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

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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

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[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/

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“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.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

[wolfescape.com]

Cracking the truth : June 2015 South Dunedin flood

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

South Dunedin June 2015 [radionz.co.nz]

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

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

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

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

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

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

Declaration: Conrad Stedman is my nephew.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

Labour messing with South Dunedin, like Cull, unbidden

Not Listening [octavehighereast.com]

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There is little or no RISING GROUNDWATER at South Dunedin – this is an attack on the local community by Anthropogenic Global Warming (manmade climate change) believers like Curran, Clark, and Cull.

So-called ‘authorities’ are running their Politics over the top of the local Community, Failing to canvass the views of the local residents, property owners, service providers and businesses through agreed consultation methods Before pronouncing upon the area. This is disrespectful, dangerous behaviour. Unwarranted.

A lot of us will remember Labour MP David Clark’s importune speech on climate change at the public meeting held at South Dunedin on 20 June. He completely didn’t register the mood and understandings of the local audience.

Greenie Cull and the Labour Party are deliberately or inadvertently using South Dunedin as a Political Football. There are few votes to be earned from bullying and interference, thank god.

Listening —what is that.

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Speaking after the tour, Mr Little said the area was a “prime candidate” for urban renewal under the party’s proposed Affordable Housing Authority.

### ODT Online Tue, 26 Jul 2016
Labour timeline for South renewal
By Timothy Brown
South Dunedin’s renewal will be showing “good progress” within six years of electing a Labour government, party leader Andrew Little says. Mr Little toured South Dunedin with Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull, Dunedin South MP Clare Curran, Dunedin North MP Dr David Clark and list MP David Parker after the area was earmarked by the Opposition as one urgently needing urban renewal. The group walked from Bathgate Park School, in Macandrew Rd, down Loyalty St into Nicholson St and on to Nelson St before returning to the school. They were accompanied by members of various social groups from South Dunedin.
Read more

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### Dunedintv.co.nz Mon, 25 July 2016
Labour leader tours South Dunedin
Labour Leader Andrew Little has visited South Dunedin today, alongside a contingent of MPs and social service agency stakeholders. The group wandered around the areas hardest hit by last year’s floods, looking at the handful of houses still empty more than a year on. And Little took the opportunity to offer up his party’s plan to fix some of the issues.
Ch39 Link

Channel 39 Published on Jul 24, 2016
Labour leader tours South Dunedin

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DUNEDIN – JUNKET CITY FOR LGNZ
“How do we Efficiently capture NZ Ratepayers’ Money for our Comfy Salaries”

### Dunedintv.co.nz Mon, 25 July 2016
Local government conference kicks off
The country’s annual Local Government conference is back in Dunedin for the first time in almost a decade. More than 560 delegates have piled into the Town Hall to discuss how to make New Zealand a better place to live and work. But it’s also serving as a way to address the tension between local and central governments.
Ch39 Video

LAWRENCE YULE GO HOME

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

*Images: mrhudyma.com – Listening | linkedin.com – Larry King, Listen

Johnstone disputes Opus review #SouthDunedinFlood

### ODT Online Thu, 7 Jul 2016
Flood review clears DCC staff findings
Dunedin City Council staff have been vindicated by peer reviews which backed their findings over the cause of last June’s devastating floods. The reviews, carried out by infrastructure consultancy firm Opus, backed the council’s findings South Dunedin and other parts of the city would have been flooded even if the city’s stormwater system was running at full capacity.
Read more

Opus peer reviews of DCC flood reports received (same day) following a LGOIMA request made on 7 July 2016:

DCC Nov2015 rpt review-final (PDF, 395 KB)

DCC Apr2016 rpt review-final (PDF, 329 KB)

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A truly independent inquiry into the council’s performance around last year’s South Dunedin floods remains long overdue, writes Dunedin engineer Neil Johnstone.

### ODT Online Thu, 14 Jul 2016
Opinion: Report skims surface of South Dunedin flood saga
By Neil Johnstone
OPINION Readers of the Dunedin City Council-funded independent peer review of its post-flood reporting (ODT, 7.7.16) should be wary. The council’s delight with the review may prove short-lived. In brief, the Opus review:

● Recognises the 1968 rainfall event was bigger than that of June 2015 (contrary to repeated council claims).
● Fails to explore the reasons why the 2015 flood was a disaster, and the 1968 event was not.
● Makes assumptions about groundwater levels without referencing the actual data.
● Appears to consider the council’s assumption of zero ground infiltration has merit (note: the data disproves this).
● Believes mud-tank blockage impacts of the flood were “localised” (too bad if you were a local), but fails to consider the likely widespread impacts on South Dunedin of blocked mud-tanks in the St Clair catchment.
● States council reviews “suggest” its failures at the Portobello Rd pumping station caused an increase in flood levels of about 200mm.
● In fact, the first council review leaves the reader with no more than an opportunity to infer this, while the second council review only states that the failures may have influenced “the length of time flooding was evident”.
● I do not recall the council actually publicly admitting the 200mm figure before the South Dunedin Action Group meeting of June 21.
● Fails to address the flood impacts of the council’s total failure to operate its Musselburgh pumps for stormwater relief.
● Makes general statements to the effect that “primary” flooding would have occurred under any circumstance. South Dunedin residents know that “overwhelming” of stormwater infrastructure was not the concern; the avoidable flooding of our people’s houses and businesses was.

For all of the above reasons, and more, the Opus finding the council report’s conclusions were “robust” is concerning. A truly independent inquiry into the council’s performance pre, during and post-flood, at staff and political levels, is long overdue. ODT Link

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Related Posts and Comments:
● 7.7.16 Where is the unreserved DCC apology to … South Dunedin ?
● 4.7.16 Presentations available —a) 4 July USA —b) 20 June SDAG
● 28.6.16 The Star and RNZ on raised flood levels #SouthDunedin
● 27.6.16 CULL commingled #AGWbullsfeatherartists
● 21.6.16 Mayoral Statement to South Dunedin
● 20.6.16 Public Meeting: South Dunedin Action Group #tonight
18.6.16 South Dunedin stormwater pipes —getting past the desktop ICMP
● 17.6.16 So we’re going to play it this way #SouthDunedinFlood
● 16.6.16 Public Meeting: South Dunedin Action Group #AllWelcome
● 6.6.16 Listener June 11-17 2016 : Revisiting distress and mismanagement
6.5.16 South Dunedin Action Group: Notes of meeting with DCC (3 May 2016)
14.4.16 South Dunedin flood risk boosters #ClimateChangeCrap #PissOffPCE
26.2.16 Mudtanks and drains + Notice of Public Meeting #SouthDunedinFlood
● 31.12.15 2016, have mercy !@$#%^&*
10.4.15 DCC: Natural Hazards

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

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

The Star and RNZ on raised flood levels #SouthDunedin

The Star 23.6.16 (page 9)

[click to enlarge]

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

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

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

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

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

Sa pièce de résistance @ #DUD

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

au Sud Dunedin

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

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

Channel 39 Published on Jun 22, 2016

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

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

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POST FLOODS

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

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

Huh ?

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

Hourra !

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

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

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Mayoral Statement to South Dunedin

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

Mayoral apology: At China on “DCC business”.

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

[excerpt, from pages 1-2]

Readers may involve themselves with the full statement.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DCC media release: Kaikorai Valley works enter new phase

█ Facebook: South Dunedin Action Group

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

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

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

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

Ian Athfield dies #architecture

Updated post Thu, 23 Jan 2014 at 5:28 p.m.
Public Memorial Service (1 February) details below.

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█ Sir Ian Charles Athfield KNZM (15 July 1940 – 16 January 2015) was a New Zealand architect. He was born in Christchurch and graduated from the University of Auckland in 1963 with a Diploma of Architecture. That same year he joined Structon Group Architects, and he became a partner in 1965. In 1968 he was a principal partner in setting up Athfield Architects with Ian Dickson and Graeme John Boucher (Manson). Link to profile

Sir Ian had recently been made a knight companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to architecture. Photo: NZ Herald

Athfield made a knight (2014) | Wellingtonian Interview Q&A (2009)
Review of Athfield’s biography (2012)

Website: Athfield Architects | Google Images: Ian Athfield

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### stuff.co.nz Last updated 17:51, January 16 2015
The Dominion Post
Renowned architect Sir Ian Athfield dies, aged 74
By Simon Bradwell and Tom Hunt
Renowned Wellington-based architect Sir Ian Athfield has died. He was 74.
Athfield Architects associate Rachel Griffiths said Sir Ian died in Wellington Hospital early this morning surrounded by family. His death was the result of “unexpected complications” during a procedure to treat his colon cancer.
“Ath had been dealing with cancer for some time with his usual stoicism and inappropriate humour,” Griffiths said. “There is … no-one else like Ath and we are devastated by his passing.” The Athfield family had asked for time to deal with their grief, she said. No date had been set for the funeral or memorial service at this stage.

A statement released this morning by the New Zealand Institute of Architects announced his death. “It is with great sadness that we inform Members that Sir Ian Athfield, one of New Zealand’s finest architects, has passed away in Wellington,” it said. “Our deepest condolences go out to Ath’s family, friends and colleagues. There are few details to share at this stage, but we will notify members of any funeral or memorial service arrangements as soon as they arise.”

Athfield, who was knighted in the most recent New Year Honours for his work in architecture, won more than 60 awards for his work. In a professional career spanning half a century, his stamp was imprinted across Wellington, and with Roger Walker, he was probably New Zealand’s leading exponent of modernist architecture. His most well-known works included the City Library and its nikau palm columns, built as part of the Civic Square redevelopment in the 1980s, and his own sprawling Khandallah house. He also designed Jade Stadium in Christchurch, which was damaged in the February 2011 earthquake.
Walker said he was “still in shock” on getting the news of Athfield’s death.
Read more

● 3 News: Kiwi architect Sir Ian Athfield dies [+ newsclip]
● New Zealand Herald: His designs offended and inspired: Architect Sir Ian Athfield dies [+ tweets with photos]
● ONE News: ‘Heavy hearts’ as renowned architect Sir Ian Athfield mourned
● Yahoo.com: ‘Rebellious’ architect Ian Athfield dies
● Wellington.scoop: Death of architect Ian Athfield
● NBR: Sir Ian Athfield, one of NZ’s most influential architects, has died

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ODT 20.1.15 (page 21)

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Death Notice – The Dominion Post [online]

█ Public Figure: Ian Athfield https://www.facebook.com/Ian-Athfield

Sir Ian Athfield – Public Memorial Service
The New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) have organised a public memorial service to celebrate the life and work of Sir Ian Athfield, to be held at 3pm, Sunday 1 February, in Civic Square, Wellington.
Details of the service are yet to be finalised, but it is envisaged that it will include eulogies from people who knew Ath well. The service will very much be a memorial to Ath the Architect, and many Members will wish to attend. https://www.nzia.co.nz/

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archivesnz Published on May 5, 2013

Architect Athfield (1979)
New Zealand National Film Unit presents Architect Athfield (1979)
‘Architect Athfield’ examines the frustrations and achievements of one of New Zealand’s most lively and innovative architects. In 1975 Ian Athfield won an international competition directed towards providing housing for 140,000 squatters from the Tondo area in Manila. Ironically, Athfield had jumped to international prominence before any wide-ranging acceptance in his own country. This film examines Athfield’s practical philosophy of architecture, and culminates in his trip to the Philippines, where he hopes to make his prize-winning design a reality.

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wclchannel Uploaded on Nov 30, 2011
Ian Athfield – Central Library architect

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[YouTube] Julia Gatley’s interview with Sir Miles Warren and Ian Athfield on the 23rd of June 2012 at City Gallery Wellington.
Ian Athfield Interview 23 June 2012 Part 1 of 4 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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Phil O’Brien Published on Apr 14, 2013
Ian Athfield at the 2009 Gold Awards

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Related Posts and Comments:
24.4.13 Ian Athfield at Dunedin | Open Lecture Friday 26 April
3.3.13 RNZ Sunday Morning | Ideas: Re-imagining the Urban House
9.11.12 New Zealand Urban Design Awards
25.6.12 New Zealand Architects: Pete Bossley, and Ian and Clare Athfield
7.12.11 Ian Athfield on post-earthquake Christchurch #eqnz
19.9.11 NZIA members on Christchurch City Plan
13.7.08 Some thoughts

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Samples from What if? Comments

### rnz.co.nz Sunday 11 August 2013
Arts on Sunday
1:43 New Arts Icon Ian Athfield
Ian Athfield on his new honour and he talks about this weekend’s forum on how architects and designers can help out following natural disasters.
Audio Ogg MP3 (6′59″)

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### ODT Online Sat, 27 Apr 2013
‘Look at heritage differently,’ Athfield says
By John Gibb
Leading New Zealand architect Ian Athfield yesterday praised Dunedin’s wealth of heritage buildings but urged a rethink of aspects of the city’s one-way-street system. Mr Athfield, of Wellington, was in the city yesterday to give the annual New Zealand Historic Places Trust R.A. Lawson Lecture, as part of the Dunedin Heritage Festival. Addressing about 200 people at the University of Otago’s St David lecture theatre, he said “we have to look at heritage differently”. One-way street systems, in Dunedin and elsewhere, could sometimes separate important heritage buildings from their communities, and could make it difficult for people to approach such buildings on foot because of traffic volumes. Mr Athfield […] urged people to take a more flexible and holistic approach to heritage, treasuring the wider context of historic buildings, including their landscape settings, rather than seeing them only in isolation.
Read more

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Photo: City Gallery Wellington

Aalto Books profiles Portrait of a House by Simon Devitt
Published by Balasoglou Books May 2013
Only 1,000 copies printed with 100 special edition copies that include one of five photographic prints. At 140 pages, a true collector’s item for those interested in New Zealand history, architecture, design and photography.
Portrait of a House is a photo book by photographer Simon Devitt in collaboration with graphic designer Arch MacDonnell (Inhouse Design). This is Devitt’s first foray in the photo book genre. His book explores the Athfield House – the ‘village on the hill’ – an architectural experiment that Ian Athfield started in 1965 on the Khandallah hillside in Wellington, and which he is still altering and extending today.
The house is renowned in bohemian and academic circles for its many colourful dinner parties and occasions, and is infamous with neighbours past and present for the antics of its free-range livestock and frequent run-ins with Council. Roosters have been shot, construction shut down and architectural pilgrimages made.
This is an extraordinary story told through Devitt’s sensitive eye, blended with historic photographs, paintings and drawings from the Athfield archive. Clare Athfield’s contribution of her own recipes (dating from the 1960s until now) complements a selection of personal letters by family, friends, colleagues and clients which are insightful and often very funny – memories that make Simon’s photographs all the more potent in their beauty and silence.
The idea for the book came from Devitt’s admiration of Robin Morrison’s work and in particular Morrison’s 1978 photo book Images of a House about a William Gummer-designed house built in 1916. “A house is a pretty refined subject to make a book about,” explains Devitt. “It is not market driven, it is content driven and born out of passion. Life has happened there like in no other house, and the ‘living’ leaves its evidence, time has played out on its surface. There is a lot to be said about sitting still and how that looks. The Athfield house is a wonderful example of this. An accessible counterpoint to a largely asset based living that pervades New Zealand.”

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### radionz.co.nz 3 March 2013
Radio New Zealand National
Sunday Morning with Chris Laidlaw
Listen on 101 FM or online at radionz.co.nz

10:06 Ideas: Re-imagining the Urban House
Arguments for intensifying the density of housing tend to fall into two categories: Affordability and putting a halt to urban sprawl.
Ideas talks to two architects who advocate higher density housing not just for those reasons but because they believe, if done right, it will result in more liveable houses and communities.

Robert Dalziel, the co-author of A House in the City: Home Truths in Urban Architecture, has travelled the world looking at traditional models of high density housing and come to some interesting conclusions; and Ian Athfield, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated architects, talks about the lessons he’s learnt from building his own house which now combines living quarters for 25 people with office space for another 40.
Audio Ogg Vorbis MP3 (49′59″)

“Get rid of those traffic engineers, which is another bloody thing, y’know, they’re singularly minded, quite stupid, y’know, they don’t think of anything else other than how long it takes to move a car from one space to another – that can’t happen in our cities in future.”

“The word “urban design” is now an abused profession – just like planning was in the sixties, y’know, and I said in the sixties if we knew as much about planning as we thought we knew about apartheid, we’d be demonstrating against planning, before we demonstrated against apartheid, because it is really really important. We had zoning at the time, absolutely ridiculous…”

Athfield House, Wellington. Photo: Grant Sheehan

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### stuff.co.nz Last updated 07:46 23/03/2011
Architect Athfield not softening
Source: The Press
Architect Ian Athfield is refusing to back down from his ultimatum about Christchurch’s development. Today he defended his comments, saying it was “absolutely the best time ever” to have the debate about how the city would look in the future. He was backed by former Christchurch Mayor Garry Moore who said the city now had a “clean slate” that presented opportunities like never before. NZPA
Read more + Comments

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### radionz.co.nz Monday, 07 March 2011 at 8:22
Morning Report with Geoff Robinson & Simon Mercep
Architectural ambassador joins rebuild debate
The rebuilding of Christchurch is clearly an emotive issue. Wellington architect Ian Athfield and Christchurch planning and resource management consultant Dean Crystal join us to discuss the rebuild debate.
Audio Ogg Vorbis MP3 (6′22″)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Comics: The Oatmeal

15.11.12 http://theoatmeal.com/comics/making_things

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oatmeal
Twitter: Follow Matthew Inman @Oatmeal
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theoatmeal

### SmartPlanet.com 14 Oct 2012
Q&A: The Oatmeal’s Matthew Inman talks crowdfunding, creativity
By Molly Petrilla
Creator of the popular humour website The Oatmeal, Matthew Inman recently turned his talents toward philanthropic crowdfunding, raising $1.37 million for a new Nikola Tesla Museum. Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
… with thanks to another of my nearby inspirations :)

Otago Polytechnic: DEBRIEF and Collections 13 [student showcase]

DEBRIEF will preview on November 20 and include work by 75 graduating communication, fashion, interior and product design students.

DEBRIEF will be combined with a fashion show titled Collections 13 of work by graduating fashion design students.

DEBRIEF – 96 Anzac Avenue (former Unipol building)
Public open hours:
Thursday 21 November: 11:00am-5:00pm
Friday 22 November: 12:00pm-6:00pm
Saturday 23 November: 12:00pm-4:00pm
Sunday 24 November: 10:00am-2:00pm

Collections 13 – 96 Anzac Avenue (former Unipol building)
Friday 22 November, 5.30pm-10:30pm
Tickets now on sale and can be purchased from Dash Tickets

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Otago Polytechnic – Press Release
Otago Polytechnic Design students prepare to ‘DEBRIEF’
Friday, 8 November 2013, 12:42 pm
Pop-up cinemas, projection displays and Shanghai-inspired fashion designs are just some of the exciting pieces on display, as third-year Otago Polytechnic Design students prepare for DEBRIEF; their end of year exhibition kicking off on Wednesday, November 20.
Spanning four design disciplines, DEBRIEF is an opportunity for Communication, Fashion, Interiors and Product students to make their debuts as designers. It is an exhibition of creativity and flair: a visual reference to the next chapter in life, turning over a new leaf and bookmarking important moments over three years of design degree study.
Read more at Scoop

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: Whatifdunedin (smartphone) DEBRIEF 21 Nov 2013

North East Valley: Community-led development project

New Zealand is trying to find its way back to grassroots community development, with Dunedin’s Northeast Valley one of five government-funded trials nationally.

### ODT Online Sun, 15 Sep 2013
Building a sense of community in Northeast Valley
By Bruce Munro
Throughout New Zealand, including in government circles, the tide is rising with a desire to see neighbourhoods once again creating their own strong and sustainable vibrant communities. Insiders call it community-led development, or just CLD. It is the opposite of both individual apathy and top-down attempts to solve community ills.

It is what 60 years ago was simply called ”being neighbourly”, ”taking the bull by the horns” and ”doing our bit”.

In the 21st century, however, it is an untried, risky but potentially better way of strengthening social fabric and building resilience in the face of increasing community fragmentation and looming economic and ecological uncertainties. So the Department of Internal Affairs, having decided it should be able to get more bang for its $18 million-per-year community funding buck, has launched a trial of the community-led development approach.
Five communities have been selected for their high unemployment or low average income; sizeable Maori, Pacific Island or ethnic minority communities; multiple issues to address; strengths to build on; and current or potential leaders to spearhead the charge.
North East Valley was the only South Island community chosen. The other triallists are Whirinaki in Northland, Mount Roskill in Auckland, Mangakino, north of Taupo, and Cannons Creek/Waitangirua, east of Porirua.

New Project Committee 2011 [Archives: northeastvalley.org]

Community-building activities in the valley
Dinners, community garden working bees, the Valley Voice newsletter, Transition Valley 473’s fruit tree planting and workshops, and the community choir – were already running before the trial began. But the project’s executive now has a list of more than 40 projects that have been mooted, investigated or kick-started.

The valley’s story is its own. But it also mirrors changes and challenges many communities face. Today, North East Valley has a resident population of about 4500. According to the 2006 census, the most recent data available, almost 80% are European and 7.3% are Maori. More than 9% and 3%, respectively, are Asian and Pacific Islanders, in both cases double the Otago average.
A third of valley dwellers class themselves as professionals, more than 11% are unemployed, and a quarter of families have one parent. The median income for those over the age of 15 is about $13,000, roughly half the Otago average.
Read more

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Project website: northeastvalley.org

NEV Project – Car club dudes [Archives: northeastvalley.org]

North East Valley (Wikipedia)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin: city marketing @@@

### ODT Online on Fri, 17 May 2013
City planning single marketing arm
By Debbie Porteous
Total responsibility for marketing Dunedin to the outside world will not be transferred to Tourism Dunedin, after a series of concerns were raised about a proposal to do so.
Dunedin city councillors have decided the city’s marketing functions should still be brought into a single agency, as proposed in the council’s draft annual plan for 2013-14, but not one run by Tourism Dunedin, after concerns that would not meet the main aim of having a consistent city marketing message.
In the meantime, the status quo would remain while a steering group considered options for setting up the agency, including establishing a council-owned organisation (CCO) or the council delivering all marketing functions in-house.

Investigating a single marketing agency is one of the projects outlined in the city’s economic development strategy.

The proposal outlined in the draft annual plan was to merge city-wide marketing activities into a single marketing agency that would co-ordinate tourism, events, investment, skills and migrant promotion and attraction efforts, as well as be responsible for city branding and operate Dunedin’s i-Site. The aim was more efficient and effective marketing activity.
Read more

Report – Council – 15/05/2013 (PDF, 512.2 KB)
Marketing Agency Proposal Consultation

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Remember when . . .

I am Dunedin launch, January 2001
Grainy image, just like the campaign, with ‘famous’ faces (detail from a photo by Jane Dawber, ODT)

Ben Fahy, at Idealog (October 19, 2010 @ 10:25 am): “Previous branding had been done in-house by the council, including the classic slogans ‘It’s all right here’ (often exchanged for the more comical ‘It’s alright here’) and ‘I am Dunedin’. Wisely, a slogan was avoided and Dunedin is the brand (the logo, a trendy, more contemporary gothic script that embraces the town’s Scottish heritage, is inspired by Nom-D’s now famous ‘Dunedin’ t-shirts). At the same time, the campaign is also confronting some of the engrained—and perhaps negative—perceptions of the city head on…”

Similar talking-through-a hole-in-the-neck has been rebounding ever since DCC tried to brand the city without branding the city. Confused?

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Related Post and Comments:
3.3.13 Tourism Dunedin —city councillors not convinced

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Local body elections: who will explain DCC’s books . . .

Received from Hype O’Thermia
Monday, 22 April 2013 3:37 a.m.

“In the boardroom, [Ngai Tahu chairman Mark] Solomon favours plain speaking. He tells a story about trying to get his head around the accounting terms used in Ngai Tahu’s financial statements, terms like EVA (economic value added) and WACC (weighted average cost of capital).

To improve understanding of such terms he asked for an explanatory document to be created and issued that with the report to iwi. It worked. Recently at one meeting an 84-year-old woman stood and challenged Solomon, arguing Ngai Tahu’s WACC was 1 per cent too low.”

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 05:00 21/04/2013
Business
The wisdom of Solomon
By Rob O’Neill – Sunday Star Times
After 15 years on the board, the chairman of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, Sir Mark Solomon, is willing to retire, but he will stay on for the long haul if he can’t find the right successor to lead the tribal council. Solomon, knighted in the 2013 New Year’s honours list for services to Maori and business, said, as with any organisation, there were people who put their own interests first and people who put the collective interest first. In Ngai Tahu terms he calls these “I Tahu” and “We Tahu”. “I’ve always stood in the middle of the ‘we’ camp,” he told an Institute of Directors conference in Auckland last week. “It always seems to me that politics is about ‘I’ versus ‘we’.” Whoever takes on his job will have to also be a “we” person, he said. Read more

Wouldn’t it be great if “Greater Dunedin’s” pre-election commitment to transparency had resulted in something like this, to bust asunder some of the tools used in official obfuscation!

Imagine if such an explanatory document had been distributed to ratepayers instead of Rodney’s puff-mag, and not only given to councillors but read aloud, attendance compulsory, security staff present to monitor for sleepiness and texty-wexing lovey-dove or playing angry birds under the table.

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Image: Mark Solomon via stuff.co.nz

Cull COVERS UP COUNCIL #massage

National Radio says Dunedin City Council’s debt has increased to $620 million.

@@@@ Actually, the debt is likely to be much higher than this.

Mayor’s shambolic response to botched SH88 realignment:

Asked if heads would roll over the council’s handling of the saga, Mr Cull replied “No”. “I think things in hindsight could have been handled better … Given the circumstances before the World Cup, there was a lot of pressure to get things done in a hurry. A few things slipped, it’s fair to say. At the time, council did not make the best decisions, but they probably made it in good faith, so that is the way it is.” ODT Link

### ch9.co.nz November 22, 2012 – 7:00pm
Nightly interview: Mayor Dave Cull
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull has warned city council cost-cutting will continue next year, as the local authority looks to again cut into the rates increase. He suggested in an opinion piece in the Otago Daily Times debt and economic development were the headline issues. He is here to tell us why.
Video

### ODT Online Wed, 21 Nov 2012
Opinion
Debt reduction, economic development focus
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull lays out what he sees as the challenges facing the city council next year. This year has been a time of challenge and achievement for the Dunedin City Council. Costs and rate rises were substantially contained despite significantly reduced cash-flows. Information flow and public transparency have been enhanced, council confirmed a visionary spatial plan and council company governance has been substantially overhauled and improved.
Read more

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STANDARD & POOR’S Rating Services
Dunedin City Council
http://www.standardandpoors.com/prot/ratings/entity-ratings/en/us/?entityID=272160&sectorCode=GOVS

S&P Statement:
Outlook On New Zealand’s Dunedin City Council Revised To Negative; Ratings Affirmed At ‘AA/A-1+’
Publication date: 20-Nov-2012 23:07:36 EST
http://www.standardandpoors.com/prot/ratings/articles/en/us/?articleType=HTML&assetID=1245343655677

MELBOURNE (Standard & Poor’s) Nov. 21, 2012–Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services’ said today that it has revised its outlook on New Zealand’s Dunedin City Council (Dunedin) to negative, from stable. At the same time, the ‘AA/A-1+’ issuer credit ratings on Dunedin were affirmed. The outlook on Dunedin City Treasury Ltd. was also revised to negative, and the issuer credit ratings were affirmed at ‘AA/A-1+’.

“The negative outlook reflects our view that there is a one-in-three chance of a downgrade in the coming two years,” said credit analyst Anthony Walker. “This is based on our view that Dunedin may not achieve its financial targets outlined in its Long-Term Plan, with its after-capital account deficits not improving as quickly as forecast. If this scenario were to materialize, we consider that Dunedin would have limited budgetary flexibility to improve its financial position without deferring asset renewals, which may lead to future infrastructure backlogs.”

Further downward pressure could be placed on the ratings depending on the Auditor General’s investigation into the management of Dunedin’s council-controlled trading organization (CCTO)–Delta Utility Services–which may weaken our assessment of Dunedin’s management of CCTOs; or if there was a change in policy direction such as the introduction of a hard rates cap, or a revised capital-expenditure program without an offsetting increase in revenue which would result in Dunedin’s after-capital account deficits not improving as forecast.

“The ratings could be revised to stable if the council’s budgetary performance strengthens as it forecasts, specifically if the council achieves after-capital account deficits of about 2% of consolidated operating revenues in 2014 and beyond, while maintaining its current budgetary flexibility, and a stable political setting,” said Mr. Walker.

Dunedin City Council’s (Dunedin) individual credit profile reflects the predictable and supportive institutional framework available to local and regional councils within New Zealand, plus our very positive view of Dunedin’s financial management, and the council’s modest contingent liabilities. In our view, these strengths are partially offset by Dunedin’s high debt burden relative to international peers, and low debt-servicing ratio.

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Comments received.

Martin Legge
Submitted on 2012/11/22 at 7:46 pm
The reality is most Government Regulatory Agencies are now filled with academics (usually law graduates) who love writing endless reports but lack the capacity, desire or hard edge to conduct interviews where the hard searching questions now being demanded by the “What if” mob will ever be asked.
The OAG have obviously held a cordial chat with the Mayor over this and I bet boundaries of the investigation have been set. OAG didn’t listen to Bev Butler, but the Mayor of Dunedin – he’s a man of importance so let’s get down there!!!!

Anonymous
Submitted on 2012/11/22 at 9:10 pm
The thing with the Delta transactions is that there is a fairly clear trail of what was purchased, where it was held and where the original money came from. The investigation should have Newtons Coachways and Delta Investments Ltd in its scope. If it doesn’t then it is toothless.

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Related Posts and Comments:
18.11.12 DCC Annual Report to 30 June 2012 – borrowing and interpretation
12.11.12 Delta purchases | Vandervis OAG complaint accepted

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC has PR problem

The Octagon Occupy (a peaceful legitimate protest) and the weekend’s North Dunedin fires (arson, threat to property, drunkenness and street fighting, threat to health and safety) are exerting pressure on the Dunedin City Council to enter meaningful – open and transparent – communication with residents and ratepayers; evidently, this should extend to the university and the police.

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The protesters have won a significant victory and it will be even more difficult to move them now.

### ODT Online Wed, 9 Nov 2011
Editorial: Communication breakdown
Have the Dunedin City Council and senior police officers stopped talking to each other? After last Tuesday night’s public relations disaster when the council failed in its attempt to have trespassed protesters removed from the Octagon, the residents of Dunedin could well be forgiven for thinking sensible communication has ceased. The “Occupy Dunedin” protesters – some call them noble and brave and others bludgers and beneficiaries – pitched more than 30 tents in the upper Octagon on October 15, joining a global movement protesting corporate greed and social inequality and calling for greater protection of the environment.
Read more

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Related Posts:
19.10.11 Octagon protest occupies minds!
21.10.11 INSANE, Dave! Occupy Dunedin STAYS in the Octagon.
24.10.11 #Occupy #OWS Good guy! US Marine Sgt Shamar Thomas

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

HELP, if the elected Council was bright

The Dunedin City Council faces a financial meltdown of unprecedented proportion; a squalid bankruptcy of governance the cause. No-one knows the true dollar scale of the problem and many of the accounts are closed to public scrutiny.

In the absence of a fully developed all-encompassing strategy to bring order to the books, the implication is the Council will leave it to generations of ratepayers to foot the bills. The cost will be to every citizen. In effect, that’s what the Forsyth Barr Stadium Debt Servicing Plan report to this week’s Finance Strategy and Development Committee says. The dangers of isolationist hands-off thinking.

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Warren Larsen Report
Governance review of all companies in which Dunedin City Council and/or Dunedin City Holdings Limited has an equity interest of 50% or more.

From the time Larsen’s recommendations were adopted (Stuff 12.8.11), how long for the Council to ring changes? 6 months, a year? Longer, after the councillors are voted out or forcibly removed?

The lack of outward communication appears contrary to the imperative of Larsen’s report. By now, surely Council has an indicative critical path for release to the concerned public.

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What are some ‘unearthing’ options for information?

Pin Mayor Dave Cull for the timeline to effect Larsen recommendations.
Forensic audit.
Statutory management.
Commissioner / Panel.
Legal action.
Independent senior business commentators to talk through details of logistical steps Council must take (in response to Larsen) to get its books in order – to avoid and retire cumulative debt, at the same time manage/streamline all Council business.

It’s all about a local authority corporate re-structure, involving large sums of borrowed money to clear. It includes identifying elements of usury, mis-spending, laundering, corporate fraud, deceit, ignorance, and incompetence; and, above all, hammering with all firepower what continues as Council’s unethical immoral avoidance of the fiduciary duty of care to Community.

A clear interpretation of what is now, what has been, and what lies ahead will be difficult if not impossible to achieve while obfuscation continues at DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, CST, and related entities.

It’s a chill air at Dunedin.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC: low resident satisfaction with communication

### ODT Online Thu, 25 Nov 2010
DCC works on getting message out
By David Loughrey
The Dunedin City Council’s communication with its public is being reviewed, following a residents’ opinion survey that showed continued low levels of satisfaction with that aspect of the council’s performance. Marketing communication agency manager Debra Simes said this week she hoped the review would result in an improved information flow, and better timing of communication.
Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Dear DCC: about your services when it floods, when we lose our water supply, our roads wash out, our bridges demolish, usual CD dramas and natural disasters…

PLEASE keep your DCC website home page up to date for citizens, and USE Twitter and Facebook – because your customers use social networking services (aka social media) and we’re connected. Why isn’t DCC connected?

That’s all.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr