolved the issues, the DCC would initiate a District Plan Change process to change the zoning of the Wharf Street site from industrial so a panel-approved design could be built on the site.

Any development proposal would still be subject to the Resource Management Act.

One of Betterways’ owners, Jing Song, says, “After a very challenging two years, we are delighted that the Council has shown a commitment to our investment in this beautiful city. We know our hotel plans are exciting for Dunedin and we are very pleased to have established a framework to deliver a hotel that meets the desires of the local community.”

The Council agreed to sign the MoU during the non-public part of its meeting on 24 February.

Betterways will make a decision about whether to pursue its appeal when the process agreed through the MoU has advanced enough to show that the proposal will be supported by the Council.

Hotel MOU (PDF, 297 KB)

Contact Mayor of Dunedin on 03 477 4000.

DCC Link

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Related Posts and Comments:
26.2.14 Hotel: Rosemary McQueen on consent decision LUC 2012-212
14.2.14 Hotel: The height of arrogance
25.6.13 Hotel/Apartment Tower decision to be appealed

█ For more, enter *hotel* in the search box at right.

ODT 10.3.14: Agreement signed over waterfront hotel

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Carisbrook Stadium Trust subject to LGOIMA

Received from Bev Butler
Thursday, 6 March 2014 5:27 p.m.

MESSAGE TO MEDIA WATCHING THIS BLOGSITE

Malcolm Farry has been misinforming media about the CST being subject to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA).
Farry is incorrect when he states that the Carisbrook Stadium Charitable Trust (CST) is not subject to LGOIMA.
Attached are two legal opinions which both state that the CST is subject to the provisions of LGOIMA.
These were released to me by Paul Orders, former CEO of the Dunedin City Council (DCC), after I made a complaint to the Ombudsman.

In July 2008 I was making requests under LGOIMA about the stadium and was informed by the then CEO, Jim Harland, that the CST was not subject to LGOIMA. What Harland failed to tell me was that he had sought two legal opinions both of which state that the CST is subject to LGOIMA.

When I produced Harland’s email to the Ombudsman, the Ombudsman recommended that the Council release these opinions to me. Hence the attached legal opinions. It is not often that legal opinions are released because of legal priviledge but I guess in this case I had proved I was misled. It was part of the deceipt of withholding vital information from the public so that they could push the project through against the will of the community.

They lied from start to finish with this project and filled their pockets along the way –that’s why myself and others will continue to expose what happened. The whole process was so bloody cynical.

Returning to Farry, CST and LGOIMA, it is also clear under the Public Records Act 2005 that the Council is required to maintain full records etc as outlined below:

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT 2005
Requirement to create and maintain records

(1) Every public office and local authority must create and maintain full and accurate records of its affairs, in accordance with normal, prudent business practice, including the records of any matter that is contracted out to an independent contractor.

(2) Every public office must maintain in an accessible form, so as to be able to be used for subsequent reference, all public records that are in its control, until their disposal is authorised by or under this Act or required by or under another Act.

(3) Every local authority must maintain in an accessible form, so as to be able to be used for subsequent reference, all protected records that are in its control, until their disposal is authorised by or under this Act.

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From: Sandy Graham [DCC]
To: Bev Butler
CC: Letitia Parry @ombudsmen.parliament.nz
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:04:50 +1300
Subject: Bev Butler re legal opinions – 14 Feb 2012.pdf – Adobe Acrobat Professional

Dear Bev

Please find attached the information regarding the LGOIMA peer reviews.

Regards
Sandy

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Full download: Bev Butler re legal opinions – 14 Feb 2012 (PDF, 949 KB)
• Cover letter from Paul Orders 14.2.12 (1 page)
• Letter from Anderson Lloyd 18.9.08 (3 pages)
• Letter from Simpson Grierson 25.9.08 (5 pages)

[ends]

For more, enter the terms *cst*, *csct*, *carisbrook*, *stadium*, *farry*, or *harland* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Stadium: Fairfax business editor pokes DCC’s Fubar

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 05:00 05/03/2014
Business
Empty seats, empty pockets
By Chalkie
[…] Chalkie is concerned by a $48 million scheme to build a stadium in Petone for the benefit of the Phoenix A-League football team and its fans. From what we know of the proposal, the Hutt City Council – which means ratepayers – will be asked to contribute $25m towards building a “boutique” 10,000 to 12,000 seat arena at the southern end of the Petone Recreation Ground. […] The good burghers of the Hutt will be best placed to judge the practicalities of the scheme when further details are available, but the financial side has worrying similarities to the set-up of Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Arm’s length charitable trust controlling the budget? Check. Private sector funding promised? Check. Troubled sports franchise as anchor tenant? Check.

[…] In Dunedin, those involved in developing the city’s shiny new covered stadium are far from universally popular after ratepayers ended up with huge debts and an ongoing headache from running the thing. The original idea, itself controversial, was for ratepayers to contribute $129m – split between $91.4m from the city council and $37.5m from the regional council – towards the $188m cost of the stadium, with private sector funding contributing $45.5m. The balance was coming from local trusts and a government grant. In the end, the stadium cost $224m and the ratepayers were hit up for $200m of that. The private sector funding was virtually zero.

You could write a book on the series of failures that left a relatively small number of people – Dunedin has a population of about 126,000 – exposed to such high costs. But even in the short version written by PricewaterhouseCoopers it seems councillors were not well informed about the project and financial controls were inadequate. The controversy still simmers. Local campaigner Bev Butler, a determined and resourceful opponent of the stadium scheme, continues to unearth aspects of the process that do not reflect well on its management. One of the latest involves the relationship between Carisbrook Stadium Charitable Trust, which runs the project, and the council.

The problem in this instance is the lack of transparency around public spending, even when there was obviously concern at the outset to keep a firm grip on it. More than that, Dunedin got in over its head and allowed itself to be the schmuck landed with everyone’s bill at the end.

Money from the council was supposed to be transferred to the trust only to pay for third-party invoices billed to the trust. An exception to this rule provided for the trust’s administration costs to be covered by a general monthly payment from the council. These “trust costs” invoices were for between $40,000 and $90,000 a month, running from July 2007 to January 2010. According to Butler’s information, which tallies with the council schedule, the payments totalled $2.2m over the period. An Official Information Act response from the council to Butler said the money was paid “to cover staff and administration costs” of the trust “to facilitate ease of administration”.

Chalkie can see that it would be easier to pay for the trust’s incidentals in this way. However, it opened a big hole in accountability for spending because the staff and administration costs detailed in the trust’s annual reports for the period total $1,068,796, more than $1m less than the sums invoiced. It is not clear from the accounts how the other $1.1m was spent because no combination of other costs – marketing, PR, fundraising or project administration – seems to come close to the right figure. Chairman of trustees Malcolm Farry told Chalkie he could provide documents to clarify the details last week, but unfortunately they were not yet available as we went to press.

There are several lessons for the Hutt City Council, including to beware of using a charitable trust as the development vehicle, to ensure private sector money is paid up front with a buffer for contingencies, and to ensure there is no ambiguity about costs.
Read full article

● Chalkie is written by Fairfax business bureau’s Tim Hunter.

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Related Posts and Comments:
24.2.14 Carisbrook Stadium Trust: ‘Facts about the new Stadium’ (31.5.08)
22.2.14 Carisbrook Stadium Trust costs

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr