Dunedin’s second generation district plan (2GP) —notes on Natural Hazards

Received from Neil Johnstone
Wed, 3 May 2017 at 7:19 p.m.

Message: Last Thursday (27 April) I presented the remainder of my submission on Natural Hazards. Notes attached in case they might help anybody’s further efforts.

{The notes from Mr Johnstone are public domain by virtue of the consultative 2GP hearing process. -Eds}

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2GP PRESENTATION NOTES: LANDSLIDES
Neil Johnstone

I have no property interest in any landslide hazard area (although I did previously), nor in the Water of Leith catchment, nor in South Dunedin. My main purpose in appearing at this stage is to bring to the panel’s attention that the expert (so-called) opinions received from Otago Regional Council’s (ORC) natural hazard analysts are often deficient to the detriment of the 2GP process and the city’s residents.

I am a long-term resident of Dunedin and am highly experienced in flood control issues and solutions. I am appearing here on my own behalf, therefore not strictly as an Expert Witness in this instance, although I have done so in past years both in both the High Court and the Environment Court. I also acted as lead technical advisor to the NZ Govt investigation into the massive 1999 Clutha flood. My detailed investigations have ranged from simple issues such as the Water of Leith (as Investigations Engineer at Otago Catchment Board and ORC) to the entire Clutha catchment (in varying roles). These investigations have often incorporated the construction and operation of accurate, properly verified models.

I am now semi-retired MIPENZ, but still running my own consultancy on a reduced basis. I am a highly experienced expert in flood issues, I am much less so wrt landslide identification and mitigation (but I know a nonsensical report when I read one). ORC hazard analysts responsible for the landslide buffer zones originally imposed across my former property (and many others) need to accept that their approach was seriously flawed, and far from expert. Paul Freeland has mentioned to me in a recent phone conversation that Dunedin City Council (DCC) should be able to have confidence that ORC hazard analysts are expert. I have no strong criticism of Mr Freeland, but those days have passed – in this region at least – when expertise was based on proven performance, and not on a position’s title. A property previously owned by my wife and me in Porterfield Street, Macandrew Bay was quite ridiculously misrepresented in ORC’s landslide report of September 2015. The landslide hazard zone on that property has apparently now been removed, but uncaring damage has been done to us, and no doubt to many others. The Hazard 2 zone was reportedly imposed without site inspection, or without anybody properly reviewing output or checking accuracy of references.

[Reason for submitting: Natural Hazards section of 2GP dominated (undermined) by ORC hazards staff input and DCC failure to verify/review; DCC presumption that ORC “experts” do/should have appropriate expertise. We appear to be witnessing a proliferation of Hazard Analysts in NZ Local Government with little relevant experience or skill.]

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2GP PRESENTATION NOTES: SOUTH DUNEDIN
Neil Johnstone

The comments re South Dunedin flood hazard contained in my original written submission were written prior to DCC’s producing its inaccurate flood reports in respect of the South Dunedin flooding of early June 2015 in which high groundwater levels were held to blame. These DCC reports were eventually released in late November 2015 and April 2016 respectively. My analyses (well after my original submission) demonstrated that the prime cause of widespread flooding in South Dunedin was DCC’s failure (in order of probable significance) to utilise the bypass facility at Tahuna Wastewater Treatment Plant, to fully utilise its stormwater pumping capacity at Portobello Road, and to maintain its stormwater infrastructure (mudtanks etc). Inflow of “foreign” water from the St Clair catchment added to the depth of inundation in some areas. All these can be remedied by a diligent Council. Some have already been remedied, as positively demonstrated in the admittedly rather over-hyped rain event of the subtropical cyclone remnant around this past Easter.

ORC natural hazard analysts were probably responsible for the origin of the groundwater myth as a cause of the South Dunedin flooding in their Coastal Otago Flood Event 3 June 2015 report. Reference was made there to “elevated” ground water levels. They followed up with a contentious report (The Natural Hazards of South Dunedin, July 2016). This opens by stating that the June 2015 flooding was caused by heavy rainfall and high groundwater levels, with no mention of mudtanks, or pumping failures (plural). Such reporting cannot be treated as balanced, nor its authors credible. Elsewhere, ORC essentially conceded the groundwater myth in Rebecca Macfie’s excellent NZ Listener article entitled Flood Fiasco (June 11, 2016).

Shortly after, however, ORC produced the aforementioned South Dunedin Hazards report (backed up by an embarrassingly inaccurate video presentation) that seems to reflect a desire to preach doom rather than convey a balanced defendable scientific analysis of South Dunedin realities and solutions where needed.

One of the worst features of the report and subsequent video was the depiction of projected permanently inundated areas of South Dunedin based on ORC modelling of rising sea level effects. These depictions made front page news in the Otago Daily Times with flow-on reporting nationally. The mapped areas of inundation are actually taken from an earlier ORC report entitled The South Dunedin Coastal Aquifer and Effect of Sea Level Fluctuations (October 2012). The modelling was based on limited information, and the findings would therefore be expected to be of limited reliability. The 2012 report essentially confirms this, noting that modelling of existing conditions overestimates actual groundwater levels (by the order of half a metre in places). Figure 2 (Scenario 0) of that report shows significant permanent ponding for current conditions. None exists in reality. Almost lost (in Section 3.8) are the following (abbreviated, and amongst other) concessions:

• Uncertainty of input data
• Potential inaccuracy of model predictions
• High level of uncertainty
• Groundwater system is poorly to moderately well characterised
• Aquifer properties are poorly understood or quantified
• Each of these uncertainties could have the effect of overestimating the groundwater ponding in the current setting.

The reader is advised to read the full Section 3.8 to ensure contextual accuracy. In my view (as an experienced modeller), a study that cannot even replicate known existing relationships is imperfectly calibrated and unverified. It cannot therefore be relied on. Strictly speaking, it does not qualify as a model. The relationship between possible sea level rise and consequent groundwater impact remains highly uncertain.

Unfortunately, the 2016 ORC South Dunedin Hazards report (and video) chose to reproduce the 2012 ponding predictions using more recent data (but without any better appreciation of aquifer characteristics), but the predictions are similar. It is noted that no Scenario 0 mapping is included in the latter report, nor are the model’s inherent weaknesses described. No admission of the potential modelling inaccuracies is presented other than the following note in Section 4.1: “Further discussion of the original model parameters, model calibration and potential pitfalls is included in the ORC (2012a) report, which can be accessed on the ORC website”. I believe that all parties were entitled to know unequivocally that the modelling was unreliable and unverified.

The 2016 report also makes reference to the fact that dry-weather ground water levels at the Culling Park recorder are at or below mean sea level. This is attributed by the authors to leakage of ground water into the stormwater and wastewater sewers. If that is correct (I would reserve judgement as to whether there may be other factors), then we are witnessing just one example of how an engineered solution could be utilised to dissipate increasing depth of groundwater. Such solutions are canvassed in the BECA report commissioned by DCC several years back.

To summarise, South Dunedin’s exposure to flood (current or future) is poorly described by ORC hazard analysts. The 2GP process seems to have seen these analysts “adopted” by DCC planners as their experts. I consider that to be an inappropriate approach to the detriment of our citizens.

The proposal to require relocatable housing in South Dunedin seems premature, and based on highly questionable information. The proposal for relocatable housing in South Dunedin also rather pre-empts the currently-planned DCC study of overseas approaches to sea level rise solutions.

Requiring relocatable houses will likely simply mean that aged houses that should in time be replaced will be repaired instead. Who is going to build a new relocatable house if they have nowhere to relocate to and probably insufficient money to acquire the requisite land? The proposal to require relocatable housing is ill-considered and premature in my opinion.

With respect to ground water issues across South Dunedin, the 2016 Hazard Report presents –

The reason for my pointing out these facts is to encourage Commissioners to take a step back from the current hysteria surrounding South Dunedin. Had the 2015 flooding extent been restricted (as it should have been) to that which occurred in a slightly larger rainfall event in March 1968, the event would have already been forgotten. Seemingly, at least partly as a result of that hysteria, the proposal to require relocatable housing in South Dunedin seems premature, and based on highly questionable information. Just as ORC floodplain mapping contradicts its in-place flood protection philosophy, so does the proposal for relocatable housing in South Dunedin also rather pre-empt the currently planned DCC study of overseas approaches to sea level rise.

Requiring relocatable houses will simply mean that aged houses that should in time be replaced will be repaired instead. Who is going to build a new relocatable house if they have nowhere to relocate to and probably no money to acquire the requisite land? The proposal for relocatable housing is ill-considered and premature in my opinion.

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2GP PRESENTATION: URBAN STREAM HAZARDS
Neil Johnstone

Urban Stream Comment re Leith and Lindsay Streams:

ORC’s mapping is said to be of residual flooding (post-flood protection works of the past 80-plus years), but actually represents what might have been envisaged many decades back in something considerably greater than the record 1929 flood with none of the very significant channel works of the 1930s, 1940s and 1960s; or even those lesser improvement of the 2010s in place. The ORC 2GP mapping includes areas that didn’t get flooded in 1923 or 1929. I agree with some potential dangers of stream blockage (especially in Lindsay Creek, and to a lesser extent at Clyde Street and Rockside Road), but one can only consider locations of feasible blockage in today’s conditions. Furthermore, accepted professional practice for flood plain mapping requires detailed hydrology, probability analyses, climate change allowance, hydrograph routing, in-channel modelling (allowing for stream capacity variability), and overland flow modelling. ORC’s flood mapping incorporates none of these fundamentals; instead, it reads as little more than a colouring-in exercise, when a professionally researched technical document is required. In short, ORC’s hazard analysts have carried out no fit-for-purpose analysis for a District Plan process.

Interestingly, the concerns expressed by ORC hazard analysts re channel blockage are entirely inconsistent with ORC’s own design philosophy and consent application evidence for the recent Flood protection scheme (so called). Design Philosophy minimises the issue.

Very briefly, the mapping is challenged for the following reasons (inter alia):

No descriptions of the effective flood protection initiatives (OHB -1920s and 1930s, DCC -1940s, OCB -1960s) are included. These works have ensured that overtopping is practically impossible in the George Street to Cumberland Street reach, the Clock Tower reach and Forth Street to Harbour reaches. Flood protection in these areas are all built to a much higher hydraulic standard than the so-called ORC scheme of the past decade, and to a far, far higher standard than existed pre-1929.

It is further noted that ORC’s own Design Philosophy Report (OPUS for ORC, 2005) for the proposed Leith/Lindsay flood protection scheme is adamant that debris traps recently (then) constructed at Malvern Street and Bethunes Gully would further mitigate any debris problems. Refer paras 7.7 and 10.6 of that document.

Ponding is mapped where water couldn’t even reach in 1929 (peak flood currently estimated at 220 cumecs, and predating flood protection measures) in the wider CBD area. Flows along George Street in the 1920s only occurred south as far as about Howe Street, then re-entered the river. Nowadays, the accelerating weir above George Street and the structural high velocity channel immediately downstream provide much more clearance than existed in 1929. [Most outflow then from the river occurred much further downstream.] In those downstream reaches, many of the bridges have been replaced or upgraded. Possible remaining points of interest are the hydraulically insignificant extension (circa 2015) of the St David Street footbridge, the historic Union Street arch footbridge, and the widened (circa 2012) Clyde Street road bridge. The flimsy St David Street bridge would not survive any hydraulic heading up so there would likely be of little flood consequence, and backing up upstream of Union St would be largely inconsequential because of the height of the Clock Tower reach banks immediately upstream. The Clyde Street bridge is acknowledged as being lower than optimum, but it has not created any issues in its half century existence. Any overtopping there could only impact on a limited area between the bridge and the railway line.

Overland lows beyond (east of) the rail line remain highly improbable because of the ongoing blocking effect of road and rail embankments. Flows as far as the railway station to the west of the rail line are also highly improbable nowadays as only the Clyde Street area could conceivably contribute.

The 1923 photograph showing ponding along Harrow Street is presented by ORC with an unfortunate caption stating that the water is sourced from the Leith. Some undoubtedly was, but the whole of the city was subject to “internal” stormwater flooding from Caversham tunnel, across South Dunedin to the CBD and beyond. To illustrate further, a NIWA April 1923 flood summary (accessible online) provides a summary of some of the information more fully described in technical reports and newspaper accounts, including:

• Portions of Caversham, South Dunedin, St Kilda, the lower portions of central and northern areas of the City and North East Valley were completely inundated.
• Water in South Dunedin was waist deep.
• The Water of Leith rose considerably and burst its banks in many places, causing extensive damage along its banks and flooding low-lying areas.

Today’s stormwater infrastructure is rather more extensive and effective (when maintained), and DCC has a continuing legal obligation to provide to maintain that service.

The levels plotted across Lindsay Creek seem highly pessimistic. Levels are shown to be of the order of 2 metres above North Road in some locations at least. I have [no] knowledge of any such levels ever having been approached. Care must be taken not to include unfloodable areas in the mapping. I don’t however discount localised channel blockage, and the channel capacity is substandard in many areas. The valley slope ensures that overland flow will achieve damaging velocities. Such velocities are noted in the NIWA summary.

Of greater concern to me, however, is that ORC’s mapping appears to have seriously underestimated the significance of potential Woodhaugh flood issues:-

The river channel through here is both steep and confined. The influences of Pine Hill Creek (immediately upstream) and Ross Creek (immediately downstream) add to turbulence and bank attack. The area was ravaged in 1923 and 1929, and there have been evacuations in some much lesser events in later decades. These areas are at considerable risk in a 50- to 100-year plus event. Hardin Street, Malvern Street had houses evacuated in the 1960s flood. High velocity, rock laden flows and mudslides can all be anticipated, and difficult to counter. Area below camping ground / Woodhaugh was overwhelmed in floods of the 1920s – a focus for flooding depth and velocity.

If the 2GP process is to include urban flood maps, these should be diligently derived, based on historical record and appropriate modelling. The mapping should reflect the real flood risks (including likelihood, velocity and depth). The decreasing flood risk from Woodhaugh (potentially high impact) through North East Valley (moderate impact) through to the main urban area south of the Leith waterway (localised and of little-to-zero impact) should be reflected in the mapping.

[ends]

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█ 2GP Hearing Topic: Natural Hazards
https://2gp.dunedin.govt.nz/2gp/hearings-schedule/natural-hazards.html

█ For more, enter the terms *johnstone*, *flood* and *south dunedin* in the search box at right.

Related Posts and Comments
6.6.16 Listener June 11-17 2016 : Revisiting distress and mismanagement #SouthDunedinFlood
10.6.16 “Civic administration” reacts to hard hitting Listener article

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[DCC Map differs from what was notified]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Payrise for low-wage workers in aged care and home support #genderpaygap

About 55,000 low-paid workers, mainly women, are about to get one of the biggest pay rises ever after details of a historic pay equity settlement are revealed today. The deal will cost the Government more than $500 million a year when fully implemented in five years, assuming it is signed off by union members and the Cabinet. The settlement will mean hefty pay increases from July in three government-funded service sectors which employ mainly women on low rates: aged residential care, home support, disability services. Prime Minister Bill English says today’s historic pay equity deal is likely to have ramifications for the private sector. –NZ Herald

At Facebook:

The Herald understands that for the primary litigant, rest home caregiver Kristine Bartlett, it will mean an increase from about $16 an hour to about $23 an hour, more than 43 per cent. […] The case is the first legal settlement in New Zealand that recognises that some jobs pay less because they are done mainly by women. […] The Service and Food Workers’ Union lodged a claim on Bartlett’s behalf with the Employment Relations Authority in 2012. […] The union took the case on behalf of Bartlett and 14 other union members of the 110 employed by Terranova rest home. Their wages were effectively set by the government subsidy paid by the Ministry of Health for rest home services. The case was elevated to the Employment Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. But once the Court of Appeal confirmed that pay equity cases could be heard under the Equal Pay Act of 1972, the Government stepped into the process because it was loath to leave a case with such far-reaching repercussions solely in the court’s hands.

At Twitter:

About 55,000 low-paid workers, mainly women, are about to get one of the biggest pay rises ever https://t.co/VuQjLZOB7O pic.twitter.com/4wCjcpDDE2

— nzherald (@nzherald) April 17, 2017

Equal pay settlement reached – caregivers wages to increase https://t.co/d9CwRXGOA1 #equalpay #caregivers #nzagedcare #resthomes

— INsite NZ (@INsite_NZ) April 17, 2017

Big pay rise for women as a result of historic pay equity settlement https://t.co/L33ItTcrjz via @nzherald pic.twitter.com/IzL8Uq7YCS

— NZ Human Rights (@NZHumanRights) April 17, 2017

Exciting to see the settlement of this historic pay equity case: one step closer to closing the #genderpaygap! https://t.co/YfQQqRLV2M pic.twitter.com/SxSqwEudN2

— NZGlobalWomen (@NZGlobalWomen) April 18, 2017

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A U D I O

### radionz.co.nz Tue, 18 March 2017 at 8:11 a.m.
Morning Report with Susie Ferguson and Guyon Espiner
money life and society
Low-paid women are at parliament today for an announcement on pay
Tax specialist Deborah Russell says an announcement today on a reported big pay rise for women in low-paid work.
Audio | Download: Ogg MP3 (4′40″)

The New Zealand GST burden:

### radionz.co.nz Tue, 18 March 2017 at 8:15 a.m.
Morning Report with Susie Ferguson and Guyon Espiner
economy
NZ wage earners among the lowest taxed in OECD
A new report from the OECD shows out of 35 countries New Zealand and Chile workers are taxed the least, and those in Belguim and France the most. As Patrick O’Meara report, this comes as the Government considers tax cuts for low and middle income workers.
Audio | Download: Ogg MP3 (3′50″)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Electric fleet vehicles NZ #cleanenergy

Renault Kangoo ZE Van [cleantechnica.com]

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### NZ Herald Thu, 19 Jan 2017
Electric vehicles get $3.5m boost
The Government has agreed to pay $3.5 million towards electric vehicle projects around the country to promote the greener form of transport. Energy and Resources Minister Judith Collins announced today that 15 projects would be conditionally funded, as the Government seeks to meet its target of 64,000 electric vehicles on New Zealand’s roads by 2021. The projects include Foodstuffs using 28 all-electric delivery vans at its supermarkets; supporting Tranzit Group and Auckland Transport introducting electric buses and charging infrastructure; and Waste Management NZ converting three rubbish trucks to run on electricity.
Read more

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Foodstuffs (NZ)
Media Release

Fri, 20 Jan 2017

Minister of Energy and Resources Judith Collins announces New World and PAK’nSAVE electric delivery van trial
The Honourable Judith Collins has today announced that the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) will be providing funding to support Foodstuffs trial of electric delivery vans across its New World and PAK’nSAVE supermarkets in 2017.
“This is the first time a commercial electric vehicle fleet of this size has been trialled in New Zealand,” says Chris Quin, CEO, Foodstuffs North Island Ltd. “The funding will go towards the implementation of 28 zero emission electric delivery vans at New World and PAK’nSAVE stores across the North and South Island.”
According to Quin when the project was put to the business initial interest from stores was incredibly positive. “Our owners recognise and support Foodstuffs’ commitment to be more sustainable and at the leading edge of new technology. Our business practices are continually evolving to be more sustainable, this is demonstrated through our work on recyclable packaging, food donation, natural refrigeration systems and energy efficiency and ensures the business will be well placed over the coming years.”
Quin adds, “It fits in perfectly with Foodstuffs drive to reduce environmental impacts and support brand NZ. Electric vehicles offer the potential to both reduce the business’ dependence on imported fuels whilst at the same time reducing road based transport emissions by 100%.”
“Add to this the fact the electricity powering the vehicles is 100% locally generated and over 80% renewably generated through hydro, wind and geothermal sources – meaning we are investing in both New Zealand‘s economy and its environment.”
The Nissan e-NV 200 delivery vans will be imported over the next year from Europe where they are manufactured. Once charged they are capable of travelling up to 150 kilometres at a time without generating either noise or emissions.
Foodstuffs is in discussion with EECA about the potential installation of separate public electric vehicle charging points at key New World and PAK’nSAVE store locations throughout the country.
“The idea is that the provision of easily accessible charging facilities will encourage the public to gradually transition away from petrol and diesel cars to sustainable electric vehicles. You will be able to charge your car whilst grabbing your groceries,” says Quin.
Foodstuffs Link

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### ODT Online Mon, 30 Jan 2017
Benefits of electric delivery vehicle adding up
By Dene Mackenzie
For Mark Dickson, the future is already here following the purchase of an electric delivery vehicle for his Taste Nature business in Dunedin. Mr Dickson and his wife and business partner, Rayna Dickson, had talked about an electric vehicle two years ago as part of an extension to their organic food business. When the couple realised they needed a newer vehicle, the electric delivery van  seemed a natural extension to the business, Mr Dickson said. A month ago, he and Mrs Dickson bought a Nissan e-NV200 delivery vehicle, the same kind as grocery chain Foodstuffs and other businesses recently received government funding for in order to trial the vehicles.
Read more

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### ecotricity.co.nz Sat, 30 Apr 2016
Electric Buses and Driverless Shuttles are about to solve Auckland’s Traffic Woes
By Al Yates
The recent announcement of the electrification of the NZ Bus fleet is a massive boost for completing the electrification of New Zealands public transport fleet. But it goes well beyond buses as it also proves that transport electrification is now economic across a growing number of sectors. In this article we discuss two key components of how Auckland’s traffic woes are about to be alleviated in the short to medium term with the stroke of two technological changes, Electrification of the Bus Fleet, and Driverless Shuttles.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:

Local govt and the question of general competence #North

Received.
Mon, 9 Jan 2017 at 10:56 p.m.

Subject: Did you notice……

Message:
Whangarei District Council was reported on TV3 as supporting protesters who have put a road block across four roads and are not letting trucks pass because they are pissed off with the dust from the roads, and want them sealed. Not that we wouldn’t have sympathy with their cause, but how is it right for a Council to support illegal road closures?
These Councils may have been given by law the power of general competence but they sure don’t warrant the confidence of central government in hope that they may become generally competent……

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Protesters set up four separate road blocks along Pipiwai Road [newshub.co.nz]

### newshub.co.nz 15/12/2016
Northland residents block dusty roads in protest
By Wilhelmina Shrimpton
Frustrations have reached boiling point as locals of a small Northland town fight to have a notoriously dusty logging truck route sealed. Locals have had enough and stepped up protest action by blocking logging trucks from using the gravel roads. “Don’t piss me off, you either do it or you go,” one protester yelled at a truck driver while blocking the road. “What you gonna do bro? What you gonna do? Cause you ain’t going down here today!” Puti Tipene says the dense dust clouds thrown up by the trucks are unhealthy and dangerous. […] Locals say up to 50 trucks drive along unsealed routes every day, and believe the council isn’t doing enough to help. […] Whangarei Mayor Sheryl Mai says the council wants the roads sealed but doesn’t have the money. “We’ve had money in our budget to do it … if there was a subsidy from our partners the NZTA, that hasn’t happened. Until that happens, we don’t think it’s appropriate for the wider ratepayers to pay 100 percent of that.”
Read more + Video

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Pipiwai Valley protest [ngapuhi.iwi.nz]

### newshub.co.nz 09/01/2017
Protestors block trucks from dusty Northland road
By Newshub staff
Ten people blocked off a Northland road today in a fight to have the notoriously dusty logging truck route sealed. Protesters set up four separate road blocks around Pipiwai Valley on Monday morning, an area they say is plagued by dust kicked up both water tanks and trucks. They parked vehicles across Pipiwai Rd to deter trucks, but are letting locals through. Police were at the protest, which was kept low key. Protest organiser Alex Wright says truckers may have been tipped off and taken another route. Those truck drivers that did come their way had to reverse back down the gravel road. […] “It’s affecting our way of life… It’s horrific. We can’t handle it anymore and that’s why we’re here today. We’ve tried all avenues.” Ms Wright says they’re their new campaign won’t stop until the road is sealed.
Read more

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Truck-generated dust at Pipiwai, an ongoing issue for more than 10 years.
Photo: Graham Wright [nzherald.co.nz]

### NZ Herald Online 10:47 AM Mon, Sep 14, 2015
Logging and trucking industries asked to pay $132k
By Alexandra Newlove – Northern Advocate
Logging and trucking industries will be asked to cough up cash to help solve a dusty road problem that has had residents up in arms for more than a decade. Whangarei District Council had allocated $400,000 over the next two years to seal ten 100m strips along the notoriously dusty Wright, McCardle and Pipiwai roads west of Whangarei, though the work was expected to cost $532,000, said WDC roading manager Jeff Devine. “We will be asking the industry if they can make up the [$132,00] shortfall,” he said. The New Zealand Transport Agency declined a $4.5 million funding request from council early this year for a full 9km seal of Wrights Rd and McCardle Rd. Pipiwai Titoki Advocacy for Community Health and Safety Group spokeswoman Alex Wright said she was unconvinced that the strip sealing would make a huge amount of difference. “It’s our 11th year now. We’re heading in the right direction but need to do it properly and completely.” Mr Devine said he agreed that the dust was a health and safety issue. “The big issue is that when they shifted the port from Whangarei to Marsden Point the traffic direction changed. It was never planned when the forests were planted that this would be the [trucking] route.” Council would continue approaching central Government for money to seal the remainder of roads, Mr Devine said.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Good news for Cerebos Greggs and business development in Central Otago …….DCC stands divorced

Channel 39 Published on Nov 16, 2016
$20 million upgrade for historic Dunedin coffee factory
An historic Dunedin based coffee producer has received a multimillion-dollar overhaul. The Gregg’s coffee roasting facility has redeveloped its production line to meet growing demand for the caffeinated drink.

[screenshot ODTV]

### ODT Online Thu, 17 Nov 2016
Gregg’s spends $20m on Dunedin plant
By David Loughrey
Cerebos Gregg’s yesterday celebrated the completion of a $20 million investment in its Dunedin plant in Forth St. The investment over the past two and a-half years has paid for manufacturing upgrades including new production lines, a warehouse extension, improvements to environmental compliance, a new staff car park, staff facilities and an open plan main office. Australian-based chief executive Terry Svenson said the investment in the plant that supplied coffee throughout New Zealand meant production would continue on the site where coffee had been made since 1869. The factory produces coffee for brands including Gregg’s, Robert Harris, Orb, Civo and Bruno Rossi.
Read more

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### ODT Online Wed, 16 Nov 2016
$14.7m for space centre
By Jono Edwards
An Alexandra satellite research centre could be operational by the middle of next year. There was elation in Central Otago yesterday as Minister for Science and Innovation Steven Joyce announced a grant of up to $14.7million over four years for the Centre for Space Science Technology (CSST). Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan called the announcement a “game-changer” for Alexandra and Central Otago, and said the centre, which would boost Alexandra’s economy by an estimated $2.8million to $3.6million a year in its first three years, was “up next to the gold rush”.
Read more

### ODT Online Thu, 17 Nov 2016
Innovation hub in Alex possible
By Jono Edwards
An Alexandra “innovation hub” hosting science entrepreneurs could be one of the spinoffs of a space-based research centre in the town. This week, Minister for Science and Innovation Steven Joyce announced a grant of up to $14.7million over four years for the Centre for Space Science Technology. Central Otago District Council economic development manager Warwick Hawker said that from the early days of the project, there had been discussions about creating an “innovation hub” in the town as an offshoot.
Read more

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The ODT editorial congratulates “Alexandra and its commitment to secure a scientific future for Central Otago”. —And YAY(!), it swats Dunedin City Council as it should be SLAMMED.

In turn then, praise to ODT – for speaking out against DCC’s pig ignorant lack of support for local and regional business development, thanks to Mayor Cull and his greenie Councillors.

### ODT Online Thu, 17 Nov 2016
Editorial: Contrasting councils
OPINION A significant amount of government money is being invested in creating the Centre for Space Science Technology which will be based in Alexandra. In total, the Government is spending up to $14.7 million over four years for the new institution with additional funding from industry. It will operate as a private, independently governed organisation. Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says the centre will undertake research to explore the use of space-based measurements and satellite imagery unique to New Zealand to meet the specific needs of regional industries. Mr Joyce says a standout aspect of the proposal was the centre also having research hubs in Dunedin, Canterbury and Taranaki, further encouraging research and development and innovation in regional New Zealand. […] Contrast the attitude of the nine members of the Dunedin City Council who quickly showed their so-called green credentials on the same day of the Alexandra announcement. Those nine councillors voted to call on the Government to place a moratorium on deep-sea oil and gas exploration and extraction. Only four members of the council understood the implications of the vote. The council is again proving itself to be not business friendly. Sadly, those 11 members do not understand the landscape on exploration has changed.
Read more

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BS / Lunacy extraordinaire or, “You backed Cull, Julian” :

### ODT Online Wed, 16 Nov 2016
Council green as grass on oil exploration issue
By David Loughrey
The latest version of the Dunedin City Council has been quick to show its green credentials. A majority of nine “yes” votes overwhelmed four “no” votes and an abstention when the council voted to call on the Government to place a moratorium on deep-sea oil and gas exploration and extraction. The vote was, in a way, an early test of the collective thinking of the new council after last month’s elections, in which there were allegations of a green “bloc” that voted together at meetings.
Read more

Douglas Field Published on Nov 16, 2016
Green as grass
Dunedin City Council (again) voted to call on the government to place a moratorium on deep sea oil and gas exploration. “Green as Grass” the ODT says. Cabbage heads led by a ‘man o’ straw’ is what I say.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

SDHB #FAILS with Healthcare Communication and Governance

[glasbergen.com]

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“I read it in the paper — all the information I’m getting is from the ODT. Management doesn’t talk to us, really.” –Prof Jean-Claude Theis

### ODT Online Mon, 7 Nov 2016
Patients turned away
By Eileen Goodwin
Nearly a third of orthopaedic patients referred for a first specialist assessment are being turned away from Dunedin Hospital, and the situation is becoming “untenable”, orthopaedic surgeon Prof Jean-Claude Theis says. The Dunedin School of Medicine professor of orthopaedic surgery  said the relationship with Southern DHB management had become “very bad”. Orthopaedic surgeons were not consulted about a recent decision to outsource 129 surgeries. Prof Theis had not known about the outsourcing until an Otago Daily Times story a little over a week ago. […] “With management, we’re not getting anywhere. There’s no engagement. There’s no clinical governance any more, across the hospital.”
Read more

****

Locum ophthalmologist Dr Peter Haddad last week blasted the SDHB for keeping quiet, calling the decision “grossly unethical”.

### ODT Online Mon, 7 Nov 2016
ODT: SDHB wanted ‘free and frank’ debate
By Eileen Goodwin
The need for “free and frank” debate among Southern District Health Board bosses meant they kept quiet about the growing ophthalmology waiting list and cases of patient harm. The issue was not discussed in hospital directorate reports presented at public committee meetings since May, when those meetings resumed. […] The board notified patients less than two weeks before the release of the annual national adverse events report, later this week, in which patient-harm cases have to be disclosed. It will show 30 cases of harm from ophthalmology delays in 2015-16. There is likely to be more recent cases not included in the report …. [Interim chief executive Chris Fleming] admitted patients should have been told sooner. In an interview last week, Mr Fleming argued the situation was in part “good news”.
Read more

****

[inkcinct.com]

Sun, 6 Nov 2016
ODT: Petition started about hospital rebuild
Frustration with what she sees as lack of progress on the rebuilding of Dunedin Hospital’s clinical services block has prompted a Dunedin woman to circulate a petition she wants people to send direct to the Prime Minister or National MPs. Those who sign will “pledge not to support the National Party in the next general election unless we have an officially approved blueprint from the Government, acceptable to staff at the hospital and the medical school, to rebuild the clinical services block at the Dunedin Hospital by November 2017”. Cont/

Sat, 5 Nov 2016
ODT: Mental health petition delivered to Parliament
Dunedin mental health campaigners delivered a petition to Parliament this week calling for a nationwide inquiry. The Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust collected 1740 signatures. Chairwoman Corinda Taylor, with Denise Kent, presented the petition to Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox on the steps of Parliament on Wednesday. “The petition respectfully requests the House of Representatives to conduct a nationwide inquiry into mental health services to determine if current services meet the demand and if future planning is adequate to meet future demand.” Cont/

Fri, 4 Nov 2016
ODT: SDHB conduct ‘unethical’
Not telling patients sooner that they risked permanent sight loss from delayed hospital appointments was “grossly unethical”, says an eye doctor who last year warned the board about the problem. In response, the Southern District Health Board admitted yesterday it should have told patients earlier. More than 4600 patients have been notified they are overdue for their ophthalmology appointment. In the past two years, 34 patients have lost part of their sight permanently, and that number is likely to increase. Cont/

Thu, 3 Nov 2016
ODT Editorial: Eye off the ball?
OPINION The latest revelations around ophthalmology pressures at the Southern District Health Board are confronting, and the problems are only part of the iceberg nationally. Earlier this week, this newspaper reported patients were going partially blind while they waited for SDHB appointments. […] Fixing or managing problems can prevent issues compounding, and alleviate financial and physical pressures on the health system further down the line. […] Commissioner Kathy Grant has said she has confidence in SDHB medical oversight and governance, yet the problem is such that the board is prepared for more cases of harm to emerge and has notified more than 4600 patients they have been identified as being overdue for appointments. Cont/

Wed, 2 Nov 2016
ODT: Ministry of Health ‘ducking’
The Ministry of Health has been accused of “ducking responsibility” on the hospital eye appointment “disaster”. The ophthalmology pressures at the Southern District Health Board have caused some patients to go partially blind while waiting for an appointment. The senior doctors’ union and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists say problems highlighted in the SDHB are widespread throughout New Zealand. Cont/

****

“The problem has been exacerbated by the state of our information systems not being able to clearly identify this issue.” –Commissioner Kathy Grant

Wed, 2 Nov 2016
ODT: Grant stands behind Southern DHB
Commissioner Kathy Grant declined to be interviewed yesterday about the patient harm cluster in ophthalmology, but says she has confidence in Southern District Health Board medical oversight and governance. In a statement, Mrs Grant said she was told about Dunedin Hospital’s ophthalmology waiting list problem in the middle of this year. This week the board revealed 30 patients suffered partial sight loss in 2015-16 because of overdue appointments, on top of a group of four patients the year before. Six of the 30 have a “severe” degree of loss. […] The board has admitted it is not on top of the situation in Dunedin, and more cases of harm may emerge. More than 4600 affected patients have been notified. Cont/

2.11.16 ODT: Eye clinic treatment lists blow out

Sun, 30 Oct 2016
ODT: Extra orthopaedic operations sought
The Southern District Health Board is trying to find an external provider for an extra 129 orthopaedic surgery cases in a bid to meet a national health target. A request for proposal issued last week on a government website says SDHB would fund up to 129 extra orthopaedic procedures in 2016-17 in order to achieve a national health target. […] Orthopaedic surgery waiting times have been a source of tension between DHB management and orthopaedic surgeons. Surgeons have lobbied for more operations, and have suggested southern orthopaedic patients need to be more debilitated than in other parts of the country before qualifying for surgery. Cont/

Sat, 29 Oct 2016
ODT: Doctors’ strike caused hundreds of postponements
The Southern District Health Board has released new figures showing the impact of the junior doctors’ strike. Fifty-two patients had a procedure postponed and 725 outpatients had a hospital appointment postponed. Another 52 patients were not booked for an appointment or procedure once the strike notice was received, the board told the Otago Daily Times yesterday. Cont/

█ For more, enter the terms *sdhb*, *southern district health board*, *hospital*, *commissioner*, *food*, *pool*, *south link health*, *swann* or *white collar criminals* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

[wolfescape.com]

COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….

Fake it til you make it, and hey, don’t lift the marigolds.

Sorry Daaave, looks like a D for your council’s governance. —Actually, for the avoidance of euphemism, make that D- and lower for DIRE Performance, accompanying Drivel, and Diabolical treatment of Residents and Ratepayers in the aftermath of emergency situations.

Listening to Yes People and your dwindling voter base isn’t your best hope to resolve ongoing multimillion-dollar losses being sustained by a couple of the council-owned companies, to the point where the holding company led by chairman Crombie, fronts with a “qualified audit” only on presentation of its annual report(?) to Council.

[In July 2015 Graham Crombie was appointed to the Commerce Commission as an Associate Commissioner for a five year term.]

Damages to employment, liveability and opportunity in a No-growth city keep stacking.

—

“It is also yet another example of good public service jobs being lost from our smaller towns and cities.” –PSA spokeswoman

### ODT Online Thu, 13 Oct 2016
ACC jobs to go in Dunedin
By Vaughan Elder
After consulting with staff since June, the decision had been made to relocate all the roles over the next 12 to 18 months to the larger Christchurch office and have “one centre for consistent customer and rehabilitation services across the Southern region”.
Read more

****

Asked about people who continued to be negative about the city, he said: “Negativity is an attitude, it’s not a fact.”

### ODT Online Thu, 13 Oct 2016
Survey ‘shows Dunedin on right track’
By Vaughan Elder
A survey showing Dunedin residents feel increasingly positive about their city shows the city is on the “right track”, Mayor Dave Cull says. […] the annual survey was not all good news. Last year’s June flood was picked as a reason for increasing dissatisfaction with the city’s stormwater system [down 13 points to 43%]. Satisfaction rates also fell when it came to public toilets, the suitability of the city’s roads for cycling and the availability of parks in the central city.
Read more

[Chief executive Sue Bidrose] said some of the areas where there had been negative results this year and in past surveys correlated to negative media coverage in the Otago Daily Times.

*1577 survey responses from 5400 residents randomly selected from the electoral roll,

The Talking Head (without helmet, unprepared)

█ Dunedin City Council (media release)
Residents’ Opinion Survey released 12 Oct 2016. Link

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: cdn.guardian.ng – marigold, tweaked by whatifdunedin

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

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

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

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From Kaipara Concerns (community website):

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

She has made the following decisions:

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

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

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

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

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

—

Related Posts and Comments:
31.3.16 Ratepayers achieve for Kaipara District —what Dunedin counterparts…
3.10.15 Kaipara Concerns —ADOTROL* disease [Dunedin mention, again!]
13.2.15 Associate Minister of Local Government: Return democracy to Kaipara
2.2.15 LGNZ run by Mad Rooster Yule, end of story
27.11.14 Auditor-general Lyn Provost #Resign
31.10.14 Whaleoil on “dodgy ratbag local body politicians” —just like ours at DCC
9.9.14 Mangawhai, Kaipara: Latest news + Winston Peter’s speech
19.7.14 Whaleoil / Cameron Slater on ratepayers’ lament
29.5.14 Mangawhai Ratepayers and Residents Assn wins at High Court
31.3.14 Audit services to (paying) local bodies #FAIL ● AuditNZ ● OAG…
29.1.14 Mangawhai, Kaipara —we hear ya!
3.12.13 LGNZ: OAG report on Kaipara
12.11.13 Northland council amalgamation
29.6.13 Audit NZ and OAG clean bill of health —Suspicious!
21.4.13 Councils “in stchook” —finance & policy analyst Larry.N.Mitchell
19.3.12 Local government reform
21.2.12 Kaipara this time

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

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

Leunig Cartoons ‏@leunigcartoons · Aug 21

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

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

Leunig Cartoons ‏@leunigcartoons · Sep 8

****

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

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

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

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

— Animal Cognition (@animalcog) March 27, 2016

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

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

SDHB ‘food’ : Our eyes glaze over . . . .

Main, Dunedin Hospital – 1 May 2016 [Gurglars Media]

Fri, 2 Sep 2016
ODT: Petition calls on SDHB to ditch Compass
A petition calling on the Southern District Health Board to ditch its contract with the company supplying hospital meals in the area has been presented to the board’s commissioner. Real Meals coalition spokesperson Anna Huffstutler said they had gathered 3000 signatures for their petition to get rid of Compass. “We want the Compass contract gone, and the job of preparing hospital meals and Meals on Wheels back where it belongs – in hospital kitchens where local ingredients are used and local people are doing the work.”

—

Deputy commissioner Richard Thomson said a survey of SDHB patients showed satisfaction with meals in July was over 90%.

Sat, 3 Sep 2016
ODT: Anti-Compass deal petition presented
A petition calling for the Southern District Health Board (SDHB) to end the contentious Compass food contract was presented to SDHB commissioner Kathy Grant yesterday. The SDHB has faced criticism over the quality of the frozen meals since previously in-house hospital kitchen meals were outsourced in January. [Dunedin South MP Clare Curran] said the Compass contract was a “flawed project” which had caused a lot of grief for people in Otago and Southland.

### dunedintv.co.nz Thu 1 Sep 2016
The South Today
Petition calls for dumping of Compass contract
A food-oriented organisation has called on the Southern District Health Board to end its contract with Compass. The Real Meals Coalition has gathered thousands of signatures supporting the dumping of the contract. The quality of Compass meals in the region’s hospitals has been called ‘rubbish’. The petition, with 3000 signatures on it, is going to be presented to Commissioner Kathy Grant tomorrow. Compass has a 15 year contract with the DHB to provide ready-made meals, which some have criticised as disgusting and inedible.
Ch39 Link

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Related Posts and Comments:
1.5.16 Hospital food according to Gurglars
8.4.16 Worsted
23.12.15 SDHB underfunded, no bandage
3.11.15 SDHB will ‘takeaway’ more than freshly cooked meals…
30.10.15 Dunedin Hospital #despair
17.6.15 Southern District Health Board sacked !!!
9.6.15 Southern District Health Board
16.4.15 Talk of replacing SDHB with commissioner
21.8.14 Dirty pool? #SDHB #University
6.8.14 Otago Therapeutic Pool at Dunedin Hospital
1.5.14 Dunedin Hospital buildings SORRY STATE
5.12.13 Swann case: ODHB/SDHB and friends

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

Johnstone on ORC report : ‘The Natural Hazards of South Dunedin’ (July 2016)

█ The Natural Hazards of South Dunedin – July 2016 [read online]
Otago Regional Council
ISBN: 978-0-908324-35-4
Report writers:
Michael Goldsmith, ORC Natural Hazards Manager
Sharon Hornblow, ORC Natural Hazards Analyst
Reviewed by: Gavin Palmer, ORC Director Engineering, Hazards and Science
External review by: David Barrell, Simon Cox, GNS Science, Dunedin

—

Received from Neil Johnstone
Sun, 29 Aug 2016 at 8:17 p.m.

Message: Misinformation on the causes of the June 2015 South Dunedin flood have abounded since the event. As if the victimised residents haven’t suffered enough from others’ inactions (before and during the event), they are now being subjected to a hazards discovery process whose vigour appears to be exceeded only by its own recklessness. Following are a commentary of the hazards approach adopted by the Otago Regional Council (ORC), and a summary of my investigations into the flood event that I commenced after the publication of Dunedin City Council’s first flood report back in November 2015.

You can download Neil Johnstone’s report or read it below (formatted slightly differently to suit the WordPress template).

█ Download: A REVIEW OF ORC REPORT THE NATURAL HAZARDS OF SOUTH DUNEDIN (1) (PDF, 587 KB)

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AN APPRAISAL OF RECENT REPORTING OF SOUTH DUNEDIN HAZARDS

N.P JOHNSTONE, BEng (Civil), MIPENZ

1. Introduction

There is some irony that DCC and ORC should be planning “drop in” sessions for residents in respect of South Dunedin hazard issues during September 2016, some 15 months after the major flood. The prime cause of flooding in June 2015 was DCC’s failure to maintain its infrastructure (not just mudtanks), and its failure to operate its pump stations to their intended capacities. The subsequent spread of misconceptions (i.e. groundwater levels, rainfall significance etc) surrounding the flood causes was at least partly due to inaccurate ORC analyses and reporting.

Repetitive and new doubtful information emanating from ORC via its latest report has been noted. Presentations and an over-simplistic video production have been observed. A footnote covering these observations is included at the end of this appraisal.

Long-delayed DCC reports on causes of the South Dunedin flooding have already been strongly criticised by the author. Specifically discredited are misrepresentations of sea level, groundwater and rainfall ranking. Accepted now by DCC as factors (somewhat grudgingly, and depending on the audience) are mudtank blockage and Portobello Road pump station failures (plural); still to be fully acknowledged are the failures at Musselburgh Pumping Station.

Attention is now turned to significant parts of hazard reports produced by the Otago Regional Council and utilised by DCC.

2. Coastal Otago Flood Event 3 June 2015 (ORC, published October 2015)

This report deals with a wider area than South Dunedin. It is apparent that ORC staff never visited the flooding areas of South Dunedin on 3 June, but took advantage of fine weather to take some water level readings the following day. The opportunity for useful progressive surface water level recording was thus lost. Levels were collected at some 150 points on 4 June. ORC’s main conclusion was that “localised variations in topography were probably the main driver of flood depth”. Or, put another way, water depth was deepest where the ground was lowest. This seems hardly surprising, and even trivial. No attempt was made to explain the photographic images presented of extensive ponding remaining well after the rains had ceased. The phenomena of blocked mudtanks and unutilised pumping capacity went seemingly unnoticed.

The report does usefully reference ORC’s four borehole recorders of groundwater, but makes the somewhat misleading assessment that groundwater levels were “elevated” prior to the rainstorm. This misinformation was seized upon by agencies such as DCC and the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment to highlight climate change impacts.

Having obtained the actual groundwater level data from ORC via the LGOIMA process, the author was able to reveal this “groundwater fallacy” in reviews from February 2016, but it was not until the publication of NZ Listener’s article (June 11-17, 2016) entitled ‘FLOOD FIASCO’ that ORC admitted that pre-flood groundwater levels were in fact “just a little bit above average”. ORC now seems intent on resurrecting this fallacy.

The ORC report fails to address the real and key issues of pumping station failures (Portobello Road and Musselburgh), or comparisons with much lesser flood impacts in the larger rainfall event of March 8/9 1968.

The report states that the 2015 24-hour rainfall was the largest since 1923. This was patently incorrect, but again was utilised by DCC to divert blame from their role in the disaster.

3. The Natural Hazards of South Dunedin (ORC, published July 2016)

The report states unambiguously in its Opening Summary that the major flooding of June 2015 was “a result of heavy rainfall, surface runoff, and a corresponding rise in groundwater”. By now, most people are aware that the causes of the flooding’s disastrous impact were failure to optimally operate pumping stations, failure to clear mudtanks, and failure to deploy staff to key areas during the event. Again, none of these factors is addressed in ORC’s report.

The report presents a table on its second page entitled “Factors Which Can Influence Flood Hazard”. Examples of exaggerated negativity include:

1. Heavy Rainfall:
– Many recorded instances of rainfall leading to surface flooding.
– Heavy rainfall events have occurred frequently over the last decade.

Comment: These conclusions do not appear to be supported by the report’s text, and are vague, factually challengeable and alarmist. Prior to 2015, no major flooding had occurred in South Dunedin since 1968, and even that was minor by comparison.

2. Sea Level:
– Groundwater level fluctuates (by up to 0.5m near the coast) on a twice-daily cycle in response to normal ocean tides.

Comment: All of South Dunedin is near the coast; most of the area does not experience such large fluctuations. This should have been made clear by the inclusion of groundwater data from all 4 ORC sites across the plain, not just from Kennedy Street.

3. Seismic:
– Large earthquakes could result in increased flood hazard on the South Dunedin plain, due to liquefaction-related land subsidence or direct, sudden, changes in land elevation relative to sea level.

Comment: All areas of NZ have some susceptibility to earthquake damage. Dunedin is amongst the areas at lowest risk; no incidences of even minor liquefaction have ever been reported in South Dunedin, and little or no clearly liquefiable materials have been identified (Refer GNS, 2014*).

Ministry for Vulnerable Children Oranga Tamariki

Related legislation currently before Parliament will raise the age of state care and protection to 18, and establish an independent youth advocacy service.

### NZ Herald Online 11:03 AM Thursday Aug 18, 2016
Ministry for Vulnerable Children to be established
By Nicholas Jones – political reporter
A stand-alone ministry that will replace Child, Youth and Family has been officially named – and will try and reverse what the Government admits are “atrocious” outcomes for children. Speaking at an event in Grey Lynn, Social Development Minister Anne Tolley said the new ministry would be named the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki.
“This is not a rebranding exercise. It is how this ministry performs, rather than its name, which will make a difference for vulnerable young people,” said Tolley, who will also become the first Minister for Vulnerable Children.
“The long-term outcomes for young people in the current system are simply atrocious. When we started this process nearly a year and a half ago I promised there would be no more tinkering around the edges. Too many kids who come into contact with CYF end up on a benefit, or in prison, or with few qualifications. This has to stop.”
Tolley said advice from the State Services Commission, Treasury and Ministry for Social Development had recommended a stand-alone department be established, given the scale of the proposed reforms. CYF is currently a service of the Ministry of Social Development. The new ministry will have a much wider brief than the existing CYF, with a $1.3 billion annual budget by 2019-20 to buy extra education, health, employment and social services for the families of all “vulnerable” children. […] The new ministry would focus on five core services – prevention, intensive intervention, care support services, transition support and a youth justice service.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

*Image: cyf.govt.nz – page detail tweaked by whatifdunedin

SDHB Commissioners speed-bleed health system

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

answer, BRING IN THE CONSULTANTS

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

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

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

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

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

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

No SDHB election in 2016.

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

Thoughts on ODT Insight : Chris Morris investigates Asbestos plague

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Proper warning [shutterstock.com]

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ODT Insight: Asbestos: The Silent Killer

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

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

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

Other stories:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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█ NEW ZEALAND LEGISLATION

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

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

Type of licence : What asbestos can be removed?

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

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

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

Curtains for Dunedin City Council ? *gulp —October elections [grey area]

Received. [spoof or sting] . . . . . w o r r i e d
Thu, 2 Jun 2016 at 8:20 a.m.

[all-comic.com]

Urgente: Annoucemente’

The first June meeting will be held on the first of June, the first.

Minutes: Of the last meeting.

“Cull de Mare”

OK Good Idea!

Agenda: Item 22, Delete Item 21- Agreed unanimously or unani(kleinefieldmausly) as you would.

The Question:

Is there a wait for Meals on Wheels?

No not only is there no weight, but also no taste, no colour, no nutrition and no hope of any for 15 years and lets hope no right of renewal!

Question Der:

Postulate: In a letter received Tuesday last, a Miz Dr, Prof. Mc El Hone suggested that the main reason for de sea level rise is now steam.

Steam is gumming up the atmosphere and so the cold weather we have been receiving lately is now unable to get away causing bloody cold weather now described as “Global Cooling”.

Dr Professor Earl, Count and Pons Hagfish, the owner of a large number of scenic hotels in de districk and manager of a number in serious question in de Pacific has written and questions the Comite’ thus: My business is suffering, all of my marketing and advertising has been geared towards the concept of Dunedin and the Peninsula as the new Sunny Gold Coast. Sunny because of the “Global Warming” mantra and Gold coast because the expected sea level rise would take the shoreline to Clyde, the Shotover river and Bendigo abandoned goldfields!

Now your Comite’ is debunking the sea level rise as a giant furphy and that the climate is actually so cold as to suggest “Global Cooling” I am now forced to market Dunedin, as in the past, a place where refrigerators are not required, a meat safe will do!

This is a huge capital saving for Scenery hotels, as we do not have to place a minibar in each room and if we leave out the window glass the meat never defrosts! Wines are cold and at room temperature of -20 degrees, no ice machine is necessary.

There are some problems however.

Patrons are found frozen stiff in the hallway and in the foyer. Ice skates are necessary for trips to the car park. Chains are necessary on delivery trucks and cabs to and from the airport. The planes have skis and the pilots wear balaclavas.

In order to improve this I have a very important and well considered plan to eliminate “global cooling”.

M’sieur Rollande de Gurgelars, VC and Public bar, International medaille D’ore, Croix de G.U.R and house bar stands with open hands and speaks.

M’sieur de Hag-fish, your commente’ is much desired, your wisdom and more importantly your desire for a quid are legionarre’s disease throughout Aotearoa.

Please sally forth and unburden yourself.

Hag-Fish replies, Le Comte, Sally was the fifth, not the fourth, but not to worry, I will commence from the finish.

We the Secenery Circle propose that a law be imposed, firstly on all households in the greater Dunedin area including Kate Wilson’s fiefdom and Cr Noone’s rurality, Cr. Hall’s trucks and Mayor Cull’s uncleaned mudtanks, to ban, eradicate, censure, drop off the perch and if necessary obliterate and immolate all items which could be roughly described as Kettles.

Kettles will include any item capable of boiling water to steam, whether working operational or not! This includes but is not limited to Railway Steam Engines, Pots, Pans, Kettles, Hot Water cylinders, Zips, Teesmade, Coffee machines, Lawrence Yule and headmasters.

Headmasters?

Oui, they are always letting off steam, particularly the dean of Kings High.

In this way, we believe that the absence of steam will enable the cold air around Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland to escape and we can get back to comfortable “Global Warming” and Dunedin can be the Riviera of the southern hemisphere again, just like it was in February. Our marketing campaign featuring bikini clad sealions, brown skinned natives, (cabbage) Palm trees, Coconuts etc. will again be relevant and we can turn on the air conditioning at Forsyth Banned to ensure noone dies of heatstroke!

Is Cr. Noone dying of heatstroke?

No not now, that is the problem we are trying to rectify!

Le Comte, rises, thanks Earl Hag-Fish and whispers into his Iphone to Craig’s Investment partners ….

Sell Briscoes! Sell Coffee Club, Sell Starbucks.

Pam Demonia reigns.

The Curtain comes down.

[ends]

—

Related Posts and Comments:
18.5.16 Measuring sea level at Dunedin #DUD
1.5.16 Hospital food according to Gurglars
25.2.16 CELEBRATE !!! Greater Dunedin has DIED #boombustcycle
11.1.16 Un hôtel. Dunedin.
5.6.15 WEATHER is not climate change; this is not the 100-year flood

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year —this post is offered in the public interest.

[clockhousetheatre.com]

█ In a spot . . . . .

Govt No! to local body online voting

### msn.com (2 hours ago)
Govt pulls plug on online voting
Source: NZ Newswire
Online voting in council elections will not go ahead later this year because of fears the system isn’t yet secure enough. Eight councils had planned to trial online voting in October’s local body ballot, but Associate Minister of Local Government Louise Upston has pulled the plug. Four months out, planned security tests had not yet been carried out, she said on Tuesday.

“Without seeing the results of testing we cannot be confident the systems are secure enough, and the trial could not be authorised.”

Public confidence in local elections was fundamentally important and given real concerns about security and vote integrity, it was too early for a trial, she said. She said councils had done a lot of work and would be disappointed, but maintaining public confidence and understanding was more important. Online voting could be trialled in 2019 but there was still much to learn about it, Ms Upston said. Selwyn, Wellington, Porirua, Masterton, Rotorua, Matamata-Piako, Palmerston North and Whanganui councils had all expressed interest in taking part in the trial.
MSN Link

****

### NZ Herald Online 1:05 PM Tuesday Apr 19, 2016
Online voting not on the cards this year
By Claire Trevett
The Government has pulled the pin on a trial of online voting in this year’s local body elections, saying it could not guarantee the security of the system in time. Internal Affairs Minister Louise Upston announced the plan for some councils to trial online voting would not go ahead because time was running out for councils to prove voting system addressed concerns about security and vote integrity.
“Due to timing restrictions, preparations for the proposed trial have not yet met the legislative requirements and cannot guarantee public confidence in the election results.” She said security testing was planned but had not yet taken place. “Without seeing the results of testing we cannot be confident the systems are secure enough and the trial could not be authorised.”
While local bodies are responsible for running their own elections, including deciding on a voting system and method, the Government has to decide whether new voting methods meet the requirements of the Local Electoral Act. All councils currently use postal voting.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: collections.tepapa.govt.nz – Object: sign, polling booth

Ratepayers achieve for Kaipara District —what Dunedin counterparts fail to do for spurious ‘pet projects’

Link + message received.
Thu, 31 Mar 2016 at 8:24 a.m.

█ Message: Maybe time to revisit Jacks Point and Luggate? …

—

The Mangawhai wastewater scheme cost about $63.3 million. Overall costs were not just financial, the Auditor-General’s report said. “They included a failed council, councillors replaced with commissioners, the departure of a chief executive, a severely damaged relationship between the council and community, an organisation that needed to be rebuilt, and much more.”

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 17:21, March 30 2016
Dispute settlement sees Auditor General pay nearly $5.4 million to Kaipara District Council
About $5.375 million will be paid to the Kaipara District Council by the Auditor-General’s office now that a dispute between the two has been settled. Mediation of the dispute over audit issues around the controversial and costly Mangawhai wastewater scheme was held by retired High Court judge Rodney Hansen QC, without any admission of liability and for each party to cover their own litigation costs.

Auditor-General Lyn Provost’s scathing inquiry report to Parliament in December 2013 outlined “a woeful saga” surrounding the community wastewater scheme, managed by the then-council between 1996 and 2012. It covered roles played by other agencies, including the Controller and Auditor-General’s office. The inquiry found the council failed to adequately perform its responsibilities to the community in connection with the wastewater scheme. The council itself alleged the Auditor-General did not identify these failings in a timely manner and take appropriate steps to bring them to the council’s attention. It also alleged some of the poor decisions it made could have been averted if the Auditor-General’s office had performed its responsibilities appropriately.

The Auditor-General offered an unreserved apology in the report to the Kaipara district community for the office’s failings in some of its work, but disputed the council’s damages claim. In particular, the Auditor-General considered the council had the responsibility to comply with its statutory obligations, and its failure to do so is not attributable to the Auditor-General’s office. The dispute was settled with neither party admitting liability but the Auditor-General’s office agreeing to pay $5.38 million to Kaipara District Council.

A rates revolt began as costs were included in Mangawhai rates, with some properties connected to the new scheme now paying around $3000 annually in rates. Kaipara District Council commissioner John Robertson said the council was pleased to see a positive outcome from the High Court action it took against the Auditor-General in 2014. “If we hadn’t got an outcome we would be back in court and facing all the risks of whatever judgments go on these sorts of things.”

The Kaipara District Council has two more court battles pending with Mangawhai ratepayers.
Read more

—

Related Posts and Comments:
3.10.15 Kaipara Concerns —ADOTROL* disease [Dunedin mention, again!]
13.2.15 Associate Minister of Local Government: Return democracy to Kaipara
2.2.15 LGNZ run by Mad Rooster Yule, end of story
27.11.14 Auditor-general Lyn Provost #Resign
31.10.14 Whaleoil on “dodgy ratbag local body politicians” —just like ours at DCC
9.9.14 Mangawhai, Kaipara: Latest news + Winston Peter’s speech
19.7.14 Whaleoil / Cameron Slater on ratepayers’ lament
29.5.14 Mangawhai Ratepayers and Residents Assn wins at High Court
31.3.14 Audit services to (paying) local bodies #FAIL ● AuditNZ ● OAG…
29.1.14 Mangawhai, Kaipara —we hear ya!
3.12.13 LGNZ: OAG report on Kaipara
12.11.13 Northland council amalgamation
29.6.13 Audit NZ and OAG clean bill of health —Suspicious!
21.4.13 Councils “in stchook” —finance & policy analyst Larry.N.Mitchell
19.3.12 Local government reform
21.2.12 Kaipara this time

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

NZ flag is the NZ flag is the #NZflag [beach towel selection in context]

RNZ/Toby Morris — eight_col_DIY-FLAG

### radionz.co.nz
RNZ: On the Inside
OPINION: Flag failure – Where did it go wrong?
By Toby Morris
Well, that’s that. The votes are counted and at last the shambolic flag saga is finally over, banished to eternal life as a series of pub quiz trivia questions. An embarrassing phase best forgotten like a national bad haircut.
As much as I’ve always wanted a change, in the end I think we made the right choice. So why do I feel so rotten?
I had a bad feeling about it from the start, and I wasn’t alone. This time last year, anyone who has ever worked on any kind of corporate creative brief took one look at the chosen panel and their proposed process and saw that it would result in a mediocre, safe choice. It was creativity by committee, with no designers involved, and a process that allowed no room for development or refinement.
So we expected the worst, but like George W Bush said, we ‘misunderestimated’ them. Things went from worst to ‘worster’ as they lurched from one disastrous step to another. An inane and vague campaign to engage people about what they stood for led to the saddest road trip ever as the panel toured the country for public meetings with record low turnouts. No one was interested.
By the time the public was able to submit entries, the mood became more evident…. In large numbers, we were treating the flag process as a huge joke.
Read more + Cartoons

RNZ: How the world saw NZ’s flag decision
RNZ: Kiwis have their say; flag’s here to stay
RNZ: NZ flag result – how it happened
RNZ: MPs split down party lines on flag vote

—

Put that thing away. Embrace the old one till we find the right one. #nzpol #nzflag pic.twitter.com/VgYRTxGLsN

— Sharon Murdoch (@domesticanimal) March 24, 2016

—

NZ Herald
● ‘Wasteful vanity project’ ….How world reacted to flag result
● Defeated PM defends $26m flag vote as critics round on him
● Andrew Little: PM’s pet project has cost NZ $26m

Related Posts and Comments:
29.2.16 Jonkey a flag!
14.11.15 New Zealand Flag: 1000s of public submissions ignored by panel…
25.9.15 New Zealand Flag —symbolism
28.2.15 Campbell Live | TXT POLL: Does NZ need a new flag?

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Jonkey a flag!

Prime Minister John Key has warned if people vote against changing the flag they will not get another chance until New Zealand becomes a republic.

### radionz.co.nz Updated at 12:46 pm today
RNZ News
Has the PM mistaken himself for a flag?
By Finlay Macdonald
OPINION: To borrow a title from the late, great Oliver Sacks, we appear to have a prime minister who mistook himself for a flag.
John Key is now arguing that a vote against the silver fern flag in the March referendum is really a vote against him. He is echoing those commentators who have already tried to depict opposition to a new flag as simply anti-Key sentiment in red, white and blue drag.

Last chance to change flag before republic – PM
Only citizens should vote on flag change – NZ First

The flag debate, they claim, has been “politicised” by the Left out of bitterness and spite. Aside from their own absurd partisan assumptions, what those arguments can never address is the ideologically diverse nature of so much opposition to the Lockwood flag.
How else to explain the informal alliance of lifelong republicans and ageing anti-establishment boomers with monarchists and RSA traditionalists? If anything unites these camps it seems less likely to be a shared loathing of the prime minister than a nose for what you might call a false dichotomy – an unnecessary choice between two inadequate options.
Because you can say a lot of bad things about the alternative flag, but probably the worst is that it makes the current flag look good.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
14.11.15 New Zealand Flag: 1000s of public submissions ignored by panel…
25.9.15 New Zealand Flag —symbolism
28.2.15 Campbell Live | TXT POLL: Does NZ need a new flag?

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Tweets:

@bryce_edwards hi Bryce, this was final version of flag cartoon in Press pic.twitter.com/RQVZNQQL6b

— Sharon Murdoch (@domesticanimal) November 1, 2014

The branding exercise: the ABs, the fern, the #flag & the PM. My #cartoon @PressNewsroom #nzpol pic.twitter.com/cn3NJ63eaJ

— Sharon Murdoch (@domesticanimal) September 1, 2015

SDHB underfunded, no bandage

Review of the population based funding formula completed
Ministry of Health news article
22 December 2015
A five yearly review of the population based funding formula (PBFF) for district health boards (DHBs) has been completed and will be incorporated into DHB’s 2016/17 Funding Advice.
The funding formula is a technical tool used to help equitably distribute the bulk of district health board funding according to the needs of each DHB’s population. The formula takes into account the number of people who live in each DHB catchment, their age, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and sex. It also has mechanisms to compensate DHBs who service rural communities and areas of high deprivation.
The funding covers a range of health services including primary care, hospital and community care, health of older people, and mental health.
The review recommended no structural changes to the overall model but proposed several changes, including to the rural adjuster to better reflect DHB population and geography.
In 2015/16 the PBFF distributed a total of $11.4 billion to DHBs. DHBs will not receive less funding as a result of the review.
Read more

█ Population-based funding formula Link

—

The embattled board – whose members were dismissed this year over a persistent deficit – will not get any extra cash (apart from deficit support) until the changes take effect next July.

### ODT Online Wed, 23 Dec 2015
Review helps SDHB a little
By Eileen Goodwin
A review of the health funding model has revealed what many long suspected – the Southern District Health Board is not receiving its fair share of health dollars. A Cabinet paper on the Ministry of Health review was released yesterday. […] The formula is essentially a head count with adjustments for demographics, deprivation, and other factors.
Read more

****

All up, 561 employees received more than $100,000, compared with 521 last year – 413 were in medical or dental roles.

### ODT Online Tue, 22 Dec 2015
Doubling of DHB staff on $400,000+
By Eileen Goodwin
The number of Southern District Health Board staff earning over $400,000 more than doubled in the last financial year, the board’s annual report shows. The 2014-15 report shows 13 staff received more than $400,000, compared with six the previous year. Chief executive Carole Heatly has been overtaken in the pay stakes by two employees earning $520,000-$530,000.
Read more

—

The numbers: (via ODT)
561 staff earning $100,000 or more
13 staff earning more than $400,000
2 staff earning $520,000 to $530,000
10.7 executive management staff earning almost $2.8 million
$357,000 board members’ fees

Source: Southern District Health Board annual report

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Related Posts and Comments:
3.11.15 SDHB will ‘takeaway’ more than freshly cooked meals and a head chef
30.11.15 Dunedin Hospital #despair
17.6.15 Southern District Health Board sacked !!!
9.6.15 Southern District Health Board
16.4.15 Talk of replacing Southern District Health Board with commissioner
1.5.14 Dunedin Hospital buildings SORRY STATE
25.2.15 South Link Health, hmm that name….
6.8.14 Otago Therapeutic Pool at Dunedin Hospital
14.1.14 DCC: Hospital area parking changes #cyclelanes
5.12.13 Swann case: ODHB/SDHB and friends
10.11.10 Neurosurgery STAYS @Dunedin
6.8.10 SERIOUSLY

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: clipartlord.com – hospital2

OIA Review: Bev’s off, thank god! #politicallyblinkered #shakethattreesomemore

Updated post
Sat, 5 Dec 2015 at 1:17 p.m.

LIES and SPIN, Bev

### NZ Herald Online 1:40 PM Wednesday Dec 2, 2015
Official Information Act review finds ‘no deliberate misuse’
By Isaac Davison – NZH political reporter
A high-level review of the Official Information Act will not uncover any widespread political interference in the release of information, its author says. The Ombudsman’s Office will release the findings from its comprehensive, year-long review next week. Chief Ombudsman Dame Beverley Wakem said today that the investigation had not discovered malicious or deliberate misuse of the Act by ministers’ offices or by Government departments.

“We’ve really shaken the tree over this and haven’t been surprised by what’s fallen out,” she told a Parliamentary committee this morning.

She admitted that she had suspected political interference, but had found no hard evidence of it. Dame Beverley said people who had complained to her office could be perceiving political spin or “bad behaviour” when it did not exist, and she could not make any findings “based on hearsay”.
Read more

█ The release of the report will be Dame Beverley’s last act as Chief Ombudsman after 10 years in the role. She is being replaced by former Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier next week.

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Gun shy ? (broken record – your 10 limp-wristed years, inter-agency OBFUSCATION, or lose your privilege, your confidence, your connections, your office budget….)

DemiLovatoVEVO Published on Oct 9, 2015
Demi Lovato – Confident (Official Video)

Sharon Murdoch, Dame Beverley December 5, 2015 [Stuff.co.nz]

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Related Posts and Comments:
9.11.15 Citifleet investigation: Final police report 29.10.15
5.3.15 John Key’s NZ spying on Pacific neighbours
15.1.15 New Zealand: Salmond on abuse of democratic freedoms
16.12.14 Chief Ombudsman | OIA review
24.10.14 John Key’s Godzone and the OIA
19.9.14 Chief Ombudsman Beverley Wakem to launch post-election inquiry
21.3.13 Public service causing “paralysis of democracy” with OIA requests
26.7.12 ‘The Public’s Right to Know’ – OIA Review
2.12.09 DScene – OIA requests about stadium endless?

█ For more, enter terms such as *audit nz*, *auditor general*, *citifleet*, *corruption*, *courthouse*, *cst*, *dcc*, *delta*, *department of internal affairs*, *dia*, *dvml*, *fraud*, *gambling*, *kaipara*, *nzru*, *oag*, *orfu*, *pokies*, *racing*, *rugby*, *sfo*, *stadium*, *ttcf* or *whistleblowers* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: nbr.co.nz – Beverley Wakem

Mayor Cull and the GREAT Asbestos Defeat ….trucks in toxic waste

Dave doesn’t know whether to swallow his kornies or not.

His hair is turning grey, he’s feeling tired and he looks old.

Meanwhile, someone files divorce papers.
[“I thought we were Green! I can’t understand you anymore! Asbestos for cash?! These are your scarves, your suits, I’m throwing out the window – along with this stupid bike helmet, used camel shackles and all the skanky lycra. Go away!”]

Secretly, young woman seen rubbing hands with glee at so much dosh.

[Stifle obvious questions about what else goes into Green Island landfill. This is Tartan Mafia town.]

DCC receives $millions for landfill dumping of hazardous waste, WHO CARES ABOUT GREEN except for the imprint of Serious Money to bolster Council slush funds, rugby? stadium ? cricket ? – anyone ?

NOO! For Sue’s next trips to Oxford, staff’s Grand Central City Plan, and some left-over to pay planning fees and charges for the VB’s aquarium, hotel and connector bridge to the waterfront.

[Share spoils, maties! Leave suspicious Ratepayers out of it.]

There are no serious equitable plans to improve South Dunedin or Mosgiel drainage systems, or manage coastal erosion.

The dilemmas of High Office and short men.

—

Cheaper to dump hazardous waste at Dunedin than at Canterbury.
DCC stoopid again, takes a cheap ride instead of bumping up contract price.

Deals worth millions of dollars —council staff cite commercial sensitivity.

### ODT Online Tue, 24 Nov 2015
Asbestos fill headed for Dunedin
By Chris Morris
Up to 12,000 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated fill from Canterbury is destined to be dumped in Dunedin, but that might just be the tip of a toxic – but lucrative – iceberg. The Otago Daily Times understands the Dunedin City Council has more than one contract to accept contaminated material from outside the city at the Green Island landfill.
Read more

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The latest inanity. [Comic Sans]
Source: RNZ News: South Dunedin considers sea level threat.
20 November 2015 at 8:42 a.m. (AUDIO LINK)

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[Listen and Learn] At another thread:

JimmyJones
June 17, 2015 at 9:49 am

Hype O’Thermia: YouTube and Wikipedia are good places to find out more about ICLEI. ICLEI teaches the DCC how to inflict the Sustainable Development world view on the citizens by using devious, undemocratic, secret and manipulative methods. ICLEI has helped the DCC to produce “marketing and communication” strategies to break down barriers to their deeply stupid ideas being accepted by the public. The goal is “behaviour change”. East Germany had the Stasi (Staatssicherheit), now we have ICLEI, Dave Cull and Sue Bidrose.

The influence of ICLEI explains a few things – like the DCC’s tendency towards increasingly secret (staff only) decision-making (eg the development and implementation of the Environment Strategy) and the generally severely deficient level of public consultation due to: skimpy information, poor publicity, expanding decisions beyond the scope of the consultation and treating it as just a ceremonial procedure (eg Dave’s Bicycle Network and its implementation). The pursuit of ICLEI’s goals is a direct cause of the underfunding of the city’s deficient (and worsening) infrastructure.

As far as I can tell most DCC councillors don’t know that the DCC has become a member of ICLEI and are unaware of the financial cost and its big influence in forming DCC policy. This demonstrates a problem with the attitude of the staff that councillors need to fix. The collusion between Dave Cull and Sue Bidrose is, however, a barrier to this that needs to be overcome. Councillors need to stop sleepwalking and start to become aware of the decisions that are being made without their involvement.

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: cartoonaday.com – Dave breakfast gruel [Warcraft-All-Nighter-Gamer tweaked by whatifdunedin]

Mayor Cull won’t admit lack of maintenance #SouthDunedinFlood

Mayor calls on government for help
39 Dunedin Television 20.11.15
A rising issue for seaside suburbs, a new report shows Dunedin is most at risk of suffering the negative effects of rising sea levels due to climate change. South Dunedin residents in particular are likely to experience flooding from rising ground water. Ch39 Link

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█ Preparing New Zealand for rising seas: Certainty and Uncertainty
A report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment shows Dunedin is one of the most vulnerable areas in the country.

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Related Posts and Comments:
● 3.11.15 South Dunedin Flood | Correspondence… released by DCC #LGOIMA
27.10.15 DCC: South Dunedin flood | higher learning for chief executive
16.8.15 June flood: Dunedin drop-in centre open 27 August
11.8.15 DCC’s unmanaged retreat for South Dunedin
22.7.15 DCC Long Term Plan 2015/16 – 2024/25
18.7.15 DCC Cycleways: SEEING RED, apology NOT accepted
14.7.15 DCC strategies needed like a hole in the head
12.6.15 Fairfax: DCC has no insurance cover for flood-damaged roads
● 5.6.15 WEATHER is not climate change; this is not the 100-year flood
4.6.15 Exchange makeover —or pumps and pipe renewals, um
3.6.15 Civil Defence response to Dunedin FLOODING
10.4.15 DCC: Natural Hazards
28.3.15 DCC Draft Long Term Plan 2015/16 to 2024/25 —Consultation Open
14.10.14 ORC: New strategic plan fosters Otago prosperity
12.9.14 ORC: City bus services, submissions
10.12.13 ORC restructures directorates
18.10.13 DCC: Final vote tally + St Clair boat ramp
18.8.13 South Dunedin and other low lying areas
26.2.13 DCC binge spending alert: Proposed South Dunedin cycle network
30.7.12 ORC on hazard risks and land use controls
7.6.12 Dunedin stormwater: more differences between ORC and DCC
25.11.11 South Dunedin and other flood zones

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

New Zealand Flag: 1000s of public submissions ignored by panel [+ Paris]

It was outside the panel’s remit to consider criticism of the process or support for the current flag……..

### ODT Online Fri, 13 Nov 2015
Readers support Mallard in flag debate
Source: NZME
Readers have weighed in to support claims by Trevor Mallard the flag referendum process is “total spin”, following analysis showing feedback from thousands of people critical of the process had been ignored by the flag consideration panel. Analysis published today on new data platform ‘Herald Insights’ shows official reports published by the flag panel had ignored thousands of public submissions – nearly a third of total feedback – that were critical of the process or supportive of retaining the current flag.
Read more

█ Herald Insights: http://insights.nzherald.co.nz/
█ http://insights.nzherald.co.nz/article/the-flag-debate
█ http://standfor.co.nz/

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Related Posts and Comments:
25.9.15 New Zealand Flag —symbolism
28.2.15 Campbell Live | TXT POLL: Does NZ need a new flag?

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: flagz.co.nz – NZ Flag; Stuff.co.nz – Flags

Mangawhai ratepayers let down by ruling #BadOmenDCC

Link received from John Evans

█ Message: Why you should be extremely concerned about DCC financial stupidity.

[Are Dave, Sue and Grant rubbing their hands ? -Eds]

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### radionz.co.nz Thu, 12 Nov 2015 at 8:22 pm NZT
RNZ News
Court ruling dismays Mangawhai ratepayers
By Lois Williams, RNZ Northland Reporter
Mangawhai people challenging rates set by the Kaipara District Council are dismayed by their latest defeat in court.

The Whangarei District Court has thrown out the arguments of Mangawhai Ratepayers’ Association president Bruce Rogan that his rates and many others set since 2006 were invalid because of multiple errors in the rating assessments. He said the council did not dispute the errors but the court had essentially said they did not matter.

“Things like setting the rates inclusive of GST, there’s absolutely no power in the act to do that,” Mr Rogan said. “It’s not a matter of them (the council) saying they didn’t do these things; they actually said they did them and said so in court.” Councils should not be able to use the law to gouge ratepayers when they did not comply with it themselves, he said. “It’s the end of civil society as we know it if this is allowed to stand. That may sound over-dramatic but if we don’t have a legal system that interprets the law as it is written then we’re all doomed.”

The association was still waiting for a Court of Appeal decision after it challenged the council in the High Court over its right to bill ratepayers for council debts they were not told about. The High Court found the Kaipara District Court’s borrowing to expand the Mangawhai Ecocare wastewater system was unlawful, because ratepayer had not been consulted about it. However, it could not rule on the rates levied to pay for the bank loans because Parliament had passed a special bill to validate them.

Mr Rogan owes the council $22,000 in rate arrears and has offered to pay the portion he believed was lawfully levied, minus penalties.
RNZ Link

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Related Posts and Comments:
3.11.15 Kaipara Concerns —ADOTROL* disease [Dunedin mention, again!]
13.2.15 Associate Minister of Local Government: Return democracy to Kaipara
2.2.15 LGNZ run by Mad Rooster Yule, end of story
27.11.14 Auditor-general Lyn Provost #Resign
31.10.14 Whaleoil on “dodgy ratbag local body politicians” —just like ours at DCC
9.9.14 Mangawhai, Kaipara: Latest news + Winston Peter’s speech
19.7.14 Whaleoil / Cameron Slater on ratepayers’ lament
29.5.14 Mangawhai Ratepayers and Residents Assn wins at High Court
31.3.14 Audit services to (paying) local bodies #FAIL ● AuditNZ ● OAG…
29.1.14 Mangawhai, Kaipara —we hear ya!
3.12.13 LGNZ: OAG report on Kaipara
12.11.13 Northland council amalgamation
29.6.13 Audit NZ and OAG clean bill of health —Suspicious!
21.4.13 Councils “in stchook” —finance & policy analyst Larry.N.Mitchell
19.3.12 Local government reform
21.2.12 Kaipara this time

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr