Douglas Field counters DCC climate change bunkum

Received.
Mon, 8 Feb 2016 at 5:19 pm (GMT+12:00)

Douglas Field Published on Feb 7, 2016
Dr John Christy testimony US House Committee 2 Feb 2016
Comparison between local politicians’ opinions on climate and Professor John Christy’s testimony at US senate committee hearing.

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The full text of Christy’s testimony to the Senate Science committee. It really reinforces the little clip above and is so clear and easy to comprehend.

[begins] I am John R. Christy, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science, Alabama’s State Climatologist and Director of the Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. I have served as Lead Author, Contributing Author and Reviewer of United Nations IPCC assessments, have been awarded NASA’s Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, and in 2002 was elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society.
It is a privilege for me to offer my analysis of the current situation regarding (1) the temperature datasets used to study climate, (2) our basic understanding of climate change and (3) the effect that regulations, such as the Paris agreement, might have on climate. I have also attached an extract from my Senate Testimony last December in which I address (1) the popular notion that extreme climate events are increasing due to humaninduced climate change (they are not), and (2) the unfortunate direction research in this area has taken.
My research area might be best described as building datasets from scratch to advance our understanding of what the climate is doing and why. Cont/

█ Download: https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/HHRG-114-SY-WState-JChristy-20160202.pdf

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Rugby Stadium flat passion

Comments at ODT Online:

It’s the finances
Submitted by MikeStk on Sat, 06/02/2016 – 11:26am.

Bones: Once again you misrepresent me – my beef with the stadium and rugby is the way that Otago rugby has ripped off Dunedin, initially promising us a free stadium at no cost to the ratepayers then, without allowing us to vote, changing it to “we’ll raise $50m” and you can pay for the rest, then to “oops we can’t raise a cent” you pay for all of it, to “oops we’re going down the gurgler you must buy Carisbrook for $10m”, to “we’ve had too many black tie dinners and now we’re bankrupt you have to bail us out”, to “we’re not paying enough rent to use it you have to subsidise the running costs by $2m, $5m, $7m, ….”-
Now local rugby is making million dollar profits off our backs but is still not contributing a cent to pay for their rugby stadium – a bunch of wowsers eating at the public trough hoovering my hard earned dollars out of my pockets to subsidised their booze fed events.

I’ll say nice things about your rugby stadium the day I stop having to pay for it and for your fun.

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A sad decline
Submitted by MikeStk on Sun, 07/02/2016 – 2:25pm.

Bones: As I said, my issues with the rugby stadium are with the finances, not whether anyone thinks it’s a good stadium or not. Solve the financial issues, have rugby pay what they owe and make the ratepayers financially whole and I’ll be happy.

Remember that the ORFU once owned Carisbrook free and clear – the grandfathers of the current generation of rugby official built and paid for Carisbrook out of their own pockets. That’s the way it should be done.

But over time they started spending more money than they were taking in, rather than doing the financially sensible things like spending less or charging more. They started mortgaging their major asset, with no real way to pay it back, and eventually they owed the DCC $2m, and the bank a few million more – a terrible way to honour the wonderful legacy they had been gifted by their canny, thrifty grandfathers.

Then in a moment of financial lunacy they decided to get the city to build them a new stadium, to replace Carisbrook – the bank must have looked at that and raised their collective eyebrows somewhere over the backs of their heads – Carisbrook, the thing they had mortgaged was now worth less than the loan. You can see why they offloaded it on the city in a deal that cost the ratepayers millions – if they’d sold it themselves their bank account would be in the red. So much for their grandfather’s legacy – squandered to nothing.

There’s no reason for the DCC to have been involved in building the rugby stadium – the ORFU’s grandfathers had already proven that with some thrift, some canniness, reaching into their own pockets and raising money from the public, it was completely possible for rugby to build its own stadium. The current generation seem to be too lazy to try, too willing to force the rest of us to pay for something they should have been saving for themselves over the past generation – very much the Ant and the Grasshopper. [Abridged]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: sportreview.net.nz (Aug 2010) – matching rugby’s favourite nutbar Peter De Villiers’ quote to New Yorker cartoon, tweaked by whatifdunedin

DCC 2GP further submissions [update]

Updated post
Mon, 15 Feb 2016 at 5:36 p.m. Last updated 10:59 p.m.

Two updates were issued today by DCC on the 2GP further submission process.

In the first, DCC said it had withdrawn the 2GP Summary of Decisions, and the closing date for further submissions would be put back and publicly notified.

The second update made no reference to the closing date or public notification:

DCC says: Error in Summary of Decisions Requested reports
12/02/2016
The Summary of Decisions Requested reports have been temporarily withdrawn from the website due to a technical error in exporting data. In the interim please use the search function on the Search the Submissions page to view the correct Summary of Decisions Requested. Updated Summary of Decisions Requested reports will be distributed online and to libraries as soon as practically possible.

Awaiting clarification and advice from DCC.

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Have your say
IGNORE THIS DATE – The Further submission period is open from Wednesday, 10 February to Friday, 26 February.

What can a further submission cover?
A further submission can only be made in support or opposition to a point raised in an original submission on the 2GP.

Who can make a further submission?
The RMA limits who can make further submissions to:
● any person representing a relevant aspect of the public interest
● any person that has an interest in the proposed plan greater than the interest that the general public has
● the local authority (the Dunedin City Council).

It provides an opportunity for people who may be affected by an original submission to have their views considered. You do not have to have made an original submission to participate. If you have made an original submission you do not need to repeat submission points made in that submission as they will already be considered.

Summary of decisions requested
The Summaries of Decisions Requested are a concise summary of the decisions requested in the submissions on the 2GP which closed on 24 November 2015. It is not the full or exact content of submissions. It is prepared to enable the further submission process which is set out in Schedule 1 of the RMA.

█ The Summary of Decisions Requested and copies of all submissions will be available from midday Tuesday, 9 February.

Hard copies of the Summary of Decisions Requested reports will also be available for inspection at:
● 2GP drop-in centre, 11 George Street, Dunedin, 10am to 3pm, Monday to Friday
● public libraries and/or service centres at Dunedin, Middlemarch, Mosgiel, Port Chalmers, Blueskin Bay (Waitati) and Waikouaiti.

Submissions Map
The submissions map indicates the spatial location of submissions seeking a change to the proposed zoning (management zones only not overlay zones), new heritage precincts, or changes to scheduled items. It reflects the information in the submission point address field of the Summary of Decisions Requested reports. Through pop-ups, the map provides links to relevant submissions.

DISCLAIMER: This map has been prepared as an aid for people wanting to understand the scope of submissions related to an area. The accuracy and completeness of this information is not guaranteed and people should read original submissions. In some cases, the information contained in submissions was not detailed enough to accurately map the scope of the submission. In these cases, the mapping has been either omitted or approximated where possible.

How do I make a further submission?

Online submissions
The RMA requires further submissions to be in a prescribed form (Form 6). An easy way to make a submission is using the 2GP on-line submission system, which ensures submissions are in the prescribed form and allows you to link to specific submission points

Other ways to make a submission
Hard copies of the submission form and submission guidelines can be downloaded below or paper copies can be picked up at the 2GP drop-in centre or from the DCC Customer Services Agency located on the ground floor of the Civic Centre at 50 The Octagon, Dunedin.

For written submissions
Post to: Further submission on Proposed Second Generation Dunedin City District Plan, Dunedin City Council, PO Box 5045, Dunedin 9058

Deliver to: Customer Services Agency, Dunedin City Council, Ground Floor, 50 The Octagon, Dunedin

Email to: districtplan @ dcc.govt.nz

Serving a copy of further submissions on submitters
IMPORTANT: Any person making a further submission must serve a copy of that further submission on the person who made the original submission no later than five working days after lodging the further submission with the DCC. A copy of the addresses for service for all submitters is provided in the Submitter Details Report.

● DCC 2GP Have Your Say Page
● DCC 2GP Index Page

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

█ For more at What if? Dunedin, enter the term *2gp* in the search box at right.

2GP commissioner appears to tell Council the outcome before hearings commence #hazardzones

Cr David Benson-Pope is the chairman of the council’s Planning and Regulatory Committee.

This week Benson-Pope has been named as one of the councillor hearing commissioners for the Proposed 2GP.

At the full Council meeting held on Monday, 30 November last year, this report was tabled:

Report – Council – 30/11/2015 (PDF, 553.9 KB)
Infrastructure Performance During June 2015 Flood Event

In discussion of the item, Councillors provided individual views on low-lying land, flood conditions and future assistance for affected property owners.

Cr Benson-Pope was observed to say:
(confirmed by today’s YouTube release of the video record of the meeting)

2:54:38
“It is this Council’s policy that sea level rise and global warming exist, and I don’t think it’s useful for Councillors to keep propagating the myth that it’s all someone’s fantasy.”

Cr Benson-Pope continued:

2:58:47
“The other issue around this, of course …. is the fact that a lot of these issues are already being addressed in an incremental way over a longer term by the discussions that are happening now as part of the second generation plan, and I am hopeful as we all should be that the regulations and suggestions that are incorporated in that document will hold through the public process, so that management of the issue can be as good as it possibly can.”

Dunedin City Council Published on Dec 7, 2015
Dunedin City Council – Council Meeting – November 30 2015

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Cr Benson-Pope appears to be telling the Mayor and Councillors, and the general public, what in his view the outcome of the review of the district plan (2GP) should be.

Like the seasoned politician he is I expect the Councillor will look to the symantics and tell us that was not at all the impression he intended to give in the heat of the moment.

But, People, he said it. Let’s think about that. Predetermined.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Level responses to Dunedin mayor’s hippo soup #Jun2015flood

Comment at ODT Online:

Flood of misinformation
Submitted by JimmyJones on Wed, 03/02/2016 – 1:25pm.

Mayor Cull makes a multitude of false statements to justify his opinion that the June flood was caused by Global Warming and not by the DCC’s decrepit, underfunded and poorly functioning stormwater system.
The first point is that Mayor Cull is wrong to keep saying that sea-level rise has been 3.3mm/yr: he has chosen to use the ORC’s Green Island tide gauge, but this is a DIY arrangement held together with rubber bands and string. It has no GPS system and is not tied to the Dunedin Datum – it’s data is therefore not valid, covers only a few years and should not be used for long term trends.
Sea-level rise has been officially established for the Dunedin area at 1.3mm/yr using good quality long run data from Port Chalmers. The Port Chalmers tide gauge is used by the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (www.psmsl.org) and it forms part of their global network of tide gauges. The Green Island tide gauge is not used by the PSML, but Dave Cull finds the exaggerated figures from it useful for his political purposes.

[ends]

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In reply to:

Neil Johnstone, of Macandrew Bay, calls for rational and responsible discussion on sea-level rise and risks in South Dunedin.

### ODT Online Wed, 23 Dec 2015
Cull’s flood remarks a ‘mishmash’
By Neil Johnstone
OPINION Having spent several decades as a professional practitioner in flood control and hazard management, I feel obliged to comment on Mayor Dave Cull’s latest contribution on South Dunedin flood risk (ODT, 16.12.15). I am currently reviewing hazard reports used by the Dunedin City Council in its woeful approach to natural hazards across the city, most obviously in respect of landslips, but also on flood issues. My conclusions differ from those of Mr Cull. The council originally claimed the extensive flooding in June was caused by “a 150-year flood”, and not by infrastructure failure. Having subsequently seen the 150-year claim thoroughly debunked, Mr Cull is now blaming sea-level rise (and still not infrastructure) for the flooding.
Read more

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In reply to:

Courage on everyone’s part, and some tough conversations are required in the Dunedin’s battle against sea level rises, writes Mayor Dave Cull.

### ODT Online Wed, 16 Dec 2015
Tough decisions to be made
By Dave Cull
OPINION Over the past few years the effects of climate change have crept up on Dunedin – albeit in full view. Now we must act. We must act to adapt to what is happening, and we must act to slow down or mitigate the rate at which the effects get worse. Since 2008, central government has advised councils to allow for sea-level rise as a result of climate change when planning for development or infrastructure investment. Currently, that advice is to allow for 1m over the next 100 years. […] In June 2015 Dunedin suffered an extreme rain event which caused serious flooding in South Dunedin, Mosgiel and other parts of the city.
In November 2015, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment published a report about how sea-level rise would affect New Zealand. […] It found that Dunedin is the most extensively and severely affected centre in New Zealand and explained that the main problem here is groundwater levels being forced up by rising sea levels.
Read more

Otago Daily Times Published on Jun 4, 2015
Raw aerial video of Dunedin Flooding
Video courtesy One News.

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GREENIE UNI STUDENTS HIT UP D-D-DAVE, HAWK-EYE and POPEYPANTS, DEAR GOD

### ODT Online Thu, 4 Feb 2016
Councillors briefed on climate change
By Carla Green
Dunedin officials got a climate change briefing yesterday from an unlikely source: students at the University of Otago. The students, who were enrolled in a summer course titled Climate Change and Law, had researched Dunedin’s action on climate change from a variety of fronts, including renewable energy, the landfill and flooding. […] In particular, [Mayor Dave Cull] agreed with one presenter who had pointed out the importance of public education in South Dunedin, considering the extent to which it was at risk of flooding.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
30.1.16 DCC Rates: LOCAL CONTEXT not Stats —Delta and Hippopotamuses
25.1.16 DCC: South Dunedin Integrated Catchment Management Plan (ICMP)
19.1.16 Listener 23.1.16 (letter): South Dunedin #Jun2015flood
16.1.16 NZ Listener 16.1.16 (letter): South Dunedin #Jun2015flood
5.1.16 Hammered from all sides #fixit [dunedinflood Jun2015]
24.12.15 Site notice: posts removed
3.11.15 South Dunedin Flood | Correspondence & Debriefing Notes released by DCC today #LGOIMA

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: tophdimg.com

DCC 2GP Hearings Panel

Received.
Wed, 3 Feb 2016 at 4:21 p.m.

From: Jamie Shaw [DCC]
Sent: Wednesday, 3 February 2016 11:36 a.m.
To: Council 2013-2016 (Elected Members); Community Board – Chalmers 2013-2016; Community Board – Mosgiel Taieri 2013-2016; Community Board – Otago Peninsula 2013-2016; Community Board – Saddle Hill 2013-2016; Community Board – Strath Taieri 2013-2016; Community Board – Waikouaiti Coast 2013-2016
Cc: Executive Leadership Team (ELT); Anna Johnson; Ann Rodgers; Teresa Gutteridge; Kristy Rusher
Subject: Media Release – Independent commissioners appointed to 2GP Hearings Panel

Good morning all,

Please find attached a media release announcing the appointment of the independent commissioners on the Proposed Dunedin City District Plan Hearings Panel.

We will be issuing another media release on Friday, outlining the 2GP further submissions process.

This release will be sent to media shortly.

Best regards,

Jamie Shaw
Senior Communications Advisor, Communications and Marketing
Dunedin City Council

(1) Attachment: [click to enlarge]

█ Download: MR 2GP Independent Commissioners appointed (DOCX, 50KB)

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### dunedintv.co.nz Wed, 3 Feb 2016
Outside experts hired for city planning
The city council is using independent commissioners from out of town to hear submissions on the proposed new district plan. Two experts, from Nelson and Banks Peninsula, have been appointed to the hearings panel. They’re due to consider all information and submissions presented on the second generation plan. Four councillors are also on the committee, which will begin the hearings process in late April. The council’s not saying how much it’ll cost to have commissioners from outside the city involved. They’ve both got decades of experience in the planning sector and have worked with other councils. Hearings for the local plan are expected to run for several months.
Ch39 Video

Related Post and Comments:
9.11.15 Letter to DCC chief executive re Proposed 2GP hearings panel

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Symphony Orchestra to former Hanover Street Baptist Church

NEW NAME ● EXCITING PROGRAMME ● HERITAGE BUILDING

Dunedin now needs to get enthusiastic about the concert series, talking about it, anticipating the performances and backing to the hilt the sinfonia as it prepares for a momentous year.

### ODT Online Mon, 1 Feb 2016
Editorial: Supporting the music
OPINION Dunedin has a vibrant arts culture and one of the most significant parts of the culture is the Southern Sinfonia. […] To celebrate its 50th year, the sinfonia has chosen to make some major changes to mark the occasion and one of them is the change of name to the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra. One of the most exciting pieces of news to come out of the recently-announced changes is the sinfonia has outgrown its premises, growing from a small group to a larger orchestra playing symphonic music. To accommodate the growth, it is leaving behind the rehearsal rooms and office at the Carnegie Centre and moving in May to Hanover Hall, in Hanover St.
Read more

█ Website: dso.org.nz
Facebook: DunedinSymphonyOrchestra
Twitter: DunedinSymphony
YouTube: Dunedin Symphony Orchestra

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Past and present Baptist church buildings, Hanover St cnr Great King St [dcbc.co.nz] tweaked by whatifdunedin

Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic place – List No. 4792
Hanover Street Baptist Church (built 1912), 65 Hanover Street, Dunedin

Summary: The first meeting of the Baptist Church in Dunedin was held in 1863. Baptist meetings were held in the courthouse until 1864 when the site on the corner of Hanover and Great King Streets was purchased and a church was built to the design of Robert Arthur Lawson (1833-1902).
A fund to build a new church was initiated in 1900 and the proposal was brought forward in 1909 by which time the old building was considered “old and antiquated and unsightly”. It was demolished in 1910 and the foundation stone of the new building was laid on 8 October 1910 on the same site. It was completed in 1912 at a cost of £7,000.

Architect: Edmund Anscombe (1874-1948) was born in Sussex and came to New Zealand as a child. He began work as a builder’s apprentice in Dunedin and in 1901 went to America to study architecture. He returned to Dunedin in 1907 and designed the School of Mines building for the University of Otago. The success of this design gained him the position of architect to the University. Five of the main University buildings were designed by Anscombe, as well as Otago Girls’ High School and several of Dunedin’s finest commercial buildings including the Lindo Ferguson Building (1927) and the Haynes building.

█ Wikipedia: Hanover Street Baptist Church

DCBC HISTORY
On September 6, 1863 Hanover Street Baptist Church was founded – constituted as a church with 22 members. As one of the earliest NZ Baptist churches – Dunedin was first settled by Europeans in 1849 – it was a church with a mission: in a strongly Presbyterian city it sought to be a church which lowered the barriers to enable people to become part of it. Unlike most Baptist churches of the time it had open membership which required only a full commitment to Jesus Christ – reaching outwards was its heartbeat. In the years that followed it started many other Baptist churches in the city, helped set up the Baptist Union of churches in New Zealand and launched the Baptist missionary society, sending out some of the first Baptist missionaries from New Zealand. Into the next century Hanover St Baptist was a strong growing church, but numbers declined in the early 1900s. However, following the Depression the church regained its strength. Link

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC Rates: LOCAL CONTEXT not Stats —Delta and Hippopotamuses

Election Year : The following opinion is offered in the public interest. -Eds

“On almost every measure we provide a more extensive range of services for less money.” –Sue Bidrose

### ODT Online Sat, 30 Jan 2016
Dunedin rates value defended
By Vaughan Elder
Dunedin ratepayers are getting some of the best value for money in New Zealand, Dunedin City Council chief executive Sue Bidrose says. In response to questions from Cr Mike Lord during this week’s draft annual plan deliberations, chief executive Dr Bidrose said its residential rates – which in the 2015-16 year averaged $1996 per household – were in the lowest quarter in New Zealand and “certainly” the lowest among large cities.
Read more

█ ODT: Mayor defends rates increase

█ At Tuesday’s pre-Draft Annual Plan meeting Cr Hilary Calvert put a direct question – on the public’s behalf – to the group manager water and waste services about the mudtanks at South Dunedin, referring to these as “the hippopotamus in the room” (or some other water-based mammal)…. The question was circumnavigated and passed to the new group manager transport who similarly went sailing. Link

█ Delta in 2015 paid DCC a dividend of $2.5M. Without this in future years there will be significant rate rises each year. –Christchurch Driver Link

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One for SB, Dave, Councillors and Staff…
shimmers, lightness, fairy-like proportion, ratings, foils to decorum, tens, the completely ethereal

EllieGouldingVEVO Published on Dec 9, 2015
Ellie Goulding – Army (Live from the Victoria’s Secret 2015 Fashion Show)
From the new album DELIRIUM [latest release]
When I’m with you, I’m standing with an army….

[We’re required to be wowed.]

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Related Posts and Comments:
29.1.16 Delta #EpicFail —Yaldhurst Subdivision ● Some forensics
28.1.16 New Zealand local government T-shirt #haze #corruption
25.1.16 DCC: South Dunedin Integrated Catchment Management Plan (ICMP)
21.1.16 Delta #EpicFail —Yaldhurst Subdivision
● 21.1.16 DCC LTAP 2016/17 budget discussion #ultrahelpfulhints
19.1.16 Listener 23.1.16 (letter): South Dunedin #Jun2015flood
16.1.16 NZ Listener 16.1.16 (letter): South Dunedin #Jun2015flood
12.1.16 Stone the freaking crows #SurfsUp #SeawallNightmares #Dunedin
11.1.16 Un hôtel. Dunedin.
10.1.16 Infrastructure ‘open to facile misinterpretation’…. or local ignore
8.1.16 Jafas, come hither…. it’s alright here if warped
5.1.16 Hammered from all sides #fixit [dunedinflood Jun2015]
15.12.15 Noble property subdivision aka Yaldhurst Village | Mortgagee Tender
21.9.15 DCC: Not shite (?) hitting the fan but DVL
20.7.15 Noble property subdivision —DELTA #LGOIMA
1.4.15 Christchurch subdivisions: Heat gone?
24.3.15 Noble property subdivision —DELTA
23.3.15 Noble property subdivision: “Denials suggest that we have not learned.”
17.3.15 DCC —Delta, Jacks Point Luggate II…. Noble property subdivision

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

hoopla words….

TheWeekndVEVO Published on Dec 9, 2015
The Weeknd – Can’t Feel My Face (Live From The Victoria’s Secret 2015 Fashion Show)

TheWeekndVEVO Published on Dec 9, 2015
The Weeknd – In The Night (Live From The Victoria’s Secret 2015 Fashion Show)

last word (valediction)

EllieGouldingVEVO Published on Dec 9, 2015
Love Me Like You Do – From “Fifty Shades Of Grey” (Live From The Victoria’s Secret 2015 Fashion Show)
From the new album DELIRIUM
Yeah, I’ll let you set the pace ’cause I’m not thinking straight

Delta #EpicFail —Yaldhurst Subdivision ● Some forensics

Election Year : The following opinion is offered in the public interest. -Eds

Noble subdivision in Yaldhurst 2013. Iain McGregor/Fairfax

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Received from Canterbury Driver [CD]
Fri, 29 Jan 2016 at 1:01 a.m.

Subject: Delta and how to hide $10M

This correspondent was curious to know the extent of Delta’s exposure on their failed attempt at the Christchurch subdivision market. DCHL chairman Graham Crombie becomes more bashful than a teenage boy at his first disco when discussing the potential numbers in the media. Mr Crombie coyly advises that “millions” are owed and he is confident “millions” will eventually, in the fullness of time be received, albeit a few less million than is owed. Link

Of course, as John Maynard Keynes famously said, “in the long run we are all dead”, and this is also clearly the view of the financier (named by The Press last year as Southpac Property Investments) who has watched years roll by with no interest or repayments, and has called in the mortgage.

However much Mr Crombie wishes to hide in the corner, desperate to be ignored, clutching tight to his chest those precious numbers, he has been upstaged. His CEO Grady Cameron, has tantalised us with a peep of a disclosure in his opening statement in the 2015 Delta Annual Report on the DCC website. Mr Cameron confirms without being specific that Delta have “an outstanding debt” on a Christchurch subdivision and that the “fair value” of the secured debt is independently valued at $13.2M. He notes helpfully that this value was up from $12.8M last year. We can all relax now….

Thus we know that $13.2M is included as an asset somewhere in the Delta accounts. Delta says it has $59.705M of assets in its summary on page 15. But does it really ? Page 25 shows the breakdown of assets with $25.244M of the $59.705M being “trade receivables”. (The rest of the assets are basically plant, equipment and property.) At page 46, in “Note 23” safely buried far from public scrutiny, lies the smoking gun of Delta’s financial assets of $25.244M. There it is, a provision for “Less estimated doubtful debts” of $9.761M, that reduces the figure to $25.244M. This is a highly original description for bad debts, but desperate times call for desperate euphemisms.

So let’s be clear here – more than half of Delta’s financial assets ($13.2M) – amount to a bad debt in a failed subdivision, that is

a) now under mortgagee sale

b) has a third (or fourth) tier finance company as first mortgagee (because the banks would not lend on it)

c) that was built incorrectly, with the incorrect sized roads

d) faces ongoing legal action

e) cannot have titles released

f) has noisy 33KV powerlines running through it

g) has been completed since 2013 with no money received.

Continuing on, the news for the Owners (us) becomes more dire. The $9.761M “doubtful debts” included a carry over amount of $4.837M from 2014, which in turn included a $1.932M provision in 2013. The Yaldhurst (aka Noble) subdivision turned bad in 2012-2013, so it is very likely that the vast majority of the entire $9.761M is a bad debt provision for this heinously bad decision.

What it means is that Mr Crombie cannot possibly be “confident” of having a large proportion of the debt repaid. A large proportion has already been written off, it seems. This is not a “timing issue” as he claims. Delta has already written off up to almost $10M. That would put the total Delta exposure in excess of $20M.

Mr Crombie needs to identify how this proposal came to be put to the Delta board and which board members and executive staff supported it. Releasing board minutes on this item would be helpful for interested ratepayers to understand the history. Mr Crombie should also provide a comprehensive, clear and truthful report to Dunedin City Council with the full facts of Delta’s position and how the council-owned company got into this mess. This may be awkward for Mr Crombie as the people concerned will be well known to him but that is the price and the consequence of the position he chose to accept.

Under a worst case scenario, if Delta recovers very little of the $13.2M they say they will get, their solvency is threatened. Up to 80% of the Delta shareholders equity of $15.804M will disappear, with just $2-3M left. That would mean the shareholders equity to debt ratio would be out of this world. Delta has $26.852M of debt (to DCC). To build back up to the current equity position, which at $15.804M is not high, would mean years of retaining earnings within the company with no dividends to Council. Delta’s position would be so weak that the Council would either have to inject funds or DCC treasury would foreclose on its own company….

Delta in 2015 paid DCC a dividend of $2.5M. Without this in future years there will be significant rate rises each year.

That is bad enough but the bigger issue is how, after similar multimillion-dollar Delta debacles at Luggate and Jacks Point, was this allowed to happen. Dunedin ratepayers owe thanks to Cr Lee Vandervis. His has been one often lonely voice attempting to get to the truth of this matter. We must trust that he and any other like-minded councillors will be able to enforce some accountability onto Delta.

[ends]

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Related Posts and Comments:
21.1.16 Delta #EpicFail —Yaldhurst Subdivision
15.12.15 Noble property subdivision aka Yaldhurst Village | Mortgagee Tender
21.9.15 DCC: Not shite (?) hitting the fan but DVL
20.7.15 Noble property subdivision —DELTA #LGOIMA
1.4.15 Christchurch subdivisions: Heat gone?
24.3.15 Noble property subdivision —DELTA
23.3.15 Noble property subdivision: “Denials suggest that we have not learned.”
17.3.15 DCC —Delta, Jacks Point Luggate II…. Noble property subdivision

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

New Zealand local government T-shirt #haze #corruption

Whaleoil link received.
Thu, 28 Jan 2016 at 9:10 a.m.

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT . . .
“in NZ is dodgier than a 10-month-old piece of rancid mutton.” –Slater

### whaleoil.co.nz January 28, 2016 at 8:30am
NZ drops in corruption ratings
by Cameron Slater
The Herald has asked the question of whether NZ is corrupt. Really? They don’t know? Are they surprised?
Of course NZ is filled with corrupt officials. Local Government is the worst.
Corruption is foolishly assumed by the Media Party to be extreme acts. Like someone getting paid off to make a decision that avoids due process. They have tried to lay the blame on top line government “scandals” but they are missing the point. Corruption comes in many forms.
Read more

27.1.16 Fairfax: NZ’s anti-corruption record slipping: watchdog
27.1.16 NZH: Stonewalling and strange deals: Has NZ become more corrupt?

Transparency International – Corruption Perceptions Index
First launched in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index has been widely credited with putting the issue of corruption on the international policy agenda.
█ https://www.transparency.org/research/cpi/

### radionz.co.nz 3 hrs ago
High-profile deals behind corruption slide – report
By Robert Smith
Controversies such as the Saudi farm deal and SkyCity’s Convention Centre mean New Zealand no longer sets the standard for integrity in the public service, as it slips down the world rankings for corruption.

New Zealand fell to fourth in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International released yesterday.

It has previously topped the index seven times, including as recently as 2012 and 2013, and fell two spots this year after losing the top ranking to Denmark in the 2014 list. Finland and Sweden have now overtaken it and are perceived to have less corrupt public sectors than New Zealand.
The SkyCity Convention Centre plan, the Saudi sheep deal and the Oravida affair have been cited by Transparency International as the primary reasons for New Zealand’s slide down the rankings.
The findings in the latest report have been backed up by the Public Service Association (PSA), with national secretary Glenn Barclay saying the group was not surprised by the drop thanks to a “growing lack of transparency” in the public sector.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
5.1.16 Hammered from all sides #fixit [dunedinflood Jun2015]
2.10.15 DCC Draft 2GP hearings panel lacks FULL INDEPENDENCE
20.9.15 Corruption serious threat to New Zealand #CAANZ
14.9.15 Screening tonight: Paradigm Ep2 Local Government Corruption in NZ…
4.8.15 Hundreds of DCC Staff receive fraud detection/prevention training #OMG
23.7.13 Publicise: laudafinem.com
13.7.15 Jeff Dickie: Edinburgh tough, Dunedin (DUD)
17.3.15 DCC whistleblowing —what is open government ?
15.1.15 New Zealand: Salmond on abuse of democratic freedoms
19.12.14 DCC: Limited Citifleet investigation about insurance
13.5.14 Stuff: Colin Espiner usefully defines Corruption
7.12.13 Corruption in NZ Sport: Where has John Key PM been hiding ???

█ For more, [sample] enter the terms *corruption*, *delta*, *flood*, *citifleet*, *hotel* or *stadium* in the search box at right. [there are other terms, Dunedin is a clear seat of fuzzy avoidances of accountability]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: (top) aliexpress.com – tshirt mickey mouse fudged by whatifdunedin | linkedin.com – corruption

DCC: South Dunedin Integrated Catchment Management Plan (ICMP)

Received from Lyndon Weggery
Monday, 25 January 2016 6:13 p.m.

█ Message: I did comprehensive research at the Library this afternoon and these are my findings. Councillors have clearly dropped the Ball!!!

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From: Lyndon Weggery
To: Jinty MacTavish
CC: Andrew Noone
Subject: South Dunedin Flooding: ICMPs
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2016 18:10:14 +1300

Dear Jinty,

You will be aware of the widespread concern that despite the Mayor’s opinion the stormwater network infrastructure did play a significant part in the flooding of 3 June 2015. I would tend to agree with that opinion because a close study of the South Dunedin Integrated Catchment Management Plan (ICMP) attached to the 3 Waters Strategy conveys the same impression. The question I have asked myself is this: were Councillors aware of the potential problems before last year’s extreme weather event and could any of you have done more to check that South Dunedin ICMP recommendations were being followed through faithfully by staff with adequate funding by Council?

You will recall being part of the Infrastructure Services Committee that formally endorsed the 3 Waters Strategy in 2010 along with the 10 ICMPs that were attached. On 29 November 2011 I note from the minutes of the Infrastructure Services Committee in regard to Agenda item 6 (3 Waters Strategy Project – use of Integrated Catchment Management Plans) that you personally seconded a motion by former Councillor Syd Brown:

1. That it be noted that 11 stormwater ICMPs had been developed covering Dunedin’s urban-based reticulated stormwater catchments (including Mosgiel)

2. “that the approach proposed regarding the use and management of the information contained within the ICMPs be endorsed”

Motion carried

You may recall from the Staff Report prepared by Tracey Willmott that part of the approach that you seconded to be endorsed was “From an investment perspective – the ICMPs are a tool used to inform and justify the capital and operational investments made by WWS. They propose a series of recommendations over the short, medium and long term and suggest a costed and prioritised programme of work for each catchment comprising of: capital work options, planning options, operation and maintenance tasks or further study.”

So my question is why didn’t you (or any one of your colleagues) think to follow this up by using your right to put this important matter on future Agendas for a review? It is sad that a close inspection of subsequent minutes show no Councillor using the “Notification of Agenda Items for consideration by the Chair” option to formally check on progress with ICMP implementation and particularly the South Dunedin Catchment.

To be fair to Staff the next (and only time) this matter came up on the Agenda was 12 June 2012 under Agenda [item] 4 Stormwater Quality Update. Although this Report majored on quality discharge there were bold statements made eg “we will resolve all known cross connections between the foul and stormwater networks by 2015 etc” and particularly in the Conclusion – “Council has also committed significant funds to ensure that its strategic stormwater management objectives are met and is making good progress with implementation of these Plan”.

So in the light of these promises and the fact that a search of subsequent minutes of the ISC to date show no mention of this issue why wasn’t this most important issue followed up by you and your fellow councillors on the Infrastructure Services Committee?

Lyndon Weggery

[ends]

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[The above email has been lightly moderated for style consistency.]

The chair of Infrastructure Services Committee is Cr Kate Wilson. Cr Jinty MacTavish chairs the Community and Environment Committee. Cr Andrew Noone is the past chair of ISC, and currently chairs the Hearings Committee.

Lyndon is wrong.
The 3 June 2015 Dunedin Flood was NOT an extreme weather event. This was easily confirmed by recognised experts in their fields including a hydrologist (hydrologists use a variety of computational, hydrological and scientific modelling techniques in the research, development and maintenance of safe and sustainable domestic or natural water management strategies) and a meteorologist (meteorologists predict the weather and study the causes of particular weather conditions using information obtained from the land, sea and upper atmosphere; they use computerised and mathematical models to make short and long-range forecasts concerning weather and climate patterns). Historical records have also been referenced to expose the Mayor of Dunedin’s erroneous claim that this was an extreme weather event.

Related Posts and Comments:
19.1.16 Listener 23.1.16 (letter): South Dunedin #Jun2015flood
16.1.16 NZ Listener 16.1.16 (letter): South Dunedin #Jun2015flood
5.1.16 Hammered from all sides #fixit [dunedinflood Jun2015]
24.12.15 Site notice: posts removed
3.11.15 South Dunedin Flood | Correspondence & Debriefing Notes released by DCC today #LGOIMA

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: Stuff.co.nz – South Dunedin Flood June 2015

Ian Wishart: Ben Smart & Olivia Hope #murdercase

### NZ Herald Online 5:30 AM Sunday Jan 24, 2016
Wishart: Sounds case solved
Publisher Ian Wishart says a new book will finally solve the infamous Marlborough Sounds murder case. Wishart will next week publish the book, Elementary — The Explosive File on Scott Watson and the Disappearance of Ben and Olivia. The book looks at the disappearance of Ben Smart, 21, and Olivia Hope, 17, in the Marlborough Sounds on New Year’s Day, 1998. Scott Watson was convicted of their murders in May 1999 and remains in prison. He has denied any involvement in their disappearance and death. The remains of Smart and Hope have never been found.
Wishart said he was “pitching” the book as “solving the case”.
Read more

iwishart Published on Jan 22, 2016
Elementary by Ian Wishart

****

● Wikipedia: Ian Wishart (journalist)
● Facebook: Investigate Magazine

THE BOOK
Author: Ian Wishart
Title: Elementary: The Explosive File on Scott Watson and the Disappearance of Ben & Olivia – What Haven’t They Told You?
Pre-order a copy from your bookstore because they will have guaranteed stock on day one. Orders can also be placed at Investigate magazine’s webstore.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Zoning issues: Vogel Street activities

76 Vogel Street. Question to Dunedin City Council:
How did this activity happen without a publicly notified plan change?

The ‘warehouse precinct’ referred to in the restaurant’s marketing isn’t recognised by the current Dunedin City District Plan. The building is located within the LSR – Large Scale Retail Zone (see comparative district plan maps below), and the Vogel Street Heritage Precinct (TH13).

—

Vogel Street “remained zoned for large-scale retail uses, although it was proposed to become a mixed-use zone [the warehouse precinct] – allowing a wider variety of uses” – under the 2GP.

### ODT Online Sat, 23 Jan 2016
Objector to cafe’s licence slammed
By Chris Morris
A Dunedin businessman and his city councillor wife have been labelled “dinosaurs” amid claims they are deliberately standing in the way of the warehouse precinct’s regeneration. The criticism came after it was confirmed yesterday Alistair Broad, a commercial property owner and businessman, had filed an objection opposing the Vogel St Kitchen’s bid to renew its liquor licence.
Read more

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In a former life, the popular Vogel St Kitchen (VSK) was the McIndoe printery. The old brick building has been strengthened and given a new lease of life as a two-level coffee house and licensed eatery. Restaurant proprietor Riah McLean and property owner Lawrie Forbes commissioned a mural by London-based street artist Phlegm for the south exterior wall, visible from the street.

“Dunedin’s coolest destination cafe situated in the heart of the Warehouse Precinct. If you like your coffee and dining to have character and spirit come and check us out.” (publicity)

█ Website: www.vogelstkitchen.co.nz
76 Vogel Street, Dunedin 9016

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

District Plan Maps (2GP) – Compare existing and Second Generation District Plan maps:

DCC Rates Information

Davos WEF —common sense, not climate change

Received from Kleinefeldmaus
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 at 8:02 a.m.

[screenshot]

LMAO
James Delingpole 20 Jan 2016
Leonardo DiCaprio has flown by private jet to the World Economic Forum’s annual conference for sinister plutocrats and craven politicians in Davos, Switzerland, to attack the “greed” of the energy industry.
“We simply cannot afford to allow the corporate greed of the coal, oil and gas industries to determine the future of humanity. Those entities with a financial interest in preserving this destructive system have denied, and even covered up the evidence of our changing climate.”
Read more

*Oct 23, 2015 – Learn about the Caprio Family Crest, its Origin and History … Caprio is a name for a goat, having derived its origin from the Italian word capra. That would be derived from the Latin. Link

Kleinefeldmaus 22.1.16

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin: Veteran, vintage and classic cars #driveacrossthecity #farewell

THIS EVENING

Photo: Adam Binns

### ODT Online Fri, 22 Jan 2016
Vintage car parade planned for tonight
The International Festival of Historic Motoring is putting on a farewell for Dunedin people this evening, showing off veteran, vintage and classic cars to residents in a drive across the city. The festival has released a list of streets from where the public can view vehicles as they pass (times approximate):

7pm: Queens Dr, Prince Albert Rd and King Edward St

7.30pm: Kaikorai Valley Rd between Stone St and Taieri Rd, Brockville Rd and Dalziel Rd to Three Mile Hill Rd

8pm: Gordon Rd, Factory Rd, Hagart Alexander Dr, Quarry Rd into Morris Rd

8.30pm: Main Rd Fairfield, Main South Rd Green Island.

ODT Link

****

previously….

###drivesouth.co.nz Sat, 16 Jan 2016
Festival takes city back in time
By Catherine Pattison
Dunedin yesterday became the hub for the Vero International Festival of Historic Motoring as 600 cars and motorbikes arrived for the nine-day event. The city’s inhabitants can be forgiven for feeling as though they have gone back in time as they see the multitude of old vehicles cruising the streets.

“It is going to be fantastic for Dunedin. It brings in a huge amount of people to see our wee town. Most of these cars have never been seen all in one place.”

Many of the expected 1200 owners are Kiwis, which is not surprising as the Vintage Car Club New Zealand (VCCNZ) has more than 8000 members and 13,000 vintage, veteran and classic cars and motorcycles listed on its database. However, there will be about 60 owners coming from Australia, with others travelling from Scotland, the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Sweden and Switzerland. The farthest travelled will be Lord-Lieutenant of Orkney Bill Spence, who has sent his 1932 Lagonda to Dunedin for the festival.

Run by the VCCNZ Otago branch, it is the first time the festival, which has been to New Zealand nine times previously, will be hosted by Dunedin.
Read more

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█ More information + 2016 Festival photos at:
The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc) http://vcc.org.nz/

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Delta #EpicFail —Yaldhurst Subdivision

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Wed, 20 Jan 2016 at 6:35 p.m.

Last year Delta told Council and Dunedin ratepayers to return to their seats and not to worry about a bit of financial turbulence on the Yaldhurst subdivision, pictured.

Photos: CD 20.1.16

Delta are owed several million (possibly more) and the story was that all is well, even though they have been not paid for about 18-24 months because they have security over the land.

Sadly for Delta and its owners (us) a security means Jack Squat if the FIRST mortgage or prior ranking securities have not been paid.

And of course the first mortgage holder can simply choose to force the sale, and IGNORE lower ranking securities, until all their loan, penalty interest, selling costs, legal fees are covered.

The question of interest is – what is an unusable subdivision going to fetch, Jack Squat perhaps ?

Other Urgent questions for Delta:

1. How much is still owed ?

2. Have they been paid anything on this project in the last year ?

3. What do they know about the forced sale process ?

4. What is the total amount of debt secured against the property that ranks ahead of them ?

5. What is the range of the estimated mortgagee sale price – just a range is fine thanks !

6. Is the company owing Delta solvent, and does it have any other assets that can be pursued ?

7. Which group of directors at Delta authorised this multimillion-dollar project ?

8. Did Delta themselves know or check that the subdivision was not designed to the CCC requirements before they started ?

9. Will anyone be held accountable for this spectacularly inept decision to be involved and any loss resulting ?

[ends]

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whatifdunedin screenshot: ODT Online

New Zealand Companies register: Delta Utility Services Limited (453486)

█ Directors: David John Frow (appointed 25 Oct 2012), Trevor John Kempton (01 Nov 2013), Stuart James McLauchlan (01 Jun 2007), Ian Murray Parton (25 Oct 2012)

More: Historic data for directors

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Related Posts and Comments:
15.12.15 Noble property subdivision aka Yaldhurst Village | Mortgagee Tender
21.9.15 DCC: Not shite (?) hitting the fan but DVL
20.7.15 Noble property subdivision —DELTA #LGOIMA
1.4.15 Christchurch subdivisions: Heat gone?
24.3.15 Noble property subdivision —DELTA
23.3.15 Noble property subdivision: “Denials suggest that we have not learned.”
17.3.15 DCC —Delta, Jacks Point Luggate II…. Noble property subdivision

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

DCC LTAP 2016/17 budget discussion #ultrahelpfulhints

ODT 19.1.16 (page 6)

Comment at ODT Online:

Still on about ‘rising ground water’
Submitted by flatout on Thu, 21/01/2016 – 8:05am.

When will you…Dave…and the council admit it was a lack of mainenance that caused the flooding in Dunedin? Stop blaming climate change and rising ground water. Stop talking about high cost plans of moving South Dunedin and buying properties. Stop your endless council staff meetings about the issue of ‘what to do with South Dunedin’. Do maintenance on the stormwater. Do invest in South Dunedin to keep it a place to live and work in. All you need to do is clear drains and stormwater system that has coped with worse floods in the past…1968 for example.

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REMOVE THE IRRITANT

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Listener 23.1.16 (letter): South Dunedin #Jun2015flood

(page 7)

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Related Posts and Comments:
16.1.16 NZ Listener 16.1.16 (letter): South Dunedin #Jun2015flood
5.1.16 Hammered from all sides #fixit [dunedinflood Jun2015]
24.12.15 Site notice: posts removed

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

NZ Listener 16.1.16 (letter): South Dunedin #Jun2015flood

(page 4)

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

St Clair swimming and surf guides #WaterSafety

### ODT Online Sat, 16 Jan 2016
Graphic warning at St Clair
By John Lewis
Warning signs are being put up by the Dunedin City Council at St Clair Beach this morning, following another close call in the surf this week. A video has been posted online showing a group of people running towards the St Clair Surf Club ramp, to avoid being swept away by a large rogue wave, including a man who had to pick up his children and run.
Read more

Otago Daily Times Published on Jan 15, 2016
Graphic warning at St Clair

****

People should swim in patrolled areas between the flags. “Go when the waves are breaking, and don’t swim in flat water because that means currents and rips are taking water back out to the sea.”

### ODT Online Sat, 16 Jan 2016
Know your limits, surf life-savers say
By Damian George
Beachgoers in Dunedin are being urged to know their limits before taking to the water after surf life-savers rescued nine people in less than a month. Surf Life Saving New Zealand Otago-Southland club support officer Sam Clutterbuck said most rescues had been in non-patrolled areas, and some people were clearly not aware of what was safe.
Read more

****

### dunedintv.co.nz Wed, 13 Jan 2016
Swimmers need to follow the rules on patrolled beaches
Surf life-savers continue to get the message out to swimmers to stay between the flags and make sensible decisions when taking to the water. There’s been some concerning incidents away from patrolled beaches. And as the weather heats up life guards are expecting to have to put their training into action.
Ch39 + Video

DCC Webmap – Dunedin beaches JanFeb 2013

Related Post and Comments:
12.1.16 Stone the freaking crows #SurfsUp #SeawallNightmares #Dunedin

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

‘Quaking!’ Dark day$ and tide$ to come #Dunedin #Jun2015flood

Douglas Field Published on Jan 14, 2016
Noah Cull floating his boat
Dunedin’s mayor (Cull) persists with his obsession with global warming and catastrophic sea level rise as being in some way connected to the flooding event of June last year in Dunedin. This, even though local meteorologists dismiss it as nonsense.
In order to pay for the effects of the damage caused, he is now trying to link this to the truly catastrophic damage caused by the earthquake in Christchurch the cost of which is substantially underwritten by central government.
The sketch lampoons the mayor for trying to squeeze money from central government coffers on such patently baseless arguments.

█ For more information, enter the term *flood* in the search box at right.
A sister ark ‘construction’ has also been identified in satirical comments about the stadium.

****

But what of Noah’s contrariness towards rules of the district plan, lack of consultation over the build (see LTP and AP), and obvious parking demeanors incurred by the ark.

Received.
Thu, 14 Jan 2016 at 7:07 a.m.

█ Message: Worth noting that the council instructs officers that they must write 3 tickets per hour. How have we let councils construct such an unpopular and penal extra tax?

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 19:29, January 13 2016
Wellington City Council’s multimillion-dollar ticket haul
By Tom Hunt – The Dominion
Wellington drivers are being stung by millions of dollars in parking fines, and are 10 times less likely to have them waived than if they parked just 20 minutes away in Porirua. Official figures from Wellington City Council show the number of tickets it issued dropped to 141,341 in 2015, but that still put an extra $6.4 million in the council coffers. In 2012, when the council issued 262,627 tickets, it gathered almost $10.01m in revenue.

In May, it was revealed that the capital’s 32 wardens had been told they had to issue at least three tickets an hour. The council defended the “performance measure” and insisted it was not a quota.

The region’s councils were asked to supply figures showing how many tickets were issued, how much revenue this generated, and how many tickets they waived.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Bowie

David Robert Jones (8 Jan 1947 – 10 Jan 2016), known as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, arranger, painter and actor. He was a figure in popular music for over five decades, and was considered by critics and other musicians as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s. His androgynous appearance was an iconic element of his image, principally in the 1970s and 1980s. Bowie stopped concert touring after 2004, and last performed live at a charity event in 2006. In 2013, he returned from a decade-long recording hiatus, remaining musically active until his death. Wikipedia

DavidBowieVEVO Published on Jan 7, 2016
David Bowie – Lazarus
“Lazarus” off David Bowie’s album Blackstar

Published on Nov 19, 2015
David Bowie – Blackstar
“Blackstar” off David Bowie’s album Blackstar

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### NZ Herald Online 5:44 AM Tuesday Jan 12, 2016
David Bowie’s last release, Lazarus, was ‘parting gift’ for fans in carefully planned finale
By Hannah Furness
David Bowie’s final record was a carefully-orchestrated farewell to his fans, his producer has confirmed. Lazarus, released on Bowie’s 69th birthday just two days before his death, opens with the lyrics: “Look up here, I’m in Heaven!”
Tony Visconti, the producer who worked with Bowie to complete his final album, has released a statement saying it was deliberately created and timed as a “parting gift” for his fans.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: noisey.vice.com – bowie-blackstar-vice

Stone the freaking crows #SurfsUp #SeawallNightmares #Dunedin

Otago Daily Times Published on Jan 10, 2016
Surfer rescued at St Clair
Scott James took this video of a surfer being rescued after getting into trouble at St Clair beach this afternoon.

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“It would have only taken one wave and he could have been dead, so he was really lucky.”

### ODT Online Mon, 11 Jan 2016
Rescuing surfer hailed ‘heroic’
By Vaughan Elder
A surfer who carried out a dramatic rescue at St Clair Beach yesterday afternoon says someone will be killed unless the Dunedin City Council acts to make beach access safer. […] The man was warned before entering the water it was too dangerous. Mr James filmed the rescue so he could show the council and others just how bad it had got at the beach.
Read more

****

### ODT Online Tue, 12 Jan 2016
Surfers ordered away from rocks
By Craig Borley
The waves were big and so were the boulders, forcing lifeguards to order surfers away from the St Clair Beach access steps during day one of the National Surfing Championships yesterday. […] Dunedin City Council parks, recreation and aquatics group manager Richard Saunders said council staff were working with the life saving club and the South Coast Boardriders Association to resolve the issues.
Read more

****

“You can’t defeat mother nature so we have just got to try to provide a safe place for the public to swim….” –Cam Burrow, St Clair Surf Life Saving Club

### ODT Online Tue, 29 Dec 2015
St Clair unsafe, guards forced down beach
By Chris Morris
St Clair surf life savers are operating from a temporary pop-up tent as sand – and swimmers – are forced further down the beach. […] The western end of St Clair Beach had become “a no-swim zone, really”, as erosion stripping the beach of sand left behind only large rocks protecting the Esplanade’s sea wall, [Cam Burrow] said.
Read more

****

### ODT Online Thu, 29 Oct 2015
Injury fears over Esplanade rocks
Surf lifesavers fear more people will be injured on rocks piled at the base of the St Clair Beach sea wall. Two people have been rescued from the rocks in the space of nine days. Lifesavers sprang into action on Monday when a young surfer got stuck trying to climb the rocks near the shark bell.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Un hôtel. Dunedin.

Douglas Field Published Jan 11, 2016 | Republished Aug 17, 2016 | Updated

Dunedin looks – yet again at another new hotel. Trouble is they always get it wrong – last one was a doozy – this one ain’t shaping up too well either.
All very cloak and dagger.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Infrastructure ‘open to facile misinterpretation’…. or local ignore

Academic Paper/Article via Academia.edu
December 24, 2015

Paradoxical Infrastructures: Ruin, Retrofit and Risk
Cymene Howe – Rice University, Anthropology, Faculty Member
Corresponding Author

Co-Authors: Cymene Howe, Jessica Lockrem, Hannah Appel, Edward Hackett, Dominic Boyer, Randal Hall, Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, Albert Pope, Akhil Gupta, Elizabeth Rodwell, Andrea Ballestero, Trevor Durbin, Farès el-Dahdah, Elizabeth Long, and Cyrus Mody

ABSTRACT
In recent years, a dramatic increase in the study of infrastructure has occurred in the social sciences and humanities, following upon foundational work in the physical sciences, architecture, planning, information science, and engineering. This article, authored by a multidisciplinary group of scholars, probes the generative potential of infrastructure at this historical juncture. Accounting for the conceptual and material capacities of infrastructure, the article argues for the importance of paradox in understanding infrastructure. Thematically the article is organized around three key points that speak to the study of infrastructure: ruin, retrofit, and risk. The first paradox of infrastructure, ruin, suggests that even as infrastructure is generative, it degenerates. A second paradox is found in retrofit, an apparent ontological oxymoron that attempts to bridge temporality from the present to the future and yet ultimately reveals that infrastructural solidity, in material and symbolic terms, is more apparent than actual. Finally, a third paradox of infrastructure, risk, demonstrates that while a key purpose of infrastructure is to mitigate risk, it also involves new risks as it comes to fruition. The article concludes with a series of suggestions and provocations to view the study of infrastructure in more contingent and paradoxical forms.

Introduction
Breakdowns and blackouts, pipeline politics, and new demands upon energy and resources have surfaced infrastructure in surprising ways, igniting conversation about social and material arrangements that are often left submerged, invisible, and assumed. In recent years, we have witnessed a dramatic increase in the study of infrastructure in the social sciences and humanities, following upon foundational work in the physical sciences, architecture, planning, information science, and engineering. While the popular imagination might recognize infrastructure as the mundane mechanisms within, beneath, and supporting the maintenance of quotidian life, many scholars have foregrounded the agency, performativity, and dynamism of infrastructure.

Infrastructure is not inert but rather infused with social meanings and reflective of larger priorities and attentions. To further engage these novel lines of inquiry, a group of scholars gathered at Rice University’s Center for Energy and Environmental Research in the Human Sciences for an extended roundtable discussion. We came from a variety of academic institutions and positions in the academy (ranging from senior scholars to PhD candidates), and our group reflected a diverse range of disciplinary backgrounds (American studies, anthropology, architecture, history, science and technology studies, and sociology). Our objective was to break down some of the scaffolding that upholds disciplinary boundaries. To embrace a starkly infrastructural metaphor, we were interested in “bridgework”, not just to move from point A to point B, but to hold us in suspension for a time so that we might inspect the mechanisms that drive our intellectual work and scholarship.

Infrastructure, which epitomizes the conjunction of material forms, expertise, social priorities, cultural expectations, aesthetics, and economic investments, seemed to us to be the ideal rubric through which to enrich our thinking, as well as a social object that necessitates a multidisciplinary approach. A collaborative conversation would help us to disentangle theories, concepts, and methods from their usual paradigms, permitting them to “recombine” in novel ways (Hackett and Parker 2014, 12). Our conversation was animated, in part, by other “turns” in the humanities and social sciences, including new materialisms, posthumanisms, and ontological approaches. Walking through the dynamic scholarship on infrastructure that is being published in the human sciences, we were struck with the definitional capacity of the term itself. Infrastructure is material (roads, pipes, sewers, and grids); it is social (institutions, economic systems, and media forms); and it is philosophical (intellectual trajectories: dreamt up by human ingenuity and nailed down in concrete forms).

Infrastructure has a capaciousness and scope that makes it both an infinitely useful concept and a concept that is open to facile misinterpretation or to being encumbered by overuse.

Our purpose was not to produce yet another definition of infrastructure (although at the end of this essay we do offer a few potential classifications). Instead we gave our attention to questions such as “What is generative about thinking with and through infrastructures at this historical juncture?” And “How can the multiple and diverse understandings of infrastructure across the human sciences mutually inform and enhance one another?” Simply put, we wanted to unravel “why now?” and “where do we go from here?” Our hope was to work toward “explication” (Latour 1993; Sloterdijk 2009), knowing that infrastructure has moved from the background to the foreground, while remaining intent on questioning why that is so. This collective essay gathers the themes and insights that echoed throughour conversation. These issues were resonant points of return because they revealed the relational and ambiguous elements of infrastructure to produce contradictions and unevenly felt consequences in the lives and places they contact. We have codified these apparent paradoxes, broadly, into topical domains of ruins, retrofit, and risk.

To read this article and other academic papers subscribe to Academia.edu (Weekly Digest).

[floodofideas.org.au]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image (top): openspaceconsult.com – infrastructure development [tweaked by whatifdunedin]