Monthly Archives: September 2016

by Elizabeth | September 30, 2016 · 5:25 pm

Site Notice: post removed

The post entitled ‘DC’s Dunedin City Circus #tricks’ has been taken down in response to a request received this afternoon. The request came with instruction to issue an apology.

A public apology is owed to David Benson-Pope for any upset and offence caused by mention within the wider post. This matter is sincerely regretted. A personal apology will be forwarded to Mr Benson-Pope as soon as practicable today. He may however seek a specifically worded public apology and that can be issued upon his request.

Further removals for this post will be effected within 12 hours via desktop. The present removal is by smartphone only.

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A separate note

If the election signage of any candidate placed around Dunedin appears to be contrary to the rules please contact DCC Customer Services on 4774000 with your query which will be directed to the appropriate planning officer.

Photographs of potentially ‘problem signage’ supplied to What if? Dunedin should also be copied to the planning officer, and stating the physical site location or address.

I have forwarded signage information to the planning officer in recent days where location details were known. This has resulted in enforcement action being taken.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
Site Owner

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

Comments Off on Site Notice: post removed

Filed under Business, Democracy, Dunedin, People, Politics, Public interest

Tagged as 2016 local body elections, Campaigns, Candidates, Declaration of interest, Dunedin, Elections, Electoral signage, Local body elections 2016, Register of interest

by Elizabeth | September 29, 2016 · 3:23 pm

DCC Voting Paper Returns

Voting Paper Returns – check these out daily

Once voting opens information on numbers of votes returned each day will be available:

█ Find out the daily return of voting papers for the Dunedin City Council

█ Find out the daily return of voting papers for other 2016 Local Elections

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Check out election candidates’ names and profiles here:

DCC & Community Boards
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/your-council/electoral-information/elections-to-be-held-and-nominations-dunedin-city-council

ORC
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/your-council/electoral-information/elections-to-be-held-and-nominations-orc

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

*Image: electionz.com

Lee Vandervis and the zero-emission Electric Leaf

Promo: Nissan Leaf 30kwh [100hotcars.info]

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Received from Lee Vandervis
Wed, 28 Sep 2016 at 10:32 p.m.

From: Lee Vandervis
Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2016 09:01:28 +1200
To: Editor ODT
Cc: Nicholas G S Smith, Julian Smith [Allied Press Ltd]
Subject: ZERO Rating – Letter to the Editor

ZERO Rating – Letter to the Editor.

Dear Editor,

When a youth group calling themselves Generation Zero springs a C- Environmental Rating [p4 ODT 27/9/16] on somebody who: generates his own off-grid solar power, cuts mills and builds with his own timber from sustainable macrocarpa forest using off-cuts for low-carbon heating, has been a life-long re-user as well as recycler restoring Heritage buildings and homes, drives a zero-emission electric car, eats veges and herbs from 20 metres of raised bed garden and fruit from a dozen orchard trees, and has always paid for his DCC water connection, it comes as quite a surprise to see this same group giving Mayor Cull an A+ Environmental Rating, presumably because he blamed South Dunedin’s avoidable flooding of homes on Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise. Hopefully it is only this fundamentalist Climate Change Generation Zero group that falls for the fashion of just talking Sustainability while ignoring the facts of those who actually live it.

Kind regards,

Cr. Lee Vandervis

****

Tue, 27 Sep 2016
ODT: Environmental ratings controversial
The group behind a website that is ranking Dunedin mayoral candidates on their environmental stance says it was produced in part to get young people talking about the local government election. […] [JOKE] Mr Cull said he was flattered by the judgement, and thought the organisation had “comprehensively” looked at a range of issues and how candidates had grappled with them.

****

ON THE RECORD
Lee Vandervis purchased a near new electric Nissan Leaf well before Dave Cull and Chris Staynes each bought theirs. What if? Dunedin inspected Mr Vandervis’ car today and went for a quiet ride……….. as you do when chasing down a bad ODT newsflash written by low pond life.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

2 Comments

Filed under Coolness, Democracy, Design, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Health, Innovation, Inspiration, Leading edge, Media, Name, New Zealand, People, Politics, Public interest, Transportation, What stadium

Tagged as Cr Lee Vandervis, Efficiency, Electric cars, Environment, Nissan Leaf, Sustainability, Transport, Zero emissions

by Elizabeth | September 27, 2016 · 6:39 am

Has DCC Delta stupidly bought into another Pegasus . . . . #notquite

Updated post
Wed, 28 Sep 2016 at 12:51 a.m.

Why has our Dunedin City Council decided to have anything to do with Infinity via council owned company Delta ? Which Infinity ? Infinity Investment Group Holdings Ltd ? Infinity Yaldhurst Ltd ? And who is Infinity Finance and Mortgage Ltd, of a bedroom at 12A Fovant St, Russley ? Is ‘Infinity’ a front for Gordon Stewart’s Noble Investments Ltd ? We delve…. meanwhile, here’s Infinity’s slow-troubled-road Pegasus.

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Pegasus was a dream town, invented by a former infomercial salesman who believed wholeheartedly in his vision. Ten years on, it looks remarkably different. –The Press

Bob Robertson with scale model of Pegasus [Martin Hunter/Fairfax NZ]

Robertson, chief executive for Infinity Investment Group [teara.govt.nz]

Pegasus golf and sports club spans nearly 80ha [Stuff.co.nz]

Pegasus Town – not the vision…. [pegasustown.co.nz]

300 Chinese model makers crafted the 1:100 scale model [nzgeo.com]

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 05:00, June 4 2016
Life in Pegasus, the dream town yet to fly
By Charlie Mitchell – The Press
It’s rare to meet the inventor of a town. Even more so to shake his hand. It’s an odd sensation many experienced on a single day in 2006, when a former infomercial salesman clutched a microphone, took to the stage, and sold $122 million worth of property before the sun went down. Bob Robertson had developed property before, but nothing like this. He was dreaming of a town called Pegasus, a master-planned community in a swampy, coastal corner of North Canterbury. It would be the first master-planned town in New Zealand. It would appear fully-formed, as if dropped from the sky.

Planned entertainment and retail precinct [Infinity]

Artist’s impression of the planned town centre [Stuff.co.nz]

There was something Utopian about the idea. At the time, Robertson said: “For Pegasus, I’m acutely keen to create what I would like to consider would be as close as possible to an ideal town.” He claimed to be the ultimate test-subject; he planned to create the town he’d want to live in, one built for “the traditional Kiwi family”.

Ten years later, Pegasus has come to life. It’s not quite what anyone envisaged; certainly not what Robertson dreamed. Pegasus, ultimately, was built somewhere between the vision promised in Robertson’s model and a messy reality, blighted by earthquakes and a global financial crisis. The promised developments struggled to keep up with the schedule. What did arrive was promising – the golf course and the lake are almost unanimously praised. But more basic facilities, such as a supermarket, or even mail delivery, were conspicuously missing.

Pegasus housing [Stuff.co.nz] with render [teara.govt.nz]

By 2012, it was clear Pegasus would never become what was promised. Shortly afterwards, the developer defaulted on a $142 million payment and went into receivership. It was sold to Todd Property, owned by New Zealand’s wealthiest family. Pegasus no longer belonged to Robertson. The town’s new developers, Todd Property, are keenly aware of the promises made by its former owner. Since January 2013, about 30 people a month have steadily arrived to live in Pegasus. About 2500 people live in Pegasus, well short of the 7000 predicted by Robertson. When describing Todd’s vision for the town, the first word used is “realistic”. Another is “achievable.” A sharp turnaround from the rhetoric used by Robertson, who sold dreams, not property.
Read more

Other stories via Stuff:
22.8.16 Opinion: Pegasus – a ‘vibrant village’ where people know nature…
10.12.15 Posthumous award for Pegasus developer, Gough also honoured
● 11.6.15 Former Pegasus owner leaves $100 million debt
25.4.13 Todd family paid $66m for Pegasus – report
6.12.12 Todd family takes Pegasus Town reins
17.8.12 Pegasus town developer in receivership

█ Welcome to Pegasus Town | www.pegasus-town.co.nz

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Via LGOIMA response to Elizabeth Kerr:
Screenshot of Pegasus Town detail from Attachment B to the DCHL Report to Council (1 Aug 2016) — see Noble/Yaldhurst Village Update.
Highlighted by whatifdunedin, the last line is interesting.

[click to enlarge]

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█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *infinity*, *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.

4 Comments

Filed under Architecture, Business, Construction, Design, Economics, Finance, Geography, Housing, Infrastructure, Media, Name, New Zealand, People, Pet projects, Project management, Property, Public interest, Resource management, Site, Town planning, Transportation, Travesty, Urban design

Tagged as Bob Robertson, Developers, Earthquakes, Failed subdivisions, Farmland, Finance, Global Financial Crisis (GFC), Grievous inefficiency, Housing, Infinity Finance and Mortgage Ltd, Infinity Group, Infinity Investment Group Holdings Ltd, Infinity Yaldhurst Ltd, Massive financial losses, North Canterbury, Pegasus Town, Precincts, Property investment, Property speculation, Receivership, Ruined vision, Subdivisions, Todd family, Town centre, Town planning

by Elizabeth | September 26, 2016 · 5:31 am

Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #14 : The Election and The End Game revisited

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Sun, 25 Sep 2016 at 11:15 p.m.

Firstly, Ratepayers have a debt (yes another one, readers, but put the cudgels away, it doesn’t involve money illegally advanced by Delta) to Vaughan Elder, Cr Hilary Calvert and our What if? site for prising the official information about the August 1 2016 Council Meeting from the DCC. After an extended delay, some records were produced, but “technical difficulties” meant a full audio transcript was not available. How surprising. This is the Council equivalent of “The dog ate my homework, sir”, with the same level of credibility. But of course Mayor Cull will be able to say that he really wanted the transcript because, of course, he is FOR openness and transparency in Council, for the next fortnight anyway —because in response to the latest poll or subtle expression of displeasure from the ODT publishers, Mayor Cull is now a “transparency magnet”, you see.

While it would have been useful to see if any Councillors expressed even the most cursory concern about the deal, before voting to give away $13.2M to a shell company on the most favourable terms in commercial history, the key point is that Cr Lee Vandervis is the only candidate standing who sounded the alarm. He abstained from even voting on the proposal because the information put before Councillors was so pathetically incomplete that to even vote on it was giving the “proposal” more credibility than it deserved.

Departing from Matters Noble for a moment, your correspondent had from afar noticed a very clear divide on ‘the sound’ between sitting and new council candidates. To a man (and one woman) the sitting Councillors all sing the same song : everything is fine, everything is under control at the hands of your capable (sitting) Councillors and if these “whingers” would stop the “negativity” then everything would move from fine to fantastic on the DCC rate-o-meter. With the notable exception of the sniping between Mr Whiley and Mr Hawkins, there is clearly a little gentlemen’s agreement amongst incumbents not to say hard but truthful things about each other so that normal sycophant operation can resume after the election.

However, the other 32 council candidates are also singing a song that is mostly in unison, and that is that the present Council have failed the city in ways too numerous to count. Their description of the overall Council performance ranges from the mediocre to the abysmal.

With six new positions, in a normal election a candidate could probably spout vague but reassuring platitudes and have a good chance of joining the club. But this is not a normal election and the vast majority of new candidates aren’t being shy about what needs to change. A change is coming.

The point of all this : Your correspondent says that this is no time for the safety first status quo and if the best candidates only include one (Cr Vandervis) or even two then that is just fine. Vote accordingly. Mr Vandervis as Mayor can always run night classes over the first month in how to chair a subcommittee.

Your correspondent has for some time flayed the vast majority of Councillors in many posts for being slack jawed bystanders on the whole disgusting Delta Noble mess. Those Councillors who acquiesced and made like Silent Bob – which is all of them, except Cr Vandervis, do not merit re-election on a number of levels. Most odiferous of all is Cr Doug Hall, who is very well versed in subdivisions, and would never in fifty lifetimes commit his own money to a deal like this, but who refused to say anything. Sayonara, Doug Silent Bob Hall !!

However, some information from a little bird….
has come to light regarding the non-public section of the fateful August 1 Council meeting. This, along with other information made public at What if?, now means we have an accurate idea of why this turnip of a Delta deal was fertilised into life. (Sorry Vaughan, bested you again, but keep up the good work !).

It was a case of turnip councillors also being fertilised with you know what, but it was also a case of DCHL and DCC bureaucratic fascism, which is even more alarming.

Apparently, a senior representative at the meeting (can’t name names) lectured the Councillors for about 30 minutes that this Infinity deal was The Way, The Truth and will give Life to the half of the $25M DCC debt that the DCC had not written off. To extend the biblical analogy further, however, it would not be three days before the debt was resurrected, but EIGHT YEARS. (Good work on that in Friday’s ODT, Vaughan !!). This is rather a long time to go without financial oxygen, otherwise known as payment of interest, but at Delta (now enabled by the DCC) the unthinkable (the illegal construction of entire subdivisions, being had up for constructive fraud) is now commonplace.

What if? is led to understand that Councillors were lectured like school children, and questions were Not Tolerated by the Irascible Headmaster. They were to vote on the One True Option, and That Would Be That, and if they did not vote for the One True Option, the buyer of the Noble Subdivision would be lost.

Readers may recall that your correspondent did predict that this is precisely what would happen, a certain corporate person would pronounce that There Is No Alternative, regardless of the truth, and much of the statements by the Irascible Headmaster (not to be confused with The Fat Controller) are not true.

A malodorous other person also enabled this fertilisation, as a parting gift to fellow “managers” – and I use the term loosely.

For major decisions, DCC staff are meant to prepare a range of options so Council can debate which is best. Either they weren’t bothered or came under instruction to prepare one option only by minders at DCHL. The Council should remember it is DCHL’s superior, and (theoretically….) DCC’s senior executives should be monitoring the Council holding company and subsidiaries. Old habits (like saying yes) are troublesome things that become reflex actions.

Humour aside, what happened on August 1 and immediately following is simply anti-democratic and makes Councillors redundant rubber stamps for DCC staff. The amazing thing is that only two of the 15 elected complained about this obvious and basic sidelining of Councillors.

But even at that point Ratepayers could have possibly accepted a lack of proper process had a good option been presented. But the “Delta Deal” isn’t a good option. This is the most commercially one-sided deal seen in decades, and the level of excuses made by Crs Thomson and Cull, Delta CEO Cameron, and most of all Mr Crombie, should give Ratepayers pause. They protesteth too much. The cover has been in full swing. “This is the best we can do”, “there are no guarantees”, “it will take years…. but builders are lining up to buy the sections”.

If The Fat Controller fitted one of his own conservative clients into this deal – a $13.2M second mortgage on a subdivision mired in legal action and half built illegally, at an interest rate of 7 per cent, he would doubtless be censured and taken to task by his professional body.

Something appears to be rotten in the State of Dunedin. Why is there indecent DCHL directorial haste to get this deal done ? Will Infinity Yaldhurst spend vast sums on marketing the sections via the ODT ? Will certain ex DCC operationals retire to Wanaka, coincidentally on an Infinity Subdivision ? Will Mr Crombie and Mr Frost become directors or shareholders of some Infinity venture, or their firms be remunerated in some generous way at Noble ?
Stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel !…..

There is a way to stop this rot, to stop the sale to Infinity and bring the entire subdivision back under the control of the DCC. Council was not able to vote on the actual terms and conditions of the disgraceful $13.2M second mortgage at the August 1 meeting. This will be done by the new Council after the election. The solution is obvious. Don’t give the money to Infinity and the whole deal will fall over, then the DCC can appoint its own development manager and sell down the sections that are ready now, and start selling the commercial land, which is the real cash cow of the deal. Without a doubt Council would recover all of the $25M debt, and get interest on it as well. This amount would pay a great proportion of the South Dunedin flood control work……

This is too hard for your turnip DCHL directors, and involves a serious loss of face, but who cares about them ? With the right development manager the DCC can do it in house. There is one man in Dunedin who is available at the end of the year and has the necessary integrity and expertise to do it, and his name is Geoff Plunket, soon to be former CEO of Port Otago and Chalmers Property.

[ends]

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

*Images: Lee Vandervis billboard detail by whatifdunedin | The Fat Controller from Thomas the Tank Engine

17 Comments

Filed under Business, Construction, DCC, DCHL, DCTL, Delta, Democracy, District Plan, Economics, Finance, Geography, Housing, Infrastructure, Media, Name, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Politics, Project management, Property, Public interest, Resource management, SFO, Site, Town planning, Travesty, Urban design

Tagged as Apple Fields Ltd, Auditor-General, Avanti Securities, Bad debts, Board of Directors, Cardno, CCC, CCOs, Christchurch, Christchurch City Council, Constructive fraud, DCC, DCHL, DCTL, Delta, Delta Annual Reports, Delta board of directors, Delta Utility Services Ltd, Directors, Dunedin City Council, Dunedin City Holdings Ltd, First mortgages, Forced sale, Gold Band Finance, Infinity Finance and Mortgage Ltd, Infinity Investment Group Holdings Ltd, Infinity Yaldhurst Ltd, Infrastructure services, Interest, Investments, Land deals, Land Transfer Act 1952, LGOIMA, Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, Mortgage interest, Mortgagee sale, Mortgages, NIL, Noble, Noble Investments Ltd, Noble subdivision, Noble Village Subdivision, Project management, Property investment, Property Law Act 2007, Property speculation, Security, Security Sharing agreement, Stormwater discharge, Stormwater systems, Subdivisions, Yaldhurst Road, Yaldhurst subdivision, Yaldhurst Village

by Elizabeth | September 25, 2016 · 8:31 am

Ex ‘greater’ sitting councillor

Received
Sat, 24 Sep 2016 at 8:47 a.m.

“Not campaigning because of being paid by the day to do 2GP Commissioner work while also being paid as Council Chair. We’re supposed to be impressed.

The most deluded council members have warned us – they say they have visions.
Likely in the city not for the city.”

[image supplied]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

9 Comments

Filed under Business, Cycle network, DCC, Democracy, Design, District Plan, Dunedin, Economics, Finance, Hot air, Name, People, Pet projects, Politics, Proposed 2GP, Public interest, Resource management, Town planning, Travesty, What stadium

Tagged as 2016 local body elections, Candidates, Council candidates, DCC, Dunedin City Council, Election signage, Elections, Electoral Act 1993, Enforcement, Flyers, Hoardings, Local body elections 2016, Make the stadium work, Rubbish, Signs, Sitting councillors, Unauthorised, Unlawful

by Elizabeth | September 24, 2016 · 4:06 pm

DCC electoral issues : Double jeopardy

Received
Sat, 24 Sep 2016 at 1:19 p.m.

Whiley Coyote sign on SH1 – 13.7 km from Waikouaiti
2.45 m x 1.22 m double sided on power poles….
Authorised site ?????

****

“I see Andrew Whiley has made a bold announcement today that he wants to build a sea wall from the St Clair Pool to Lawyers Head to include a cycle way to protect the beach and dunes. He also suggests it can be done for $20 million, which is a big call but unfortunately not likely to be feasible. The replacement cost for the Oamaru breakwater is estimated as high as $27-$48 million, if you put that into context with the scale of Ocean Beach Domain the cost is significantly higher. The Oamaru breakwater is approximately 500 metres long and allowing for the curvature of the beach, Ocean Beach is 3.6 kilometres, seven times the distance. So you would be looking at an approximate cost of $189-$336 million dollars.” –Paul Pope

[image supplied][thechive.com]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

*Image: youtube.com – Wile E. Coyote Genius

14 Comments

Filed under Business, DCC, Democracy, Design, District Plan, Dunedin, Geography, Hot air, Name, People, Politics, Property, Public interest, Site, Town planning, Travesty

Tagged as Candidates, Council candidates, DCC, Dunedin City Council, Election signage, Electoral Act 1993, Enforcement, Hoardings, Rubbish, Signs, Sitting councillors, Unauthorised, Unlawful

by Elizabeth | September 24, 2016 · 2:53 pm

Stay positive Dunedin #awash

TQoFE 23.9.16

****

Cull climbs into alcohol issue to advance his mayoral election campaign (?) – yet specifically states he won’t campaign on the matter of the new Dunedin hospital and retention of health services for Dunedin’s wellbeing.

Drink to that, Dave! *clink

### ODT Online Sat, 24 Sep 2016
Alcohol policy appealed
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council faces a potentially protracted legal battle as New Zealand’s supermarket giants join forces to fight the city’s local alcohol policy. Progressive Enterprises and Foodstuffs are among eight parties — including the New Zealand Police — to appeal the DCC’s provisional local alcohol policy. The appeals mean the council’s policy remains in limbo and changes to curb alcohol-related harm are stalled, more than a year after the initiatives were signed off by councillors.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

9 Comments

Filed under Business, DCC, Democracy, District Plan, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Events, Finance, Geography, Health, Heritage, Hotel, Housing, Media, People, Perversion, Politics, Property, Proposed 2GP, Public interest, Tourism, Town planning, Transportation, Travesty, University of Otago, Urban design, What stadium

Tagged as Alcohol abuse, Alcohol Licensing, Authorities NOT IN CONTROL, Binge drinking, Broadcast media, Business, CCTV, City by-laws, Civil disorder, Damage, DCC, Drinking culture, Dunedin, Dunedin City Council, Dunedin residents, Emergency services, Intimidation, Liquor barons, New Zealand, Noise, Off licenses, Party drugs, Police, Property values, Public Health South, Ratepayers and Residents, Security cameras, Supermarkets, Tertiary students, University of Otago, Unrest, Valuation scams, Vandalism

by Elizabeth | September 23, 2016 · 4:58 am

DCC responses to LGOIMA requests

Updated post
Sun, 25 Sep 2016 at 8:37 a.m.

Firebrand is a full service web, design and marketing agency.

“We’ve assisted with multiple schemes initiated by the DCC, including Sexy Summer Jobs and Dunedin’s City of Literature. Our work on these projects includes branding and custom website design and development, as well as an ongoing part Pro-Bono Creative Partnership with Sexy Summer Jobs, specifically.” https://firebrand.nz/work/portfolio/article/732

Firebrand has previously offered pro bono services to Greater Dunedin.

****

Offical Information Requests

Subject: LGOIMA Request Ref No. 541487
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2016 3:34 p.m.
From: Elizabeth Kerr
To: Kristy Rusher [DCC]
Cc: Elizabeth Kerr, Sandy Graham, Sue Bidrose

Dear Kristy

Re DCC open tendering processes

This official request stems from citizen concern or perception that contracts for supply are being awarded without Dunedin City Council (DCC) engaging in open tendering processes. I hope this is not the case but I wish to go beyond hearsay in seeking the following information.

The divisions of council or council partnershps for which it is unclear whether open tendering processes are being followed are:

● Economic Development Unit (EDU) – co-ordinating Economic Development Strategy initiatives; positioned within Enterprise Dunedin, the agency responsible for the economic development and marketing of the city. Chris Staynes chairs the DCC Economic Development Committee.

● Grow Dunedin Partnership – Partners: Ngāi Tahu, the Otago Chamber of Commerce, Otago Southland Employers’ Association, Otago Polytechnic, the University of Otago, and the Dunedin City Council. The partnership is chaired by Chris Staynes.

● Digital Community Trust (DCT) – Digital Office Ltd (The Digital Office) : see GigCity Dunedin “The Council has supported the Digital Community Trust to deliver the City’s Digital Strategy”; “A total of $250,000 per year has been included for the GigCity project in 2016/17 and 2017/18 so Dunedin can get maximum benefit from being the first New Zealand city to have a gigabyte internet connection.” DCT is chaired by Chris Staynes.

Firstly, Economic Development Unit (EDU):
1. How many contracts for supply have been awarded Not using an open tendering process in the period from 1 Jan 2015 to 18 March 2016?
2. In regards to question 1., what are the names of the successful contractors/suppliers and what did their contracts provide for supply?
3. In regards to questions 1. & 2., in each case why wasn’t an open tendering process utilised?

Secondly, Grow Dunedin Partnership:
1. How many contracts for supply have been awarded Not using an open tendering process in the period from 1 Jan 2015 to 18 March 2016?
2. In regards to question 1., what are the names of the successful contractors/suppliers and what did their contracts provide for supply?
3. In regards to questions 1. & 2., in each case why wasn’t an open tendering process utilised?

Thirdly, Digital Community Trust (DCT) – Digital Office Ltd (The Digital Office) : see GigCity Dunedin
1. How many contracts for supply have been awarded Not using an open tendering process in the period from 1 Jan 2015 to 18 March 2016?
2. In regards to question 1., what are the names of the successful contractors/suppliers and what did their contracts provide for supply?
3. In regards to questions 1. & 2., in each case why wasn’t an open tendering process utilised?

In addition:
● Has the registered company Firebrand been awarded contracts by any of the DCC-related entities bullet-pointed above, in the period from 1 Jan 2015 to 18 March 2016?
● How many contracts for supply have been awarded to Firebrand, Not using an open tendering process in the period from 1 Jan 2015 to 18 March 2016?
● In regards to the last two bullet points, in each case why wasn’t an open tendering process utilised?

Further, I understand Firebrand supplied services to Greater Dunedin (now defunct) election campaign(s) in previous years.

● Is Firebrand (a usual supplier to DCC ?) currently in discussion with Dave Cull about supplying services to his mayoral campaign for the local body elections in October 2016?

Background Information:
Website: http://firebrand.nz/
NZ Companies register: FIREBRAND HOLDINGS LIMITED (3053206) Registered http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/3053206

It would be concerning if a usual supplier to the city council was being awarded contracts without being subject to an open (public) tendering process; particularly if that same supplier was also discussing or had already been engaged to provide services to the Mayoral election campaign. If true, this would seem to be inappropriate and an interest should be declared. However, until more information is obtained I retain a completely open mind.

I seek your response by email in digital format. Thank you.

Sincerely
Elizabeth Kerr

Subject: LGOIMA Request Ref No. 541554
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2016 10:37 p.m.
From: Elizabeth Kerr
To: Kristy Rusher [DCC]
Cc: Elizabeth Kerr, Sandy Graham, Sue Bidrose

Dear Kristy

Re DCC open tendering processes

This official request stems from citizen concern or perception that contracts for supply are being awarded without Dunedin City Council (DCC) and its CCO Delta Utility Services Ltd or any other DCC controlled entity engaging in open tendering processes. I hope this is not the case but I wish to go beyond hearsay in seeking the following information.

It is unclear whether open tendering processes are being followed by :

Firstly, DCC Communications and Marketing
1. How many contracts for supply have been awarded to the company Firebrand in the period 1 Jan 2015 to 18 April 2016? Please outline the services supplied.
2. In regards to question 1., how many of these contracts for supply did Not go through an open tendering process in the period from 1 Jan 2015 to 18 April 2016? Please outline the services supplied.
3. In regards to question 2., in each case why wasn’t an open tendering process utilised?

Secondly, Delta Utility Services Ltd (the Council owned company)
1. How many contracts for supply have been awarded to the company Firebrand in the period 1 Jan 2015 to 18 April 2016? Please outline the services supplied.
2. In regards to question 1., how many of these contracts for supply did Not go through an open tendering process in the period from 1 Jan 2015 to 18 April 2016? Please outline the services supplied.
3. In regards to question 2., in each case why wasn’t an open tendering process utilised?

Thirdly, has any other DCC controlled entity engaged the services of the company Firebrand in the period 1 Jan 2015 to 18 April 2016; if so have any of those contracts awarded for services Not followed an open (public) tendering process; and if so why not?

Background Information:
Website: http://firebrand.nz/
NZ Companies register: FIREBRAND HOLDINGS LIMITED (3053206) Registered http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/3053206

I seek your response by email in digital format. Thank you.

Sincerely
Elizabeth Kerr

█ Go to Comments for more LGOIMA requests and all responses.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

4 Comments

Filed under Business, DCC, Democracy, Design, Dunedin, Economics, Finance, Name, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Pet projects, Politics, Project management, Public interest, What stadium

Tagged as Competitive tendering, Contracts, Council Procurement Policy, DCC, Delegations, Disclosures, Dunedin City Council, Information requests, LGOIMA, Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, Official information, Projects, Public domain, Public information, Quotations, Service suppliers

by Elizabeth | September 23, 2016 · 12:24 am

D C Ross precision engineering

Tragically….
There was a DCC media release New Directors Announced (23.12.14) in which DCHL’s Mr Crombie stated the new directors would “bring a wealth of experience and ideas to the boards” ….with Mr Cull saying “these appointments will inject new blood and proven skills into our Council company boards and I am confident they will contribute towards meeting Council’s increasing demands on company performance”.
Ah well. Our dear Mr Larsen !!

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### ODT Online Wed, 21 Sep 2016
Engineers in receivership
By Simon Hartley
Twelve jobs are under threat at specialist Dunedin engineering company D.C. Ross, after its shareholders placed the company, more than 50 years old, into receivership. The McConnon family of Dunedin, who had a sizeable fortune from dairy interests in the days before and after Fonterra’s formation, are the majority 72.5% shareholders. Their Aorangi Laboratories Ltd holds 1.77million shares, split into five wider, equal, family allocations. D.C. Ross chief executive Peter Deans, a 12% shareholder along with co-director Robert Houliston, also with 12%, confirmed yesterday the Kaikorai Valley Rd company was placed in voluntary receivership, by its shareholders, not creditors. Mr Deans, who has been with the company for almost 18 years, said there had been “poor governance” since the aftermath of the 2007-08 global financial crisis and the company was “left to meander”.
Read more

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D C ROSS LIMITED (1340666) In Receivership
Incorporation Date: 11 Jul 2003
Registered from 11 Jul 2003 to 14 Sep 2016
Address for service: 570 Kaikorai Valley Road, Dunedin
Pending address change to 188 Quay Street, Auckland Central, Auckland 1010 on 22 Sep 2016
http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/1340666

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ODT
13.4.15 Letter to Editor: DCC not holding DCHL to account
12.2.13 Ditching the big brother thing (mention)
27.3.10 Engineers with long experience
24.9.08 Automotive parts engineer reduces staff level

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

2 Comments

Filed under Business, DCHL, Dunedin, Economics, Finance, Media, Name, New Zealand, People, Project management, Public interest

Tagged as Companies, DCC, DCHL, Directors, Dunedin City Council, Dunedin City Holdings Ltd, Global Financial Crisis (GFC), Governance, Receivership, Recommendations

by Elizabeth | September 22, 2016 · 9:04 pm

DCC & ORC Electoral Officer on Voting

### channel39.co.nz Wed, 22 Aug 2016
Nightly Interview: Pam Jordan
Most residents should have received their local body elections voting packs in the mail by now. Tonight we’re joined by Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council electoral officer Pam Jordan, who’s going to explain the ins and outs of voting.

Channel 39 Published on Sep 21, 2016

—

█ Check out election candidates’ names and profiles here:

DCC & Community Boards
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/your-council/electoral-information/elections-to-be-held-and-nominations-dunedin-city-council

ORC
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/your-council/electoral-information/elections-to-be-held-and-nominations-orc

On the STV voting system
Go to this post and comments to read more about STV – note comments by STV advocate Steve [Stephen Todd of Wellington]:

26.8.10 In defence of STV

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

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

3 Comments

Filed under DCC, Democracy, Dunedin, Media, Name, ORC, People, Politics, Public interest

Tagged as 2016 local body elections, Community Boards, Council candidates, DCC, Democracy, Dunedin, Dunedin City Council, Elections, Electoral officer, Local body elections 2016, Mayoral candidates, ORC, Otago, Otago Regional Council, Special votes, Voting, Voting forms

by Elizabeth | September 22, 2016 · 8:53 pm

DCC : Delta deal 1 Aug 2016 Council meeting (non-public) #LGOIMA

Updated post
Tue, 27 Sep 2016 at 7:08 p.m.

On 1 August 2016 I lodged an official information request with DCC to obtain documents and audio file for the non-public meeting of Council held that day to decide Delta’s deal with “Infinity” (later, properly referred to as Infinity Yaldhurst Ltd. NOTE: Not the company called Infinity Investment Group Holdings Ltd. The information request was made subject to an extension. (In particular for more context, see Delta posts at What if? Dunedin from 1 August onwards – to access these use the term *delta* in the search box at right).

—

The information received from DCC is published here.

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Minutes of Council meeting August 1
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2016 21:26:24 +0000
From: DCC Governance Support
To: Elizabeth Kerr

Dear Elizabeth,

Further to Kristy’s response below, please find attached a copy of the minutes of the meeting. These are now confirmed as correct.

Regards
DCC Governance Support

Attachment: Minutes Council 010816

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: FW: Please check LGOIMA response on Delta PE documents and audio file
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2016 20:48:01 +0000
From: Kristy Rusher
To: Elizabeth Kerr

Hi,

In relation to your request for the information about the Council’s decision regarding the Delta & the Noble Subdivision, we now provide you with:

1. The audio recording and transcript of the non-public section of the 1 August council meeting where this transaction was considered. Please click on this link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jcvhpn0w2a7v1n7/AADWTnaiJcP3R0YA-dZuuo1Ya?dl=0

2. A copy of reports presented as part of the non-public section of the August 1 council meeting where the Delta transaction was discussed.

3. The minutes of this part of the 1 August Council meeting are not yet included. That is because at yesterday’s meeting of the Council, an amendment was made to this section of the minutes. They will be provided to you in their amended form when the minutes of yesterday’s meeting become available.

The information you have requested is attached. Please note that due to the late conclusion of yesterday’s Council meeting we were unable to provide you with this response yesterday.

Audio Recording of Discussion at Council Meeting

There were some technical difficulties experienced with the recording of the meeting. Unfortunately this resulted in only the first part of the meeting up until the first adjournment being recorded. We have sought expert help to recover the rest of the recording but it is blank.

An independent party has also transcribed the audio file that is available and this transcript is attached. This provides details of each speaker and may help your listening of the file.

If you have any questions please contact me in the first instance.

Regards, Kristy

Attachments:
1. CNL20160801_1967_207_5.pdf
2. Transcript of Meeting 2016_08_01 np.pdf
3. Noble-Yaldhurst Village Update – 2016_08_01 final.pdf

—

GO TO NEW POST
27.9.16 Has DCC Delta stupidly bought into another Pegasus . . . . #notquite

Why has our Dunedin City Council decided to have anything to do with Infinity via council owned company Delta ? Which Infinity ? Infinity Investment Group Holdings Ltd ? Infinity Yaldhurst Ltd ? And who is Infinity Finance and Mortgage Ltd, of a bedroom at 12A Fovant St, Russley ? Is ‘Infinity’ a front for Gordon Stewart’s Noble Investments Ltd ? We delve…. Meanwhile, here’s Infinity’s slow-troubled-road Pegasus. Cont/

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

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

2 Comments

Filed under Business, DCC, DCHL, DCTL, Delta, Democracy, Economics, Finance, Housing, Infrastructure, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Politics, Project management, Property, Public interest, Resource management, Site, Town planning, Transportation, Travesty, Urban design

Tagged as Apple Fields Ltd, Auditor-General, Avanti Securities, Bad debts, Board of Directors, Cardno, CCC, CCOs, Christchurch, Christchurch City Council, Constructive fraud, DCC, DCHL, DCTL, Delta, Delta Annual Reports, Delta board of directors, Delta Utility Services Ltd, Directors, Dunedin City Council, Dunedin City Holdings Ltd, First mortgages, Forced sale, Gold Band Finance, Infinity Finance and Mortgage Ltd, Infinity Investment Group Holdings Ltd, Infinity Yaldhurst Ltd, Infrastructure services, Investments, Land deals, Land Transfer Act 1952, LGOIMA, Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, Mortgagee sale, Mortgages, NIL, Noble, Noble Investments Ltd, Noble subdivision, Noble Village Subdivision, Project management, Property investment, Property Law Act 2007, Property speculation, Security, Security Sharing agreement, Stormwater discharge, Stormwater systems, Subdivisions, Yaldhurst Road, Yaldhurst subdivision, Yaldhurst Village

by Elizabeth | September 22, 2016 · 3:48 pm

Second candidate meeting at South Dunedin #review

Received from RMN
Tue, 21 Sep 2016 at 11:13 p.m.

A slightly larger crowd of Dunedinites arrived at the Mayfair Theatre tonight, and one or two were even angry.

The group of candidates was much smaller than last night but as a group the candidates were more impressive specimens than last night.

Standout new candidates were Jim O’Malley, Paul Pope, Conrad Stedman, David Murray, Neil Johnstone and Nanette Linklater.

Richard O’Mahony was also OK, if unspecific, but Tony Johnston was uncomfortable with the inevitable self promotion and sound bites that one must engage in as a local body politician. There is the sense that Mr Johnston could have value as a councillor with his background but he needs to study Mike Lord or Mr Stedman as examples of how to relate to a crowd.

Mr Lord tended to be short on specifics but even when on the verboten topic of the Mosgiel Pool came across as credible and with integrity, even when he did not quite answer the question.

Once again Lee Vandervis stole the show, helped in no small measure by the fact that many of the questions were directed to himself and Mr Lord as sitting councillors.

The questions were almost scripted for Mr Vandervis – how to wring results from the DCC bureaucracy, the Citifleet fraud, the awful financial abscess that is Delta and Aurora, the madness of the 2GP planners, the vacuousness of the Cull regime “if you can’t see it they are not going to spend on it” and “every year has been election year”.

With Mr Vandervis’ usual combination of wit, recall of facts and obvious determination, almost every response was greeted with enthusiastic applause.

The best line of the evening came from Mr Murray when he said to the audience – “it’s about priorities” – who do you trust to put South Dunedin as the top priority, and it certainly is not the current council as they have proven this by spending $6M on cycleways for us and underspending on drains.

Mr Murray, Mr Stedman & Ms Linklater made the powerful point that they actually lived in South Dunedin, and are fully committed to it.

Mr O’Malley raised the elephant in the room when he said that there was a north south divide in the city and the two sides retreated to their side of the railway line. He said that South Dunedin had good reason to mistrust the council as they had failed South Dunedin. This was echoed by most new candidates. Mr O’Malley has shown that he is willing to confront the problems that are beyond most of the current crop of councillors and his background in the American corporate world is impressive.

Paul Pope was also impressive and noted that he had spent three weeks visiting local businesses to get their views, something that candidate Linklater had also spent a lot of time in, which went down well.

Mr Stedman was sincere and obviously committed to South Dunedin, and he dealt with some aggressive and illogical heckling very well. His account of his efforts to remove the Hargest Crescent cycleway were well received.

There were only 2 sitting councillors that showed up, being Mike Lord and Lee Vandervis, with chief cycleway apologist Cr Kate Wilson absent, along with new candidates Fraser, Hope and Shepherd.

Interestingly, the ODT chose to feature the question of feral cats in South Dunedin, which may be a sign that election weariness is setting in at ODT.

[ends]

TQoFE 22:9:16

Related Post and Comments:
21.9.16 The First of two South Dunedin candidate meetings #review

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

5 Comments

Filed under Business, Citifleet, Construction, Cycle network, DCC, Delta, Democracy, Design, District Plan, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Finance, Fun, Geography, Health, Heritage, Housing, Infrastructure, Inspiration, Name, New Zealand, People, Pet projects, Politics, Project management, Property, Proposed 2GP, Public interest, Site, South Dunedin, Town planning, Transportation, Urban design, What stadium

Tagged as 2016 local body elections, Candidates meeting, Consolidated council DEBT, Council candidates, DCC, Dunedin City Council, Floods, Greater South Dunedin Community Group, Hustings, Local body elections 2016, Mayfair Theatre, Mayoral candidates, Pet projects, South Dunedin, Standing councillors, Vanity projects

by Elizabeth | September 21, 2016 · 2:23 pm

The First of two South Dunedin candidate meetings #review

Venue: Mayfair Theatre

Received from RMN
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 at 11:47 p.m.

The South Dunedin candidates meeting was a quiet affair tonight. The expected angry hordes of South Dunedinites did not materialise.

The hypocrisy rating was through the roof for many candidates who sought to present their Dunedin South Credentials in their 2 minute introduction. Many claimed to have grown up there but strangely, no one felt quite enough of the love that they earnestly proclaimed for SD to actually live there.

Standouts for the evening were Wayne Idour, Abe Gray, Barry Timmings, and Lee Vandervis. Mr Vandervis gatecrashed the party, he was there as a spectator but several members of the audience could not wait until tomorrow and called him to the stage several times. Each time he was cogent, mayor-like and with an impressive grasp of detail. Mr Idour told the audience that a lot of the current council needed to go and that they had wasted huge amounts on pet vanity projects. Say what you mean, Wayne! He also was acid in his criticism of the “devils triangle” of the Council, University and the Police who he said all had an interest in pretending the student drinking culture did not exist. Mr Timmings who some allege is only there as a mayoral candidate to split the vote to ensure the return of Mr Cull actually eclipsed Mr Cull tonight. Mr Timmings was confident and relaxed and related well to an audience that would not be his natural constituents. On his present form Mr Timmings may end up taking more votes from Mr Cull than splitting the vote among the challengers. In contrast Mr Cull while confident, refused to make an unreserved apology for the flooding, was aggressive to a questioner regarding the council debt levels, and when asked to propose what he felt would be an acceptable debt level made the surprising statement that he would like it to be zero. Mr Gray who established his Cannabis Museum in South Dunedin was the best of the candidates when explaining how he saw the future growth of Dunedin, “Converting stories into legends” and focusing on the unique aspects about the city. He was entertaining and informative when explaining why startups should not rely on the DCC. Mr Gray has the weight of someone who had actually established a new venture in South Dunedin, rather than just produce platitudes.

The weakest performers of the evening were Mr Hall and Mr Acklin. Mr Hall told the meeting what a wonderful job council was doing to reduce council debt, which Mr Vandervis then calmly demolished in about 30 seconds with the facts. Mr Acklin said nothing of substance whatsoever in his introduction and after that was invisible.

Best howler of the evening was Mr Staynes claiming that the Council had not indulged in any vanity or pet projects. Cycleways, anybody?

[ends]

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█ Tonight (Wed 21 September), the second candidate meeting will be hosted by the Greater South Dunedin Community Group at the historic Mayfair Theatre, 6:30pm – 9pm.

For more details, see press release South Dunedin to grill election candidates this week via Scoop.co.nz

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

19 Comments

Filed under Business, DCC, Democracy, Dunedin, Economics, Events, Finance, Fun, Name, People, Pet projects, Politics, Public interest, South Dunedin, What stadium

Tagged as 2016 local body elections, Candidates meeting, Consolidated council DEBT, Council candidates, DCC, Dunedin City Council, Greater South Dunedin Community Group, Hustings, Local body elections 2016, Mayfair Theatre, Mayoral candidates, Pet projects, South Dunedin, Standing councillors, Vanity projects

by Elizabeth | September 20, 2016 · 4:14 pm

Site Notice : Post removal

Updated

A new post published today, entitled ‘Council procurement policy falters’, has been removed at the urgent request of Richard Thomson, and separately, Graham McKerracher.

Sincere apologies to Mr Thomson and Mr Staynes for any referencing that appeared false or damaging.

The post was swiftly pulled at first notice.

Responses received this year from DCC via LGOIMA requests for information on Firebrand as a service supplier to various council entities are public domain. The general public can request this prepared and available information from DCC at any time.

The official information was originally supplied to independent requesters Elizabeth Kerr and Hilary Calvert.

—

Elizabeth Kerr
Site Owner

9 Comments

Filed under Business, Democracy, Dunedin, Economics, Finance, Hot air, Media, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Politics, Public interest

Tagged as “only one supplier in the market”, Design and marketing, LGOIMA requests, Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, Pro-bono services, Really?, Web support

by Elizabeth | September 20, 2016 · 1:46 pm

Meanwhile . . . . #SouthDunedin

Received from Douglas Field
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 at 1:06 p.m.

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Press Release: Greater South Dunedin Community Group

MEDIA RELEASE
18 September 2016

South Dunedin to grill election candidates this week

South Dunedin has emerged as a significant issue in the upcoming local body elections and as a result two candidate forums for councillors and mayoral candidates have been organised this week by the Greater South Dunedin Community Group, acting chair of the Greater South Dunedin Community Group Philip Gilchrist said today.

The forum meetings will hosted in the Mayfair Theatre on Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21 September from 6.30pm – 9pm in order to provide all candidates with an opportunity to provide their views on the challenges and opportunities for this important part of the city.

An electronic survey sent out to the candidates before the forums has drawn responses from 34 of the 44 candidates standing for the Dunedin City Council. We believe the large number of responses is a recognition that issues concerning the future of South Dunedin are high on their list of priorities.

At the forums, candidates will be asked a question and then given two minutes to respond, and there will also be about 90 minutes when questions can be asked of the candidates from the floor. Previous meetings that our group has hosted have prompted vigorous and relevant questioning from the public and it is expected that this meeting will provide the similar level of interaction as the people of South Dunedin are now, at last, having their voices heard. The June 2015 flood has certainly brought South Dunedin to New Zealand’s attention.

We are pleased to be hosting the event in the magnificent Mayfair Theatre, which is the significant Heritage Building in South Dunedin, Mr Gilchrist said.

█ We attach a link to the survey responses:
The results are un-edited and can be downloaded or read online.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5xylrw1b16ciaet/AACcsRBhqCw1XpJRqVecerGHa?dl=0

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

1 Comment

Filed under Business, Democracy, District Plan, Dunedin, Economics, Finance, Geography, Health, Heritage, Hot air, Housing, Infrastructure, Name, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Pet projects, Politics, Project management, Property, Proposed 2GP, Public interest, Resource management, Site, South Dunedin, Town planning, Transportation, Travesty, Urban design, What stadium

Tagged as Climate Change, Flood damage, Infrastructure maintenance, Managed retreat, Mayor Cull goes west, Mudtanks, No apology, Politics, Private property rights, South Dunedin flood, Stormwater pumping stations, Strategic withdrawal

by Elizabeth | September 18, 2016 · 4:54 pm

Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #13 : Councillors! How low can you Zhao ?

Updated, this post was originally published on 29 Aug 2016.

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Thu, 15 September 2016 at 6:53 p.m.

Readers

Recently some diligent whatiffers (thank-you Mick, Calvin), have provided some very pertinent information that puts your intemperate correspondent well ahead of the chasing pack that is national media.

Delta’s financial “breakthrough” at the Noble Subdivision got an airing on National Radio “news” late last month. Strangely, there was no mention of the buyers’ troubled history that checkmated $101M into the big depository in the sky. Fortunately, online media Stuff (26.8.16) has better quality reporting than our erstwhile public servants (well chaps, it was the weekend after all) and had this epic fail firmly in their sights. Vaughan Elder at the ODT (27.8.16) also stepped up to the plate, hammering home the $101M Infinity fail. “Efforts to contact Infinity Yaldhurst were unsuccessful,” said Vaughan [before ODT updated the article]. No prizes for why…..Go Vaughan you good thing !

Tonight, readers, over a cup of Bell or two (put that Twining’s rubbish away – we’re not in Fendalton now !)….. we shall look at a likely funder at Noble (at third mortgage level, no less), and in doing so we shall arrive at the quiet suburban destination of 12a Fovant St, Russley; the poor man’s Fendalton, if you will. Once again, truth trumps fiction, and from this secure and modest address it is quite probable the highly insecure and very immodestly sized Noble Subdivision will receive finance.

Firstly, readers, it is important to understand what your complete turnips of Councillors could not, and that is : it is the holder of the first mortgage that basically drives the train in any development. When things go bad – often – the developer gets told to go sit in the corner and play with some knives while the first mortgage owners decide what is best for them, and them alone, and the size of the haircut for everyone else. Delta have just found this out the expensive way to their approximate overall loss of $25M. Delta now wholeheartedly agree with this theory because they happily spent $3.39M of ratepayer funds to buy 67.5% of a $1.75M first mortgage, which was an illegal transaction at that. Mr Crombie and Mr Cameron say that interest doesn’t count ….Turnips that need to be culled, you say : I hear you!

But the problem with first mortgage holders is that they are very often banks that don’t have a large appetite for risk, and they hate “mezzanine financing” with all the conservative passion they can muster. Mezzanine funding is what they call funding projects during their construction. If things go wrong of course at the construction stage (consider Noble), there is only a half-finished at best project…. worth precisely nothing, which tends to play havoc with the banks’ precious LTV (loan-to-value) guidelines.

Readers will remember this was precisely the scenario at Noble where the mortgagee sale was marketed on the basis that it was bare land, ie the $11.5M of half-finished work by Delta was deemed to be worth nothing. So while Delta trumpet that there is a bank as a first mortgagee involved, your correspondent surmises that given the project’s radioactive history, it is a very small first mortgage, that is nowhere near big enough to finance the completion of even the first stage of the subdivision.

This leads us to some very interesting territory. How to fund the construction ? A smallish bank first mortgage, Delta as second mortgagee. Even Grady Cameron and possibly even Mr McLauchlan comprehend that they would be sacked if they advanced more public funds to Noble on a second mortgage basis. Could the purchaser, Infinity Yaldhurst Ltd fund it ? We do not know this, because of the commercial stupidity of most of your Councillors : we understand it was explained to them in words of almost one syllable at the Council meeting on 1 August that it was a VERY BAD THING to lend $13M-odd as a second mortgage, NOT KNOWING THE SPECIFICS OF THE OVERALL PROJECT FUNDING or the details of the “purchaser”, the shell company Infinity Yaldhurst, set up specifically for one project that has no assets and NO BACKING OR GUARANTEE from any other Infinity Group Company that managing director Paul Croft is involved in.

(Perhaps our walking photo opportunity that is the Mayor could advise us what sort of COLLATERAL SECURITY has been offered by Infinity Yaldhurst).

What is an impecunious property developer to do ? Readers, allow me to introduce to you…. Infinity Finance and Mortgage Ltd. This interestingly named company was incorporated on 17 March 2016. Your correspondent thinks that it provides a clue as to how the Noble Subdivision may be financed. Its sole director and shareholder is a fellow named Xiangqing ZHAO aka Xiang Qing ZHAO. The registered office of this apparent titan of finance is at 12a Fovant St, Russley, Christchurch. This is just a little more than a stone’s throw from the Noble Subdivision.

[click to enlarge]

A quick peep at Google Street View shows that Fovant St is a street of well tended and modest homes. There is not a single commercial premises evident. Now 12a (with a little pool in the backyard) is not actually visible from the street, being blocked by a quite nicely proportioned brick and tile bungalow from early 1970s, approximate value $590,000.

12a Fovant Street, Russley [Google Earth]

Mr Zhao’s previous commercial activities are also, ahem, somewhat idiosyncratic. Mr Zhao’s visible means of support includes his being the Shareholder of a pizza company, “X Pizza Ltd” and a company called “A-Team Company”.

So there is a suspicion that Dunedin City Councillors voted, at their meeting on 1 August, to lend $13M to a shell company, Infinity Yaldhurst, that may be receiving some form of finance from a company effectively controlled by an Asian, with a predilection for pizza, operating property investment companies and a finance company out of his bedroom – safely out of sight, down a driveway on a back section in Russley. It would be impossible to make this up. Gold Band at least had premises and statutory reporting requirements that it fulfilled. With Mr Zhao there is the very strong suspicion there will be a wall of opacity when things turn bad, and 12a will be sublet to Irish construction workers who have never heard of Mr Zhao and don’t know who receives their rent.

It is very significant our mendacious minders at Delta did not make any reference to precisely how the project would be funded on their breathless press release (26.8.16). Readers and ratepayers should be prepared for the fantastic fact that the Noble Subdivision is so troubled and radioactive it requires a THIRD mortgage (ie after the Bank, and after Delta) from an Asian “bedroom funder” several steps below a Microfinance company. Good grief, what next – crowd funding ?

One cannot escape the thought that perhaps the money that may be advanced does not belong to Mr Zhao, but he has some access to funds from Asia. We do know that a tsunami of cash from China in the last 12-18 months has washed through Australia, in particular the Gold Coast, and that cash has purchased an amazing amount of property there. It would be entirely unsurprising if Asian interests looked at this as a no-lose situation to park some funds. Plan A : Lend money to Infinity Yaldhurst at 25% plus (remember Delta were or are getting 22.5%). Plan B : If the project tips up yet again, buy out the first and second mortgage holders for about $16-20M, and create Christchurch’s first gated community dedicated to Asian peoples. Many of the sections are only 125 sq m, which would suit Asian immigrants, more than local residents.

The question readers, is how low – how low can our turnip Councillors Zhao ?

[ends]

● INFINITY YALDHURST LIMITED (5886102)
Incorporation Date: 09 Feb 2016
Address for service:
Jackson Valentine Limited, Level 3, 258 Stuart Street, Dunedin 9016
http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/5886102

● INFINITY INVESTMENT GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED (1004601)
Incorporation Date: 06 Dec 1999
Address for service:
Jackson Valentine Limited, Level 3, 258 Stuart Street, Dunedin 9016
http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/1004601

● INFINITY FINANCE AND MORTGAGE LIMITED (5920307)
Incorporation Date: 17 Mar 2016
Address for service:
Infinity Finance and Mortgage Limited, 12a Fovant Street, Russley, Christchurch 8042
http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/5920307

—

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

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

*Images: 123rf.com – Fatty Cull using Hula Hoop, tweaked by whatifdunedin | Noble Subdivision close proximity to 12a Fovant St [Mick Field overlay]

5 Comments

Tagged as Apple Fields Ltd, Auditor-General, Avanti Securities, Bad debts, Board of Directors, Cardno, CCC, CCOs, Christchurch, Christchurch City Council, Constructive fraud, DCC, DCHL, DCTL, Delta, Delta Annual Reports, Delta board of directors, Delta Utility Services Ltd, Directors, Dunedin City Council, Dunedin City Holdings Ltd, First mortgages, Forced sale, Gold Band Finance, Infinity Finance and Mortgage Ltd, Infinity Investment Group Holdings Ltd, Infinity Yaldhurst Ltd, Infrastructure services, Investments, Land deals, Land Transfer Act 1952, Mortgagee sale, Mortgages, NIL, Noble, Noble Investments Ltd, Noble subdivision, Noble Village Subdivision, Project management, Property investment, Property Law Act 2007, Property speculation, Security, Security Sharing agreement, Stormwater discharge, Stormwater systems, Subdivisions, Yaldhurst Road, Yaldhurst subdivision, Yaldhurst Village

by Elizabeth | September 17, 2016 · 2:06 pm

Kaipara rates row : High Court finds “serious and substantial” errors

“If the council had just accepted the money, admitted that the people withholding their rates were wronged, that their case had merit, we could have all moved forward together” – Mangawhai ratepayer Bruce Rogan
(via Checkpoint) Audio | Download: MP3 (3′04″)

### radionz.co.nz 6:01 pm on 16 Sep 2016
New Zealand: Northland
Northland rates rebels win partial victory
By Lois Williams – Northland reporter
The rebel ratepayers of Mangawhai in Northland have won a partial victory in the High Court. The court has found that rates levied from 2011 to 2014 by the Northland Regional Council, via Kaipara District Council rate demands, were unlawful. In an interim decision, Justice Duffy found the Northland Regional Council (NRC) has no power to delegate the assessment of rates or the recovery of arrears to other councils. “The errors I have identified are serious and substantial,” the judge said. “In short, the NRC has failed to exercise its statutory powers properly when determining rates resolutions and it has unlawfully sought to delegate the performance of a number of its functions in relation to rates to the Kaipara District Council.” […] The Mangawhai ratepayers’ chair, Bruce Rogan, said the ruling was very welcome, although the court did not uphold the group’s challenge to penalties and GST imposed by the Kaipara District Council. The council should now agree to negotiate a deal to end the six-year-old Kaipara rates row, Mr Rogan said.
Read more

—

From Kaipara Concerns (community website):

INTERIM HIGH COURT JUDGMENT RELEASED 16.09.2016
Duffy J has made an interim judgment in respect of the judicial review brought by the MRRA and Bruce and Heather Rogan challenging the lawfulness of rates set by the NRC and the KDC.

She has made the following decisions:

NRC
1. The NRC rates were not set lawfully for the 2011/2012, 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 rating years. [27]
2. The NRC’s delegation to the KDC of the assessment of rates and recovery of rates for the rating years between 2011/2012 and 2015/2016 inclusive was unlawful. Accordingly those rates were not lawfully assessed. [58]
3. The NRC’s delegation to the KDC to add penalties to NRC rates was unlawful. Therefore the penalties imposed on rates in respect of NRC rates was unlawful. [74]
4. The Validation Act only validated the unlawful rates of the KDC. It did not validate the unlawful rates of the NRC. [111]

Result
[129] I make the following declaration: The NRC’s rates for the KDC region have not been lawfully set or assessed for the rating years from 2011/2012 to 2015/2016 inclusive.

Duffy J has not yet decided what order to make in respect of ordering the NRC to refund the unlawful rates charged. She has invited the NRC to make further submissions and especially to examine how this ruling might affect the legality of the rates that it has set for its other constituent areas – Whangarei and the Far North. Those rates might also be unlawful.

She will make her final decision once both parties have made further submissions.
Read more

—

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has issued a press release in respect of the Duffy J’s High Court decision:

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

2 Comments

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Tagged as Accountability, ADOTROL, Appeals, Arrogant Disregard Of The Rule Of Law, Auckland Council, Auditor-General, Bruce Rogan, Bullying, Central government, Commissioners, Court of Appeal, Deceit, Democracy, High Court, Judicial Review, Kaipara, Kaipara Concerns, Kaipara District Council, LGA, LGRA, Local government, Local Government (Rating) Act 2002, Local Government Act 2002, Mangawhai, Mangawhai Residents and Ratepayers Association Inc, MRRA, New Zealand, New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, Newsletter, Northland, Office of the Auditor-General, Parallels, Penny Bright, Petition, Political parties, Public-excluded workshops, Rates strike, Transparency, Unlawful rates, Validation Act

by Elizabeth | September 13, 2016 · 10:29 pm

Channel 39 : Mayoral Candidates #NightlyInterviews

O V E R V I E W
Kicking things off, Ch39 talks to University of Otago Associate Professor Janine Hayward, head of the Department of Politics.

Thu, 1 Sep 2016

—

Interviews with the 11 Dunedin mayoral candidates

Conrad Stedman | Fri, 2 Sep 2016

Athol Bayne | Mon, 5 Sep 2016

Scout Barbour-Evans | Tue, 6 Sep 2016

Abe Gray | Wed, 7 Sep 2016

Aaron Hawkins | Thu, 8 Sep 2016

Jim O’Malley | Fri, 9 Sep 2016

Rachel Elder | Mon, 12 Sep 2016

Barry Timmings | Tue, 13 Sep 2016

—

██ Who’s left…………. Andrew Whiley, Lee Vandervis and Dave Cull

Lee Vandervis | Wed, 14 Sep 2016

Andrew Whiley | Thu, 15 Sep 2016

Dave Cull | Fri, 16 Sep 2016

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

126 Comments

Filed under DCC, Democracy, Dunedin, Media, Name, People, Politics, Public interest, What stadium

Tagged as 2016 local body elections, Candidates, Channel 39, Councillors, DCC, Dunedin, Dunedin City Council, Dunedin Television, Election campaigns, Elections, Electoral Act 1993, Interviews, Local body elections 2016, Mayor of Dunedin, Mayoral race, Mayoralty

by Elizabeth | September 12, 2016 · 2:38 am

Lee Vandervis . . . . v cull de mayor

ODT 9.9.16 (page 10)

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

*Image: whatifdunedin – election hoarding above Olivier, 468 George St

23 Comments

Filed under DCC, Democracy, Dunedin, Media, Name, New Zealand, People, Politics, Public interest

Tagged as 2016 local body elections, Candidates, Cr Lee Vandervis, Dunedin, Dunedin Mayoralty, Elections, Lee Vandervis, Local body elections 2016, Local government, Mayor of Dunedin, Mayoral race

by Elizabeth | September 11, 2016 · 10:51 pm

Whiley, buying the mayoralty with Dunedin Ratepayers’ money ?

Much hoo-haa over a very expensive community pool.
Who pays for it.

Andrew Whiley probably loves former Greater Dunedin candidate Irene Mosley (Taieri Community Facilities Trust aka Pooling Together) who appears to support taking major projects off DCC to project manage privately….
[Carisbrook Stadium Trust tricks].

Or, does the mayoral and council hopeful love – So Much – For Votes – the residential developers carving up Taieri paddocks with bunker-style housing on cul-de-sacs, who might or might not say no to a ‘greater Dunedin’ rates-funded pool complex over their back fence. Dunno.

Would Professional Rugby rather its own pool complex at the Logan Park sport and recreation hub ?? Since Mosgiel is far flung, and all that’s really needed is an upgrade to the township’s existing pool !!

Now, about targeted rates for the Taieri Area population to afford their Expensive Four-Pool Complex.

What Should happen.
Consider very carefully who you rate when voting.

Received today:

█ For more, enter the terms *mosgiel*, *taieri* and *pool* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

19 Comments

Filed under Baloney, Business, Construction, DCC, Democracy, Design, District Plan, Dunedin, Dunedin Amenities Society, Economics, Finance, Fun, Geography, Health, Housing, Infrastructure, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Pet projects, Politics, Pools, Project management, Property, Proposed 2GP, Public interest, Resource management, Site, Sport, Town planning, Travesty, What stadium

Tagged as 2016 local body elections, Backroom deals, Conflicts of interest, Council debt CRISIS, Council subsidies, DCC, Developers, Dunedin, Dunedin City Council, Election campaigns, Feasibility, Good Old Boys (GOBs), High class soils, Housing speculators, Lobbying, Local body elections 2016, Logic Group, Long Term Plan (LTP), Long Term Plan 2015/16 - 2024/25, Mayoral race, Meetings, Memorandum of Understanding, Mosgiel, Mosgiel Business Association, Mosgiel Pool, Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board, Pooling Together, Pools, Public consultation, Ratepayers and Residents, Real Estate, Rorts, Secret meetings, Stadium funding model, Subdivision, Swimming pools, Taieri, Taieri Aquatic Centre, Taieri Community Facilities Trust, Vested interests, Vote catching, Warren & Mahoney Architects Ltd

by Elizabeth | September 11, 2016 · 2:19 am

Cracking the truth : June 2015 South Dunedin flood

OPINION received from Neil Johnstone
Sat, 10 Sep 2016 at 12:42 a.m.

Richard Stedman produces (below) a succinct review of the causes of, and failures after, the South Dunedin flood of June 2015. His frustrations appear to match those of Hilary Calvert that were published a few hours earlier. My reviews previously published on What if? Dunedin commencing back around February give more detail.

For your readers’ further consideration, Richard has highlighted the ‘200mm increase’ in flood level as a result of Portobello Road pumping station failures. The figure was derived by me, and appears in my review of the first DCC flood report. To my knowledge the only clear comparable DCC concessions have come from chief executive Sue Bidrose who admitted the figure publicly at the 20 June 2016 (yes, 2016) South Dunedin Action Group-organised public meeting, and subsequently.

The first DCC flood report (30 Nov 2015) is adamant that high groundwater was the cause of the flooding, and enough Councillors bought right into that excuse at the following Infrastructure Services Committee meeting. Just go back and view the video, if you’ve forgotten.

Dunedin City Council Published on Dec 7, 2015
Dunedin City Council – Council Meeting – November 30 2015
Discussion of the report starts at 1:09:52

The second (mudtank) DCC report of 26 April this year states: “Although Portobello Road’s performance did explain some of the length of time flooding was evident, much of the flooded area was below road level…” (para 31). No mention of increased depth of flooding there either, you will note.
[View report at Infrastructure Services Committee: Agenda & Reports 26 April (Part A, Item 5) pp 6-27.]

Neither DCC report mentions the additional depth of flooding caused by inaction at the Musselburgh pumping station.

History and ongoing design may rely on written commentaries. For the wellbeing of South Dunedin people, we must therefore continue to counter the misinformation contained in DCC reports, and in the more recent ORC (DCC-backed) South Dunedin “hazards” report. Even if ODT has switched off.

—

Related Posts at What if? Dunedin
8.3.16 [Review 1] Johnstone independent review of DCC report
19.5.16 [Review 2] Johnstone review of 2nd DCC report

Correspondence supplied
7.3.16 Letter, Chief Executive Sue Bidrose to Neil Johnstone
10.3.16 Response from Neil Johnstone to CE Bidrose

Sue Bidrose at ORC/DCC hazards presentation [radionz.co.nz]

****

OPINION received from Richard Stedman
Fri, 9 Sept 2016 at 8:24 p.m.

The ODT editorial department is peopled by closed minds, a number of whom subscribe to the climate change/rising sea level mantra and therefore manipulate their content to support their distorted view of the world. Mr Morris is captured by the former/present regime at city hall, a fate which befalls every reporter assigned to that round once they get their feet under the table.

Two weeks ago I prepared an opinion piece re the election and South Dunedin, outlining some of the issues as I see them in the hope that it might be published. I thought it was honestly held opinion, but it was rejected because it added “nothing new” to the debate, yet they run to Cull at every turn and run column after column of repetitive nonsense.

The following is my submission submitted on 24/8 and rejected the same day in this message: “Thanks for this submission, but we have had a “deluge” of flood letters and op eds from all sides so I don’t feel the need to highlight the issue again at the moment – certainly if there’s not anything new in it, as such”.

I have seen little evidence of the cited “deluge”.

The South Dunedin flood of June 2015 may be a tipping point during next month’s local body election. Many voters will look at the burgeoning candidates list for the Dunedin City Council and ask “who will provide the cornerstone elements of responsibility, accountability and integrity?”

Residents and business owners in South Dunedin have been sorely tested in recent times through the failure of the DCC to maintain its infrastructure. Among those adversely affected were elderly residents at Radius Fulton Home, including a number of dementia patients, the most vulnerable in our community, who were subjected to floodwaters containing sewage and transferred from the safety of their home in a crisis beyond acceptance. Some were accommodated as far away as Balclutha and Oamaru and three months passed before the facility was re-opened.

Following the flood, obfuscation clouded the failures that led to the inundation of homes and businesses and the investigation and report into the affair was 12 months in gestation. Officials and councillors, captured by the twin mantras of climate change and rising sea level, avoided any suggestion of culpability to limit the likelihood of litigation, and offered no solace that might have been construed as admission of liability.

The mayor and others were quick to blame rising sea level causing increased groundwater, combined with an “extreme weather event”, the result of climate change, and went so far as suggesting that a planned retreat from South Dunedin may be necessary in the future. The rainfall was described as a one-in-100-year event then gradually downgraded, but none of these pretexts are realistic. Questions arise over who is responsible for what, and how serious are the threats of rising sea level, more frequent adverse weather caused by climate change, and the “sinking of South Dunedin”, not to mention “retreat”.

Dunedin and environs have been subjected to much larger weather events in the past. Flooding of the entire city is well recorded and in particular photographs of the 1923 flood depict rowing in floodwaters in the city as well as inundation in South Dunedin. During a storm in 1898 large tracts of St Clair Esplanade were destroyed by the sea which damaged many houses, leaving some partly suspended. More recently, the storms of 1968 were greater than last year’s, delivering 10% more rainfall. In 1968 there were 90 properties invaded by floodwater, whereas last year some 1200 properties were flooded and many contaminated with effluent. Clearly last year’s event was exceptional only for the damage created and lives disrupted.

At a public meeting in South Dunedin on June 20, more than 12 months after the event, those affected had an opportunity to hear an explanation in the hope that someone might take responsibility for the extent of the damage. Despite a good representation of councillors there was no empathy and no likelihood of accountability. What the meeting heard was a long explanation of how the three-waters system works, or doesn’t work, as the case may be, and of failure at the pumping station from chief executive, Dr Sue Bidrose and other staff. The question is “when did the city’s councillors abdicate?”

South Dunedin June 2015 [radionz.co.nz]

It can be argued that the damage and distress was the result of neglect, but the DCC says problems at the pumping station added only 200mm to the flooding which would have occurred anyway. Which 200mm was it? Maybe the first 200mm flowed across the ground, reached blocked drains then deepened throughout the area, or perhaps the last 200mm increased the depth and entered homes and business premises carrying undesirable flotsam. Without the extra 200mm would the water have stopped at the thresholds rather than flowing inside?

What of the rising sea level threat? Is it as urgent and as devastating as the commissioner for the environment, some DCC councillors and the Green Party say? The Greens proffer that the Government should help to pay for the reconfiguration of South Dunedin. Why? There has been no disaster on the scale of the Canterbury earthquakes and there is no immediate danger condemning South Dunedin, for if sea level were to rise according to some projections, north Dunedin and other areas are also in jeopardy meaning protection on the coast is futile because the flat land would be inundated from the harbour.

Could it be that models of sea level rise around New Zealand are exaggerated and distorted by the multiplier effect have been grossly over stated? And do the $7 million apartment complex at the Esplanade to be completed next year and the DCC’s belated discussion on a South Dunedin hub indicate mixed messages on the subject?

There is no doubt that the infrastructure must be maintained to the highest level and upgrading implemented with haste. The seafront calls for a level-headed approach to protect the sandhills which shelter the city from the ocean. In the past a network of groynes captured the sand, maintaining a broad beach to dissipate the energy of the waves. The network succeeded for nearly 100 years, but without maintenance fell victim to the ocean, so is it time to reinstate a similar system and then plan carefully for the next 100 to 200 years?

Council says that infrastructure will require “tens of millions of dollars” we cannot afford, but plans to spend some $37 million on George Street and the Octagon, followed by development of the harbourside. These “tens of millions” surely must be re-allocated to South Dunedin for infrastructure, to build a second pumping station, and provide realistic coastal protection.

Dunedin needs new councillors who will make hard decisions, reduce spending on fripperies and attend to basics; people who are prepared to drill deep into reports and costings and who are not afraid to make unpalatable decisions when needed rather than govern with slogans and platitudes.

Declaration: Conrad Stedman is my nephew.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

4 Comments

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Tagged as 3 June 2015 Flood, Accountability, Advocacy, Affected parties, Business, Chief Executive, Civil Defence, Coastal erosion, COMMUNICATION, Community organisations, Council bureaucracy, Democracy, Disaster recovery, Dunedin, Education, Electioneering campaigns, Emergency plan, Finance, Flood event, Flood levels, Flood prevention, Future plans, Greenie councillors, Housing, Infrastructure, Lobbying, Managed retreat, Natural Hazards, Non protection, Opus International, Permanency, Politics, Proposed 2GP, Public consultation, Public Meeting, Reviews, Second generation district plan (2GP), South Dunedin, South Dunedin Action Group, Transparency

by Elizabeth | September 9, 2016 · 5:40 pm

The Bus Saga #Dunedin

Dave Cull is up to his tricks again with campaign signs on the back of buses.

In 2013 Greater Dunedin had as part of their campaign signage, the back of two buses (the electoral return invoices show artwork for 2 buses).

In Dave’s return he showed a donation from the bus company of a space on the back of a bus (note one space not 2).

The Greater Dunedin returns show no donations to the group, despite the entire group being on the back of the buses.

So how come Dave didn’t show the value of both buses?
How come the rest of Greater Dunedin showed no donations of any bus space?

The Electoral Act makes it an offence (sec 207M) not to keep records of donations over $300, and not to declare the donations (under the return in sec 205K).

These offences involve fines of up to $40,000.

Maybe Dave Cull will say when he said one bus, he meant 2.

Maybe Greater Dunedin will say that per person the donation was not over $300, although their return includes 3 out of the 8 expenses notified that are under $300 per candidate.

Maybe somehow a bus company giving Greater Dunedin 2 free back of bus spaces did not seem important to Greater Dunedin.

Apart from the possible breaches of the Electoral Act, several of the Greater Dunedin group have been avid proponents of the transfer of Dunedin buses from the ORC to the DCC.

Coincidence?

At the very least Greater Dunedin should have declared an interest in being ‘in charge of local buses’, having arranged a freebee from one of the bus companies during their 2013 election campaign.

Dave is on the back of a bus again in 2016. Is this another freebee? And if so what does the bus company expect in return?

[Text supplied]

—

Early in 2012 the Council indicated an interest in investigating the transfer of powers for planning and operating public transport in Dunedin to the Dunedin City Council (DCC). A study was completed late in 2013 by MRCagney and NZ Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) which recommended that the DCC should pursue the transfer of powers because it offers significant benefits in terms of co-ordination, responsiveness and public interest. […] At the Dunedin City Council meeting on 15 May 2014, a decision was made ‘in principle’ to pursue the delegated responsibility for public transport in Dunedin, subject to completion of further work. This report explains that while the proposed changes to the public transport system outlined in the draft Otago Regional Public Transport Plan 2014 (RPTP) are very positive, the potential impact of the draft RPTP on public transport funding may be significant and limited information is available about how it will affect the cost of operating the system. In light of these recent findings it is recommended that the [Infrastructure Services] Committee approach the ORC regarding a deferred timeframe with a target date for possible transfer of powers of 1 July 2017.

Source: Report – ISC – 24/07/2014 (PDF, 120.6 KB)
Public Transport Governance Update

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

*Images: electionads.org.nz – Greater Dunedin and Dave Cull bus-backs (2013); whatifdunedin – Dave Cull bus-back (2016)

15 Comments

Filed under Business, DCC, Dunedin, Economics, Finance, Geography, Infrastructure, Name, New Zealand, People, Perversion, Pet projects, Politics, Project management, Public interest, Tourism, Town planning, Transportation, Urban design, What stadium

Tagged as Bus companies, Buses, DCC, Dunedin City Council, Electoral Act 1993, Electoral returns, Freebies, Greater Dunedin ticket, Lobbying, Mayor Cull, ORC, Otago Regional Council

by Elizabeth | September 9, 2016 · 4:20 pm

Calvert on DCC, ‘We could have a much more democratic and transparent operation of council’

Leunig Cartoons ‏@leunigcartoons · Aug 21

—

### ODT Online Thu, 8 Sep 2016
Scope for more democracy with checks and balances
By Hilary Calvert
OPINION In the past three years Dunedin City Council has functioned just as central government does, with a government and an opposition. But the problem is that in Dunedin it means central government-style politics without the checks and balances. Because the mayor of the day is allowed to choose the chairs of the council committees, if the mayor anoints those who are similar in their views to him or her, effectively a “government” is formed. Those on the “government” side support each other, forming a version of the “cabinet”, with meetings between themselves alongside senior council staff to discuss the issues of the day. Those who are not part of this grouping are obliged to form a loose “opposition”, because this is the only place where any public challenges and questions are likely to come from.
In Dunedin […] the chairs of committees forming the “cabinet” meet secretly and without any minutes which can be accessed. They may be part of working parties with other groups, which never report back to the council, for example groups meeting with NZTA about cycleways. They may have information either before the rest of the council or outside the rest of council papers, never to be seen by council. […] In Dunedin, the ODT describes what happens in council meetings, talks to the chairs of the meetings, and prints press releases, having clarified the situation with a relevant staff member. There is little chance for any challenge of prevailing views unless a major debate happens during meetings, or unless the issues raised are ones which the ODT chooses to follow up in an in-depth way.
Read more

● Hilary Calvert is a Dunedin City councillor, who is not standing for re-election.

Leunig Cartoons ‏@leunigcartoons · Sep 8

****

B L O W N ● O U T ● O F ● P R O P O R T I O N ● B Y ● C U L L

If, for example, the solutions involved “massive urban renewal or massive pumps” then Government help could be sought.

### ODT Online Fri, 9 Sep 2016
Work on South D issues
By Vaughan Elder
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull says it is too early to make a formal approach to the Government for help with the problems facing South Dunedin. Mr Cull made the comments while outlining the council’s response to its vote last month to “immediately engage” the Government over the threat groundwater and sea-level changes pose to the low-lying area. Mr Cull said that in recent weeks he and chief executive Sue Bidrose briefed local MPs on the situation in South Dunedin and in the past he had spoken to ministers Bill English and Paula Bennett about the possibility of “collaboration” between local and central government in addressing South Dunedin’s issues.
Read more

The demise of the stacked cup towers. pic.twitter.com/ptti2qo3yz

— Animal Cognition (@animalcog) March 27, 2016

Animal Cognition @animalcog · Mar 27 [Birdie Cull, the wrecker]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

13 Comments

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Tagged as Accountability, Casting vote, Central government, Chairships, Checks and balances, Constituents, Councillors, DCC, DCC staff, Debate, Democracy, Democratic outcomes, Dunedin, Dunedin City Council, Fiscal responsibility, Governance, Information sharing, Lack of balance, Mayor Cull, Mayor of Dunedin City, News reporting, Openness, Operationals, Otago Daily Times, Prudence, Ratepayers and Residents, Secret meetings, South Dunedin, Transparency

by Elizabeth | September 7, 2016 · 8:19 pm

unGreater Dunedin blisters on #CouncilConsolidatedDebt #DCC

SHOCK HORROR NEW IDEA
‘Next council should consider placing higher priority on asset maintenance and renewal.’

### ODT Online Tue, 6 Sep 2016
Time for debt rethink, councillor says
By Vaughan Elder
A departing Dunedin city councillor has called for a fresh look at how quickly the city pays off debt as the council continues to eclipse repayment targets. In the wake of the council’s better than expected debt position, Cr Thomson said the new council should look at rethinking its financial strategy and discuss what an “appropriate level of debt would look like”.
Read more

—

“[Thomson] said the council had outperformed its debt targets for a range of reasons….”

Not the Cull council – rather, the assiduous work of former DCC/DCHL GCFO Grant McKenzie and his disciplined finance staff.

No politicians can take credit.

Especially not ex Greater Dunedin moonbeams such as Cull, Staynes, Thomson and their young swaddling ‘babe in the woods’.

N O T E S

1. Health Board car park. “How could Swann drive a Lamborghini into the DHB’s car park and: “Park it next to the District Health Board Corollas,” without any questions being asked?” Link

2. Citifleet and Citipark. Considerably more than +152 council fleet vehicles “missed” from DCC in a much longer timeframe than ten years (2003-13).

3. Delta Utility Services Ltd – staff vehicles. [Today] See numbers of Delta vehicles everywhere you shouldn’t, inside and outside work hours, not in connection with programmed work or emergency.
Why ? Pray to god, why is DCC governance MIA ?

Undisciplined lowlights treating Public Funds like chickenfeed.

—

Spendthrift mayor Cull and the motley majority of councillors (Greater Dunedin crackpots, as well as in their ghoulish afterglow…. with support from greenies Hawkins and Peat, and doughboy Benson-Pope), who in shambolic attendance to ‘governance’ have enormous trouble with accountability, prudence and transparency – sold Ratepayers down the “Swannee” again very recently in deciding a deal for Delta.

Without an ounce of diligence, councillors (except Crs Vandervis and Calvert – Cr Hall removed himself from the vote for some reason) accepted to rush the Delta decision for no reason, thanks to Cull, Thomson and Crombie, on Monday, 1 August 2016 – in so doing Cull’s council lost Ratepayers a further +$25million. No conscience.

If Cull is returned as mayor in 2016, Thomson’s replacement as chair of the Finance Committee is rumoured to favour Mike Lord (if indeed he himself is returned).

Note: Mike Lord sensibly left Greater Dunedin earlier than some.

Cr Thomson was inspired to make his parting comments after Cr Jinty MacTavish said the council should look at the possibility of reinvesting the money from asset sales into parks and recreation as opposed to automatically repaying debt.

“This is an excellent result and I think council can take considerable pride [from it],” Mr Cull said.

Did I mention the replacement cost of metal BTF tanks at Tahuna.
Another post….

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

*Image: odt.co.nz – Richard Thomson, tweaked by whatifdunedin

14 Comments

Filed under DCC, Dunedin, Economics, Finance, Hot air, Media, Name, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Politics, Public interest, Travesty, What stadium

Tagged as Council consolidated debt, Daaave, DCC, Debt reduction, Dunedin, Mayor and Councillors, Prudent management by Grant McKenzie and staff, Richie

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Monthly Archives: September 2016

Site Notice: post removed

DCC Voting Paper Returns

Lee Vandervis and the zero-emission Electric Leaf

Has DCC Delta stupidly bought into another Pegasus . . . . #notquite

Ex ‘greater’ sitting councillor

DCC electoral issues : Double jeopardy

Stay positive Dunedin #awash

DCC responses to LGOIMA requests

D C Ross precision engineering

DCC & ORC Electoral Officer on Voting

Second candidate meeting at South Dunedin #review

The First of two South Dunedin candidate meetings #review

Site Notice : Post removal

Meanwhile . . . . #SouthDunedin

Channel 39 : Mayoral Candidates #NightlyInterviews

Lee Vandervis . . . . v cull de mayor

Whiley, buying the mayoralty with Dunedin Ratepayers’ money ?

Cracking the truth : June 2015 South Dunedin flood

The Bus Saga #Dunedin

unGreater Dunedin blisters on #CouncilConsolidatedDebt #DCC

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