Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #3 : Security Sharing and not Caring….. who’s got that Constricting Feeling ?

Updated post.
Thu, 30 Jun 2016 at 9:23 p.m.

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Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Tue, 28 Jun 2016 at 10:33 p.m.

Readers, in recent posts we have kicked the tyres of the Delta assets, put it up on the what-if hoist and peered into the grimy underside of the business. Unlike the Delta’s hired hands Murray & Co, we have considered the running costs. Our conclusion was that Delta was a very tired machine, running badly, with an overpaid driver at the wheel. It failed all the financial leakdown tests and was going to be an early entrant to the knackers yard because it was pulling a grossly oversized semi-trailer of debt. There, that’s all of the earthmoving metaphors needed for the evening….

However readers, in addition to all the other bad news we have received as owners of Delta, there is one further thing not considered by Murray & Co in their ask-no-questions, see-no-problems report that will further decimate its value. That is the likely cost to Delta of the impending court case that alleges Delta is a party to constructive fraud.

The High Court was advised on 13 June 2016 that Delta and Gold Band Finance are to be joined to the existing proceeding against Noble Investments Ltd.

Readers, after tee-ing up the obligatory Choysa – just one cup tonight, thanks – may wish to refer back to the Epic Fraud posts to refresh their memory about the story so far. In the first post it was explained how DCC claimed that there was no “relationship” with Gold Band, but in fact Delta had prepared a Security Sharing Agreement which Gold Band signed, which was a dictatorship, where Gold Band could not act in relation to the first mortgage in any way, without Delta’s permission.

Delta is 70% owner and 100% controller of that mortgage. While Delta is not yet named in the Court action, Delta is hiding behind the name of their security sharing partner Gold Band. That is, Gold Band’s name is on the court papers with the authority and instruction of Delta who is controlling Gold Band.

In the second Epic Fraud post (What Would Tom Kain Do ?) it was noted that Delta’s law firm had received a letter alleging Delta was a party to constructive fraud. What if? did not publish this post until recently as it was concerned that Council would somehow deem this defamatory or some other breach of arcane local body law. (Council has plenty of resources to seek to stifle legitimate debate, but none it seems, to clean the filters in the Portobello Rd stormwater pumping station). As Cr Vandervis says, Council should stick to its core tasks.

Your correspondent, in the name of duty, re-opened the arid pages of the security sharing agreement that is pivotal to Delta’s public assurances that all is well and its “investment” of $1.2M over the face value of the debt to acquire, is prudent and sensible (?). Expecting only to find parched prose, and arcane legal minutiae, yet again, there was a blooming oasis of sustenance for more posts.

Tonight we shall hold some clauses of this deed up for scrutiny, allowing it to twist and flap forlornly in the breeze, just like the broken street signs at the desolate and unfinished Noble Subdivision.

Clause 2.4 d) of the security sharing document has the remarkable sentence : where Delta instructs Gold Band that it “May refrain from doing anything that would be contrary to the law”. In any document this correspondent has ever worked with, obeying the laws of the land is not optional. Most legal and contractual documents have words to the effect that nothing in the document shall be contrary to the laws and acts current at the time.

So a) this statement was entirely unnecessary…. if the law of the land was intended to be followed. But b) if some ultra vires legal deception was intended, then some “clarification” was needed.

“May refrain” is not a ringing endorsement of a party’s intention to stay on the right side of the thin blue line. And when the instruction is in response to a long and detailed list of obligations imposed by Delta on Gold Band, it is hard to shake the notion that Delta did contemplate that some illegal activities were possible or even probable to recover some of its wasted millions. So it instructed Gold Band that they “may refrain” from any Delta instruction that may not be legal and proper, in place of the usual expectation to act lawfully…. at all times. Delta’s priority was what was “enforceable” under the document; Delta of course not being overly concerned with proper form or legal niceties such as performing major subdivision work without a consent.

But while a nod is as good as a wink to a sharp commercial operator like Gold Band, Delta are literal in outlook, and so, two clauses later, is the payback for Gold Band agreeing to “may refrain” from illegal activities, instead of acting lawfully at all times. At Section 2.4 f) in return for Gold Band doing precisely what Delta bids in terms of protecting its first mortgage interest, Delta promises Gold Band “Delta will pay all costs and expenses, “legal or otherwise” of any action taken by the trustee”.

Now Delta’s lawyers will rush in and say, CD is a buffoon – and a barely literate one at that !! He doesn’t have basic comprehension SKILLS ! “Legal or otherwise” is referring to the “costs and expenses” not the following words that say “of any action taken by the trustee”. Readers, that may be so, but the words legal or otherwise in relation to costs and expenses are redundant. The phrase all costs and expenses means precisely that – all of them. On the other hand, a learned Judge, having already knitted their brows over the words “may refrain from illegal acts”, when they see the tangled syntax of 2.4 f), in regard to “payment of all costs and expenses, legal or otherwise, of any action taken by the trustee” will look at the context, and will very likely conclude that Delta are at least contemplating illegal acts and then are reassuring Gold Band that they will still pay for the costs and expenses of those same illegal actions.

[excerpts]

Yes, yes, readers, I hear you – CD is being sensationalist – grasping at straws ! Trying to stay relevant ! Delta would be completely stupid to try and document illegal activities !! Sadly, readers, hubris is contagious, and Delta have a history on this project of operating on Delta terms, and the law be damned. However, there is another reason and that is, if Delta did instruct Gold Band to act illegally, and the question of payment was not sorted out, Delta could pull another static clothesline tactic out of the Tom Kain archives and refuse to pay Gold Band. Delta would say, à la Kain, Gold Band should have known, as a finance company experienced in mortgage lending, that what Delta were asking was illegal…. and they did this at their own risk and cost ! Take that, and your spurious cost claims with you, Gold Band ! ….What a tangled web of suspicion and mistrust the Noble Subdivision has left !!

The bottom line : While Delta deny they influence Gold Band in any way, these clauses stipulate that Delta will fund Gold Band’s legal costs incurred in the attempts to defeat the landowners’ prior lawful caveats and interest in the land. And let us not forget that Gold Band wanted to sell their first mortgage interest to the landowners, and Delta refused to allow it. They had that power under the deed – a dictatorship, remember, readers ? Your correspondent says that this sort of cynical desperation moves Delta from the merely dense category to the despicable.

Readers, citizens, this talk of illegal acts is not conjecture. In upcoming posts, we shall count the ways in which Delta is alleged to have not acted lawfully. Delta’s potential joinder to constructive fraud is just the start. If the allegations of these further acts are upheld, the consequences for Delta, and various high level DCHL and DCC personnel are just too awful to contemplate…. for the moment.

But tonight, spare a thought for the lawyer(s) who prepared this security sharing deed. It was undoubtedly never intended to see the light of day, much less be forensically examined and trashed in the good pages of What if?

There must be a sense of dread and unease in the weeks to come. Your correspondent says this imprecise and unenforceable deed is going to be systematically destroyed. Someone, we dare not name, will have indeed, That Constricting Feeling….

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *noble* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: newyorker.com – Levin 17/12/2001, tweaked by whatifdunedin

Modem issues

whatifdunedin has been experiencing modem issues since 1:20am this morning.

Connection has now been restored with technical assistance via the Vodafone NZ Helpline.

The modem will be replaced if in the next 24 hours it fails and connection is lost.

Bear with us. If we go quiet and the website is not updating, know it’s in the hands of Vodafone technicians for functionality to be restored.

Elizabeth Kerr
Site Owner | Admin

The Star and RNZ on raised flood levels #SouthDunedin

The Star 23.6.16 (page 9)

[click to enlarge]

### radionz.co.nz 8:45 am on 21 June 2016
RNZ News
Dunedin council concedes flood worsened by faulty pumping station
By Ian Telfer in South Dunedin
Dunedin City Council has admitted a faulty pumping station made last year’s South Dunedin flood 20cm deeper than it would have otherwise been. The Council made the admission at a rowdy public meeting at the Nations Church last night about the flooding a year ago which damaged 1200 homes and businesses. Chief executive Sue Bidrose […] made a major concession, saying the council now accepted a key pumping station was blocked, adding an extra 20cm of water to the area. […] Shortly after the flooding, Mr Cull linked the event to climate change and warned South Dunedin may have to beat a managed retreat. Local woman Kathinka Nordal Stene said she was shocked Mr Cull undermined the community at the time when it most needed his support. She said the future of South Dunedin had become a major election issue, on which Mr Cull would be judged. Mr Cull was not at the meeting because he was visiting China. […] Leaders of the newly formed South Dunedin Action Group accused the council and its leaders of having a secret plan to abandon the suburb and blame it on climate change.
RNZ Link

23.6.16 Ch39: Candidates using flooding for political gain (+ Video)
21.6.15 ODT: Anger about South Dunedin’s future

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Related Posts and Comments:
● 23.6.16 Sa pièce de résistance @ #DUD
● 21.6.16 Mayoral Statement to South Dunedin
● 20.6.16 Public Meeting: South Dunedin Action Group #tonight
18.6.16 South Dunedin stormwater pipes —getting past the desktop ICMP
● 17.6.16 So we’re going to play it this way #SouthDunedinFlood
● 16.6.16 Public Meeting: South Dunedin Action Group #AllWelcome
● 6.6.16 Listener June 11-17 2016 : Revisiting distress and mismanagement
6.5.16 South Dunedin Action Group: Notes of meeting with DCC (3 May 2016)
14.4.16 South Dunedin flood risk boosters #ClimateChangeCrap #PissOffPCE
26.2.16 Mudtanks and drains + Notice of Public Meeting #SouthDunedinFlood
● 31.12.15 2016, have mercy !@$#%^&*
10.4.15 DCC: Natural Hazards

*Bullet points indicate comments entered after the public meeting 20 June.

█ For more, enter the terms *flood*, *sea level rise*, *stormwater*, *hazard*, *johnstone*, *hendry*, *south dunedin action group*, *debriefing notes* or *listener* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #2 : WWTKD – What Would Tom Kain Do ?

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Sun, 26 Jun 2016 at 11:59 p.m.

Dear Readers

The What if? site has attracted a lot of (unwelcome) attention from higher echelons of the municipality, in recent weeks, both in relation to the #EpicFail posts and others, with intimations some posts are defamatory. (What, this correspondent ? genteel to a fault !). Of course all the while claiming there is no problem with criticism and opinion….. just as long as it’s not too accurate.

This does the valuable service of confirming that we are getting close to the source of some very sensitive and awkward matters, and we need to box clever to avoid the constrictive embrace of harassments, and box clever we shall indeed.

Accordingly, your correspondent has taken a long tea break, but is soon to be active once more as the legal case regarding the Noble Subdivision first mortgage starts soon. This will be better than a soap opera :

Will Captain Crombie steer the good ship Delta from the treacherous legal waters ? Has the boat taken on too much debt and is it listing irreparably ? Will the head office staff make a safe escape with the aid of a golden parachute ? (Mixing airplane and boat metaphors here !)

Stay tuned readers, same bat-time, same bat-channel, and your correspondent will attempt to make the complex digestible, and show where Delta fits in all this.

Meanwhile readers, first some revision : cast your minds back to the Delta #EpicFraud post where your correspondent suggested that Delta were about to have an action brought against them for constructive fraud. It is your correspondent’s experience that Dunedin lawyers are notorious gossips (they make tea break at a primary school staffroom look like a sombre diplomatic forum).

Someone, who knows someone, who knows a person has confirmed that a letter was received by a Dunedin law firm in recent times, say… Friday April 1 2016, accusing Delta of constructive fraud under the Land Transfer Act and asking the firm if they were authorised to accept legal papers in relation to an action against them. Well, Gentlemen of Delta, I bet the Minties and Favourites got a thrashing, upon learning THAT ….now, on June 13 2016, the plaintiffs have formally made application to the High Court that Delta be joined to the action as a party to the alleged constructive fraud.

Alert readers of the #EpicFraud post will remember mention of the security sharing agreement for Delta, the “dictatorship” that would attempt to defeat the prior interests who had caveats, and how it is alleged that this was a form of constructive fraud. We can imagine there was a lot of rattling saucers, and a whole lot of Bell’s best consumed right now by its scribes… a local Dunedin law firm we dare not name. Writing unenforceable documents tends to give clients a good reason to blame the authors of such documents for difficulties, generate complaints to legal disciplinary forums, and claim damages and costs against a law firm.

This is the point of tonight’s teaser post….

This correspondent thinks that perhaps Delta have watched and learned from the dismal Noble Investments Ltd (NIL), and they have come up with a fiendishly cunning plan A and plan B. Plan A : Get an eager law firm to write an unenforceable document. If it works, great. If it doesn’t work, Plan B is to blame the law firm, apologise profusely to the offended parties and then sue the stuffing out of the law firm ! After all, it is a comprehensively feeble excuse for any law firm to say “But you told us to write it !”. Delta would then climb on their soapbox and say “We would NEVER do anything illegal, and if it was, why didn’t you advise us ?!”. Brilliant ! That is a static clothesline playbook right out of the Tom Kain archives !! A plan so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel !! (with apologies to Blackadder)

But readers, we must confine ourselves to the facts, not indulge in lateral speculations that may injure the feelings of parties.

So, Gentlemen of Delta, can we please have the facts ?

Your correspondent thinks this is the last station on the line for the Delta Gentlemen to have a semi-controlled exit from the Delta / Noble runaway trainwreck, with credibility intact, by giving Dunedin the full account of what, why and how, before the impending court action does it for you. It’s not your money, it’s ours, and if Delta is now facing an action for constructive fraud; on top of losing many millions (acknowledged in MSM by those authorised to speak); someone – we say, the Auditor-General – will look closely at who was responsible. Who might that be ? Some clues : Who was heading up Delta when this deal was inked in 2009 ? Who has allowed this deal to become a toxic malignant cancer for seven long years ? How on earth did Delta (it appears) come to be facing an action for constructive fraud ? If there is any truth to these allegations, then who is to be held accountable ?

In a previous post, we suggested a legal opinion be obtained on Delta’s culpability, from someone far from Dunedin. More than ever, that needs to happen. Are there local politicians who can find some intestinal fortitude to assist on this compounding mess in election year ?

And readers, let’s keep a weather eye on complaints to the New Zealand law society over the next 6-12 months…..

█ For more, enter the terms *delta* or *noble* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: twitter.com – derailment, tweaked by whatifdunedin after reading the Delta SOI 2016/17

CULL commingled #AGWbullsfeatherartists

I did wonder.
Jinters gave a bright breezy “Kia ora Elizabeth” as I stepped into the Council Chamber today. A changed woman.
Ah! Daaave was back from China.

And this:

Email received from ‘Senior Communications Advisor, Communications and Marketing’, Dunedin City Council

Subject: Media release – DCC welcomes global coalition on climate change
The international Compact of Mayors – which the DCC has committed to – has joined forces with the European Union Covenant of Mayors to tackle climate change. The new Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy will be the world’s largest collation of mayors supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and move to a low carbon economy – a coalition the DCC has welcomed.
More details are in the attached release.
This will also be sent to media shortly.
Best regards

Dunedin City Council – Media Release
DCC welcomes global coalition on climate change

Dunedin (Mon, 27 June 2016) – Dunedin City Council has welcomed the international Compact of Mayors joining forces with the European Union Covenant of Mayors to tackle climate change. The world’s two primary city-led climate change and energy initiatives last week announced they will combine efforts and leadership to accelerate climate action at the local level across the globe. The new Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy will be the world’s largest coalition of mayors supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and move to a low carbon economy.

Dunedin City Council last year passed a series of resolutions aimed at addressing climate change, including a commitment to the Compact of Mayors.

Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull says, “I am pleased to see the Compact of Mayors join forces with the EU Covenant of Mayors. The coalition recognises the need for significant and urgent action on climate change and allows for greater collaboration between cities across the globe to achieve this. This strong, global agreement also demonstrates that climate change is now a core issue for communities throughout the world. On my recent visit to China, civic leaders from Shanghai, Qingdao and Qingyuan all acknowledged the growing challenges to their cities of climate induced inundation of one type or another.”

As a Compact of Mayors signatory, the DCC has already committed to measuring greenhouse gas emissions, setting and reporting against reduction targets and adopting an action plan. Mr Cull says work is already underway on achieving both first and second year compliance within the first year of commitment. This involves completing a community-wide emissions inventory and identifying vulnerabilities and hazards. The next steps will be meeting third year compliance which involves developing strategic actions to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.

“The DCC is committed to mitigating the effects of climate change. We’ve taken a number of significant first steps in this direction in recent times including divesting our shares from fossil fuel companies, agreeing to gradually introduce electric vehicles to the DCC fleet, investing in more active transport and adopting an Energy Plan just to name a few. As we move into implementation of our Energy Plan and the setting of our Compact greenhouse gas target, we will be doing so as part of a network of cities committed to action on climate change.”

The Covenant of Mayors was launched in 2008 by the European Union after the adoption of the 2020 European Union Climate and Energy Package.

The Compact of Mayors was launched in September 2014 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael R Bloomberg.

Both initiatives have supported participating local governments in setting ambitious climate reduction goals, taking ambitious action to meet those objectives and measuring their progress publicly and transparently.

The new single initiative builds on the commitment of more than 7,100 cities from 119 countries and six continents, representing more than 600 million people.

More information about the new initiative is available at http://www.compactofmayors.org

For more information
Dave Cull
Mayor of Dunedin
027 434 6917

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Updated post Tue, 28 Jun 2016
Comment at ODT Online:

Mayors
Submitted by Otakou on Tue, 28/06/2016 – 4:43am.

With the proliferation of cycleways around the world and the new conclave of mayors all tilting like Don Quixote at the climate, none of them obviously having read of King Canute’s bureacracy inspired attempts to stop the tide on Hastings beach, I hereby offer a new declension of a group of city mayors.

An inanity of Mayors.

Let us hope we do not get an inane one in October!

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: funnyjunk.com – the side that is far. Day 14. The penguins still haven’t realized I am in fact a polar bear. Gary Larson.

Cycleways and scattered nails

### radionz.co.nz 24 June 2016 at 9:23 pm
RNZ News
Cycleway truce called as review set up
By Michael Cropp
Wellington’s beleaguered cycleway programme will not be getting the shot in the arm some were hoping for – instead it will be reviewed, refreshed and recommissioned. The outcome of that process – a ‘refreshed cycleways programme’ – would go to the Wellington City Council’s transport committee in August, the council announced today. Meanwhile, Island Bay Residents’ Association had reached a truce with cycling advocates and councillors, and was planning to start on its own consultation. A New Zealand Transport Agency report this month on the council’s ability to implement its programme stated the fallout from the Island Bay project had jeopardised the council’s other cycleway initiatives, and had eroded the public’s faith in the council. It said the council had lost the confidence of officials and ministers. Today’s announcement was intended to provide a pathway to regaining that trust.
Read more

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IDEAS !!!!

Earlier this year, nails were scattered on the cycleway and the local residents’ association threatened a rates revolt if it wasn’t dug up.

### radionz.co.nz 1 June 2016 at 6:44 pm
RNZ News
WCC told it let spokes fall off cycleway plan
By Michael Cropp
The way Wellington City Council conducted the rollout of a controversial cycleway in Island Bay has hurt its city-wide ambitions for the bike routes, an independent review has found. The report into the city’s cycleways, which was commissioned by New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), concluded people felt the path in the southern suburb was a poor solution that was delivered without proper community engagement and consultation. It recommended it be reviewed and modified after further community consultation.
Read more

█ Read the report commissioned by NZTA (PDF, 1.3MB)

Related RNZ stories:
Legal costs mount in battle over Southland cycleway
Modified Hutt Rd cycleway plans welcomed
Capital cycleway faces strong opposition

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Meanwhile at Dunedin…. plodding incompetence. A recent series of city council-led (earworms: Spokes Dunedin and NZTA) technical planning and cycleway construction FAILURES, at Exorbitant Expense forced on Ratepayers. All this while South Dunedin core infrastructure maintenance and upgrades received little if no DCC attention, ultimately leading to Council-fuelled multimillion-dollar flood damage. And now, the ODT Editor exhibits gut-wrenching Cheek to devoutly urge DCC to YES, Build Cycleways!

Fri, 24 Jun 2016
ODT Editorial: Learning from cycleway errors
OPINION After a long year of construction, mistakes, remedial work, wasted money and public dissatisfaction the South Dunedin Cycle Network has finally been shunted down the council’s cycleway queue. In an Otago Daily Times report this month council infrastructure networks general manager Ruth Stokes said she could not say when the South Dunedin network would be completed. The new focus, she said, was to employ the limited available resources on fixing the Portobello Rd cycleway and the central city network.

“Build them well, build them smart and build them efficiently.” (ODT)

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SPOKES Dunedin speaks out for cycling in Dunedin, New Zealand and represents everyone who rides a bike or would like to ride a bike in the city. SPOKES is a local volunteer cycling advocacy group founded in 1996 as an affiliate of the New Zealand Cycling Advocates Network. SPOKES Dunedin is an incorporated society registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908.

We look forward to working with the Dunedin City Council to develop a real cycle network for Dunedin. (Spokes)

God Almighty! Read this:

█ SPOKES DUNEDIN SUBMISSION ON DRAFT 2016-2017 ANNUAL PLAN
Posted on April 6, 2016 by spokesdunedin

Summary
A change of scope is needed for Dunedin’s cycling network, but it is unclear what the DCC’s change in scope actually means, and higher standard cycleways are only part of the story. Spokes Dunedin has a vision for successfully realising the cycle network. We want everyone to be able to cycle from North Dunedin to South Dunedin, out both sides of the Harbour, and through the tunnels to Green Island and Mosgiel on a connected framework of city-spanning arterial routes that are safe, direct, and convenient to use. This will focus work where there is a clear need for improved safety rather than on streets that are already relatively safe, and will create a solid initial network that can grow and develop in response to future demand. The great thing is that there already exists some cycling infrastructure on many of the routes for this initial network. Several things can be achieved by the end of this year that will help Dunedin catch back up to where it should be.

To do in 2016
1. Support NZTA to begin construction of the SH1 separated lanes by the end of this year.
2. Fix Portobello Road – it’s already been two years. We don’t need fancy landscaping, we just need the median barrier realignment so the road looks like a road and the cycleway looks like a cycleway.
3. Complete the Wharf/Roberts intersection as agreed – it’s already been two years. This intersection presents an identified safety risk on a high demand route.
4. Continue the SH88 path through the rail corridor to the railway station, thereby providing an alternative to the cycle lanes on Anzac Ave (heavy freight route and high risk).
5. Create a separated cycle lane from the intersection of Andersons Bay/Strathallan, along The Oval, to Crawford Street in place of the existing cycle lane between two lanes of fast-moving traffic.
6. Develop plans for a separated cycle lane on North Road and safety improvements for the Opoho intersection to tie in with NZTA’s forthcoming separated cycle lanes on SH1. This route is of very high strategic priority.

Introduction
Dunedin is a pro-cycling city, where a significant proportion of the population regularly cycles for recreation, transportation, or both. Year after year, cycling is one of the most strongly supported and heavily submitted-on topics in the annual plan. One of the biggest public consultation events in Dunedin history was held in 2013 regarding the proposed SH1 separated cycle lanes. In addition to widespread media coverage, NZTA and DCC staff solicited input from the public at information booths in busy locations including the Golden Center, Toitu, and the University. With over 2000 written submissions and roughly 800 survey responses, the SH1 separated cycle lanes received one of the highest response rates of any topic ever consulted on. The result was overwhelming support for the proposed separated cycle lanes. Independently, the AA undertook a survey of their local membership, with over 70% of the nearly 1500 respondents supporting the proposed separated lanes. The overwhelming public demand and support for better cycling in Dunedin cannot be denied.
In response to this demand, the City rightly undertook to develop a Strategic Cycle Network. But the South Dunedin portion of the cycle network has not delivered on the ambitions of the cycle network plan adopted in 2011. Nothing has progressed in the last year, leaving half-finished elements scattered around, with other things ripped out without consultation.
Some might argue that we should throw up our hands in despair, abandoning the possibility of future success under the fear of past failures. But others know that setbacks are par for the course when charting new waters and trying new things. Where would we be if the likes of Cook, Columbus, or Magellan had turned around after the first storm and torn sail? Those leaders stayed the course, their sailors gained experience, and they ultimately changed the world.
Read more

“SPOKES, CYCLE-SAIL OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD WHY NOT”

█ For more, enter the terms *cycle* and *christmas present* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

*Images: (from top) humancyclist.wordpress.com – fixed track racing | hdwires.in – nails | hbr.org – bike dog jun co-passage | en.wikipedia.org – sail wagon

Sa pièce de résistance @ #DUD

Monday, 20 June 2016
South Dunedin’s Future : It’s in your hands
Public meeting called by South Dunedin Action Group

au Sud Dunedin

Mock turtles on a Monday, and [a moment of meeting remembrance]
mon Dieu! Voix, la sienne! (my God! Voices, hers!) pronouncing la séparation des “poos” et “wees” —wastewater (grey water) from drinking water and stormwater as la raison d’être pour la stratégie de “Three Waters”……..
méfiez-vous ce qui sort du robinet (beware what comes out of the tap!) ou, était que la bouche (or, was that the mouth)

Flood, The People —inondation, inonderait le peuple
but, DON’T use politics against those “responsable” fr.

Channel 39 Published on Jun 22, 2016

### dunedintv.co.nz Thu, 23 June 2016
Candidates using flooding for political gain
A heated public meeting earlier this week brought last year’s South Dunedin floods back to the fore. The discussion around what to do for those still affected is one that members of the Dunedin City Council’s executive say they’re taking seriously. But there’s concern some involved parties are using the situation for political gain.

Malhereusement! Ceci est du jeu de puissance ineptes, d’elle-même
(Sadly! This is inane power play, of itself)

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POST FLOODS

WHY WOULDN’T CANDIDATES CAMPAIGN FOR A BETTER COUNCIL TO SERVE AND REPRESENT THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH DUNEDIN AND ALL CITY RESIDENTS AND RATEPAYERS

CANDIDATES THAT IF ELECTED CAN KNUCKLE CIVIC CENTRE OPERATIONALS TO RESTORE POSITIVE TEAMWORK AND ENGINEERING EXPERTISE

Huh ?

This is THE time for Dunedin Politics and Examination of Dunedin City Council down to the last foul or stormwater, sewer.

Hourra !

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Related Posts and Comments:
● 21.6.16 Mayoral Statement to South Dunedin
● 20.6.16 Public Meeting: South Dunedin Action Group #tonight
18.6.16 South Dunedin stormwater pipes —getting past the desktop ICMP
● 17.6.16 So we’re going to play it this way #SouthDunedinFlood
● 16.6.16 Public Meeting: South Dunedin Action Group #AllWelcome
● 6.6.16 Listener June 11-17 2016 : Revisiting distress and mismanagement
6.5.16 South Dunedin Action Group: Notes of meeting with DCC (3 May 2016)
14.4.16 South Dunedin flood risk boosters #ClimateChangeCrap #PissOffPCE
26.2.16 Mudtanks and drains + Notice of Public Meeting #SouthDunedinFlood
● 31.12.15 2016, have mercy !@$#%^&*
10.4.15 DCC: Natural Hazards

*Bullet points indicate comments entered after the public meeting 20 June.

█ For more, enter the terms *flood*, *sea level rise*, *stormwater*, *hazard*, *johnstone*, *hendry*, *south dunedin action group*, *debriefing notes* or *listener* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

SDHB Commissioners speed-bleed health system

“Mr Thomson said the board had had a “decimated finance team” because of a failed Government scheme to centralise finance teams in Auckland.” (ODT)

answer, BRING IN THE CONSULTANTS

### ODT Online Wed, 22 Jun 2016
Commissioner team faces public
By Eileen Goodwin
The commissioner team running Southern District Health Board has been publicly challenged about decisions it is taking at the embattled board. A meeting at Wakari Hospital yesterday was the public’s first opportunity to speak directly to commissioner Kathy Grant in a public forum. […] Dunedin resident Natalie Wilson said she was concerned by an “excessive” reliance on outside consultants. The “cloak” of commercial sensitivity was used to hide information. Ms Wilson criticised the emphasis on staff “culture change”, saying there was no research evidence that it worked. The board seemed to be playing “buzz-word bingo”, and its most recent attempt at culture change came after similar failed initiatives of the sacked board, she said.
Read more

● Richard Thomson is a health board deputy commissioner; and chairman of the DCC Finance Committee.

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### ODT Online Thu, 16 Jun 2016
SDHB’s consulting bill queried
By Eileen Goodwin
A health union is questioning a bill of more than $978,000 the Southern District Health Board has run up with an Auckland consulting firm. The Public Service Association will raise the issue at a monthly meeting between unions and the health board next week. […] In a formal response to an Official Information Act request, acting chief executive Lexie O’Shea said the consultants had been working on “service alignment” in recent months. Asked what that meant, she provided another written statement: “This has involved a systematic analysis of areas across the DHB to gain robust and more detailed understanding of our expenditure and performance.”
Read more

—

### ODT Online Wed, 15 Jun 2016
$7000pw fees and expenses
By Eileen Goodwin
The commissioner regime is costing the Southern District Health Board more than $7000 in fees and expenses every week, an Official Information Act request shows. Between November 17 and May 17, the commissioner team incurred $159,600 daily fees and $25,405 for travel, accommodation and food. As commissioner, Kathy Grant receives the biggest daily fee, $1400, and over six months she charged for 55.5 days, a total of $77,700. Mrs Grant’s annual pay is capped at $180,000. Mrs Grant also incurred $8615 for expenses. Her biggest single expense was flights ($4487).
Read more

—

Related Post and Comments:
1.5.16 Hospital food according to Gurglars
8.4.16 Worsted
23.12.15 SDHB underfunded, no bandage
3.11.15 SDHB will ‘takeaway’ more than freshly cooked meals and a head chef
30.10.15 Dunedin Hospital #despair
17.6.15 Southern District Health Board sacked !!!
9.6.15 Southern District Health Board
16.4.16 Talk of replacing Southern District Health Board with commissioner
5.12.13 Swann case: ODHB/SDHB and friends

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

No SDHB election in 2016.

*Image: mrsfaella.weebly.com – hospital sick, tweaked by whatifdunedin

ORC New HQ : Reminder, fiduciary duty and core responsibilities

Land ● Water ● Air ● Coast ● Built Environment ● Biota ● Natural Hazards ● Energy ● Wastes and Hazardous Substances

The core business of the Otago Regional Council is environmental protection, not real estate investment. –Eckhoff

### ODT Online Tue, 21 Jun 2016
Environmental cost to building
By Gerrard Eckhoff
OPINION The decision the Otago Regional Council will have to make on a new administration block sometimes means deciding on the lesser evil. Whatever the decision, councils don’t get much thanks for avoiding one bad choice in favour of another. The option of leasing space in an existing building, thereby leaving a large amount of capital free for the ORC’s primary environmental functions, has been summarily dismissed by the chairman of the ORC. This is despite matters of “significant investment” (such as a new building) requiring special consultation with our ratepayers, who will in turn expect that their or any suggestion will not be so easily dismissed. […] The ORC’s failure to understand that environmental inaction simply transfers cost from this generation to the next and with a multiplier effect is inexcusable. What price must environmental imperatives pay for a new building? That is the real question the ORC must ask of itself.
Read more

● Gerrard Eckhoff, of Central Otago, is an Otago regional councillor.

—

Otago Regional Council meeting
█ [today] Wednesday, 22 June 2016 at 9:00 a.m.
Council Chamber, 70 Stafford Street, Dunedin
Members of the public are welcome to attend.

Download: Agenda includes minutes and reports (PDF, 2402 KB)

Go to Part C Item 7 (pages 68-70)
Report: ORC Head Office Accommodation Update. DCS, 16/6/16
The report provides an update on the Council and staff workshops held to help inform the next stage of the project.

[extract]

Related Posts and Comments:
● 9.6.16 ORC empire building again : Consultants give questionable options…
11.8.12 ODT editorial (spot on!) — ORC temporary headquarters
26.6.09 ORC headquarters [incl news items to present day]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Mayoral Statement to South Dunedin

Follows:
Mayor David Cull’s ten-page speech for last night’s public meeting called by the South Dunedin Action Group.

Mayoral apology: At China on “DCC business”.

Acting Mayor Cr Andrew Noone orated the Mayoral Statement.
Dated: Monday, 20 June 2016

[excerpt, from pages 1-2]

Readers may involve themselves with the full statement.

█ Download: Mayor Speech Meeting 20 June 2016 SD (PDF, 1 MB)

****

ODT Online Tue, 21 Jun 2016
Anger about South Dunedin’s future
By Vaughan Elder
Unanswered questions about the long-term future of South Dunedin and the city’s response to climate change loomed large at a heated public meeting last night. Residents concerned about the risk of flooding during future rain events were among about 170 people who packed the Nations Church for the meeting organised by the South Dunedin Action Group (SDAG) and attended by councillors and senior staff members. Attendees heard about the short-term measures the council had taken or was about to take to ensure South Dunedin’s infrastructure would run at full capacity should there be a repeat of last June’s devastating flood.
Read more

****

Oh hurrah. What the council has been doing in planning annual expenditure on pet projects in the interests of some private groups, not Core 3-Waters Infrastructure for South Dunedin:

“She said next year the council would invest $5m in South Dunedin’s community hub, $500,000 in a local hockey turf and more money to buy buildings to expand the area’s Gasworks Museum.” (via RNZ)

### radionz.co.nz 8:45 am Tue, 21 Jun 2016
RNZ News
Dunedin council concedes flood worsened by faulty pumping station
By Ian Telfer in South Dunedin
Dunedin City Council has admitted a faulty pumping station made last year’s South Dunedin flood 20cm deeper than it would have otherwise been. The Council made the admission at a rowdy public meeting at the Nations Church last night about the flooding a year ago which damaged 1200 homes and businesses. South Dunedin residents have been waiting for a year for its council to front up for the flooding – and last night it did so en masse. At least eight city councillors, the chief executive and her two deputies were quizzed by 200 locals about what happened last June, and what will stop it happening again. […] But it will take more than [the chief executive’s] words to sort out the ill feeling with residents, who said they felt neglected and betrayed by the council, and especially by Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull. Shortly after the flooding, Mr Cull linked the event to climate change and warned South Dunedin may have to beat a managed retreat. Leaders of the newly formed South Dunedin Action Group accused the council and its leaders of having a secret plan to abandon the suburb and blame it on climate change.
Read more

Tue, 21 Jun 2016 RNZ: Morning Report
Council admits it made South Dunedin floods 20cm worse
The Dunedin city council has admitted it made last year’s South Dunedin flood 20 centimetres worse.
█ Audio | Download: Ogg  MP3 (3′37″) –listen to local voices!

****

Tue, 21 Jun 2016
ODT: ‘Significant benefits’ for city in pipeline
DCC Asset and Commercial Manager Tom Osborn says old cracked earthenware wastewater pipes, mostly laid in the 1900s, have been allowing groundwater to enter the wastewater system, leading to flooding after heavy rain, resulting in overflows. “This also adds to flooding in areas such as the northwest corner of South Dunedin, when pipe flows coming from Kaikorai Valley meet flows from other parts of the city and flatten out, creating a bottleneck effect.”

DCC media release: Kaikorai Valley works enter new phase

█ Facebook: South Dunedin Action Group

—

Related Posts and Comments:
● 20.6.16 Public Meeting: South Dunedin Action Group #tonight
18.6.16 South Dunedin stormwater pipes —getting past the desktop ICMP
● 17.6.16 So we’re going to play it this way #SouthDunedinFlood
16.6.16 Public Meeting: South Dunedin Action Group #AllWelcome
● 6.6.16 Listener June 11-17 2016 : Revisiting distress and mismanagement
6.5.16 South Dunedin Action Group: Notes of meeting with DCC (3 May 2016)
14.4.16 South Dunedin flood risk boosters #ClimateChangeCrap #PissOffPCE
26.2.16 Mudtanks and drains + Notice of Public Meeting #SouthDunedinFlood
● 31.12.15 2016, have mercy !@$#%^&*
10.4.15 DCC: Natural Hazards

*Bullet points show comments entered after the public meeting 20 June.

█ For more, enter the terms *flood*, *sea level rise*, *stormwater*, *hazard*, *johnstone*, *hendry*, *south dunedin action group*, *debriefing notes* or *listener* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Public Meeting: South Dunedin Action Group #tonight

[click to enlarge]

Date: Monday, 20 June 2016
Venue: Nations Church, 334 King Edward St, South Dunedin
Time: 6:00pm (1800 hours)

Facebook: South Dunedin Action Group

█ For related posts and comments, enter the terms *flood*, *sea level rise*, *stormwater*, *hazard*, *johnstone*, *hendry*, *south dunedin action group*, *debriefing notes* or *listener* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Thoughts on ODT Insight : Chris Morris investigates Asbestos plague

 

Dob in an asbestos dumper [illawarramercury.com.au]

—

B E L A T E D L Y
Cowboy New Zealand Governments wake up after YEARS of Devastating Sleep.

New Zealand’s asbestos death toll will climb to about 5100, excluding deaths from asbestosis, which were difficult to determine, a WorkSafe spokesman said. It was expected the peak of asbestos-related disease would not be reached until sometime between 2030 and 2040, the spokesman said. (ODT)

Is the Dunedin City Council opening its eyes quickly enough even with the Amalgamated Workers’ Union (AWUNZ) on its tail ? Good council workmen dead and memorialised in photographs, frightening….

“They worked regularly with the city’s asbestos water pipes – cutting and grinding, kicking up asbestos dust and sweeping up the mess later.” (ODT)

Weathered asbestos cement pipe [cep.bessens.free.fr] and asbestos insulation wrap [Asbestorama via flickr.com]

—

█ HOW MANY Dunedin City Council (DCC) staff, work crews, contractors and subcontractors have been required to work with asbestos product and exposure to fibres over the years —without comprehensive safety training and correctly specified respirators and safety clothing for individual protection ?
The answer is likely to be unlimited numbers.
Has anything changed at DCC ?
Have all asbestos contaminated DCC-owned sites and work areas been identified to date ?
Are formal protocols and a register in place for personnel who believe they may have been exposed to asbestos and require admittance to a testing regime ?

Proper warning [shutterstock.com]

—

ODT Insight: Asbestos: The Silent Killer

### ODT Online Sat, 18 Jun 2016
Asbestos toll will grow
By Chris Morris
The death toll from asbestos-related disease in New Zealand will continue to climb for decades to come, despite a ban on imports of building materials containing the toxic mineral. Environment Minister Nick Smith on Wednesday announced New Zealand would join more than 50 other countries in banning the importation of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs), beginning on October 1, unless exemptions were granted. The move was designed to further reduce the “appalling” death toll caused by asbestos, used in building products for more half a century. It now claimed an estimated 170 lives a year, he said.
Read more

[DCC tragedy] ODT: Suspicions of cancer cluster
Former Dunedin City Council water maintenance staff based at the Midlands St yard say the risks of asbestos were not understood and early precautions inadequate […] a solemn memorial to 14 men taken too soon – photographs of the dead, showing men lost to lung, bowel or prostate cancer, pinned to a noticeboard in the Dunedin City Council’s former Midland St workers’ yard.

● ODT: Asbestos: ‘We were totally ignorant’ of risk’ (+ video)
● ODT: Asbestos claimed him (+ video)

Other stories:

11.5.16 ODT: Asbestos likely to be cost in future
Asbestos may impact the financial health of the Dunedin City Council’s coffers in years to come but the extent of the cost remains unknown, councillors heard at yesterday’s annual plan deliberations. Group chief financial officer Grant McKenzie told councillors work was under way at present to establish the extent of asbestos use and issues in council-owned assets, but the cost to rectify it would not be known until the investigation was complete.

4.5.16 ODT: Removing asbestos pipes
The Dunedin City Council says it will remove decaying asbestos pipes from public land after their existence at Sullivans Dam was noted by the Amalgamated Workers Union. The pipes are beside sheds near the entrance to the popular fishing spot in Leith Valley Rd. The council yesterday said it had not known the pipes were there.

21.4.16 ODT: Asbestos at pool no threat to public
The Dunedin City Council says there is no immediate threat to the public following the discovery of asbestos at Moana Pool. During a maintenance check of the building early last week, asbestos was discovered in the pump storage area under the pool level of the building and in restricted storage areas away from the pool.

20.4.16 ODT: No ‘immediate health risk’ from Moana Pool asbestos
Group Manager Parks and Recreation Richard Saunders said the maintenance checks identified further inspection and testing for asbestos was needed at several sites, of which Moana Pool was one. […] Initial inspections have been carried out at two other buildings – the Sims building in Port Chalmers, which is leased to a club, and a storage shed located next to Tahuna Park used by Parks and Recreation staff and contractors.

16.4.16 ODT: Council denies asbestos danger
A union says the public could easily have been exposed to cut and broken asbestos pipes left unsecured in a sometimes unattended Mosgiel yard. The Amalgamated Workers Union (AWU) said the pipes at the Dunedin City Council’s Mosgiel wastewater treatment plant were not in a safe state and could have been accessed by children in the residential street.

Asbestos cement pipe, close-up of Crocidolite and Chrysotile
[Asbestorama via flickr.com]

ASBESTOS (pronounced /æsˈbɛstəs/, /æzˈbɛstəs/ or /æzˈbɛstɒs/) is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals, which all have in common their eponymous asbestiform habit: long (roughly 1:20 aspect ratio), thin fibrous crystals, with each visible fiber composed of millions of microscopic “fibrils” that can be released by abrasion and other processes. They are commonly known by their colors, as blue asbestos, brown asbestos, white asbestos, and green asbestos.

Asbestos mining existed more than 4,000 years ago, but large-scale mining began at the end of the 19th century, when manufacturers and builders began using asbestos for its desirable physical properties: sound absorption, average tensile strength, resistance to fire, heat, electricity, and affordability. It was used in such applications as electrical insulation for hotplate wiring and in building insulation. When asbestos is used for its resistance to fire or heat, the fibres are often mixed with cement or woven into fabric or mats. These desirable properties made asbestos very widely used. Asbestos use continued to grow through most of the 20th century until public knowledge (acting through courts and legislatures) of the health hazards of asbestos dust outlawed asbestos in mainstream construction and fireproofing in most countries.

Prolonged inhalation of asbestos fibres can cause serious and fatal illnesses including lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis (a type of pneumoconiosis). Illness from asbestos exposure can be found in records dating back to Roman times. Concern in modern times began in the 20th century and escalated during the 1920s and 1930s. By the 1980s and 1990s asbestos trade and use was heavily restricted, phased out, or banned outright in an increasing number of countries.

The severity of asbestos-related diseases, the material’s extremely widespread use in many areas of life, its continuing long-term use after harmful health effects were known or suspected, and the slow emergence of symptoms decades after exposure ceased made asbestos litigation the longest, most expensive mass tort in U.S. history and a much lesser legal issue in most other countries involved. Asbestos-related liability also remains an ongoing concern for many manufacturers, insurers and reinsurers.
Read more at Wikipedia: Asbestos

—

Myth: Asbestos Fibres are firmly locked in a cement matrix.
● Fact: Asbestos Fibres are readily released from deteriorated or weathered surfaces.

Myth: Asbestos-cement cannot be crumbled to powder by hand pressure.
● Fact: Products such as asbestos-cement corrugated siding become friable from damage.

Myth: Asbestos-cement products present no exposure hazard to building occupants.
● Fact: Asbestos roofing and siding can release fibres inside as well as outside the building. Not all asbestos-cement roofing and siding remain in as good condition. In many countries, the inside of asbestos-cement roofing and siding is subject to the normal activities of the occupants that can release fibres from the surfaces. An asbestos-cement panel can be vibrated by wind, causing some abrasion of the edges.

Myth: Asbestos-cement pipes present no health or environmental hazard.
● Fact: Health and environmental hazards start during the manufacturing process when the ends of the pipes are ground and the waste is disposed of carelessly. Fine dust produced during installation of the pipes is a hazard to the workers and community. When the pipes are dug up and removed, fibres are released as they are broken and crushed. Pressure pipe for water distribution was made with crocidolite and amosite as well as chrysotile.

Myth: Paint and encapsulants offer permanent protection against asbestos fibre release.
● Fact: Paint and encapsulants deteriorate and take asbestos fibres with them when they peel off. Why is it necessary to protect a material that is touted for its weather-resistance and durability, yet encapsulants for asbestos-cement roofing and siding are widely marketed. Encapsulants are a form of paint, and a good paint job begins with surface preparation. The hope is that no one sands asbestos-cement roofing and siding before they paint or encapsulate it, because of the obvious dust and health hazard created.

—

█ NEW ZEALAND LEGISLATION

The Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 came into force on 4 April 2016. They set out the new rules around the removal of asbestos, and the circumstances where WorkSafe must be notified.

New licensing system for asbestos removal
A national licensing system for asbestos removal was introduced on 4 April 2016. The licences available under the new asbestos regulations are:

Type of licence : What asbestos can be removed?

Class A
Any type or quantity of asbestos or asbestos containing material, including:
• any amount of friable asbestos or asbestos containing material (ACM)
• any amount of asbestos contaminated dust or debris (ACD)
• any amount of non-friable asbestos or ACM.

Class B
Any amount of non-friable asbestos or ACM
ACD associated with removing any amount of non-friable asbestos or ACM.

No licence is required for removing:
• up to 10 m2 of non-friable asbestos or asbestos-containing material over the whole course of the removal project for the site
• asbestos-contaminated dust that is associated with this volume of asbestos or asbestos-containing material, and/or any associated minor volume of asbestos-contaminated dust or debris.

A new role of asbestos assessor has been developed. A licensed asbestos assessor will provide air quality monitoring during removal work, inspect the finished job and provide a clearance certificate. A licensed asbestos assessor will be required to assess Class A asbestos removal work from 2018 onwards.

Current Certificate of Competence holders will be able to continue removing asbestos (in the categories specified on their certificate), and supervise asbestos removal, until their certificate expires.

—

Related Posts and Comments:
11.5.16 DCC DRAFT Annual Plan 2016/17 —Harden up, Council [survey budget]
10.4.16 DCC: Council meeting Mon 11 April at 1pm [DCC sites – see Comments]
25.11.15 Mayor Cull and the GREAT Asbestos Defeat ….trucks in toxic waste
27.1.10 Stadium: CST to clean up contaminated land
14.10.09 Questions about landfill charges + DCC reveals contaminated sites

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Asbestos-cement roofing before and after cleaning [specialistroofcleaning.com]

Asbestorama: Asbestos-cement roof shingles [flickr.com]

South Dunedin stormwater pipes —getting past the desktop ICMP

Dunedin City Council (website) on Stormwater:

Stormwater is rain or snow runoff that does not soak into the soil.
When an area is developed, stormwater generally increases due to runoff from impermeable surfaces (eg roofs, roads, carparks, or compacted soil). It flows naturally from higher to lower ground, and ultimately discharges into natural watercourses such as wetlands, creeks, rivers or the sea. Land development results in the creation of both private and public stormwater systems, which collect and transfer stormwater to lower ground more efficiently. The public stormwater system is a network of drains, gutters, pipes, mud tanks, detention ponds, stormwater reserves and other associated infrastructure.

—

At other threads (here and here), contributor JimmyJones has cited the South Dunedin Integrated Catchment Management Plan (ICMP) to draw attention to the actual or perceived state of the stormwater pipes at South Dunedin. He believes the type of pipeways and the deteriorating condition of the pipes contributed to the June 2015 South Dunedin “flood event”, and will require budgeted upgrade.

But is the South Dunedin ICMP correct about the underground pipes and their condition?

Largely, the ICMP was a desktop assessment carried out by consultants for the Dunedin 3 Waters Strategy. Namely, Opus International Consultants and URS New Zealand (now trading as Aecom) in association with Dunedin City Council.

South Dunedin ICMP – Integrated Catchment Management Plan
● Sth Dunedin ICMP (PDF, 11.1 MB)
● Sth Dunedin Mapbook (PDF, 12.0 MB)

Read more about the 11 ICMPs for Dunedin here.

DCC says ICMPs are used for planning and management of the stormwater system. For each stormwater management area, or catchment, issues are identified and prioritised, and solutions are identified and implemented. The ICMPs are mainly in the metropolitan Dunedin area (including Mosgiel and Port Chalmers). They inform investigation and planning decisions and help focus council priorities for future operational and capital works. Implementing the ICMPs is also a key requirement of DCC consents to discharge stormwater into the coastal marine area. Further information is available on the Stormwater monitoring page, see also the Stormwater responsibilities page.

—

The Pipes at South Dunedin
Local water and drainage experts familiar with the stormwater system say:

Received.
Sat, 18 Jun 2016 at 10:52 a.m.

The South Dunedin ICMP report has been read, it’s “ok”. But it’s also described as “…glossy and costly for the consultant(s). Basically, such reports tell the Council stuff they neither read nor understand, but would have mostly been trivial knowledge (where accurate)” to local experts familiar with the design and day-to-day workings of the stormwater system.

“You can believe any part of [the ICMP] or not. It’s a desktop study, which speculates on pipe condition. Robinson and Hendry have read it and obviously don’t agree. Pipes last for an eternity with limited maintenance (other than blockage removal) provided there isn’t ground movement or corrosion (these pipes are concrete).”

—

Listener, June 11-17 2016, pp22-29 (not yet available online):

[excerpt —click to enlarge]

—

ODT 13.2.16
“Mr Hendry believed South Dunedin’s infrastructure, which he spent six years helping build as a surveyor in the 1960s, would have been good enough to prevent much of the damage had it been properly maintained. […] My view is that these people out here, a lot of them have got nothing. Now they have got a hell of lot less. It’s not fair on them. Nobody’s come out and said ‘we were wrong. Something wasn’t done right’.”

█ Come to the Public Meeting in South Dunedin on Monday evening, hosted by the South Dunedin Action Group.

—

Related Posts and Comments:
17.6.16 So we’re going to play it this way #SouthDunedinFlood
● 16.6.16 Public Meeting: South Dunedin Action Group #AllWelcome
10.6.16 “Civic administration” reacts to hard hitting Listener article
● 6.6.16 Listener June 11-17 2016 : Revisiting distress and mismanagement
● 4.6.16 Johnstone review … DCC Infrastructure Services meeting 26.4.16
3.6.16 DCC —godsakes, how did it get to this? #flood #property damage
● 19.5.16 Johnstone review of 2nd DCC report #SouthDunedinFlood
29.4.16 Vandervis emails batch 2 #Dunedin #infrastructure #flood #mudtanks
27.4.16 Vandervis emails batch 1 #Dunedin #infrastructure #flood #mudtanks
27.4.16 DCC meeting and apology NOT Enough— #SouthDunedinFlood
20.4.16 DCC Politics : Release of Infrastructure Report #SouthDunedinFlood
14.4.16 South Dunedin flood risk boosters #ClimateChangeCrap #PissOffPCE
31.3.16 DCC: Infrastructure report 2 pending —Mudtanks & stormwater…
● 8.3.16 Johnstone independent review of DCC report #SouthDunedinFlood
2.3.16 DCC compels extensions on LGOIMA requests #SouthDunedinFlood
26.2.16 Mudtanks and drains + Notice of Public Meeting #SouthDunedinFlood
21.2.16 DCC infrastructure … report (30.11.15) subject to ‘internal review’ only
● 13.2.16 South Dunedin Flood (3 June 2015): Bruce Hendry via ODT
4.2.16 2GP commissioner appears to tell Council outcome… #hazardzones
4.2.16 Level responses to Dunedin mayor’s hippo soup #Jun2015flood
30.1.16 DCC Rates: LOCAL CONTEXT not Stats —Delta and Hippopotamuses
● 25.1.16 DCC: South Dunedin Integrated Catchment Management Plan (ICMP)
19.1.16 Listener 23.1.16 (letter): South Dunedin #Jun2015flood
16.1.16 NZ Listener 16.1.16 (letter): South Dunedin #Jun2015flood
14.1.16 ‘Quaking!’ Dark day$ and tide$ to come #Dunedin #Jun2015flood
10.1.16 Infrastructure ‘open to facile misinterpretation’…. or local ignore
5.1.16 Hammered from all sides #fixit [dunedinflood Jun2015]
24.12.15 Site notice: posts removed
● 3.11.15 South Dunedin Flood | Correspondence & Debriefing Notes released by DCC today #LGOIMA

Downloads:
● Kerr, Elizabeth LGOIMA Correspondence Hendry and Williams 2015
● Kerr, Elizabeth LGOIMA Flood Debrief Notes 2015

█ For more, enter the terms *flood*, *sea level rise*, *stormwater*, *hazard*, *johnstone*, *hendry*, *south dunedin action group*, *debriefing notes* or *listener* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

So we’re going to play it this way #SouthDunedinFlood

ODT 17.6.16 (page 10) —[click to enlarge]

—

whatifdunedin:

1. The claim of “factual errors” is surely able to be substantiated or thrown out by a suitably qualified (named) EXTERNAL peer reviewer acceptable to DCC and engineer Neil Johnstone. The ‘matter of degree’ (serious ?) is a matter for the peer reviewer to comment on. As are issues of professional competencies —which only an independent and transparent peer reviewer with nationally recognised engineering expertise can deal to. Not an in-house operational.

2. Neil Johnstone has issued three reviews, two of these deal to DCC’s formal reports on the June 2015 South Dunedin “flood event”, dated 30 Nov 2015 and 26 Apr 2016 respectively; and the third deals to comments (video recorded by Ch39 and published at DCC’s Youtube channel) during the DCC Infrastructure Services Committee meeting held on 26 April 2016. The reviews are published at this website – enter the term *johnstone* in the search box at right.

3. Neil Johnstone has requested that factual errors noted by DCC be made discoverable. DCC appears to be side-stepping qualification and quantification of its verbal assertions every which way.

4. It is highly likely that no expert external peer reviews exist or they would have been made public by now. More than a year after the “flood event”, we wait.

5. A peer review(s) is not something to hide. Why is DCC doing secret squirrel when challenged to substantiate its earlier comments (publicly stated on more than one occasion, recorded by mainstream media – for example, by Mayor Cull and Transportation’s Ian McCabe, who later resigned) – that external peer reviews of its formal reports did happen. After the fact is a little squiffy, if DCC is writing them now.

“Technical qualifications and experience with stormwater infrastructure design and management” are not provided. Rhetorical.

Holes being dug, an epitaph.

█ For related posts and comments, enter the terms *flood*, *sea level rise*, *stormwater*, *hazard*, *johnstone*, *hendry*, *south dunedin action group*, *debriefing notes* or *listener* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Dunedin rugby’s manifest advantage, and ratepayer subsidy, Again

Received from Rob Hamlin
Fri, 17 Jun 2016 at 9:30 a.m.

[begins]

ODT article today:

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/387120/rugby-clubs-fear-viability

Response posting:

“Until quite recently I was the president of a major Otago sports club that has been operating since the 1870s. The club is located on Dunedin City Council recreational land.

The lease of this land very clearly stated that we were not permitted to hire out the facilities on this site for ANY commercial purposes. A breach led to immediate forfeiture of the lease. This was a condition that both this club, and others like it, adhered to.

It is adhered to because, penalties aside, this condition seems fair enough. The land upon which the club stands is leased for recreational purposes at what were, and are, well below the income that could be raised by the DCC for this publicly owned asset, had the land been zoned and leased for commercial purposes.

If anything the many rugby clubs in this town are even more privileged in terms of their subsidised occupation of public assets, as they have rooms that are on an even grander scale and sit in large and potentially very valuable areas of publicly owned land that are specifically contoured and laid out for rugby, and are maintained for this purpose at considerable public expense.

I am surprised that the DCC recreational leases for their facilities apparently do not contain similar blunt conditions to the one that my committee and I worked with. However, it is rugby, so perhaps I am not so surprised after all. Maybe the leases are rugby ‘specials’ or alternatively, the leases are the same and the apparently regular infringements are just winked at.

For rugby clubs to then maintain that they then have the ‘right’ to routinely operate these recreational facilities, that are largely provided and maintained by the the wider public, for their own commercial benefit, and thereby create a regular nuisance for said wider public within what are largely residential areas, speaks volumes for the ongoing and unreasonable sense of relative entitlement displayed by this small (and shrinking) subset of the community.

For those who become irritated by noise and other nuisances emanating from functions in nearby rugby venues, they may be well advised to acquire a copy of the DCC lease concerned to see if the club concerned are in breach of its terms, and what the penalties/remedies for any such breach are.”

[ends]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Public Meeting: South Dunedin Action Group #AllWelcome

[click to enlarge]

Date: Monday, 20 June 2016
Venue: Nations Church, 334 King Edward St, South Dunedin
Time: 6:00pm (1800 hours)

█ Facebook: South Dunedin Action Group
https://www.facebook.com/SouthDunedinActionGroup/

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Message to Mayor David Cull

M E M O R Y • P R O B L E M S • C A N • H A P P E N • A T • A N Y • A G E
keep managed retreat and climate change out of local body politics

ODT 16.6.16 (page 12) —[click to enlarge]

█ For related posts and comments, enter the terms *flood*, *sea level rise*, *stormwater*, *hazard*, *johnstone*, *hendry*, *south dunedin action group*, *debriefing notes* or *listener* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

C R I M E • against • S O C I E T Y

Commissioners who should know better

Kathy Grant
Richard Thomson
Graham Crombie
Angela Pitchford

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### ODT Online Wed, 15 Jun 2016
$7000pw fees and expenses
By Eileen Goodwin
The commissioner regime is costing the Southern District Health Board more than $7000 in fees and expenses every week, an Official Information Act request shows. Between November 17 and May 17, the commissioner team incurred $159,600 daily fees and $25,405 for travel, accommodation and food.
As commissioner, Kathy Grant receives the biggest daily fee, $1400, and over six months she charged for 55.5 days, a total of $77,700. Mrs Grant’s annual pay is capped at $180,000.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: virtuartgallery.com – leaving shame behind (Peters)

Tuesday’s The Wash, of geese and lower case #determinism

Newspaper leads election debate.

ODT 14.6.16 (page 2)

[detail by smartphone]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Post pulled, more later #Delta

The post by Christchurch Driver [CD], entitled ‘….Exit Left Mr McKenzie from DCC’, part of the Delta #EpicFail, series, was pulled not long after publication, 12-13 June 2016, at our own behest.

Some of our readers will have received automatic email alerts that resulted in a Not Found message.

Fear not, the material will be reformulated in upcoming posts specifically hewn to characterise and critique Delta Utility Services Ltd —but which will also touch on soulless marriages to DCHL, Aurora and quite possibly our beloved DCC. Wherever fancy, or horror takes our terrier correspondent.

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Updated Thu, 16 Jun 2016 at 8:05 p.m.

C H R I S T C H U R C H • H I G H • C O U R T

Noble Subdivision, Yaldhurst
Yesterday, there was a High Court conference in front of Justice Gendall regarding proceedings against Noble, Apple Fields, Justin Prain, and Cardno where it was advised that Gold Band and Delta would be added to proceedings for constructive fraud along with Noble and including fraud on the Land Transfer system. This sitting was open to the public.

Justice Gendell included the advisement re Gold Band and Delta in his written minute of the conference.

Reminder: Delta have 100% control over the first mortgage and 70% ownership of it.

ODT might like to chase the legal action.
Hint. On behalf of Dunedin and Otago ratepayers.

Other proceedings chance in the wind.
We hear that Noble has threatened Delta several times —if Delta does not do as Noble says then Noble, and Noble related parties, will sue Delta.

[ODT] Where does it end for Ratepayers ?

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *auditor-general* or *noble* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: cleveland.com – apple, fall far from the tree (Darcy)
[tweaked by whatifdunedin]

Bully Regime? Speak Out #health

“[There is] a sense of bullying from the highest level; that’s the executive leadership team and the group managers,” the source said. Dr Bidrose was “part of the problem”.

### ODT Online Tue, 14 Jun 2016
Claim no DCC bully culture
By Vaughan Elder
A senior Dunedin City Council manager has denied claims there is a culture of bullying at the highest levels of the organisation as details of restructuring emerge. […] This comes as a source, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Otago Daily Times morale remained poor at the council despite chief executive Sue Bidrose insisting otherwise at a staff meeting held at Dunedin City Library in recent weeks.
Read more

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W O R K S A F E New Zealand
Bullying – Preventing and responding to workplace bullying
— filed under: Hazard – Psychosocial
This best practice guideline gives options and examples of how to prevent and respond to workplace bullying.

█ Bullying Guidelines Last updated 11 May 2016
Download: Bullying – Preventing and responding to workplace bullying
(PDF, 1.7 MB)

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E M P L O Y M E N T New Zealand
Dealing with bullying
Bullying can mean many things. It can be offensive, intimidating, malicious, humiliating or insulting behaviour.
If you think you’re being bullied, keep a diary of the incidents of bullying behaviour and if it seems there is a pattern, let your employer know. It’s a good idea to follow up any discussion with a formal letter outlining what has been discussed and any proposed actions. This can provide you with valuable support if the problem continues.
Just because bullying doesn’t affect you directly, doesn’t mean that it’s ok. Be ready to help your workmates and encourage them to raise the issue with their employer. A little friendly support is often all that is needed to turn a situation around.

If you’re not comfortable approaching your employer, talk to either your Union or the health and safety officer where you work, and see if they can support you.

█ If you feel that discussions with your employer have failed, you can find out what you can do next by calling the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Contact Centre on 0800 20 90 20. This is a free service and is available to both employers and employees.

Visit the problems solving page for further information.
█ Read more at Employment NZ

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SnowPatrolVEVO Uploaded on Dec 23, 2009
Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars (2007 version)
Music video by Snow Patrol performing Chasing Cars. (C)2006 Polydor Ltd (UK)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: takepart.com – AntiBullyingSign

NZ Economy —if you’re not Treasury

Either an interest rate hike or rising unemployment, together with falling migration, would spell “the end of the party”….
Due to the Reserve Bank putting restrictions on lending and other measures, the underlying economy was in good shape to withstand “a shock”. –Dominick Stephens, Westpac Chief Economist

### radionz.co.nz Fri, 10 June 2016
Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan
The risks of rising household debt
9:08 AM. NZ household debt has reached half a trillion dollars. That’s $100,000 of housing and personal debt for every man, woman and child. Nine to Noon speaks to Westpac Chief Economist, Dominick Stephens and Massey University’s Dr Jeff Stangl about the risks that poses to the economy. Link
Audio | Download: Ogg MP3 (30′19″)

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### radionz.co.nz Sat, 11 Jun 2016 at 12:15 pm
RNZ News
Tough times coming as debt soars, warns economist
Record high household debt levels are not sustainable, warns a leading bank economist. At half a trillion dollars, housing and personal debt has hit 162 percent of the average household’s annual disposable income – higher than levels before the global financial crisis.
Westpac Chief Economist Dominick Stephens told Nine to Noon the decline in dairy prices was hurting the regions, but the downturn following the end of the Canterbury rebuild would be more severe than most people were prepared for. The rebuild played a huge role in the “rock star economy” between 2012 and 2014, with the international reinsurance industry dropping $20 billion on New Zealand and the government pumping in another $10b. As that money dried up, some business owners could find their businesses were not as robust as they thought, Mr Stephens said. What was less certain was when the “borrow and spend” dynamic – fed by skyrocketing houseprices – would come to an end.
Read more

Harry’s View 19 Jan 2016 [scmp.com]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

g’bye & ’ello

before you erupt into hoots and cackles it’s not me changing trains

news this afternoon : the DCC GCFO has resigned

for a CEO role in the private sector

WISE MAN

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Updated post
Sat, 11 Jun 2016 at 6:00 a.m.

things have a strange way of working out in an even stranger little town, now don’t they

Sat, 11 Jun 2016
ODT: Sir Julian stands down, McKenzie appointed CEO
Sir Julian Smith, chairman and managing director of Allied Press, publisher of the Otago Daily Times, is stepping down from the day-to-day running of the company after nearly 40 years. Sir Julian (72), who will remain as chairman, told staff yesterday he has appointed Dunedin City Council group chief financial officer Grant McKenzie as the new Allied Press chief executive officer.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

“Civic administration” reacts to hard hitting Listener article

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

S o u t h • D u n e d i n • F l o o d

Truth and decency are owed to the flood affected people of South Dunedin.

Interpretations post flood and in the months since —appear without technical evidence, making false claim to Climate Change (the ‘end is nigh’ if only to avoid local government liability), in contradiction to data and analysis provided by local engineers, ORC, MetService and former council staff, amongst others.

6 June 2016
[post] Listener June 11-17 2016 : Revisiting distress and mismanagement #SouthDunedinFlood

‘Our leader’ is in a self-flagellating hole —prepared to say anything to attract votes in the October local body elections. Serious ? Genuine ?

We owe it to ourselves.
The Mayor of Dunedin should not get a third term.

‘Leadership’ has involved neglect of core council business – specifically, maintenance of key infrastructure network and services.

This has done too much damage: tens of millions of dollars of damage at South Dunedin. A massive hit sustained by constituents and insurers. Yet today ‘the administration’ rattles and unsettles the community it has comprehensively failed, with latest wanton burble at the opinion pages of the Otago Daily Times.

The Mayor should immediately resign his office at Dunedin City Council.

Bullshit from the Mayor and underlings is UNACCEPTABLE.
South Dunedin has a stormwater system that when properly maintained is well able to take rainstorms equivalent to that experienced a year ago.

Systems can always be improved but the current stormwater system is not all that old and has been designed with sufficient control mechanisms and stopgaps.

The Administration failed (for years) to deliver on budget, contracts, drain and mudtank maintenance; failed to check pump performance and screens at pumping stations during the June 2015 storm event; as staffing changed, failed to set in place procedures for weather events; failed to understand Civil Defence requirements for the most densely settled suburb of Dunedin; failed to adequately consider storm run-off from surrounding hill areas and the increase of impermeable surfaces as The Flat developed; failed to release stormwater to the ocean, etc etc……. but ultimately FAILED to put proper thought and planning to AVOIDANCE of Endangerment to the lives, health and livelihoods of thousands of South Dunedin residents.

Seriously. That’s the sort of ‘care and concern’ the gold-chained opinion-writer represents at ODT today. Further, there are Absolutely No Grounds to grease up the loophole backside of the technically inexpert Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

The Listener article raises the issue of “mismanagement” during the rains of early June 2015. The liability rests at council doors.
That is a hammering public fact.

█ For related posts and comments, enter the terms *flood*, *sea level rise*, *stormwater*, *hazard*, *johnstone*, *hendry*, *south dunedin action group*, *debriefing notes* or *listener* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ORC empire building again : Consultants give questionable options for new office solutions

█ Should ORC be made to stay at its current Stafford St site for greater efficiency and cost saving ?

whatifdunedin says:
● Is new officing needed for ORC ? —Not clear.
● Is officing for ORC a worthy use of the prime site to Queens Gardens ? —NO, definitely not.
● Has there been full diligence around the building and site options available at Dunedin ? —Instant laughter. Look at the options listed at ODT, really ? That list has been utterly contrived for ONE set outcome, no more and no less.
● This “ORC Quest” (paraded as diligence for All councillors’ consideration) is empire building by a small rough set bunch of local body bureaucrats and their nest-feathering consultant-buddies with construction industry connections to particular councillors who should know better than not to declare their strong conflicts of interest, right now.

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In the Otago Daily Times, developer and heritage building owner Russell Lund writes: “Public scrutiny is required to ensure the most efficient solution is found for the ORC’s new Dunedin building”. He goes on to detail that the regional council “does not have a good track record of project control in relation to its previous attempt to build”.

Wed, 8 June 2016
ODT: Where to now for ORC and its desire for new headquarters?
By Russell Lund
OPINION The Otago Regional Council wants a new facility, in all likelihood a new building, that it owns. When the ORC last attempted to build a new headquarters in 2008, the cost was about $38million … the most expensive office buildings ever constructed in New Zealand to cater for 105 staff … The 2008 building had a floor area of 5600sq m. This equates to 53sq m a staff member, when the recently completed ECan HQ building in Christchurch has just 17sq m a staff member. Cr Kempton, who has been on the new building working party since 2011, will be aware of the cost and size of the ECan building as his company, Naylor Love, built it.
Read more

*whatifdunedin notes: Trevor Kempton is also a Director for Boards of the Dunedin City Council-owned companies Delta Utility Services Ltd and Aurora Energy Ltd.

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Thu, 9 Jun 2016
ODT: ORC considers Dowling St HQ
After a decade of controversy and delays, an Otago Regional Council committee yesterday recommended a car park in Dowling St, Dunedin, as the preferred site for the council’s new head office. […] The ORC wants a 3000sq m building, either new or redeveloped, with at least 60 car parks, and including a 240sq m council chamber. Its preferred option is now to build a two-storey building on the Dunedin City Council-owned Dowling St car park. It is understood a considerable part of the car park, at 15 Dowling St, would not be required for the proposed development, and could remain as parking.
Read more

[click to enlarge]
DCC Webmap – Dowling St car park JanFeb2013 (ORC preferred site)

Dunedin Street View [Google] – Dowling St car park following the line of the Harcourts building, off lower High St parking area, Queens Gardens

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Related Posts and Comments:
11.8.12 ODT editorial (spot on!) — ORC temporary headquarters
26.6.09 ORC headquarters [incl news items to present day]

Expensive. ORC harbourside proposal, Mason & Wales Architects (2009)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ Suppliers of electricity lines services are subject to regulatory provisions under the Commerce Act 1986.

Commerce Commission Media Release
New report details profitability of electricity lines companies
8 June 2016
The Commerce Commission has today released a new report detailing the profitability of the 16 electricity distributors subject to price-quality regulation in New Zealand between 2012 and 2015. Commission Deputy Chair Sue Begg said the analysis shows the revenue limits were effective at limiting excessive profits, while investment in the electricity distribution network also increased. The Commission’s analysis is based on information that distributors are required to publish under information disclosure regulation. Cont/ page link

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Commerce Commission
[Report] Profitability of electricity distributors following first adjustments to revenue limits
8 June 2016
Under information disclosure regulation, 29 electricity distributors are required to publically disclose information to help people better understand how the sector is performing. The focus of this report is on profitability. Amongst other things, we hope this work will go some way towards answering questions that are frequently asked of the Commission about whether the average level of distribution pricing is appropriate. While the report comments on the profitability of all distributors, our detailed analysis centres on the distributors that are subject to price-quality regulation. Cont/

● Download: EDB profitability infographic for interactive version
(PDF, 2.4 MB)

● Profitability of electricity distributors following first adjustments to revenue limits [page link to 8 documents for download]

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“Given lines companies are natural monopolies it’s important that consumers can be confident that the revenue limits we set are working as intended,” Ms Begg said. “This report helps reassure consumers that lines companies’ returns are appropriate and infrastructure investment is continuing to be made.” –Begg, Commerce Commission

### National Business Review Wed, 8 June 2016
Regulatory curbs limit excessive profits from lines companies
By Paul McBeth
The Commerce Commission is hailing the success of revenue limits in curbing excessive profits at electricity lines companies, although Auckland’s Vector and Wellington Electricity were among five distribution firms showing a material deterioration in network reliability. Returns for the 16 companies subject to price-quality regulation ranged from 5.33% for The Lines Company to 8.37% for Network Tasman between 2012 and 2015, with the majority falling within one%age point of the regulator’s expectations and the remainder below those predictions, commission deputy chairwoman Sue Begg said in a statement. Vector, the country’s biggest lines company, generated an internal rate of return of 7.04% in the period and the Commerce Commission estimates profit would have been about $110 million more had the revenue limits not been in place.
Read more

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As NBR reflects, the Dunedin City Council-owned company, Aurora Energy Ltd comes in for harsh criticism from the Commerce Commission (“the regulator”):

[Today’s profitability report spanning 2012 to 2015] …. “also showed five companies – Aurora Energy, Eastland Network, Electricity Invercargill, Wellington Electricity and Vector – had a material deterioration in network reliability between April 1, 2010, and March 31, 2015, and didn’t meet the ‘two out of three years’ quality standard, which allows for poor performance in one year.

The regulator has issued warnings to Aurora, Eastland and Electricity Invercargill, and may take stronger responses to Aurora and Eastland for future breaches after its engineering advisers raised concerns about those two firms’ asset management.”

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Aurora Distribution Map:

Images: Aurora Energy Limited 2015 Annual Report [screenshots]

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Aurora Energy Ltd (471661) has the same Board of Directors and Chief Executive (Grady Cameron) as Delta Utility Services Ltd (453486) which is seriously mired in the debacle for the Noble subdivision at Yaldhurst, Christchurch – a parallel but more expensive nightmare for ratepayers than the Luggate and Jacks Point subdivisions fiasco.

Note: Representatives for the ‘Noble parties’ surfaced at the High Court in Christchurch on Friday 3 June (details to come).

█ For more, enter the terms *aurora*, *delta*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *auditor-general* or *noble* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.