Good Old Boy pushes waterfront stadium for Auckland *yawn

At Twitter:

Auckland Council has been pitched a revolutionary, sunken stadium for the waterfront https://t.co/6xD5XO7FZi pic.twitter.com/BRArXbYJE1

— nzherald (@nzherald) April 29, 2017

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### NZ Herald 5:00 AM Sunday Apr 30, 2017
Stunning stadium pitched for Auckland, sunken into waterfront
By Simon Plumb
Jaw-dropping concepts for an iconic new national stadium have been pitched to Auckland Council, proposing a state-of-the-art arena be submerged into the city’s waterfront. A portfolio of spectacular designs can be revealed from documents delivered to the office of Auckland Mayor Phil Goff last month. The Herald on Sunday has obtained them through the Local Government Official Information and Meeting Act [LGOIMA]. Dubbed The Crater, the idea centres on a subterranean multi-events venue, inverting conventional design by building below ground rather than above. Created by Auckland design and marketing figure Phil O’Reilly, three potentials factor in a core concept of a sunken bowl-type arena, as well as renderings of a roofed version. A third concept incorporates new cruise ship terminals that would flank the facility, although O’Reilly said the general idea could also work inland if the waterfront was dumped as a location. […] O’Reilly said as far as he is aware, the submerged venue would be the first of its kind anywhere in the world and was a chance for Auckland to build an iconic landmark that would be recognised the world over – but in keeping with Auckland’s natural volcanic landscape. […] Although not as large in scale, likely between 30,000-50,000 capacity, O’Reilly said a truly cutting-edge design could see the Kiwi venue punch way above its weight and become as recognised as some of the most famous on Earth.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Lorde’s new release better in audio #screenplayAWFUL #BRATalert

AUCKLAND: from 9:30pm TONIGHT, i’ve organised a few more little glimpses at what’s coming. if you want to know more, consult the map.. ❇️ pic.twitter.com/IVMcksOS8M

— Lorde (@lorde) March 1, 2017

BREAKING: #Lorde reveal. New clip with vocals! @1NewsNZ @NewshubNZ @billboard @MTV

pic.twitter.com/EUtOwEeYFi

— Jamie Ensor (@JamieEnsor) March 1, 2017

auckland thank you so much for coming out last night.. pic.twitter.com/2AYtggOpGc

— Lorde (@lorde) March 1, 2017

Lorde’s new single

“Greenlight”

World Time Zone Release

Made by lordeisbravado IG

Wake up early Asia!! pic.twitter.com/RsL8JZiNxa

— Lorde WorldWideNet🌐 (@Lorde_WWN) March 2, 2017

TODAY. @lorde will be on @Beats1 for an interview + NEW SONG ‘Green Light’ LISTEN 11am LA // 2pm NYC // 7pm UK 👉🏼📲 https://t.co/B6JhK8co2l pic.twitter.com/CvV8FAGf6A

— Zane Lowe (@zanelowe) March 2, 2017

Lorde’s new single #GREENLIGHT!
❇️ apple music: https://t.co/s1lbBytUUJ
❇️ spotify: https://t.co/jpZDDFfthN
❇️ vevo: https://t.co/AvMRDlfWuH pic.twitter.com/PgViloKtZ4

— #GREENLIGHT (@LordeDaily) March 2, 2017

The Story Behind Lorde’s New Album Cover, From the Artist Who Created It https://t.co/GpQOLkRmgU

— #GREENLIGHT (@LordeNews) March 2, 2017

The Edge NZ Published on Mar 2, 2017
Lorde gets all emotional about the meaning behind Green Light
In an exclusive interview with The Edge, Lorde opened up about the meaning behind her new single, Green Light.

The Edge NZ Published on Mar 2, 2017
Lorde reveals what she spends her millions on
Lorde revealed in an exclusive interview with The Edge what she spends her millions on.

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LordeVEVO Published on Mar 2, 2017
Lorde – Green Light
Official video for ‘Green Light’, from the new album Melodrama.
Directed by Grant Singer | Produced by Saul Germaine | Executive Producer Nina Soriano | Director of Photography Steve Annis | Production Designer Page Buckner | Edited by Nate Gross | For Anonymous Content

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my favourite part of the video is the driver standing off to one side vaping and watching me lose my shit on top of his car lol pic.twitter.com/iNWry1BTJg

— Lorde (@lorde) March 2, 2017

### billboard.com
Lorde’s ‘Green Light’: A Brilliant Songwriter Enters Her Prime
By Jason Lipshutz 3 Feb 2017
Quick question: What’s the most impressive thing about Lorde?
Take a breath, because there’s really no wrong answer here. You could say it’s her prodigy status and how quickly and thoroughly she achieved her international success: when “Royals”, her debut single, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October 2013, Ella Yelich-O’Connor was 16 years old, making her the youngest solo artist to reach the top of the chart since Tiffany in 1988.
You could nod to her singular style, previously a strain of dark pop defined by its sparseness, programmed beats, slower tempos and swirling hooks, all anchored by a voice that can rattle off details (“gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin’ in the bathroom, bloodstains, ball gowns, trashin’ the hotel room”) and sprawl out in space (“And we’ll never be rooooyals”) with the same fortitude. Since her debut project Pure Heroine — which has sold 1.66 million copies to date, according to Nielsen Music — was released nearly four years ago, its sound has helped define top 40 thanks to smashes by The Weeknd, Alessia Cara and Tove Lo, among others.
Or maybe it’s her consistency: Pure Heroine remains a 10-track opus bursting with ideas about love, loneliness and lack of representation within modern music, while most of Lorde’s non-Heroine material — her Hunger Games single “Yellow Flicker Beat,” her Disclosure collaboration “Magnets” — is just as textured and carefully orchestrated. Some of Lorde’s songs are better than others, but they’re never phoned-in or forgettable.
So, again, really no wrong answer here. But with “Green Light,” a comeback single that barges into your heart on its first play, Lorde makes a good case that her songwriting, above all else, is her strongest asset.
Read more

Unseen promotional photo for ‘Team’ music video by Phil Knott pic.twitter.com/cUcqdz7zQR

— Lorde World (@LordeWorldRU) February 1, 2017

Hate the fake tan in the vid.

But I hear sounds in my mind
Brand new sounds in my mind

Sometimes I wake up in a different bedroom
I whisper things, the city sings ’em back to you

THAT WAS FAR TOO MUCH OF THE SPOILTCRASS THAT IS LORDE
Signing off…….

I’m waiting for it, that green light, I want it

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Some Councils/CCOs get cleanup from FRAUD and CORRUPTION #NotAll

Stephen Borlase (centre) and Murray Noone (right) at Auckland High Court [NZ Herald]

### NZ Herald Wed, 22 Feb 2017
Herald Business
Two jailed over NZ’s largest bribery case
By Matt Nippert
Two men convicted of corruption in New Zealand’s largest bribery case have been sent to prison. Former Auckland Transport manager Murray Noone, and roading contractor Projenz managing director Stephen Borlase were investigated by the Serious Fraud Office and in December found guilty on six and eight charges, respectively, of taking and giving bribes involving more than $1 million. Justice Sally Fitzgerald this morning at the High Court at Auckland jailed Borlase for five years and six months, and Noone for five years.
Read more + Video | Documents

During the eight-week trial, Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey laid out what he considered to be a “culture of corruption” in the roading department at RDC and Auckland Transport centred on the two accused. Dickey outlined hundreds of thousands of dollars in entertainment spending by Projenz on council staff, and in cross-examining Borlase claimed the arrangement had bound the pair tight.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Wastewater testing for drug use

[utopiasilver.com]

### NZ Herald Online 12:38 PM Monday Dec 19, 2016
Police to start testing wastewater in NZ for drug use
Police are about to start testing wastewater in Auckland and Christchurch, to get a better idea of drug use in the community. Similar testing in Perth has found 31.6kg of meth was consumed in the city area each week, that’s 1.6 tonnes a year. Now police want to do the same here.
The testing, which will look for methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, alpha PVP, MDMA and Creatinine, will take place in Christchurch and Auckland’s Rosedale treatment plants. Police say the results, which cannot be traced to individuals, will improve their understating of drug use in the population.
Assistant Commissioner Bill Searle … said the results will also inform treatment and enforcement strategies, allow comparison with international data, measure the effectiveness of education and enforcement and provide intelligence data … The testing will be undertaken by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research for one week each month for a year.
Read more

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NBC News: Shocking mugshots reveal toll of drug abuse
Updated 2/25/2011 6:29:15 PM ET
In-your-face photos aim to scare teens straight by striking their vanity.
The pairs of mug shots, which graphically display the damage drugs can do to the face, were collected by the sheriff’s office in Multnomah County, Ore. Faces that were normal — even attractive — in initial photos, shot when addicts were first arrested, metamorphose over years, and sometimes just months, into gaunt, pitted, even toothless wrecks. Link

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‘Everyone experiments at college or school and I want From Drugs to Mugs to show kids that everyone in those pictures started on cannabis, they didn’t just dive head first into heroin.’ –Deputy Bret King, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon.

Daily Mail (Australia): The horror of Meth: Before-and-after pictures reveal shocking transformation in faces of users hooked on deadly drug
Published: 02:12 +11:00, 7 Dec 2012 | Updated: 06:53 +11:00, 7 Dec 2012
A new anti-drug advertisement shows the devastating physical transformation addicts experience after years of meth use. The photos, that show a shocking Dorian Gray-like deterioration, were compiled from mug shots of drug users that were arrested repeatedly over the years. The continued drug use caused horrific damage to the drug users’ skin with sores and scarring – that can be caused by uncontrollable scratching during a hallucination when the addict imagines bugs are crawling under their skin. Link

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Auckland corruption charges proved —ring any bells? #South

“The extensive provision of benefits to staff at all levels of their teams resulted in a culture where corruption flourished and was normalised, with no questions asked. There was very little chance of disgruntled or principled employees speaking out as everyone was being ‘looked after’ or was compromised.” –Brian Dickey, SFO prosecutor

### NZ Herald Fri, 9 Dec 2016 at 10:05 a.m.
Council manager guilty of majority of corruption charges
By Matt Nippert
A roading contractor and a council manager have been found guilty of corruption in a case exposing what the prosecution called a “culture of corruption” among Auckland council staff administering tens of millions of dollars in roading contracts. Justice Sally Fitzgerald delivered her verdict this in the High Court at Auckland this morning in the long-running trial of former Auckland Transport senior manager Murray Noone and roading engineer contractor Stephen Borlase. Noone was found guilty on six charges of receiving $1.2 million in bribes from Borlase. Borlase, in turn, was found guilty on eight charges of offering bribes to Noone and other council staff. Borlase was found not guilty on four charges of dishonestly using a document to allegedly inflate invoices to council. The corrupt relationship ran from 2006 until 2012, from Noone worked at Rodney District Council, continuing when he joined Auckland Transport following the supercity merger.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Help to the Homeless, elsewhere #SocialEnterprise

C O L L I N G W O O D • M E L B O U R N E

Northumberland Development. Images: Grocon

### ArchitectureAU.com 7 June 2016
Wardle-designed new office tower lends hand to homeless
News | Words Linda Cheng
A proposed office tower development in Melbourne’s Collingwood designed by John Wardle Architects will provide assistance to the local homeless.
The development, dubbed Northumberland, will occupy the site of the existing Collingwood Telephone Exchange on Wellington Street – a red brick building which is to be retained. A 13-storey office tower and a 5-storey retail building with a cafe on the ground floor is proposed around and above the existing building. The design will take cues from the local industrial past, street patterns and material expression. The southern facade of the smaller retail building will be characterized by a sawtooth window facing Northumberland Street. The office tower will be set back from main street, Wellington Street, as well as the existing building, which will create a new laneway and general new public space. The design of the office building will target a 6-star Green Star rating.

The development will share its end of trip facilities with the homeless. The shower and change room facilities are designed with assistance from Launch Housing, a provider of housing and homeless support service. During hours of minimal use by office workers, showers and change room facilities in the office complex will be managed by the organization to provide clean and safe change facilities in support of local homeless people while sorting out their housing crisis. Northumberland will also be one of the first commercial buildings to contribute to the Homes for Homes initiative, a sustainable funding source for affordable housing established by The Big Issue in 2013.

Developer Grocon will contribute 0.1 percent annual office rent received to the fund. The proceeds will be used to refurbish and manage social housing for low-income and homeless people in Australia.

Grocon has submitted the design for planning approval. If approved, construction will commence in early 2017. The development will be located across the road from a proposed 13-storey apartment tower, also designed by John Wardle Architects and developed by Cbus. The proposal is currently being assessed by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). The matter was heard on 11 and 12 April but was adjourned until 14-15 July to allow for amendments to the plans.

ArchitectureAU Link | Captions

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A U C K L A N D

via Architecture + Women • New Zealand

Te Puea Marae. Image: RNZ/Shannon Haunui-Thompson

A+W•NZ & JASMAX ORGANISING TE PUEA MARAE DONATIONS
The media has been reporting recently that those without homes now include families who cannot afford the rising rents which accompany the increasing house prices in New Zealand, and especially in Auckland. To help address this issue, Te Puea Marae has generously opened its doors to the homeless, with other Marae and charities following their example.

While homelessness is mainly a political issue, it is also an architectural one, in that architects can offer solutions to our built environments and the use of them. Architects work on a daily basis within the financial structures which contribute to the high cost of housing, as well as with many clients who are involved at the coalface, from religious groups to social services and charities.

A+W•NZ has built some powerful networks and structures since its beginning five years ago. We thought that those networks can be put to good use by collecting blankets and food to donate to those being generous to others, starting with Te Puea Marae.

Te Puea Herangi is important to A+W•NZ as an early leader in her contribution to Maori architecture, establishing Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia, central to the Kingitanga (King Movement). She went on to establish Marae throughout the Waikato (Mangatangi, Rakaumanga) carved houses (Turongo, Tamaoho), and to re-establish canoe building at Turangawaewae.

Jasmax Auckland has generously agreed to act as a collection point for all items donated, and the A+W•NZ team will deliver the goods to Te Puea Marae at intermittent times. Please take your donated goods to the reception at Jasmax, 2 Marston Street
Parnell, Auckland 1052, between 9am and 4pm Monday-Friday.

They will be gratefully receiving bedding, toiletries, non-perishable food, and clothing. If you have any problems or difficulties with drop off during those hours, please contact us at architecturewomen @gmail.com

A big thank you to Jasmax for providing the support required to receive and store donated goods. If you wish to make a financial donation directly to Te Puea Marae, a GiveALittle page has been set up by the Marae.

4:19 pm on 6 June 2016
RNZ News: Te Puea Marae finds homes for 21 Auckland families
The chair of an Auckland marae supporting the homeless is commending those who have had the courage to accept its help. Te Puea Memorial Marae has housed 21 families in just under two weeks and has helped some of them get paid jobs. Its chair, Hurimoana Dennis, says based on those outcomes, agencies helping the homeless cannot keep applying a business as usual approach. He believes a kaupapa Maori approach would be a key long-term solution for the current housing crisis. Mr Dennis said overcrowding, eviction, poverty, family violence, substance abuse and bureaucracy have all individually or collectively played a part in the families coming to the marae.

Te Puea Memorial Marae
Address: 1534 Miro Rd, Auckland 2022
Phone: 09 6365683

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dairying, Housing : More on Resource Legislation Amendment Bill 2015

Irrigation [lincoln.ac.nz]

█ Interpretation of the existing RMA has led to dairy intensification destroying waterways and threatening public health and welfare, in large measure.
A bit of a tour….

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 14:29, March 23 2016
Canterbury rumbly-gut outbreak linked to dairying
By Pat Deavoll
An outbreak of “rumbly-gut” among communities in Canterbury has Waikato veterinarian and agri-ecology consultant Alison Dewes concerned. She thinks the outbreak is the result of dairy intensification and irrigation contaminating public drinking water. Thirty per cent of the region’s shallow wells have already experienced an increase in nitrogen and pathogen levels after 10-15 years of irrigation on shallow lighter soils, she says. “We have the highest rates of ecoli diseases in the world, and the highest rate of campylobacter, cryptosporidia and giardia in communities in the Hinds region. We have the highest rates of zoonoses (disease spread from animals to humans) in the world in some of the irrigated/dairy catchments like Selwyn and Hinds and the government is promoting a further 40,000ha of irrigation in an already allocated and at risk catchment. Economics and dairy intensification are trumping public health and welfare.”
Read more

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### NZ Herald Online 8:42 AM Wednesday Mar 9, 2016
40pc of farms fail to lodge consents
By Zaryd Wilson – Wanganui Chronicle
Forty per cent of dairy farms required to lodge a resource consent application with Horizons Regional Council have not done so. A total of 229 dairy operations were required to have lodged an application by January 1 this year under the regional council’s One Plan, which aims to limit nitrogen pollution of waterways. The One Plan – adopted by the council in 2014 – limits nitrogen leaching by intensive farm operations, namely dairy, commercial horticulture, cropping and intensive sheep and beef farming. Figures released to the Chronicle under the Official Information Act reveal that only 137 of the 229 dairy operations which came under new rules have lodged consent applications. The new rules took effect on July 1 last year, and farms had six months – up until January 1 – to apply.
Read more

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Wetlands [nzarm.org.nz]

26.11.15 NZH: Resource Management Act reforms to be introduced
The Government will introduce its long awaited Resource Management Act reforms to Parliament next week after securing the support of the Maori Party. The reforms to the country’s main planning document stalled two years ago when National’s support partners refused to back them because of their potential impact on the environment.

Ministry for the Environment

█ About the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
This page has information on the amendments proposed in 2015 to the Resource Management Act 1991.

█ Resource Legislation Amendment Bill [New Zealand Legislation website]
The Resource Legislation Amendment Bill (the Bill) was introduced to Parliament on 26 November 2015.

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Leading New Zealand law firm Chapman Tripp say:
OPINION Most of the provisions in the Bill have been telegraphed in advance so there is little to surprise. If passed as drafted, it has the capacity to reduce costs and speed up planning processes – but probably only at the margins. For more radical and meaningful change we may have to await the results of the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into urban planning (see Chapman Tripp’s commentary here, dated 2.11.15).

RMA Reform Bill – busy with change but less than National wanted
Chapman Tripp 26 November 2015
OPINION The ‘phase two’ RMA reforms, initially to have been passed in 2014, have now finally been introduced to Parliament as the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill. The Bill is a busy piece of legislation running to more than 200 pages, and aims to help streamline planning and consenting processes. But National has had to abandon its proposals to remove the “hierarchy” some saw as enshrined in the existing Part 2 of the RMA, promoting environmental values ahead of economic development in sections six and seven. After the loss of the Northland seat to Winston Peters in March, it does not have the votes to get the wider and more far-reaching changes through. We look at the Bill:
Major changes
● Requiring councils to follow national planning templates (once such templates are available) with standardised provisions across the country.
● A range of measures aimed at producing faster, more flexible planning processes. These include: tighter timelines for plan production and the introduction of two new tracks – a collaborative track and a streamlined track.
● Reduced requirements for consents – allowing councils discretion not to require a resource consent for minor changes, creating a new 10 day fast-track for simple consents and eliminating the need for an RMA consent when consenting is provided for in other legislation.
● Stronger national direction – especially in relation to hot-button issues like providing for new housing or addressing dairy stock in rivers.
Read more

Blue skies review for urban planning – the take-off
Chapman Tripp 15 January 2016
OPINION The blue skies review into urban planning has now left the runway, with the release by the Productivity Commission before Christmas of an issues paper seeking feedback on possible directions for change.

Jafas, come hither…. it’s alright here if warped

Douglas Field Published on Jan 7, 2016
Climate Change Panic 8 1 16
‘Green’ Mayor Cull panics over floods in Dunedin and blames ‘climate change’ and sea level rise as the cause. Promptly debunked by local climatologist and hydrologist as absurd.

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Commenting at ODT Online
macfod, unduly negative and downcast —not a local economist like John Christie (Enterprise Dunedin), or a Terence Davies (DVML) – who place reliance on bought multipliers to talk up sweet virtue and powers of attraction.
blip blurp blop

Dave Cull couldn’t sell toffee
Submitted by macfod on Fri, 08/01/2016 – 7:33am.

Oh my god, what a big draw it would be saying that we have places such as ..

Cadburys – a factory! Farmers Market and bacon butties – a joke! Museum – visit it once only. St Clair beach – it’s eroding and DCC are doing nothing about it.

What [they] are promoting [is] where they have spent money . . . stadium – unused cycle lanes. I love Dunedin but get so frustrated that we are not growing and not attracting jobs..

Aucklanders are already buying our property, but as investments as the rental returns at approx 8% make it good business.
Read more

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█ New Zealand Herald: Dunners in drive for Jafas to roll down to Deep South

INFLUX….

█ Jafa is a slang term (usually pejorative) for a resident of Auckland, New Zealand. It is the acronym for Just Another Fucking Aucklander. The term is also misspelled as Jaffa, a chocolate confection from Dunedin.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: dunedinnz.com – Jaffa Race, Baldwin Street

alright ● all right ● alright ● all right ● alright ● all right ● alright

Te Ara I Whiti – light path #sharedway Auckland

Elevated illuminated space is exciting but how long until the shine wears off – this bad taste won’t even make it to Kitsch.

“This is a great day for Auckland’s inner city cycling network. The cycleway is a new and exciting urban space, creating a city centre where people feel safer and confident to ride a bike.” –Minister Simon Bridges

Comment #13 by David Bridewell  (2 days ago)
I think the cycle – and I trust walkway – is a good idea. But whoever chose that vile colour should be hauled into the centre of Aotea square and mercilessly flogged.

### nbr.co.nz Thu, 3 Dec 2015
‘Magenta Adventure’ cycleway opens in Auckland
By Emerson Howitt
Auckland cyclists are in the pink with today’s launch of the city’s latest piece of cycle-friendly infrastructure. The $18 million magenta coloured Light Path cycleway – already dubbed “Magenta Adventure” – was opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony presided by Transport Minister Simon Bridges, followed by schoolchildren cycling along the re-vamped Nelson St motorway off-ramp. […] The off-ramp was closed in 2005 after an upgrade to the central motorway junction left it surplus to requirements. […] The Light Path features interactive lighting along one side that will illuminate the structure at night.
Read more + 34 comments

iion Published on Dec 3, 2015
Te Ara I Whiti – The Light Path #LightPathAKL
@BikeAKL celebrated the opening of #LightPathAKL with hundreds of cyclists taking to the newly opened cycleway. We went along to see their reactions and join in the festivities. Interactive Light Installation by iion http://iion.co.nz

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Light Path Canada St Bridge [Patrick Reynolds]

### transportblog.co.nz Thu, 3 Dec 2015
Te Ara I Whiti – the lightpath
By Matt L
Auckland’s newest and certainly it’s most colourful cycleway (so far) was officially opened today by Transport Minister Simon Bridges. And I must say, Simon gave a fantastic speech showing he gets it, talking up the environmental, health, congestion and economic benefits of investing in cycling – this view was reinforced in discussion with him later. […] The new bridge connecting Canada St to the old offramp has been given the name of Te Ara I Whiti or the lightpath and combined is a fantastic addition to Auckland. […] One of the most surprising things about the project is just how little time it has taken from inception to delivery.
Read more

█ Video via TVNZ On Demand
Better Together: The Nelson Street Cycleway (4:51)
Get the inside track on the merging of the creative ideas of carver Katz Maihi and landscape architects and urban designers Monk Mackenzie + Land Lab, that have helped shape Auckland’s ambitious new cycleway design.
Link: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/content/tvnz/ondemand/shows/m/microsoft-better-together/s1/e3.html

[screenshots]

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### NZ Herald Online 2:14 PM Saturday Dec 5, 2015
Pedal to the new metal
By Catherine Smith
I don’t usually claim to have much in common with engineers – putting things together is not my strong suit. But on Tuesday, when I donned a fluoro vest and rode the newest piece of Auckland’s cycling infrastructure with project manager Stephen Cummins of GHD, I couldn’t get enough of the geeky details of the shared pathway, formerly known as the old Nelson St off-ramp.

It is barely a year since the Lightpath Te Ara I Whiti (it got a fancy pants name at Thursday’s opening), first got the nod. New York’s glamour former tsar of transportation, Janette Sadik-Khan, was in town to talk up how she transformed the Big Apple’s car-clogged streets to plazas given over to people and bikes. She was less than flattering about Auckland’s un-connected bits of cycle paths. The “three Ls” who shape Auckland – mayor Len Brown, design head Ludo Campbell-Reid and chair of Auckland Transport Lester Levy – keen to impress Sadik-Khan, fell over themselves to promise Barbara Cuthbert of Bike Auckland in front of an audience of over 1500 city-lovers that they would convert the abandoned motorway into a connector between the aging Northwestern cycleway, the new Grafton Gully path and the rest of the city.

The result is extraordinary. This bridge, complete with art works of pulsing lights, pohutukawa trees and a stunning perspective of the city’s favourite bits is no dull bit of infrastructure. Cummins, possibly punch-drunk from lack of sleep, reckons that a project of this complexity would typically take a minimum of two years, but every one of the suppliers was so excited by this build that they pulled out all the stops to whittle that time to eight months. Despite reporting to many “parents” (this is an NZ Transport Agency project as the stretch of road is part of the national motorway), the design team was tight and fast-moving: GHD was lead designer, with architects Monk Mackenzie and engineers from the Agency.

Early thoughts were to plunk something clunky and temporary between the back of K Rd and the old off-ramp. Fortunately, saner heads (and money from minister Simon Bridges’ urban cycleways programme) funded a much better option. Already it’s been named in the World Architectural Festival, design mags are raving.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

blue green [transportblog.co.nz]

*Images: (top of page) transportblog.co.nz – cyclists by Patrick Reynolds, pictured at right; aucklandcouncil.govt.nz – Light Path soaring-cycling-sensation

Stadiums: Auckland works to limits —Dunedin, never

Link received from UpNorth
Fri, 24 Jul 2015 at 8:51 p.m.

█ Message: I see Auckland Town Planners are smart and honest enough to realise that Auckland (population 1.5 million) can’t support 3 outdoor stadiums. Dunedin (population 127k) can’t support one.

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Plans to revamp Auckland’s stadiums are heading nowhere – with a multimillion-dollar price tag – as the Warriors rule out moving to the far end of the North Shore. Steve Deane examines how it came to this.

### NZ Herald Online 7:09 PM Friday Jul 24, 2015
The Big Read: Field of broken dreams
By Steve Deane
Aucklanders are set to spend $27 million upgrading a stadium in Albany so it can host 30,000 spectators. The stadium will host as few as seven matches a year, with attendance for the vast majority expected to be well below 10,000. That’s a good thing, as when crowds get above 20,000, accessing the stadium becomes a nightmare.
At the same time, city officials will shell out another $12 million of ratepayer money building a world class cricket venue which the local association has no plans to call home, meaning it too will host a handful of matches a year. And we’ll evict our NRL franchise, turning its home ground of the last 20 years into a speedway track – a move the Warriors say will force it to take matches out of the city.
This is Auckland’s plan for its sporting stadia for the next 40 years. In just 10 months it will become a reality. Time for some hard questions.

What is the Stadium Strategy?
Auckland’s town planners believe the city cannot financially support three major outdoor sports stadia (Eden Park, Mt Smart and Albany’s QBE Stadium).
Tasked with finding a cheaper solution, the planners have decided to transform Albany into the city’s premier venue for matches that will attract crowds of up to 30,600. Mt Smart Stadium in Penrose is to be converted into a speedway circuit and Western Springs into an international standard cricket venue.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: rcp.co.nz – Eden Park 02

Queen’s Birthday honours to rogues #TTCF #ORFU #PokieRorts

### Stuff.co.nz
Last updated 15:04, June 1 2015
Weekes triplets grandfather awarded Queen’s Service Medal for service to community
A Wellington community stalwart, who lost three grandchildren in the Qatar mall fire, has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Rod Turner received the Queen’s Service Medal for service to the community, including a long career in the Army and dozens of volunteer organisations. The honour recognised “his leadership and selfless dedication to the community”. Turner spent 22 year in the military, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, before retiring and spending nine years as chief executive of the Children’s Health Camps.
Read more

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The piece of skirt responsible for funding irregularities* around the Centre of Excellence for Amateur Sport [for Professional RUGBY] has claimed a QB Honour. Paperwork showing this fraud is held independently.

ODT: Queen’s Birthday Honours 2015
Members MNZM
Kereyn Maree Smith, Auckland, services to sports governance.

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More at this ODT Link

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

RECEIVED COMMENTARY
Tue, 2 Jun 2015 at 7:45 p.m.

Awards all round for those associated with gambling, pokies, serious audit failings and the negative findings of the NZ Gambling Commission.

Sad as the circumstances are for Ron Turner, he was a TTCF Trustee who approved grants to the Centre of Excellence for Amateur Sport in the hope of gaining ORFU’s pokie business after the ORFU had purchased the South Auckland Jokers Bars for about $3 million and so were desperate to align themselves with a pokie trust that would agree to illegally approve all the profits from those bars back to the interests of the ORFU.

The DIA investigated these arrangements and deemed that ORFU had an interest/ownership in the bars and therefore could not receive any proceeds from those bars. Facing potential financial disaster it would appear Kereyn Smith and other cronies associated with the ORFU agreed to front a new trust to counter DIA action.

Ex employees of ORFU, have confirmed that their contracts and pay were suddenly transferred over from the ORFU to the Centre of Excellence. The COE trustees then submitted grant applications to TTCF applying for salaries and costs that had previously been with the ORFU and avoided DIA scrutiny.

According to sources and documents, the very first grant of $500k from TTCF was needed and used for ORFU to meet its financial obligations to complete the purchase of the Jokers Bars and Ms Smith signature appears as sign off for the accountability.

There are serious anomalies which required proper investigation but as we know neither the DIA, the Police, the SFO or this Government are interested in proper investigations. Far easier to hold an award ceremony!!

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Another TTCF trustee, Warren Flaunty, NZ’s most elected man, was convicted of careless driving after causing the death of a young motor cyclist in West Auckland in 2010.

█ For more, enter the terms *pokies*, *pokie rorts*, *ttcf*, *orfu*, *dia* or *kereyn* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin schools —population demographics

Mural at Macandrew Bay School (detail)

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Solutions proposed by school leaders so far include closing one or more secondary schools in the city, establishing enrolment zones or implementing roll caps.

### ODT Online Wed, 6 May 2015
Schools baulk at roll issue
By John Lewis
The Ministry of Education is being asked to step up and take responsibility for finding a solution to the city’s declining secondary school rolls, rather than asking the schools’ leaders to solve the problem. During the past eight months, secret meetings have been held between Dunedin’s secondary principals, board representatives and the ministry, to see if schools could agree on ways of making the city’s secondary school network more efficient, sustainable and equitable for pupils.
Read more

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“We’re not just getting increases in the number of babies being born locally.” –Richard Newton, principal St Clair School

### ODT Online Thu, 7 May 2015
Migrants boost primary school rolls
By John Lewis
The latest Ministry of Education March roll figures show Dunedin’s primary and intermediate school rolls are the highest they have been in six years, despite the secondary rolls being the lowest in 15 years. The rise in overall rolls appears driven by primary rolls, which have been increasing for the past eight years and have reached their highest point since 2001. Intermediate rolls have been increasing for the past four years.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

PROFOUND #AvoidMegaStructuresForHappyCities

Link received Tue, 21 Apr 2015 at 6:45 p.m.

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 17:09, April 21 2015
Christchurch Convention Centre location a ‘mistake’
By Lois Cairns
Putting a convention centre in the middle of Christchurch’s city centre is a mistake, Canadian urban experimentalist Charles Montgomery says.
“If your interest is in creating rich, social, connected environments in your core you should be very wary of plans to drop mega structures into that fabric. Convention centres are notorious, because of their architectural requirements, for killing street life around their edges,” Montgomery said.
“We need to be very wary of renderings of mega structures like convention centres that are filled with cartoon people because frequently those cartoon people don’t actually appear after the structures are built.”
Read more

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[screenshot]

TV1 Q + A 10:36AM Sunday April 12, 2015
The key to a happier life is in the design of our cities.
█ Video: Why sprawling, car dependent cities are making us miserable? Charles Montgomery (10:34)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Otago Polytechnic effective leadership

### ODT Online Thu, 12 Mar 2015
Polytech Efts continue to rise
By Timothy Brown
Otago Polytechnic believes student numbers will continue to climb for the fourth year. The polytechnic has budgeted for 4561 equivalent full-time students (Efts) this year, almost 7% up from last year’s final tally of 4269 Efts. […] The ongoing period of student number growth at the polytechnic comes as numbers are dropping at the University of Otago.
Read more

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Positive messaging! Community Learning! Industry responsive!

Otago Polytechnic Published on May 12, 2014
Study in Dunedin, New Zealand | Otago Polytechnic

█ For more information about studying at Otago Polytechnic’s Dunedin Campus visit http://www.op.ac.nz/dunedin

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DIA —poor job as gambling regulator

LAUGHABLE
The costs of regulation outweigh revenue from fees by $9 million a year.

### NZ Herald Online 5:00 AM Monday Mar 9, 2015
Breaches by pokie operators spark fee increase
By Nicholas Jones
Half of all inspections of pubs and clubs with pokie machines identify breaches or non-compliance with the law. Fees paid by pokie operators are to be increased as levels of fraud and other breaches challenge the Government’s ability to police the sector. Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne is overseeing consultation on proposals that will increase fees paid by clubs and pubs with gambling machines by 54 per cent.

OPERATION CHESTNUT NEAR COMPLETION
DIA, SFO and the Organised Financial Crime Agency NZ scrutinised $30 million in gaming grants made by trusts including Bluegrass. Bluegrass’ licence was cancelled after the DIA ruled its start-up funding was sourced from three racing clubs, rather than from South Canterbury Finance, as claimed.

The past three years have seen an increase in complex investigations into fraud and illegal activity at clubs and societies with pokies. That, and the declining number of pokie machines, has put severe financial pressure on the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA). Gambling enforcement is funded through fees paid by gambling operators.
Read more

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Related Posts and Coomments:
2.2.15 Operation Chestnut: DIA, SFO fluffing round the edges #TTCF #ORFU
11.1.15 Southern complainants: IPCA won’t ensure upfront investigation…
14.12.14 DIA regulates what? Not white collar crime, not with govt looking on!
5.8.14 Gambling Commission shuts down racing’s Bluegrass pokie trust
3.2.14 DIA signed up Intralot amid concerns about bribery and corruption
31.12.13 Martin Legge: Operation Chestnut [DIA’s PR exercise]
30.12.13 DIA insights: Pokie rorts, money-go-rounds, names
11.10.13 New Zealand: Pokie trusts same everywhere #pokierorts
10.10.13 Whistleblowers’ message heard ??! #OtagoRacingClub #pokierorts
1.8.13 Politicians keeping DIA/SFO quiet on ORFU and TTCF #pokierorts
31.3.13 DIA and Office of the Auditor General stuff up bigtime #pokierorts
21.2.13 DIA, SFO investigation #pokierorts
11.11.12 Department of Internal Affairs #pokierorts #coverup #TTCF
25.7.12 Martin Legge backgrounds TTCF (pokie trust) and Portage and Waitakere Licensing Trusts #DIA

█ For more, enter the terms *pokies* or *pokie rorts* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Operation Chestnut: DIA, SFO fluffing round the edges #TTCF #ORFU

“Operation Chestnut has been a significant investigation in the Class 4 sector and we’ve welcomed the opportunity to work in partnership with the SFO and OFCANZ.” –Maarten Quivooy, DIA

### NZ Herald Online 12:00 PM Monday Feb 2, 2015
Four in court charged with $30m pokie fraud
By Hamish Fletcher – Business reporter
A former chairman of Harness Racing New Zealand and three other people have been charged over an alleged $30 million pokie fraud. It is the biggest criminal case ever of its kind involving pokies outside of a casino. Four defendants have appeared in the Wellington District Court today over the alleged manipulation of grants which come from pokie machines, a Department of Internal Affairs spokeswoman said this morning. The defendants, charged by the Serious Fraud Office with obtaining by deception, are former HRNZ chairman Patrick O’Brien, his son Michael O’Brien, Paul Anthony Max and another person with interim name suppression. The alleged offending was uncovered during an investigation called Operation Chestnut which involved the DIA, SFO and the Organised and Financial Crime Agency of New Zealand.
Read more

*The name of the fourth defendant is known to What if? -Eds.

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Related Posts and Comments:
22.1.15 ORFU chairman quits —no thanks to DCC for all its help *sniff
31.12.13 Martin Legge: Operation Chestnut [DIA’s PR exercise]

█ For more, enter the terms *operation chestnut*, *pokies*, *legge*, *whistleblower*, *rorts*, *dia*, *sfo*, *ttcf*, *gambling*, *orfu*, *rugby*, *jokers* and *racing* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Chris Trotter on National’s “developers’ charter” #RMA reforms

The Never-Ending Suburban Dream: Dr Nick Smith’s purported determination to make housing more affordable by “reforming” the Resource Management Act has been widely derided as little more than a National Party recommitment to the urban development model of the 1950s and 60s. In short, to quote Peter Dunne, “a developers’ charter”.

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### bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz
Friday, 23 January 2015 at 08:53
New Zealand Doesn’t Need A “Developers’ Charter”
By Chris Trotter
THE LAWYERS and the environmental lobbyists are already gnawing at Dr Nick Smith’s proposed changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA). Forewarned by the National-led Government’s first, abortive, foray into environmental law reform back in 2013, a forearmed Opposition has this week re-joined the battle with renewed energy.
The United Future leader, Peter Dunne, has warned against turning the RMA into a “Developers’ Charter” – a potent political riff upon which his parliamentary colleagues have been only-too-happy to extemporise.
Has the Prime Minister, rubbing shoulders with 1 percent of 1 percent of the 1 Percent at Davos, given equal heed to the venerable Member for Ohariu? Given that few politicians’ appreciation of middle-class New Zealanders’ tics and tells is stronger than Mr Dunne’s, if John Key isn’t paying attention to him, then he should – and soon.
Not that, in the brutal numbers game that determines whether a piece of legislation succeeds or fails, Mr Key needs the endorsement of Mr Dunne. The parliamentary arithmetic of environmental law reform requires no complicated figuring. The Act Party’s grace-and-favour MP for Epsom, David Seymour, has already signalled (well in advance of any actual shouts of “Division called for!”) that he will be supplying Dr Smith with the single vote necessary (in addition to National’s 60 votes) to ensure the passage of the Government’s environmental reforms.
Which is, when you think about it, extraordinary. With sixty MPs, National’s current parliamentary caucus is, by historical standards, a large one. It is also slavishly obedient.
[…] It has been a very long time indeed since a National Party politician “crossed the floor” in any kind of procedurally meaningful context. For many years now absolute caucus discipline has not only been assumed – it has prevailed.
Such robotic compliance is not good for the health of National’s caucus; the wider National Party organisation; nor, ultimately, for that of parliamentary democracy itself. Voters need to believe that there are at least some MPs whose definitive allegiance is to values and principles more enduring than the arguments of their Party Whip. On matters crucial to both the social and the natural environments, the practice of representative democracy should rise above the crude calculations of purely partisan arithmetic. It should be about reason and science; about being persuaded by the evidence and securing the greatest good for the greatest number.
Replacing New Zealand’s much admired RMA with a “Developers’ Charter” would be about none of those things.
Read more

█ This essay was originally published in The Waikato Times, The Taranaki Daily News, The Timaru Herald, The Otago Daily Times and The Greymouth Star of Friday, 23 January 2015.

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Related Posts and Comments:
19.1.15 Housing affordability in this country is “just hopeless” –Hugh Pavletich
17.1.15 Ian Athfield dies #architecture
31.12.14 New building laws —happy new year!
9.11.14 Dunedin: Housing upgrade and “rearrangement”
24.10.14 DCC 2GP (district plan): Residential parking + Medium density housing
16.5.14 Dunedin housing
19.3.14 State Housing matters
2.3.14 Dunedin’s social housing need —they built a bastard stadium
12.2.14 DCC: Growth v development contributions
12.6.13 Dunedin housing: building up or Brown-like sprawl #intensification…
30.7.12 National Govt puts champagne and stadium before shelter housing
14.4.12 How perverse is the New Zealand housing market?
8.12.11 interest.co heats NZ housing debate – listen up
13.3.11 Foster on Christchurch rebuild – typical architect… #eqnz
26.12.10 New Zealand housing, a sorry tale

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: (top) Hannah Peters/Getty Images AsiaPac – John Key PM and Nick Smith at Hobsonville housing development (August 2014); radiolive.co.nz – Chris Trotter tweaked by whatifdunedin

Housing affordability in this country is “just hopeless” –Hugh Pavletich

September 2014. Another 17 Special Housing Areas were revealed in Auckland, under the plan to accelerate new home building – only two of them outside the suburbs. Housing Minister Nick Smith and Auckland Mayor Len Brown announcing the special housing. Link Photo: Radio New Zealand

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### NZ Herald Online 9:15 AM Monday Jan 19, 2015
Property: Mad truths on home prices in Auckland
Auckland housing affordability has worsened and it remains one of the 10 least affordable big cities in the world. Auckland’s surging housing market is now only slightly cheaper than London but pricier than Los Angeles, Toronto, New York, Perth, Brisbane and Boston.

█ The latest Demographia survey (1.74 MB), released today, compares prices with incomes in 378 cities, including 86 with more than one million people.

Auckland is one of the most unaffordable places due to its high house prices and low incomes. […] Now, the median house price has climbed to $613,000 and income to $75,100, giving a multiple of 8.2 and maintaining Auckland’s top 10 spot for unaffordable major cities.
Property Council chief Connal Townsend blamed Auckland Council’s planning regulations. “We’ve got houses more expensive than LA. How is this possible? A dump in Pt Chevalier demands a million dollars, which gets you a mansion in Beverly Hills. We’ve reached the point of madness.”
Survey authors Hugh Pavletich of Christchurch and Wendell Cox of the United States criticised the Government and Auckland Council for failing to ease affordability by vastly increasing housing supply via the Housing Accord and its 80 Special Housing Areas, but said the situation was bad in other areas too.

█ Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith said housing affordability problems went back 25 years but the Government was planning additional reforms this year, particularly around the Resource Management Act.

Analysis: So … what can be done?
Auckland is extraordinarily expensive relative to incomes and rents but the solutions need to be broader than what Demographia argues on land supply, writes Shamubeel Eaqub, principal economist at the NZIER.
Read more

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Auckland Housing Accord (2014)
Under the terms of the accord approved between the Government and the Auckland Council, a total of 39,000 new homes/sections are targeted for approval over the next three years. Not all of those 39,000 have to be found specifically through the accord, as the figure includes all developments that might be approved in Auckland during that period. Link

Graphic via interest.co.nz [click to enlarge]

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### stuff.co.nz Last updated 09:18, January 19 2015
Auckland in world top ten for housing unaffordability: report
By Laura Walters
The co-author of a survey which found Auckland house prices exceeded those in Los Angeles says housing affordability in this country is “just hopeless”. The 11th annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey classified Auckland as the ninth least affordable major city in the world. Auckland is the 14th least affordable city out of all 378 cities surveyed, and has been rated as “severely unaffordable” in 11 surveys done – less affordable than Los Angeles and the Gold Coast. “It’s just not on, is it? The social injustice of the whole thing’s just dreadful. It’s screwing up people’s lives big time,” said Christchurch-based Hugh Pavletich. When the cost of housing exceeded three times people’s incomes it showed there was a “massive problem” with infrastructure financing and land supply, he said.

NZ HOUSING AFFORDABILITY DROPS
While Auckland’s house prices were extremely high, Tauranga-Western Bay of Plenty, Christchurch and Wellington were also seen in the survey as “severely unaffordable”. Palmerston North-Manawatu and Hamilton-Waikato were “seriously unaffordable”. There were no moderately affordable or affordable markets in New Zealand, according to the survey. “Housing affordability has declined materially in New Zealand’s three largest markets over the last decade.”

Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens said the high prices of New Zealand houses had a lot to do with the tax regime being favourable to home ownership and property investment compared with other forms of saving or investment.
Read more

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Todd Property Group with Fletcher Residential – Stonefields is a 110 hectare development at Mt Wellington, located, only 8km from the Auckland Central Business District and next to the established eastern suburbs of Ellerslie, Meadowbank and St Johns. Photo: panoramio.com

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Government’s council tax freeze

At least 30 Tory-led local authorities are planning to reject demands to freeze tax rates this year, a Telegraph survey finds.

### telegraph.co.uk 8:30AM GMT 11 Jan 2015
Council tax to rise in Tory shires despite freeze ordered by ministers
By Edward Malnick – The Telegraph
Dozens of councils are preparing to defy the Government’s council tax freeze, including many in Conservative heartlands. A survey by The Telegraph found that at least 30 Tory-led local authorities are planning to reject demands to freeze tax rates this year. They are among 60 across England who say they intend to increase bills from April — including almost half of the country’s 27 county councils.

The Government has said councils should help taxpayers with the cost of living and ministers will be particularly concerned in the run-up to the general election in May.

Eric Pickles, the Local Government Secretary, said residents should “demand an explanation” if councils refused the freeze. He accused some of being “democracy dodgers” for planning to push up rates by 1.99 per cent, shy of the 2 per cent threshold at which they would have to hold a referendum.
More than 80 councils said that their proposals would not be published until a later date, raising the prospect of more householders facing rises.
The Telegraph surveyed all 353 of England’s councils about their 2015-16 council tax bills, most of which will be finalised by March. Of the 262 that responded, only four said that they were preparing to reduce their levies, while 116 were planning to go along with the request to freeze rates.
Read more

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█ Soundings at Whale Oil Beef Hooked:
Cameron Slater 13/1/15 “This would be a fantastic policy to have here, as it would stop the councils doing exceptionally stupid things because there is no way in hell voters would vote for a rates rise of greater than 2%. There are a few things needed for local government reform in New Zealand. The first is the power of recall and recall elections. The USA has them, Canada has them, and the UK is getting them. This would allow citizens to remove ratbag mayors and councillors instead of waiting 3 years.” More

Postscript: Cameron Slater 13/1/15 Lusty, loopy, lascivious and now SLIMY Len

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Dunedin City Council, glory days. What can possibly happen to Cull.

█ You might want to sponsor the dropkick…. anything to fix the Citifleet profile eh, Daaave —[McKerracher goes mad with PR opps]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Christchurch rebuild, slants

Slow to roll….

nzplatts Published on May 7, 2014

Christchurch CBD Rebuild 2014
All music rights to Coldplay ‘Fix You’ – https://itunes.apple.com/nz/artist/coldplay/id471744

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Christchurch, rise….

DTPictures NZ Published on Jan 18, 2014

Christchurch – January 2014
The familiar sound of Christchurch’s trams are back in the CBD, it was a glorious day, and I wanted to test out my new GoPro! Cue time lapses, wide angles, and gratuitous slow motion shots…
Photography: Dan Heuston
Music: ‘Rise’ by Ultravox (Google Play • iTunes)

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### stuff.co.nz Last updated 05:00, January 10 2015
Tougher conditions expected
By Tim Fulton – The Press
CHRISTCHURCH—Commercial construction firms are waiting to see how busy they will be this year as big jobs come together. The city’s commercial construction will get tougher, as the “greater rebuild” starts to wind down, Anthony Leighs says. “I have a bit of a fear that some will just react a bit too slowly and that will be painful and financially costly,” Leighs, the managing director of Leighs Construction, says.
The key to doing well in the rebuild is growing strategically, he says. Some companies are already caught between “scale-up” mode and planning for the time when work falls away. “Anecdotally, I know there are construction organisations who are finding the going, pretty bloody tough. And from this point onwards it’s not going to get easier – it’s going to get harder.”
Large projects for Leighs in the next 24 months will include Burwood Hospital overhaul and the Westpac and ASB buildings.
Commercial builders are also developing Christchurch Public Hospital, the Convention Centre, the Justice Precinct and “supposedly the Metro Sports Centre”. It is adding to the national strain on labour and construction materials, Leighs says. “The demand on resourcing is already pretty acute and it’s going to become far more significant.”

Hawkins chief executive Jim Boult says subcontractors to Canterbury’s commercial rebuild may soon look to the residential sector to ease staff shortages.

Christchurch has “adequate work for all good commercial construction companies at the moment” but companies will have to be nimble, Boult says. Most commercial firms are waiting to see how busy they will be, if and when some large government and private sector jobs come together. “If they all come out one-after-another, no problem. But if they all come out at the same time, then that could cause some constraints,” Boult says.
Contractors will probably need more migrants and imported, pre-fabricated materials from overseas to get the work done. They will also need to be careful not to be too large once their workload falls away.
Read more

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58 comments….

### 3news.co.nz Wednesday 5 Nov 2014 11:27 a.m.
Rebuild companies breaching employment law – MBIE
Labour inspectors say they’re disappointed how many staff working on the Christchurch rebuild are not being treated fairly by their bosses. Sixteen labour hire and construction companies have been found to have breached employment laws following audits by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Labour Inspectorate. Inspectors audited 40 Canterbury companies in the last six months and of the 23 audits now complete, 16 have breached employment laws. Most of the breaches related to incomplete employment agreements, unlawful deductions from wages and insufficient records, Labour Inspectorate southern region manager Steve Watson says. NZN
Read more

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Back then (2012)….

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 19:46 30/07/2012
Rebuild plan for Christchurch unveiled
By Lois Cairns
As many as 840 properties will need to be purchased to turn the Government’s plans for rebuilding Christchurch’s city centre into reality. The 100-day blueprint released by the Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU) today outlines a bold plan to significantly shrink the size of the CBD by designating two strips of land – one in the east of the city and one in the south – as open spaces. These open spaces, along with the Avon River, which will be widened in stretches and developed into a riverside park, will serve to frame the new CBD, ensuring that all new development is concentrated within a tight geographic area.
Read more | Interpretive Location Map

AJ Funnell Published on Jul 7, 2014

Christchurch Flyover
Christchurch’s new look city… The video says up to 10,000 people could be working within 300 metres of the city centre. Animation Research Ltd (ARL).

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Auckland Council: Hark to DCC’s well-tried model of corporate welfare

Sky City International Convention Centre and hotel.

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Somebody ruthlessly slips the word “National” into the name for Auckland’s proposed convention centre.

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 17:32, December 22 2014
Auckland Councillors blast Sky City ‘corporate welfare’
By Niko Kloeten
Auckland ratepayers should not have to pay for a blow-out in the cost of the Sky City National (sic) Convention Centre, councillors say.
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce raised the prospect of the Auckland Council chipping in to help fund the project, after new estimates revealed the cost could blow out by as much as $128 million. The increase in cost could leave taxpayers on the hook for any shortfall, but Joyce said the council could provide some assistance. “If you look at the Wellington Council, they’ve just done a deal to do a convention centre there, a much smaller one, but they’ve under-written some operating costs and that might help was well,” he told Radio New Zealand.
Howick councillor Dick Quax said the money would be better spent on the city’s much-needed transport projects, several of which have been delayed due to funding pressures. “It could be the beginning of an endless group of corporates coming to the council with their hands out. I don’t support corporate welfare at all.”
Read more

█ Dunedin City Council bought professional rugby and simultaneously lost 152 cars. But wait, there’s more.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DIA regulates what? Not white collar crime, not with govt looking on!

This one’s for Sue Ingram, DIA.

Charity expert Michael Gousmett has labelled the failure to pursue the investigation a cop-out. “To brush it under the carpet, [Internal Affairs] is basically abdicating their responsibility,” Gousmett said. “They tend to pick on the low-hanging fruit and you would have to question what the real purpose of the regulator is.”

### NZ Herald Online 5:00 AM Sunday Dec 14, 2014
Glenn charity probe dumped
By Bevan Hurley – chief reporter
Internal Affairs has abandoned an investigation into alleged irregular payments for a thoroughbred racehorse made by Sir Owen Glenn’s charity. After being under investigation for 18 months, the Glenn Family Foundation Charitable Trust charity was voluntarily deregistered on December 1. The charities regulator launched an investigation after emails appeared to show payments from the Glenn Family Foundation to a bloodstock company and Sir Owen’s personal bank account.
The alleged irregular payments surfaced in an email from former trust chief executive Peter McGlashan to Sir Owen, in which he wrote “large international transfer payments you requested be made to Bloodstocks Ltd and to your account in Sydney”. McGlashan’s email stated the payments “are not typical” of a charitable trust and will “no doubt need explaining” when the charity’s accounts were being prepared.
Charities service general manager Lesa Kalapu defended the length of the investigation, and lack of a resolution, saying there had been delays because Sir Owen lived overseas. “Purely because of the scale, and the international aspect to it, there were delays.” She said there was a “fair level of co-operation”.
Sir Owen told the Herald on Sunday negative media coverage had forced him to leave New Zealand.
The Charities Service came under the Department of Internal Affairs in July 2012.
Read more

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A lot has happened, a lot of investigation files have been deliberately buried.
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has been deficient, dissembling and politically influenced to not pursue prosecution of innumerable persons — recognised pillars of society, professional trustees, lawyers and accountants amongst them — known to be involved in multimillion-dollar white collar crime.
A public disgrace, no less for the successive Ministers concerned.
But don’t worry, no-one is naïve in saying this.

A short reflection, by topics 2012 – 2014 . . . .

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27.11.14 Sport Otago’s Brimble and ORFU’s Kinley never give up —ugly paperwork exists boys !!
19.9.14 Chief Ombudsman Beverley Wakem to launch post-election inquiry
22.8.14 DCC: Deloitte report referred to the police #Citifleet
5.8.14 Gambling Commission shuts down racing’s Bluegrass pokie trust
27.7.14 NZ journalism, Ean Higgins got it in one #knowwhatwethinkofGerry
13.7.14 Great quote: men
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15.3.14 Mayoral DISGRACE: DCC won’t ask ORFU to repay $480K bailout
14.3.14 ORFU flush to pay creditors
20.2.14 National-led government rejects state sector reform
15.2.14 Corruption: US mirror to ministerial meddling in DIA business
3.2.14 DIA signed up Intralot amid concerns about bribery and corruption

31.12.13 Martin Legge: Operation Chestnut [DIA’s PR exercise]
30.12.13 DIA insights: Pokie rorts, money-go-rounds, names
8.12.13 SFO budget slashed, how useful were they ?! #politicalinterference
7.12.13 Corruption in NZ Sport: Where has John Key PM been hiding ???
15.10.13 NZRU, ORFU blasphemies etc
11.10.13 New Zealand: Pokie trusts same everywhere #pokierorts
10.10.13 Whistleblowers’ message heard ??! #OtagoRacingClub #pokierorts
26.8.13 New Zealand rorts and sports —dependence on gambling and white collar crime
1.8.13 Politicians keeping DIA/SFO quiet on ORFU and TTCF #pokierorts
15.7.13 Leave Otago white collar criminals ALONE, and other unfairness
29.6.13 Audit NZ and OAG clean bill of health —Suspicious!
7.6.13 Peter Dunne, undone
28.5.13 Carisbrook: Auditor-General #fails Dunedin residents and ratepayers
31.3.13 DIA and Office of the Auditor General stuff up bigtime #pokierorts
15.3.13 ORFU should be subject to full forensic investigation
21.2.13 DIA, SFO investigation #pokierorts
11.2.13 Recognising whistleblowers
7.2.13 DIA not releasing report #ORFU #NZRU #pokierorts
24.1.13 Pike River, Department of Internal Affairs #skippingthebusiness

30.12.12 Internal Affairs is a whole other planet #whitecollarcrime #DIArorts
18.11.12 Martin Legge: DIA audit criticism #pokierorts #coverup
13.11.12 Martin Legge replies to Sunday Star-Times story #DIA #coverup
11.11.12 Department of Internal Affairs #pokierorts #coverup
26.10.12 Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) – CULPABLE #pokierorts
3.10.12 DScene: Russell Garbutt seeks DIA file to Crown Law #pokierorts
15.9.12 Martin Legge responds to NZ Herald news
27.8.12 DIA’s political cover-up of TTCF and ORFU rorts
22.8.12 Martin Legge releases emails to Dunedin community #ORFU
15.8.12 Keeping ORFU sweet [email]
12.8.12 DIA reshuffle: new investigation teams, money laundering, criticism
28.7.12 Pokie fraud: ODT fails to notice own backyard
25.7.12 Martin Legge backgrounds TTCF (pokie trust) and Portage and Waitakere Licensing Trusts #DIA
24.7.14 Mention in NZ Herald dispatches: TTCF and friends ORFU
15.7.12 Martin Legge responds to media stories on Murray Acklin, TTCF and DIA
● 26.6.12 Department of Internal Affairs, ORFU, Centre of Excellence for Amateur Sport, and TTCF
22.6.12 Connections: ORFU and local harness racing
5.6.12 The Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill
● 4.6.12 Questions: ORFU and the Centre of Excellence for Amateur Sport
27.5.12 Again: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
26.5.12 DIA media release
23.5.12 Latest: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
20.5.12 Update: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
18.5.12 Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
2.5.12 Ratepayers pay for ORFU black-tie dinner at stadium
29.4.12 Department of Internal Affairs, the gambling authority
22.4.12 DIA, OAG, TTCF and Otago Rugby swim below the line
23.3.12 ORFU position

● [3.3.10 Yep, Kereyn Smith thinks like ‘stadium boys’ – see more]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Sport Otago’s Brimble and ORFU’s Kinley never give up —ugly paperwork exists boys !!

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

### ODT Online Thu, 27 Nov 2014
Sport
Gambling: Gaming funds sport: Is the trade-off worth it?
By Adrian Seconi
Are sporting bodies turning a blind eye to problem gambling because of the estimated $120 million-$130 million gaming trusts provide each year? Reporter Adrian Seconi asks prominent administrators John Brimble and Richard Kinley their thoughts. It is an ethical minefield, but without the funding the gambling industry provides, many sporting organisations would collapse and sport would be out of reach for some families. Both Sport Otago chief executive John Brimble and Otago Rugby Football Union general manager Richard Kinley want to be very clear about that point.
Read more

█ TOMORROW: The TAB has its say.

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“It’s going to be fun. The NZ Racing Board is a $2 billion business that plays a vital role in the New Zealand economy by supporting the racing and sports industries. It is also the owner and operator of the TAB which is an exciting commercial enterprise and iconic New Zealand brand.”–John Allen.

### NZ Herald Online 3:57 PM Wednesday Nov 26, 2014
Mfat chief executive John Allen moves to NZ Racing Board
–Herald Online / BusinessDesk
Foreign Affairs and Trade chief executive John Allen is resigning to take up the role of head of the NZ Racing Board. Mr Allen began as the Mfat head in in July 2009 and headed a controversial restructuring of the government department which was opposed by many staff and saw 49 ambassadors and heads of foreign missions co-sign a letter criticising the plan. […] Mr Allen’s departure was flagged by political newsletter Trans-Tasman, which said he planned to announce next Monday that he is leaving for a top post in the private sector.
This afternoon, the NZ Racing Board confirmed it had appointed Mr Allen as its new CEO.
Read more

For more, enter the terms *gambling*, *pokies*, *dia*, *rugby*, *racing* *rorts* *whistleblower*, *fraud*, *white collar crime* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Auckland’s Civic Building first skyscraper #Modern

Photographer Patrick Reynolds says the Civic is an important building by an important architect – chief city architect Tibor Donner (1946-1967) – and it appealed enormously as “Hotel Moderne” with its modernist credentials.

### metromag.co.nz June 10, 2014
Urban Design
The Civic Building: Modernist Folly, Architectural Treasure
By Chris Barton
Why we should all be up in arms at the threatened demolition of the Auckland Council Civic Building.
There’s a surprise at the top of the hated Civic Building. From afar, you could guess there was some sort of observation deck, but the central roof-top courtyard open to the sky and to terrific east and west viewing across the cityscape to the harbour is a delight. Shut to the public since the 1970s, the restricted area is looking a little shabby, but one can easily imagine how the space could be brought back to life and, combined with a makeover of the staff cafeteria a level below, could be the tearoom talk of the town. Here might be a rare commodity in Auckland — public space on high — given that most other high places are either off limits, commercialised or privatised.
No 1 Greys Ave, formerly known as the Auckland City Council Administration Building, has plenty of other unique features: the rolled Corbusian corners of the metal-clad plant room, the curvy Le Corbusier-inspired entrance canopy, the mezzanine lobby and the precast terrazzo treads and iron balustrades of the open staircase.
Read more + Photos by Patrick Reynolds

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### NZ Herald Online 11:51 AM Tuesday Nov 18, 2014
Bid to save NZ’s first skyscraper
By Bernard Orsman – Super City reporter
Plans to save New Zealand’s first skyscraper, the Civic Building on Aotea Square, or demolish it have been outlined to councillors and the media today. Council officers have been investigating options and market interest to refurbish the building, which will be empty by the New Year after serving as the city’s main civic administration building since 1966. The wrecking ball has been hanging over the building since the Auckland Council paid $104 million for the 31-storey ASB Bank Centre in Albert St for its new headquarters. The 100m tower was designed in the 1950s and completed in 1966. It has been criticised as an ugly box, but many architects marvel at its features. Architect Julia Gatley, an authority on modern architecture in New Zealand, has praised it as a beautifully proportioned, slender building that encapsulates modernism. It has no heritage status, but two reports have suggested it warrants a category A listing, and the council’s heritage division says it merits category B status. Heritage New Zealand also wants to see it gain heritage status and saved. The council’s property arm said without major refurbishment and the removal asbestos it would be unsuitable for council or other uses, such as commercial, residential and hotel. Auckland Council Property said it would cost about $78 million for full refurbishment to modern office and code requirements, or $60 million for a residential conversion. Demolition and site reinstatement is estimated at between $11.5 million to $12.5 million.
Read more

Civic Building demolished – revamped Aotea Square with new ‘teletubbie’ commercial buildings | Regional Facilities Auckland

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: (from top) heritageetal.blogspot.com – Former Auckland City Council Administration Building, 1 Greys Avenue (1981); metromag.co.nz – Civic Building on Aotea Square by Patrick Reynolds; stuffcrush.blogspot.co.nz – Civic Building, fenestration detail (2011) by Caleb

Dunedin: Housing upgrade and “rearrangement”

Continuing suburban sprawl at Mosgiel and Abbotsford, and new subdivisions in St Clair, Corstorphine and Highcliff, are keeping the builders busy-ish. Is it a boom? Hardly, population increases aren’t driving this, it’s more of a rearrangement and foil to the council’s broader district planning aims. As always, it’s the developers that set the rules while the council languishes. Worst of all, nailing the City Development Team to policy planning and a flimsy ‘doctorate’ (as the council takes pride in playing its isolationist academic cards) isn’t the answer —just another point of remove from the industry boys.
Is it surprising.

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“Land in the more desirable suburbs usually has a house on it and usually the house is just a bit too good to knock down.” –Neil McLeod, DCC building services manager

### ODT Online Sun, 9 Nov 2014
Building boom in city
By Dan Hutchinson – The Star
Dunedin is experiencing the biggest new-house building boom since the beginning of the global financial crisis.
Building activity has boosted the number of people employed in the construction industry to an all-time high of 3590, based on figures provided by Statistics New Zealand.
Read more

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“The Mosgiel East and Taieri East areas are peri-urban areas that until recently were considered rural. Changes to the zoning by the council has seen these areas changed to residential zones for the development of subdivisions.” Ref: University of Otago (Geography) – TLA Approaches: Managing Effects of Rural Subdivision and Development of Peri-urban Lands (2011)

Silver Springs Subdivision, Wingatui Rd, Mosgiel UoO Link (2011)

Gladstone Oaks – Prudence Place Subdivision, Mosgiel RE Listing (2013)

“The expansion of the Mosgiel area has resulted in conflict between those wishing for short term capital gains and those looking towards a longer term gain through the productive use of the land. It has at times been a heated debate with both sides using the ‘Sustainability’ argument to support their views …. One clear fact can be surmised, The loss of high class soil areas to development is highly unlikely to be reversed. The decisions that have made on the Taieri Plains, although made in an attempt to bolster the economic prosperity of the area, have uncertain environmental impacts for the future.” UoO Link

Soil Map of Mosgiel [Source: DCC]

From an earlier comment:

Mosgiel’s future? Tawdry cul-de-sacs, cheek-by-jowl McMansions, high-cost retirement villages and horsy-jodhpur lifestyle blocks. DCC hasn’t got a plan, and it’s too late anyway – the developers with all the control only offer the bad-taste ad hoc.

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Related Posts and Comments:
24.10.14 DCC 2GP (district plan): Residential parking + Medium density housing
24.9.14 Dunedin old boys, councillors & staff collude on 5-star accommodation
16.5.14 Dunedin housing
19.3.14 State Housing matters
2.3.14 Dunedin’s social housing need —they built a bastard stadium
● 12.2.14 DCC: Growth v development contributions
25.10.13 Dunedin: “no-growth city”
20.10.13 Doh, low growth for Dunedin
10.10.13 Whistleblowers’ message heard ??! #OtagoRacingClub… [comments]
18.8.13 South Dunedin and other low lying areas
12.6.13 Dunedin housing: building up or Brown-like sprawl #intensification…
2.4.13 Dunedin: Developers stoop to resource consents instead of private plan…
29.3.13 Reykjavik, Iceland: The strongest mirror [speculative apartments]
21.3.13 Growth fetish ? Urban sprawl v Higher density living ?
3.3.13 RNZ Sunday Morning | Ideas: Re-imagining the Urban House
30.7.12 ORC on hazard risks and land use controls
14.4.12 How perverse is the New Zealand housing market?
8.12.11 interest.co heats NZ housing debate – listen up
25.11.11 South Dunedin and other flood zones
8.11.11 Development contributions
24.9.11 Kevin McCloud interview
27.4.11 What to do, what to do! [CHC #eqnz aside]
24.4.11 Oram on Auckland Spatial Plan, and more
23.3.11 Dunedin City Council’s rock and its hard place
2.2.11 Dunedin building and construction (+DCC fees)
9.1.11 Detroit: “Make no little plans”
29.12 10 Geospatial analysis, relieving burdens on existing infrastructure
28.12.10 ‘Light urbanism’ – planners influencing residential design
26.12.10 New Zealand housing, a sorry tale
24.10.10 Otara Simple House
27.9.10 Cities: Wellington, or Dunedin?
13.9.10 Same again, Dunedin City District Plan about to be ignored
15.8.10 WILD about Wanaka

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr