DCC LGOIMA Response : Wall Street Mall and Town Hall Complex

Email correspondence.

From: DCC Governance Support
Sent: Friday, 20 January 2017 8:48 a.m.
To: Elizabeth Kerr
Subject: Official information response 280070 Council Buildings WOF

Dear Ms Kerr,

Official information request for information about COUNCIL BUILDINGS WOF

I refer to your official information request dated 28-November-2016 for the following information. Our response to each question is in red font [italics at this website -Eds]:

1. Does the council-owned Wall Street Mall (211 George St, Dunedin) have a current building warrant of fitness, and if not why not?

The Wall Street Mall at 211 George Street does not have a building warrant of fitness. The current status of the Wall Street Mall building warrant of fitness is that a Letter in Lieu was issued for the Specified Systems 15.3, 15.4, 15.5 because a full 12 months’ worth of daily inspections had not been completed. We can confirm that since July, 2015, these daily checks have been in place and this will not be an issue for subsequent warrants of fitness.

Please note that where a Letter in Lieu is issued this means the Independent Qualified Person (IQP) confirms that the systems in the building are working as they should and are compliant.

2. Since the construction of Wall Street Mall was completed in what years has it had a current building warrant of fitness issued, and if not why not?

Mar 2012 – Outstanding form 12A for Specified System 6 (Riser Mains).
Mar 2013 – Letter in lieu issued for Specified System 6 (Riser Mains).
Nov 2013 – Building Warrant of Fitness Received.
Sep 2015 – Letter in lieu issued for 2014/15 & 2015/16 compliance year for Specified System 15/3.
Regarding the reasons for this, please refer to the comments of the Manager, City Property below.

3. Does the council-owned Dunedin Town Hall complex, including Glenroy Theatre, Metro Cinema, and Municipal Chambers, have a current building warrant of fitness(s), and if not why not?
Since the major Dunedin Town Hall Redevelopment Project was completed (including Glenroy Theatre, Metro Cinema, and Municipal Chambers) in what years has it had a current building warrant of fitness(s) issued, and if not why not?.

There is no building warrant of fitness in place for these premises. Instead the Dunedin Town Hall complex, including the Municipal Chambers, Dunedin Centre and the Metro Theatre, have a Certificate of Public Use in place. This means the buildings are safe to use.

These buildings do not have a current Building Warrant of Fitness as, at time of writing, no current Code of Compliance has been issued following the completion of the redevelopment work as there were some building elements requiring attention relating to fire engineering. These elements have been completed and the documentation submitted to DCC Building Compliance for Final Inspection and issue of the Code Compliance. Once the Code Compliance Certificate has been issued there will be nothing to prevent the issue of a warrant of fitness at the next inspection.

If you wish to discuss this information with us, please feel free to contact Property Manager Kevin Taylor on 03 477 4000. Mr Taylor has prepared the following report for the chief executive. This is provided for your information:

The DCC Property department has previously engaged an outside contractor to administer and manage the BWOF compliance on DCC properties, in particular the Wall St Mall. In early 2015, the Building Compliance aspect was sold to Logic Project Management Consultants and a new company called Logic FM was formed and took over the majority DCC BWOF administration.

Our experience as we undertake building audits is that previous advice may have been too lax or liberal in assessing the building’s compliance with particular codes, specifically around fire protection and fire cells. We have also found that the inspections that were contracted to have been undertaken were not fulfilled, leaving gaps in the compliance processes. Thus the BWOF could not be issued by deadline or due dates.

Subsequently, it has been our experience that Logic FM has been interpreting code compliance components beyond that required by the law and schedules to the Acts governing the specified systems. Thus we have experienced a number of “notice to fix” instructions issued which are in error.

To satisfy ourselves that the BWOF is being managed and administered as it should be, DCC Property has engaged independent experts, especially structural and fire engineers, to review the building’s specified systems and as-built safety components. These independent audits have been completed and the required reports and Letters in Lieu issued to enable the DCC Building Authority to issue the BWOF.

The BWOF owners inspections have been brought in-house and are undertaken by the property team’s asset management staff. IQP inspections continue with the specific trades as required.

Yours sincerely

Governance Support Officer
Dunedin City Council

Delta #EpicPowerFail 7 : Kyle Cameron —The Money or the Bag?

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Wed, 30 Nov 2016 at 10:21 a.m.

>> Like most of Dunedin, in the last fortnight your correspondent has been looking with equal parts of fascination and horror at the torrent of deferred maintenance disasters and associated dissembling from Delta that Vaughan Elder of the Otago Daily Times has wrought upon Aurora. Mr Elder is detonating “aged hand grenade” potheads on an almost daily basis. Delta is surely beginning its death dance.

If readers think that “death dance” is too strong a term and your correspondent is a pothead of a different type, bear in mind the killer statistic revealed when last week Mr Elder publicised the results of Delta’s staff survey : 34% of staff thought that management was “honest” which, put another way, meant that two thirds of the staff considered the management dishonest. Given the preponderance of managers at Delta, this means even some of the managers considered themselves dishonest ! When the managers of an organisation are confident that the management is dishonest, then it is definitely time to do something about it…. However, we can be sure that Deloitte are not going to do anything about it by reporting to DCC what is obvious to all readers of the ODT and What if? : That the Delta and Aurora directors are either corrupt or incompetent to the point of criminal liability under Health and Safety legislation. (Only the first in a long list of fundamental director defects). Mr Crombie can spout excuses all he wants about Deloitte’s alleged “forensic expertise”, the issue is not about forensic expertise but independence and integrity.
Your correspondent has found that accountants’ ethical considerations and field of interest stops precisely at the door of whoever is paying their bill.
Lawyers have a more muscular process and even many lawyers who operate at, shall we say, the barely acceptable margins of their profession have a healthy regard for the disciplinary processes for unethical behaviour. Added to that, there are a number of lawyers available who view taking other lawyers to task as a form of sport. Yes before you ask, your correspondent has seen this in action, and there are regularly reported cases of lawyers being punished by the Law Society.
What your correspondent has not seen, is one accountant taking action against another, or any recent examples of accountants being censured by their professional body. Accountants policing their own ? That won’t work – the cost/benefit is all out of whack. But what we have here is not just one accountant looking the other way. It is the quadruple accountant play for maximum obfuscation and back scratching. One accountant, Mr Crombie (The Godfather) has carefully selected another of the brotherhood, a young go-getter, Kyle Cameron, wanting to make his mark in the Dunedin network (Tartan Mafia if you will). The Godfather carefully explains the rules of the game. The young go-getter knows there may be some short term consequences to him but understands that he will become a corporate career corpse if the rules aren’t followed. The go-getter will question the ‘change manager’ at the bottom of the play, Matt Ballard (Capability and Risk), a former Deloitte brother and member of the tartan clan. The young go-getter will hear no evil, see no evil, and most importantly, find no evidence of deliberate underfunding of the network from 2007 to 2016. That now protects the ‘older’ accountant, the sulphurous Stuart McLauchlan. The go-getter, will report that all is under control, the issues are not new and have been known for a long time. It was just a dreadful and unfortunate coincidence that whistleblower Richard Healey resigned and “some unfortunate publicity” meant it was timely to reveal Grady Cameron’s secret plan to spend $30M on replacing poles. ‘Grady’ will be gently chided for keeping this plan so secret that no one else knew about it and it wasn’t actually in the Long Term Plan, but you know, can’t make an egg without breaking an omelette. To diffuse that particular wet bus ticket, ‘Grady’ will also be commended for his vision and determination to create a safe network out of an aged one. Nothing less should be expected of a Deloitte Young Energy Executive of the Year. (Shameless plug for Deloitte also included).
The villain of the piece will be that Bad Man, John Walsh. He neglected to properly fund the network from the 1990s until his departure in 2009. It is, most definitely, All His Fault.

It hardly needs to be said that what is needed here is not Kyle Cameron, but a lawyer or former judge, someone with some real forensic cross examination talent, who levers the facts from liars and dissemblers every day. Someone with no ties to the incestuous and stifling Dunedin mafia.

However, Mr Crombie is correct that Deloitte does have “forensic” experience – from a besieged client perspective – and that experience is very useful in subtle engineering of the terms of reference, not asking relevant or difficult questions and indulging in Key-style vagueness. Deloitte specialise in appearing to provide a report that involves some gentle chiding, and wet bus tickets, but protects the client from further scrutiny.

In the event Kyle Cameron is the mouse that roared, and actually produces a factual report detailing the disgusting complicity of the directors who created a major public safety hazard by deferring essential maintenance to allow unsustainable dividends to Council, it will be amended by his superiors at Deloitte who have a very simple choice. Do Deloitte want to continue to receive lucrative work from Council, or do they provide a truthful report ? Mayor Cull will do almost anything to avoid ratepayers knowing that they are facing imminent and large de facto rates increases in the form of exponential lines charge increases ….because, huge amounts of Aurora line charges have been squandered on bloated and self-interested management, failed property deals and of course, paying for the stadium, over many years, and for many years to come.
The Crombie and Cull playbook 1 is to get malleable and weak individuals to say what you tell them to, hacking and modifying the facts to suit. Ratepayer funds at risk ? – a trifle as light as air ! What is important is that Mayor Cull and his council’s dividend drug habit is not exposed.

>> All right, readers, stop thinking that someone put genetically modified aggression supplements in the Bells ! Proof of these bald statements you say? Very well, here is the proof….  Until very recently a firm of property management consultants completed Building Warrant of Fitness inspections for the City. Now the firm had a sudden change of ownership recently, which may or may not have had something to do with the “non-voluntary” (careful words needed here readers) ! departure of an individual from the City, not unrelated to someone at the firm, at around the same time.

It appears that the firm may have lacked the necessary, ahem, independence or distance to enable them to provide, shall we say, a more accurate picture of the Building Act compliance status of ratepayer-owned facilities, including the Dunedin Town Hall and Wall Street Mall. When the new owners of the business produced their Warrant of Fitness report this year on those facilities, there was a list – a very long list – of 360 fire rating defects in Wall Street alone. These fire rating defects and other faults dated back to when the buildings were constructed in 2008 and 2011.

(By way of confirmation, If ratepayers care to check the publicly displayed Building Warrant of Fitness at Wall Street they will find there is no certificate, and we understand there are recently lodged official information requests to get to the bottom of this matter).
The establishment, allegedly very unhappy with this burst of unpleasant fire rating revelations from the new and improved firm, may have said words to the effect of “We have 50 buildings that need inspections ! Do you understand what we mean?” …. “We want you to issue the WoF on the basis that we will get around to do some of the work when we feel like it, when we are good and ready and not before !” (We could call this the Aurora option….). The response from the new firm was basically, “We have standards and professional obligations, and we can’t certify something on that basis as you have a record of ignoring previous identified serious faults.” We understand the establishment was then invited by the new firm to employ a specialist Fire Engineer to review the list and the new firm’s report.

So what did the establishment do ? Did it immediately start work on fixing the problem ? Of course not, it sacked the new firm from all work for having the cheek to put in writing things that were deemed “inconvenient”.

Kyle Cameron, what will it be ?

Truth or Consequences?
The Money or the Bag ? (To dispose of the Delta’s directorial corpses).

Dunedin is watching and waiting.

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is published in the public interest.

*Image: pinterest.com – ‘It’s in the Bag’ with Teneke Stephenson (formerly Bouchier) and Selwyn Toogood, tweaked by whatifdunedin [Kyle via Deloitte]

DVML: New monthly updates in local press

HOT page 5 beefcake.

ODT advert 2.9.14 (detail)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: whatifdunedin (cameraphone)

Dunedin Town Hall (sic) and Dunedin Centre reopen this week

“The entire complex is now known as the Dunedin Centre.”

● Dunedin Town Hall will always be known as Dunedin Town Hall, not a flower by another name !!!!

● Godsakes, ditch DVML as the venue operator !!!!

● UPDATE 24.4.13 – Major stuff up. DVML mismanages Town Hall seating plan for Anzac Day Revue. Those with prebooked seats will be treated as general admission. ODT

Related Post:
7.3.13 Town Hall, Dunedin Centre, Municipal Chambers #linked

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Dunedin City Council
Media Release

Busy Times Ahead for Revamped Dunedin Centre

This item was published on 22 Apr 2013.

The doors don’t open to the public until Thursday, but the redeveloped Dunedin Centre has already got bookings through until May 2015.

Some large events are already booked, including national and international conferences such as the Ingenium Conference and the 5th Global Botanic Gardens Congress. There are also concert bookings by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Music New Zealand and the Southern Sinfonia, as well as bookings for school formals, graduations, weddings and private functions.

Invited guests will join Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull in a low-key civic ceremony on Wednesday morning to celebrate the Dunedin Centre’s new lease of life. The first performance will be the Dunedin RSA Choir performance in the Town Hall on Anzac Day.

Mr Cull says, “The Dunedin Centre complex is very much an events centrepiece for our city and it’s great to see there are a number of bookings already.”

About $45 million has been spent over several years upgrading and renovating the existing Dunedin Centre/Town Hall and Municipal Chambers (work on the latter was completed in August 2011). The entire complex is now known as the Dunedin Centre.

Key elements of the overall upgrade include linkages between all buildings to enable people to move easily within what is now an integrated convention centre. There will be lift access to all Dunedin Centre and Town Hall floors, including the Town Hall ceiling, as well as major technology upgrades, new kitchen facilities, new conference/function spaces and new toilets. Another key feature of the redevelopment is a raft of sophisticated behind-the-scenes improvements, which mean the buildings now meet regulations in areas such as fire protection, health and safety, ventilation and access.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin building and construction (+DCC fees) #leaky

### ODT Online Wed, 2 Feb 2011
All up to speed in upgrades
By David Loughrey
Major upgrades of Dunedin buildings central to public life are running on time, the Dunedin City Council says.
Read more

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### ODT Online Wed, 2 Feb 2011
Dunedin dream home becomes nightmare
By Chris Morris
A half-million-dollar dream house in Dunedin appears to be a leaky home, prompting a cry for help from the family living in what they say has become a mouldy nightmare. It has also prompted a warning from an Auckland-based leaky homes expert, who says the home’s condition might be a sign of a much larger leaky-home problem across Otago.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC opens controversy on Town Hall upgrade, again!

### ODT Online Fri, 21 Jan 2011
Town hall upgrade redesign
By Chris Morris
Parts of the $45.8 million Dunedin Town Hall upgrade have again been sent back to the drawing board, with a redesign under way that could cut costs and kill plans for a cube-shaped glass entrance.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC Media Release – Contract let for Town Hall upgrade

DCC Media Release
Town Hall UpGrade – Contract Let, Work Due To Start

This item was published on 21 Jul 2010.

Jim Harland, DCC Chief Executive, has announced that the contract to upgrade the Dunedin Centre/Town Hall/ Municipal Chambers complex has been awarded to local company, Amalgamated Builders Limited (ABL).

There were three complying tenders – from ABL, Lund South and Naylor Love. ABL were awarded the contract at $35,660,000.

The contract is a fixed price contract and will include the re-development of the Glenroy Auditorium as an upgraded conference facility with associated break-out spaces in the Municipal Chambers building along with substantial functional and operational improvements, including fire egress, sprinklers and ventilation throughout the Dunedin Centre/Town Hall complex.

The upgrade also includes the installation of new data and theatre services.

Mr Harland said “This is good news for a local business and we are looking forward to working together with ABL on this important project. It’s vital that we have a contractor sympathetic to the needs of upgrading this complex in one of the city’s most important heritage precincts and our past experience of working with ABL gives us every confidence this will be the case. The upgrade is expected to meet the Council’s specific demands for the future use of the Town Hall, Dunedin Centre and Municipal Chambers for generations to come.”

Work is due to start in the next two weeks and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2012 with the expectation of providing up to 150 jobs.

ABL has most recently been the lead contractor on the Chinese Garden and is currently engaged on the Regent Theatre re-development.

There were no tenders received from outside of Dunedin.

Contact DCC on 477 4000.

DCC Link

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Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Opportunities for Dunedin events venues

### ODT Online Wed, 30 Jun 2010
Event managers show interest in stadium
By Hamish McNeilly
Dunedin is set to benefit from the lucrative conference and event industry, with the Forsyth Barr Stadium attracting interest from both sides of the Tasman. The yet-to-be-completed stadium was one of 170 companies marketed at Meetings 2010, an annual trade show held in Auckland last week, attracting buyers and sellers involved in the $1 billion industry.

Tourism Dunedin chief executive Hamish Saxton said the stadium, coupled with the refurbishment of the Dunedin Centre, had “generated plenty of interest with buyers”.

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Jim Harland: “The council isn’t broke.”

He scotched rumours there would be cuts to core services, and that the council was in financial difficulties […] councillors also needed to be aware of ratepayers on fixed incomes.

### ODT Online Tue, 22 Dec 2009
DCC looks at spending
By David Loughrey
As Dunedin ratepayers face an 8.7% rates increase for the next financial year, and an even steeper increase the following year to pay for a list of multimillion-dollar projects, a four-person team has interviewed every manager at the Dunedin City Council, asking them to justify their spending.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Town Hall Dunedin Centre architecture for a What if? second

Today DCC and its project team presented the “new proposal” for the Dunedin Centre’s redevelopment to stakeholders and interested people at the Glenroy Auditorium.

In previous days I’d heard very positive murmurs about the design. Indeed, today’s reaction to the plans was almost uniformly positive. Councillors have received the same presentation.

Channel 9 news coverage speaks to the main drivers of the project.

### Channel 9 Online July 1, 2009 – 6:42pm
Town Hall Redevelopment Plans Announced Today

Official plans for the redevelopment of the Town Hall were announced today by the Dunedin City Council.
Video Link

The redevelopment will ensure the old Town Hall building meets contemporary user needs and compliance requirements, as well as protecting heritage values throughout.

The changes are predominantly to the building interior, improving wayfinding and incorporating several level changes between the Town Hall building, which incorporates the Glenroy, and the Municipal Chambers.

A “glass cube” entranceway that only lightly touches the Town Hall’s classical façade to Moray Place is a new addition, one which allows an uncluttered reading of the old building’s scale and detail.

A new square is created on Moray Place, serving as a gathering and flow space for events attracting large crowds of between 3,000 – 4,000 people, such as graduations and rock concerts.

The Glenroy will be gutted to create a new multipurpose hall and conference facility. According to the independent business plan, conference use will help fund community function of the building.

Harrop St (to be incorporated into the square) will be closed to through traffic, to provide an access way for pedestrians and service vehicles. This to my mind is a reasonable compromise, ensuring the District Plan’s protection of the vista is upheld. Landscaping of the square will include stair access to St Paul’s Cathedral gardens, independently due to undergo new landscaping work.

The $45 million Town Hall project goes to Council for approval next week. It is hoped that construction will begin at the end of this year.

The project will be staged to work around user bookings and the continuing operation of the Dunedin Visitor Centre* on the ground floor of the Municipal Chambers. Closure of the Glenroy during gutting and construction will be necessary; as will closure of the Town Hall during programmed upgrades. The council indicated datelines for these today.

*The Visitor Centre will be moved temporarily; the Metro will be closed for about four months, and then intermittently. The council’s property department would have to shift from the Municipal Chambers to the Civic Centre permanently.

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The proposed plans will result in a strong, contemporary architectural solution that successfully complements the existing building.

We couldn’t hope for more. The budget is tight and the design brief is manifestly tough – the internal solution is unbelievably complex, but has the right firms, Opus Architecture and Octa Asscociates, to deliver on the programmes.

Opus architect Jeff Thompson correctly identifies the project as an “urban design problem”. He has been working alongside architect Eqo Leung from Opus Architecture in Auckland.

I maintain we really need some new “design edge” in central Dunedin, the conceptual designs for Moray Place and Harrop St ‘square’ achieve this. Thanks to both architects for their innovation. I look forward to seeing the developed design if today’s presentation is any indication.

One of the most pleasing aspects of this project has been the consultation process as it evolved through 2008 and leading up to and including today, in no small part due to the facilitation process guided by Dunedin consultant Liz Rowe. Some real “listening” to public concern has informed directions and architectural solutions, admirably.

The contrast between this project and the handling of the stadium project, in terms of meaningful and respectful consultation process can be summed up as WORLDS APART.

The Dunedin Centre Redevelopment project exemplifies the way forward for local authority consultation processes; the maintenance of loyalty and respect between the council, stakeholders and interested parties should be celebrated.

It’s not a speedy process, deliberations can be lengthy and protracted – nevertheless, keeping the faith can deliver great results and significant architecture projects.

****

I turned up to the presentation with an open mind, having had a short email exchange with art historian Peter Entwisle last week.

Peter isn’t easily convinced about the use of contemporary glazing in making new additions to heritage buildings…and would prefer that the original detail of the Harrop Street façade is restored to remove picture windows that were added in the 1980s.

I replied that under the ICOMOS Charter of New Zealand the use of glass is acceptable but it obviously depends on how it is used. I said there could be a cost issue in seeking the restoration of the Harrop Street façade within the current project budget, and suggested this could be staged in at a later date… We left it there and looked forward to the presentation.

Not surprisingly, Peter raised these matters with the project team today. His could be a lone voice on the matter of using glass, I suspect. It will be interesting to gauge wider public reaction in the next few days. Peter may have supporters. No doubt he will use his fortnightly newspaper column or other media comment to underline his views. I noticed Radio New Zealand gave him some recording time today… [but this didn’t go to air]

As it turned out, retired architect Ted McCoy, with whom I don’t always agree on design matters, echoed in greater detail my congratulatory comments to the project architects today.

Hands off Harrop president Judith Medlicott also offered her congratulations to the project team.

I’d say the project team has cracked it. I hope the councillors will sign this through with no regrets. The budget has been held in the council’s annual plans for last year and this.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Channel 9: "Lifting the lid"

### Channel 9 Online March 30, 2009 – 7:18pm
The Great Stadium Debate: Episode 6

Channel 9 covered the recent Stop The Stadium organised speeches made at the Dunedin Town Hall on Sunday, March 29th as part of its “Great Stadium Debate” series.

This event became Episode 6 in the series and was titled “Lifting the Lid” on the Otago Stadium.

View

DVD copies of the coverage are available from the station. Call (03) 474-7474 to reserve your copy.

D Scene has its turn

Late news, sorry – no delivery of the free community paper to my inner city place of residence (again). In yesterday’s D Scene there is a splurge about the public meeting. Did try to find online version to link to but accessing the Fairfax-owned paper is quite obscure.

UPDATE – Peter says:
“Digital editions of D Scene and the Taieri Herald are available for free at http://fairfaxmedia.newspaperdirect.com/
You will need to register at the site but that’s all …”
Use the left sidebar to sign up. This time it let me register, gremlins on holiday.

### D Scene 1-4-09 Front page:
The crowd goes wild. Stedman’s stadium salvo to councillors: “Take a deep breath, step back, listen to your community. Stop listening to each other. The dismissive arrogance is breathtaking.”

Set against a photo of Mr Stedman at the mike.

Quite good. We then turn to page 4:
What the speakers said

GERRY ECKHOFF, Otago Regional councillor:
“Will produce not one dollar of worth. Make no mistake – the stadium is being built to replace Carisbrook so you have a world-class facility for the Rugby World Cup. It’s not multi-purpose, it’s to provide a facility for the New Zealand Rugby Union to satisfy international pay-masters. The consultative process was a sham.”

ALISTAIR BROAD, Dunedin businessman:
“Guaranteed maximum price contract – it’s fixed price with areas where the price can fluctuate. There’s huge potential for variability – foundations, cost of steel, delays due to weather. A stadium is not a way of making money – it’s a way of spending money. Even if built for nothing, it would still run at a loss. That loss will be real and borne by the ratepayers. If the stadium was ever a good idea, it’s not now.”

SUKHI TURNER, former Dunedin mayor:
“Grossly naive view that this bit of concrete and plastic will fix the survival of Dunedin for good. Dunedin does not need a $200 million roofed temple to rugby to survive. It took 10 years between 1995 and 2005 for $100 million to be spent on a city water upgrade. Now they’re prepared to spend that on not only a non-essential project but one that will drain the pockets of citizens for decades.”

MICHAEL STEDMAN, Natural History NZ boss:
Lambasted DCC, ORC for “condescending” treatment of “real concerns of the citizenry”, took issue with opponents being called “Luddites, whingers”. “As someone opposed to this folly I deeply resent those labels and dismissive arrogance of the councils. This is not a time to take huge risks, saddling the community with a huge amount of debt based on very questionable assumptions.”

ROB HAMLIN, Otago University lecturer:
“I believe it will cost $400 million. I would be very surprised if this stadium stays to cost given the environment we’re in.”

DAVID CULL, Dunedin City councillor:
Cull noted cost savings had reduced the stadium’s flexibility to cater for events outside rugby. It would also lower the standard of finish so “while initial costs are lower, long-term maintenance costs are higher”. He was concerned by council’s “cavalier” treatment of the community, and embarrassed that assurances weren’t honoured. “Via submissions send the council a message it cannot mistake.”

****

D Scene’s on the button. At page 5 it styles a text box containing the two resolutions unanimously approved at the meeting:

1. Accept local Government Minister Rodney Hide’s offer and invite him to Dunedin to examine the DCC/ORC processes surrounding the stadium.

2. Request city council makes no binding contract for stadium construction until after public has opportunity to submit on draft annual plan.

The main item on page 5 contains the clever shot from Dunedin property lawyer Hilary Calvert, that councillors could be sued.
[Bravo Hilary, we thought so too.]

### D Scene 1-4-09 (page 5)

‘Doom’ day extension
By Michelle Sutton and Ryan Keen

Dunedin is doomed if the controversial stadium “folly” is the best local authorities can come up with, a city-based heavyhitter warns.
{story continues}

Town Hall speeches published by StS

UPDATED 3/4/09 11.30pm
STS has published the speech by Michael Stedman, see link below.

STOP THE STADIUM has uploaded to its website speeches made by the following speakers at the public meeting held in the Dunedin Town Hall on Sunday 29 March 2009:

Alistair Broad, Dunedin businessman Link

Gerry Eckhoff, Otago Regional councillor Link

Michael Stedman, CEO Natural History NZ Link

Sukhi Turner, former Mayor of Dunedin Link

Dave Cull, Dunedin City councillor Link

The speech by Rob Hamlin, Otago University Marketing Department is not available.

Channel 9: StS Town Hall public meeting

http://www.ch9.co.nz
Stadium Speeches from Town Hall to be Screened on Channel 9 – Coming soon
Channel 9 will be screening the [unedited] speeches made at the Dunedin Town Hall on Wednesday 1st April at 7.30pm and again on Sunday 5th April at 7.30pm. Link

ODT Mar 31, 2009 page 4
On the box
Coverage will be available at http://www.odt.co.nz from next Monday, April 6, entitled ‘Lifting the lid on the stadium’ [90 minutes].

UPDATE ODT Apr 1, 2009 page 4
The great stadium debate
‘Lifting the lid on the stadium’ will be available at http://www.ch9.co.nz

TV news: Town Hall meeting

UPDATE – We understand Channel 9 will screen its recording of the Stop The Stadium public meeting this Wednesday night and on Sunday. Details to follow. Hope they put it online.

### TVNZ Monday March 30, 2009 Updated 18:37 Published: 8:15AM
Rates withheld in protest over stadium

Nearly 2,000 attended a meeting at the Dunedin Town Hall on Sunday night where the Stop The Stadium group outlined its latest strategy, to withhold the average $66 a year the Dunedin City Council has told ratepayers they will have to pay for the stadium.

Read More Online Here…

Link to video

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### Channel 9 Online News March 30, 2009 – 6:16pm
Opponents Of The Proposed Otago Stadium Hold Meeting At Town Hall

Business leaders, academics, City and Regional Councillors, plus a former Mayor made up a panel of six speakers that gave their thoughts on WHY the stadium should NOT go ahead.

Link to video

Elizabeth…

Before visitors get huffy with some posts, know that the authors are caught in the dire/fun task of bantering on in polar opposite about the very successful public meeting held last night at the Town Hall, which was a series of eloquent speakers presenting on the ensuing debate about the proposed Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza (aka the albatross, silent pebble or heavy anchor).

If you were there it helps.

Media coverage Town Hall meeting

### ODT Online Mon, 30 Mar 2009
Stadium rates revolt plan
By David Loughrey and Sarah Harvey
The Dunedin Town Hall echoed to the sound of a clapping and stamping crowd clearly and vociferously opposed to the proposed stadium last night.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

StS Town Hall meeting SMART POINTED BRILLIANT

Telling it as it is – Stop the Stadium has done an incredible job.

CONGRATULATIONS.

Dunedin people from all walks of life filled the Town Hall to capacity.

It was the speakers who did all the work tonight – Alistair Broad, Dave Cull, Gerry Eckhoff, Robert Hamlin, Michael Stedman and Sukhi Turner, along with Dougal Stevenson in the critical role of MC. Together they were honest, truthful, pointed, on task, funny, believable and more transparent than anything the Dunedin City Council, the Otago Regional Council or the Carisbrook Stadium Trust has had to offer on the stadium proposal to date as to business feasibility – and potential effects on ratepayers and residents (citizens all), the council ledgers and the Dunedin economy for the extremely long haul ahead IF the “silly” “stupid” “appalling” project goes ahead.

The media has material enough for the largest field day, tomorrow. Since when does an ex-Mayor of Dunedin invite a civic uprising, can I say “ours does”. I say it with utmost pleasure.

The meeting was scandalously GOOD.

And hey, tomorrow, Dunedin City councillors pushing the stadium project – being ever hopeful they can get it over insurmountable odds – will once again see stadium business into non public. HOW LONG can they keep this façade up. Really. Will Crs Cull and Staynes succeed with their Notice of Motion?

Two resolutions were passed at the public meeting. In essence: 1. Hello Mr Rodney Hide, come open the books at DCC and ORC. 2. Oh, procedure: Hello Local Government Act and DCC’s LTCCP, what is due process. [Wording of the unanimous resolutions will likely be cited by the press.]

But here’s what everyone can do, safely, yes actually! {Best consult ODT 31/3/09 for clarification; I did say it was “interesting” in the next sentence; seemed too good to be true, if you’re into rates revolts that is. Elizabeth.}This is the flyer distributed at meeting end, which has interesting confirmation from Dean of Law Prof Mark Henaghan:

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Finally, thank you DUNEDIN BUSINESS PEOPLE FOR VOICING YOUR VIEWS and for being there on stage and throughout the audience. We waited for this. It has happened. Let’s turn this monstrous DCC/ORC/CST process on its ear.

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ANOTHER THING: EVERYONE who doesn’t want the stadium and or is not prepared to pay for it please write submissions saying so – in your very own words, with your very own feelings or facts – on the DRAFT Dunedin City Council LTCCP and the Draft ORC Annual Plan. INDICATE in your submissions that you DO WISH TO BE HEARD on your submissions. This is not a frightening process.

Check out the council documents online or contact the councils for more information about how you can participate in the process.

If the councils don’t hear from US, they will continue to falsely assume (the great CHARADE) that we want the stadium and everything that follows… as it sinks the city.

The councillors who oppose the stadium project NEED YOUR HELP. Now.

DCC exposed

On Friday and Saturday 27-28 March the Have Your Say’ Expo Event 2009 – Sustainability will be held at the Dunedin Town Hall.

As the Dunedin City Council drafts budgets for the next financial year, staff and elected representatives are holding another Expo to explain plans for future projects and how Council delivers current services.

Every Council department will be represented and have displays to explain their operations.

It won’t just be the DCC showing its wares, but all the Council-owned enterprises and city organisations to which the Council makes a substantial contribution, such as the Otago Museum, Tourism Dunedin and the New Zealand Masters’ Games, because they support the Council’s aims and objectives and are partially funded from rates.

Open hours:
Friday 27 Mar 1pm – 6pm
Saturday 28 Mar 10am – 4pm

All welcome. Entry is free and further details will appear in the March issue of ‘City Talk’, and through local media.

Contact Tami Beckingsale on 477 4000.