Delta has deep fingers into 8-year subdivision dispute at Yaldhurst

Blind Justice (detail) by Beeler – Columbus Dispatch 2016 [caglecartoons.com]

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### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 17:37, July 10 2017
Delta and Infinity’s Yaldhurst subdivision dispute at mediation
By Chris Hutching – The Press
An eight-year dispute involving developers and a group of property owners in a stalled Christchurch subdivision has gone to mediation. Late last year Dunedin City Council agreed to authorise its Delta Utilities company to refinance a $13.4 million outstanding debt to go ahead and complete the Yaldhurst development along with Wanaka-based developer, Infinity. To allow the development to proceed, Christchurch City Council staff recently recommended the unusual step of “dedicating” the access road rather than “vest” it with the council. But a representative of the private property owners, Colin Stokes, told city councillors that his group’s rights to compensation for land for the road had not been addressed. […] The dispute has been aired in several High Court cases between the private landowners and the developers, which are continuing. Most people who originally signed up to buy properties at the subdivision have pulled out and meanwhile Christchurch’s residential property market has cooled significantly.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
15.6.17 Site Notice : post(s) removal [we heard from Steve Thompson’s solicitors]
4.3.17 Christchurch housing : ‘If you build the right thing, buyers will still come’
17.2.17 Gurglars visits the Delta/Noble JV subdivision at Yaldhurst
2.2.17 Hilary Calvert complaint to Auditor-General #DCHL
30.12.16 Hilary Calvert on Deloitte report for Aurora/Delta
12.12.16 Deloitte report released #Delta #Aurora
7.12.16 Audit and Review, Deloitte
26.9.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #14 : The Election and The End Game revisited
22.9.16 DCC : Delta deal 1 Aug 2016 Council meeting (non-public) #LGOIMA
9.9.16 Calvert on DCC, ‘We could have a much more democratic and transparent operation of council’
2.9.16 Delta Yaldhurst : Local Opinion + Update from Caveators via NBR
18.9.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #13 : Councillors! How low can you Zhao ?
26.8.16 Delta #EpicFail —EpicFraud #12 : The Buyer Confirmed
24.8.16 Delta peripheral #EpicFail : Stonewood Homes —Boult under investigation
8.8.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #11 : The Buyer
3.8.16 LGOIMA requests to DCC from Colin Stokes #Delta #Noble #Yaldhurst
1.8.16 Delta #EpicFail —The End Game according to CD
31.7.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #10 : The Beginning of the End : Grady Cameron and his Steam Shovel
29.7.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #9 : The Long & Winding Road…. Leads Back to Delta’s Door
21.7.16 Delta EpicFail #8 : Cr Calvert goes AWOL, 23 Questions for Mr McKenzie —Saddlebags !!
19.2.16 Delta: Update on Yaldhurst subdivision debt recovery
17.7.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #7 : The Long & Winding Back Road
15.7.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #6 : What do you mean, Property Law Act ?
12.7.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #5 – Delta and the ghostly hand of Tom Kain
8.7.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #4 : Tales from the Courtroom….
30.6.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #3 : Security Sharing and not Caring….. who’s got that Constricting Feeling ?
27.6.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #2 : WWTKD – What Would Tom Kain Do ?
5.6.16 Delta #EpicFail —Noble Subdivision —Epic Fraud
13.3.16 Delta #EpicFail —Noble Subdivision : [rephrased] Conflict of Interest
11.3.16 Delta peripheral #EpicFail : Stonewood Homes and ancient Delta history
6.3.16 Delta #EpicFail —Nobel Subdivision : A Neighbour responds
29.1.16 Delta #EpicFail —Yaldhurst Subdivision ● Some forensics
21.1.16 Delta #EpicFail —Yaldhurst Subdivision

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *grady*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *dchl*, *auditor-general*, *noble*, *yaldhurst* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

As predicted —Aurora Energy delivery stuffed on pole replacement

I T ● W A S ● N E V E R ● G O I N G ● T O ● H A P P E N

Aurora Energy board chair Steve Thompson should shuffle back under his rock.
DCHL chairman Graham Crombie, mowing lawns at Clyde, has nothing to say.
The largest risk to the Otago Community continues to be Aurora itself.

At Facebook:

### ODT Online Mon, 24 Apr 2017
Aurora sets new date to ‘remove risk’
By Vaughan Elder
Aurora Energy has abandoned a target to have all condition-zero poles replaced by the end of this month, saying it was now on track to “remove the risk” of 2910 poles by the end of this year. […] An Aurora spokesman said it had abandoned its original plan to replace all 1181 condition-zero poles, which are the worst-rated poles on its network, by the end of this month.
“Our target is to remove the risk around 2910 priority poles by the end of the year and we are on track to achieve that. That’s the target we are working towards. The April target was an initial working target before detailed programme planning had been completed.” After being given more than two weeks to respond, the spokesman did not say how many new condition-one and zero poles had been discovered during its fast-track programme, saying: “We don’t have these figures to hand today”.
Read more

The article also says: “Aurora had stepped up customer service support and communication so its customers were informed when power needed to be cut.” As far as we know this support and communication has been seriously deficient in many instances.

█ Customers should check the Aurora website on outage days for cancellations.
http://www.auroraenergy.co.nz/outages/

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At Facebook:

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Related Posts and Comments:
21.4.17 Why would DCC shaft its own company instead of investing in its change and development ?!
14.4.17 Dunedin homes face power blackout #Delta #Aurora
11.3.17 How Safe Are We/Our Businesses with the Corporate Disaster that’s Aurora, owned by DCC ? #reliability

█ For more, enter the terms *aurora*, *delta*, *grady*, *godfrey*, *poles*, *asset management plan*, *dchl*, *auditor-general*, *epicpolefail* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Famous Fat Bros’ Aurora/Delta news trickles in…. but can the sisters divorce

### channel39.co.nz Wed, 29 Mar 2017
Delta and Aurora Energy to separate
About 95 Delta employees are expected to transfer to Aurora Energy by mid-year as the two companies separate. The business divorce is one of the recommendations from an independent review by Dunedin City Holdings Limited. Delta and Aurora Energy Chair Steve Thompson says they expect no redundancies from either business. Delta will employ just over 500 staff following the transition. Aurora Energy will be a network company with network renewal as its priority, while Delta will provide electricity distribution, green-space and solid waste services.
Ch39 Link

█ Review of Aurora Energy Limited / Delta Utility Services Limited – Network Safety Concerns (December 2016). Deloitte.

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### radionz.co.nz 9:22 pm on 29 March 2017
Dunedin’s Aurora Energy to take on Delta workers
Almost 100 employees from Dunedin power lines company Delta will transfer to its sister company Aurora Energy as the two firms separate.
The split of the council-owned companies was sparked by the discovery that thousands of power poles in Otago were rotting.
A whistleblower last year revealed thousands of power poles managed by Delta and Aurora were failing.
The Dunedin City Council released a report in December that recommended splitting the council-owned companies into separate entities, after three official inquiries.
A report by Deloitte recommended separate board management structures.
In a statement today, Delta said 95 employees would transfer to Aurora by mid-year, and there were no expected redundancies.
RNZ Link

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DCHL/DCC farming of the conjoined twins deserves a break….

█ The devilish ongoing loss of one billion dollars of Otago line user and ratepayer funds. And Steve Thompson can’t be contacted. Oh brother.

Yes we really believe the two council-owned companies have great governance and superb management!? We also totally believe DCHL is a solid grounded entity!? Pity about the number of executive and staff resignations from Delta to date, and the resulting inability to fill job vacancies. Would you touch these blighted babies. Oink.

At Facebook:

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### ODT Online Thu, 30 Mar 2017
Restructure proceeds
By Vaughan Elder
Dunedin City Council-owned companies Delta and Aurora are a step closer to becoming separate entities. Aurora and Delta announced in a joint press release yesterday about 95 Delta staff were expected to transfer to Aurora Energy by mid-year as part of the companies’ transition to standalone entities. The transition comes after a Deloitte report into accusations Aurora dangerously mismanaged its power network and failed to replace compromised poles recommended the two companies be split. According to Aurora’s annual report, it employs no staff and the management of the company is carried out by Delta, which is also contracted to carry out network maintenance. The Deloitte report said the closely linked arrangement was “fraught” with challenges, but acknowledged Aurora had been working on a restructuring programme which would have split the two companies in any case. Delta and Aurora chairman Steve Thompson, who was not available to answer questions about the press release, said significant progress had been made in the reorganisation of both businesses.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
11.3.17 How Safe Are We/Our Businesses with the Corporate Disaster that’s Aurora, owned by DCC ? #reliability
16.12.16 Tim Hunter, NBR —Aurora/Delta, DCC and ComCom
12.11.16 Delta/Aurora : Current strategy to “fix on failure” [extreme neglect]
22.10.16 DCC struggles with Governance…. Delta/Aurora/DCHL in slipslidy mode
● 9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *aurora*, *delta*, *grady*, *poles*, *asset management plan*, *dchl*, *auditor-general*, *epicpolefail* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: monsters international via blogspot.com – Siamese Twin Pigs by Alicia B Lim, ink on watercolour paper (US), tweaked by whatifdunedin

Site Notice #DunedinHospital

This afternoon David Benson-Pope requested an unreserved apology from the website owner following publication of an image and various comments at a now deleted post concerning the Save Our Hospital campaign that was highlighted in a newspaper story published on 25 March 2017.

The website owner unreservedly apologises to Mr Benson-Pope for the publication of this material and any resulting discomfort or distress it may have caused.

An apology will be emailed to Mr Benson-Pope shortly, copy Sandy Graham, DCC.

Elizabeth Kerr
Site Owner

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Reference:

### ODT Online Sat, 25 Mar 2017
Woodhouse blasts DCC
By Eileen Goodwin
National list MP Michael Woodhouse has lashed out at the Dunedin City Council over its hospital rebuild campaign, implying it is a front for the Labour Party. And Mr Woodhouse said the council’s stance was “confusing” — on the one hand it wants a central city rebuild, but it granted the Accident Compensation Corporation the right to consider buying the Frederick St car park. ACC has a 12-month timeframe to look at development options for the site. […] Mr Woodhouse is also ACC Minister, and he made it clear he was speaking as a local MP.
Read more

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Councillor don’t tell us, we know Dunedin industry and manufacturing is Tops

But Rachel Elder did need to inform Mr Mayor, since it’s he who opines that [singularly ???] “weightless” manufacturing will one day make Dunedin great.
A while back Mr Mayor lauded expansion at Speight’s, Emerson’s and Greggs ….but recently, dreadfully, when interviewed by John Campbell on RNZ Checkpoint, Mr Mayor had trouble remembering these and other multimillion-dollar manufacturing investments in the good people, raw products and knowhow of Dunedin City. As well, he slipped past the convenient fact that the deputy mayor is a director of Scott Technology Ltd, and his old flower Mr McLauchlan, advisor and confidant, is the company’s board chairman.

Notwithstanding, Ms Elder thought it necessary to set herself a free writing project, an op-ed to ‘tell’ Mr Mayor, as well as advertise her paid work skills. Yes, yes, we’re all for free speech and pumping political mileage; however, we are the converted and connected, we know just how great Dunedin manufacturing is and can be —if not for DCC.

It must be said, though, that Mr Mayor’s speech at the Cadbury protest in the Octagon last Saturday was a large complimentary step up from the fatal Checkpoint phone interview.

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“Messaging that it is too expensive to export from Dunedin and that we are too far away from markets and that manufacturing is best not done here does not support the many families and individuals who work in this sector.”
–Rachel (take that Dave Cull) Elder

### ODT Online Wed, 15 Mar 2017
We have skilled workers and can make it all here
By Rachel Elder
OPINION As an employment consultant and someone who advocates for a wide range of jobs in Dunedin, I am keen for Dunedin to be advertised nationwide as a place that is great for manufacturing and production as this will supply jobs to our skilled workers. The fact is Cadbury is owned by a multinational that has caused its demise. Manufacturing can be done here well and efficiently.
Read more

Comment published at ODT Online:

ej kerr Wed, 15/03/2017 – 7:59pm #
As a city councillor Ms Elder should be overtly aware that the Dunedin City Council-owned power distribution company Aurora Energy Ltd does not and cannot offer a safe and secure electricity supply network for businesses, manufacturers and other large power users (this aside from the now obvious inability to offer safe supply to residential users). The mayor and councillors are not listening and not communicating clearly on the state of Aurora’s burnt asset. Thankfully, the Otago Daily Times has filled that void with strong news reporting. At a cost of one billion dollars to repair and upgrade the existing lines and facilities – not counting the cost of new development work required in Central Otago and Lakes District to meet growth and increasing infrastructural demand – there will shortly be a very heavy impost landing on all local businesses via rates increases. Such an unpopular debating topic at the head-in-the-sand Dunedin City Council.

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Truly fine examples of the sort of thing your grandmother and mother will tell you about Dunedin that Mr Mayor can’t:
. . . .

McMeeking Manufacturing, 123 Maclaggan St

Jaytee Baking Cups have been a household name since the 1930s, when the company was founded by a printing engineer James Thomas Williamson, hence the name Jaytee. Since acquiring the company in 1979, McMeeking Manufacturing has been the largest supplier of Baking Cups in New Zealand with exports to Australia and the Pacific Islands. Due to the dramatic increase in bakeries, cafes etc, the range of products – all manufactured in the Dunedin factory – has grown to fulfil customers requirements and follow the latest trends. Read more at https://www.jaytee.co.nz/

. . . .

### ODT Online Wed, 15 Mar 2017
Machine tool smart, versatile
By Simon Hartley
Farra Engineering’s latest $1.3 million machining kit not only has the capacity to work 24/7, but can text its progress to operators day and night. The DMG Mori “multi-pallet (work bench) horizontal machining centre”, supplied by a German-Japanese merged company, has been running for about a fortnight, at Farra Engineering, Dunedin, chief executive John Whitaker said. The DMG Mori could work on castings weighing just a few grams, on pieces weighing up to three tonnes, and castings up to 1.4cu m in size. “Being so productive, we’re going to the marketplace to fill the spare capacity,” Mr Whitaker said.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: jaytee.co.nz – jaytee baking cups

How Safe Are We/Our Businesses with the Corporate Disaster that’s Aurora, owned by DCC ? #reliability

Latest Aurora ‘safety’ ads at ODT Online this week [screenshots]

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A N O T H E R ● L E A K —Aurora confirms it has breached standards over the average amount of time power has been cut per customer after its data was leaked to the Otago Daily Times.

### ODT Online Sat, 11 Mar 2017
Aurora fails reliability for third year
By Vaughan Elder
Aurora Energy could be fined or face court action after breaching a limit on power interruptions for the third year running. The Dunedin City Council-owned company said it took the breaches “seriously” and would probably ask the Commerce Commission to relax its reliability standards. If the Commerce Commission agreed, Aurora would be only the second lines company to operate under relaxed standards under a system called a customised price-quality path. The only other company to operate under such a system was Orion, after its infrastructure was damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes. Meeting the standards is important because the Commerce Commission takes into account liability when setting limits on how much lines companies can earn. …[Aurora] would not be drawn over whether a lack of investment had contributed to the breaches. […] A Commerce Commission spokesman said it was not aware of the reported breach as Aurora was not required to provide the information until June. However, if Aurora had breached standards its response could range from warning letters to administrative settlements and court proceedings. It could also penalise Aurora by cutting up to 1% of its revenue.
Read more

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We hear poor Steve Thompson is not coping with all these leaks….

Related Posts and Comments:
16.12.16 Tim Hunter, NBR —Aurora/Delta, DCC and ComCom
12.11.16 Delta/Aurora : Current strategy to “fix on failure” [extreme neglect]
22.10.16 DCC struggles with Governance…. Delta/Aurora/DCHL in slipslidy mode
● 9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *aurora*, *delta*, *grady*, *poles*, *asset management plan*, *dchl*, *auditor-general*, *epicpolefail* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Christchurch housing : ‘If you build the right thing, buyers will still come’

Will they ? How many, how far ?
(if there’s nothing more than service sector jobs available)….

Hmm. In their early contributions to What if? Dunedin, Lee Vandervis and Christchurch Driver [CD] each had the measure of the post-quake new build housing market in Christchurch. Cycling boom and bust, with odd and unexplained connections and financing.

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Link received.
Sat, 4 Mar 2017 at 12:31 p.m.

T H E ● P R E S S

Christchurch’s rental market is oversupplied and freshly-built terraced houses are sitting empty and unsold in the suburbs. How did the city with the real estate market decimated by the earthquakes get here?

According to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), the average rent in Christchurch is falling for the first time since records started in 1993.

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 18:11, March 3 2017
Christchurch’s housing paradox – the downside of a building boom
By Michael Wright – The Press
Last month, Mike Blackburn bought a house. He and his wife looked at about 40 properties before settling on one. As they traipsed through the preceding 39, a pattern emerged. “Every second house we looked at was empty,” he said. “That’s just a telling figure. Where have all these people gone?” The significance of what he saw wasn’t lost: Christchurch, the city once desperately short of houses after thousands of them were wrecked by earthquakes, had a lot more accommodation than it used to.

Blackburn is a management consultant, specialising in construction clients. When small or medium-sized operators are struggling, they go to someone like him for advice on how to get through. As part of his work, he gets the raw consenting data from the Christchurch City Council each month – location, builder, value, type of consent (earthquake or business as usual), intended use – to build a picture of the marketplace. He saw a clear vision. “There was a major rush, mostly by the group home builders, to build a lot of houses really quickly,” he said. “What’s happened is now everyone who’s needed a house has pretty much got one and they’re still building them. They’re building them flat out . . . all these development companies are month after month submitting 20-30 consents each for essentially spec housing.” The numbers have tapered off of late. The council peaked in 2014 at more than 3200 consents issued – about 270 a month – before drifting back down to just over 2100 last year. 2017 is already tracking below that. As Blackburn sees it, though, the damage has already been done. “There will be a correction. The number of buildings and the total number of dwellings being built will fall off really rapidly. It’ll go below that business as usual level, because we’ve got a major oversupply at the moment. Potentially that effect could run on for the building sector in Canterbury for the next two, maybe three years.”

….Anecdotally, rental properties are in such abundance landlords are dropping prices and offering incentives to secure tenants. This week, Stuff reported on swathes of empty multi-unit houses languishing in suburban subdivisions. “[We] certainly won’t be building any more of those,” construction boss Mike Greer said at the time. Then there is the data. Compare Government valuer QV’s latest monthly average house values for each region against last February and Christchurch does not do well. QV measures the city in six disparate parts and they all appear in the bottom 11 spots for value increase [three of the other five are the Selwyn, Waimakariri and Ashburton districts]. Rises in the Christchurch zones range from 0.7 per cent [east] to 3.9 per cent [southwest], which barely registers against most of the rest of the country; basking in double-digit growth all the way up to an eye-watering 29.5 per cent jump in the Queenstown-Lakes district [average house value $1,039,434].

Market forces were …. promoting even more building. The Reserve Bank’s loan-to-value ratio (LVR) restrictions on banks lending to home buyers exempted new builds. A home buyer generally needed a 20 per cent deposit, but a home builder could get finance with much less. Christchurch, in the middle of an insurance-driven building bonanza, didn’t need that kind of encouragement.

“People have gone, in my mind, somewhat berserk in building new, to try and fill that [housing] void,” Canterbury Registered Master Builders president Ivan Stanicich said. “Some of the bigger building companies in Christchurch grew exponentially, hired more and more people and that was only ever going to be for about a three-year sweep. Now we’re seeing the reverse of that where building companies are actively downsizing. That’s well known in our industry. Nobody wants to shout that from the rooftops, because it’s not a positive business outlook, but it’s quite understandable. If you don’t, any gains you’ve made through the building boom, they’re just going to be lost in your overheads.”

Property manager Tony Brazier saw the problem coming. In October 2014 he penned a column in The Press warning of the dangers of over-building. “The housing rebuild must be carefully monitored so we do not end up over-supplied,” he wrote. “This phenomenal house building pace should alert us to the fact that, whereas in the past it takes only a few builders struggling to sell their new-builds to signal an end to the cycle, this time could be different. It may take large contractors not being able to sell whole subdivisions before the message gets through.”

….How did it come to this? The first answer is earthquake insurance money finally caught up with, and overtook, the market. As Stanicich said – builders going berserk trying to fill the housing void. In the meantime, claims were settled and damaged stock repaired. An unforeseen element of this was the brisk trade in as-is, where-is houses – earthquake casualties that were uninsurable but livable. Landlords snapped them up and, in a stressed rental market, had no problem finding tenants. The by-product was Christchurch’s housing stock ended up not quite as depleted as first thought.
Read more + Charts

Recent Press articles:
Christchurch’s terraced homes struggling to sell as housing market levels
Christchurch landlords lower rents due to ‘oversupply’ of properties
Cash and rent-free offers fail to lure tenants as Christchurch housing….
City’s rental crisis ‘at breaking point’

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█ Thoughts immediately turn to Dunedin City Council and DCHL’s commitment as of 1 August 2016 to the new Delta ‘joint venture’ (including the Noble types) at Yaldhurst. After all the legal stoush, will properties sell ?

[Gurglars] Hoarding at Yaldhurst subdivision, 14 February 2017

[Christchurch Driver] Yaldhurst subdivision, 13 February 2016

[Christchurch Driver] Yaldhurst subdivision, 21 January 2016

[villagelife.co.nz]

[realestate.co.nz] Yaldhurst Village Mortgagee Tender, 15 December 2015

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BACK WHEN (2014), Mike Greer Homes NZ ramped up production to rehouse people in post-quake Christchurch, it was a genuine and concerted effort:

Where there was bare land a year ago, a factory now stands ready to reshape the residential construction industry.

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 05:00, November 22 2014
House factory ready to roll
By Alan Wood – The Press
As Mike Greer and Bill Gee watch the emergence of their “high volume” residential panels factory, they have no concern they will contribute to an oversupply of new homes. The $14 million industrial factory development includes $5m plus of specialist German machinery to be used to rapidly construct the panels for residential homes. Greer, “a chippie by trade”, is optimistic about the Rolleston-based factory’s place in a Canterbury and Auckland building boom. “This is fantastic for the residential construction industry. No-one in New Zealand has ever seen anything like this,” he says of the joint venture company Concision, which he and Gee own. Asked about any slowdown in the Canterbury rebuild and residential market, Greer says he has hundreds of pre-sold homes he is yet to make a start on.
Is there any danger of an overbuild by builders in the region?
“Well wouldn’t that be good. Everyone is complaining about housing affordability. The only way to fix that is supply,” Greer responds. He says there are signs interest rates have stabilised and may even come down. From April 1, a Government subsidy on first home buyers of new homes in Canterbury will be introduced. A buyer could get up to $20,000 towards a $450,000 home. “So that’s really going to stimulate things at that end of the market,” Greer says. The Reserve Bank was also signalling that eventually . . . it will remove loan to value ratio restrictions that have made it more difficult for first home buyers to get loans.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
● 17.2.17 Gurglars visits the Delta/Noble JV subdivision at Yaldhurst
● 11.3.16 Delta peripheral #EpicFail : Stonewood Homes and ancient Delta….
● 10.3.16 Noble Subdivision next on the shopping list !!! You couldn’t….
6.3.16 Delta #EpicFail —Noble Subdivision : Tea & Taxing Questions
6.3.16 Delta #EpicFail —Nobel Subdivision : A Neighbour responds
5.3.16 Delta #EpicFail —Noble Subdivision —Epic Fraud
4.3.16 Delta —Noble Subdivision #EpicStorm Heading OUR WAY
4.3.16 Delta #EpicFail Noble Subdivision : Councillors know NOTHING
2.3.16 Delta #EpicFail Noble Subdivision : A Dog, or a RAVING YAPPER?….
1.3.16 Delta #EpicFail… —The Little Finance Company that did (Delta).
29.2.16 Delta #EpicFail Noble Subdivision : NBR interested in bidders
28.2.16 Delta #EpicFail Noble… If I were a rich man / Delta Director
27.2.16 Delta #EpicFail Noble Subdivision Consent : Strictly Optional
27.2.16 Delta #NUCLEAR EpicFail —Noble Subdivision : Incompetent…
25.2.16 Delta #EpicFail: Mayor Cull —Forced Sale Fundamentals 101
24.2.16 Delta #EpicFail —Noble Subdivision : Cameron, Crombie & McKenzie
23.2.16 DCC: DCHL half year result to 31 December 2015
19.2.16 Delta: Update on Yaldhurst subdivision debt recovery
15.2.16 Delta / DCHL not broadcasting position on subdivision mortgagee tender
30.1.16 DCC Rates: LOCAL CONTEXT not Stats —Delta and Hippopotamuses
29.1.16 Delta #EpicFail —Yaldhurst Subdivision ● Some forensics
21.1.16 Delta #EpicFail —Yaldhurst Subdivision
21.1.16 DCC LTAP 2016/17 budget discussion #ultrahelpfulhints
19.1.15 Housing affordability in this country is “just hopeless” –Hugh Pavletich
10.1.16 Infrastructure ‘open to facile misinterpretation’…. or local ignore
15.12.15 Noble property subdivision aka Yaldhurst Village | Mortgagee Tender
21.9.15 DCC: Not shite (?) hitting the fan but DVL
20.7.15 Noble property subdivision —DELTA #LGOIMA
● 1.4.15 Christchurch subdivisions: Heat gone?
24.3.15 Noble property subdivision —DELTA
23.3.15 Noble property subdivision: “Denials suggest that we have not learned.”
17.3.15 DCC —Delta, Jacks Point Luggate II…. Noble property subdivision

● 14.5.14 (via DCC website) Larsen Report February 2012
A recent governance review of the Dunedin City Council companies was conducted by Warren Larsen.

● 20.3.14 Delta: Report from Office of the Auditor-General
Inquiry into property investments by Delta Utility Services Limited at Luggate and Jacks Point

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

D’oh [Mayor Cull can’t name all the successful manufacturers at #Dunedin]

Rather, Daaave promotes the SHONKY programmed spend on non-essential CBD tart-ups. Not reprioritising council budgets then, Daaave….. to solve the Superduper-Mystery of council-owned Aurora/Delta LOST OR MISPLACED FUNDS, WHERE DID THEY GO ? WHERE WERE THEY SPENT ? Hundreds of millions of dollars lost from Otago ratepayers and electricity users, Daaave…..
You are going to make them pay again.

ODT 25.2.17 (page 34) tweaked

[click to enlarge]

Otago Manufacturers need a Safe and Secure supply of Electricity.
The Mayor of Dunedin is making sure this won’t happen.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

No news : Appointment of Group CFO

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Consternation of Various Sorts

We note the Dunedin City Council’s very poor financial position generally, in face of the ‘explosive’ DCC-owned Aurora/Delta collapse of the Otago power network – notable for continuing poor governance and management, with contingent lack of transparency and accountability – affecting ratepayers and residents in three distinct council areas (DCC, CODC, QLDC); the city council’s snail-like attendance to infrastructure maintenance and upgrades including implementation of three waters strategy; the city council’s ongoing out-of-control stadium fiasco; and ALL The Council Debt / debt servicing costs etc etc – for the very low, ever passive and aging ratepayer base.
FANTASTIC TIMES.

How interesting then that DCC has – as yet – failed to appoint a new Group Chief Financial Officer following the resignation of Grant McKenzie last year (see announcement 11 June 2016 via ODT).

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Fri, 12 Aug 2016
ODT: Departure reshuffle
The departure of the Dunedin City Council’s group chief financial officer, Grant McKenzie, has triggered a minor reshuffle within the organisation. The rejig includes a temporary structure while Mr McKenzie’s replacement is recruited, but the council has also taken the opportunity to realign job titles and responsibilities for two of the council’s senior managers. […] Council financial controller Gavin Logie has also been named acting chief financial officer until Mr McKenzie’s replacement is named.

Sat, 11 Jun 2016
ODT: Sir Julian stands down, McKenzie appointed CEO
Sir Julian Smith, chairman and managing director of Allied Press, publisher of the Otago Daily Times, is stepping down from the day-to-day running of the company after nearly 40 years. Sir Julian (72), who will remain as chairman, told staff yesterday he has appointed Dunedin City Council group chief financial officer Grant McKenzie as the new Allied Press chief executive officer.

****

Dunedin City Council – Media Release
DCC Appoints Treasury Manager
This item was published on 10 Sep 2014
Richard Davey has been appointed to the new position of Dunedin City Council Treasury Manager. Mr Davey, who is originally from Dunedin, has had more than 21 years of banking experience in New Zealand and Australia. His experience centres on dealing with corporate treasuries and solving their risk management and funding issues. As Treasury Manager, Mr Davey will oversee Dunedin City Treasury Ltd – a DCC-owned company provides funding and financial services to other companies in the Dunedin City Holdings Ltd group. Mr Davey will report to Group Chief Financial Officer Grant McKenzie. Read more

Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Group Chief Financial Officer Appointed
This item was published on 14 Oct 2013
The University of Otago’s Director of Financial Services, Grant McKenzie, has been appointed as the Dunedin City Council’s Group Chief Financial Officer (GCFO). Announcing the appointment of Mr McKenzie to this newly-created role, DCC Chief Executive Paul Orders says, “Grant will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role and will be instrumental in ensuring the effective and efficient management of DCC group finances.” […] The new position of Group Chief Financial Officer replaces the DCC’s Chief Financial Officer (currently a vacant post), with the role expanded to include the provision of financial advice and support to the Board of Dunedin City Holdings Limited (DCHL). The role will also create more cohesive financial management between the DCC and Dunedin City Holdings Limited. Twenty eight applications were received for the position, from New Zealand and overseas.
Read more

****

It seems DCC has slumped and trailed until 27 February (20 working days) to respond formally to my request for official information – with no phone call received (see postscript).

Tomorrow Monday is D-Day. No notice of extension has been received.

HOW HARD IS IT REALLY TO ANSWER BASIC QUESTIONS—
20 working days ? Get real DCC.

█ OFFICIAL INFORMATION REQUEST

From: [DCC Governance Support]
Sent: Friday, 3 February 2017 11:31 a.m.
To: Elizabeth Kerr
Subject: Acknowledgement of LGOIMA request

03-Feb-2017

Dear Ms Kerr,

Official information request for: APPOINTMENT OF GROUP CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Reference Number: 289707

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your official information request dated 27-January-2017 for information regarding the APPOINTMENT OF GROUP CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER as follows:

1. When will the DCC appoint a Group Chief Financial Officer (GCFO) to replace Grant McKenzie ? 2. For what reason(s) has this appointment been delayed ? 3. Have applicants for the position been short-listed ? 4. Is there anything thing else DCC wants to say about the appointment process ?

We received your request on 27-January-2017. We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than 27-February-2017, being 20 working days after the day your request was received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.

Your request is being handled by [Governance Support]. If you have any queries, please feel free to contact [Governance Support] on 03 477 4000. If any additional factors come to light which are relevant to your request, please do not hesitate to contact us so that these can be taken into account.

Yours sincerely

[Governance Support]

P.S. I have also sent your questions to our chief executive Sue Bidrose, as she may wish to provide an answer to you directly by phone or email.

Governance Support Officer
Dunedin City Council

Related Post and Comments:
10.6.16 g’bye & ’ello

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Aurora Energy at ODT 24.2.17 follows #LGOIMA

Broad spectrum (?!) LGOIMA request from earlier this week and interim acknowledgement:

From: Elizabeth Kerr
Sent: Monday, 20 February 2017 7:24 PM
To: Grady Cameron
Cc: Elizabeth Kerr
Subject: Aurora Energy Ltd – Official Information Request (LGOIMA)

Attention Grady Cameron
Chief Executive, Aurora Energy Ltd

Dear Grady

How is Aurora Energy Ltd funding the $30million pole replacement programme you speak about – from capex (capital expenditure), opex (operational expenditure), a combination of the two? or by other means? (please state)

Will Aurora Energy Ltd attempt to raise line charges for Otago power consumers, to achieve the number of (dangerous) pole replacements required in the next 3-5 years – how soon will line charges increase and by how much given regulatory scrutiny by the Commerce Commission?*

Is Aurora Energy Ltd solvent at this time? Explain.

Please provide any financial detail(s) salient to these matters.

Sincerely

Elizabeth Kerr
Dunedin

*emphasis added 24.2.17

—————————————-

From: Grady Cameron
Sent: Wednesday, 22 February 2017 1:02 p.m.
To: Elizabeth Kerr
Subject: Aurora Energy Ltd – Official Information Request (LGOIMA)

Dear Elizabeth

Thank you for your enquiry. We acknowledge receipt of your official information request received by us on 21 February regarding Aurora Energy (our reference 0945).

We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than 21 March, being 20 working days after the day your request was received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.

Kind regards,
Glenda

****

Received.
Fri, 24 Feb 2017 at 1:58 a.m.

[click to enlarge]

ODT 24.2.17 (page 4)

ODT 24.2.17 (page 5)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Gurglars visits the Delta/Noble JV subdivision at Yaldhurst

Received from Gurglars
14/02/2017 9:07 p.m.

George Noble Rd, Yaldhurst

Who wants to live near power lines? They run right through the subdivision.

No one is working at Yaldy, this glass has been on the road for a long time.

A digger strategically placed to suggest action – reality, inaction.

The crowning glory – unbelievable, no ads for Yaldhurst sales but an ad on the property for a subdivision near Pegasus!

—

whatifdunedin replies:
Nearby subdivisions sold well with power lines and pylons…
Weird mentality at CHC.

That hoarding (not that old… months only) originally featured marketing for the commercial area at the Yaldhurst subdivision. Recently pasted over with Infinity’s other project.

[“Ravenswood, half an hour north of Christchurch, is being offered for sale by developer Infinity Investment Group, which says the project is too big for it.” See last note at (28.3.15) Stuff: Gloomy outlook for solar housing in Christchurch; and (9.8.16) Stuff: Work to begin on Ravenswood development after sale abandoned.]

****

Received from Gurglars
2017/02/15 at 6:51 am

News Flash
The word on the street is that a well-heeled solid respectable group offered $12,000,000 actual cash, money, moolah, for Yaldhurst.
The idiotii accepted a notional nonexistent $13million from a $1000 capitalised company who have subsequently made no moves towards repair, consents, or even inspected their new purchase.
If they have inspected it, one would have thought they would clean glass from the road (been there so long it’s almost fused and embedded). Maybe they would have mowed the grass? Or perhaps they would have found the keys to the lone token digger. Having commenced these $5 dollar cleanups they may have been able to put a sign up advertising the properties.
And why is activity important to a Dunedin ratepayer or councillor?
Because honey, we do not get any money until they sell profitable sections.
That’s why the $12,000,000 cash was the only offer that the idiotii should have accepted and folks that’s why you do NOT elect Greens, flakes and dreamers, because it’s your money they have, and will enjoy wasting.

whatifdunedin replies:
Your point is well made, Gurglars. But. It’s much more complicated than that. Seller was the buyer. And we have Graham Crombie (accountant!) as middle man, we wonder who he is really working for, Gordon Stewart? Justin Prain? Murray Frost? Previously/still, Stuart McLauchlan? Who.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Delta #EpicPowerFail 10 : Grady Cameron : The Counterfeit Comet

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 at 12:15 a.m.

Dear Readers

Local cyberspace has run hot tonight with the news that Grady Cameron has finally taken Richard Healey’s advice and fallen on one of his many splintered power poles, tendering his resignation. But just like a funhouse hall of mirrors, nothing at Aurora/Delta is as it seems. Mr Cameron is leaving later not sooner. It should be sooner, much sooner, like now.

As pointed out several times by Jarrod Stewart and Richard Healey, Grady is entirely the wrong individual to “oversee the transition process, along with the accelerated pole programme now under way”, which was the vague treacle proffered by Gary Gyroscope Johnson and Mr Thompson as an excuse for Mr Cameron to cling on for another year.

What the somewhat dim Mr Thompson does not know is that most of Delta already know what provision for early termination is in Grady’s package, and it is….12 months’ salary. (Hard to keep anything secret at Delta these days, Mr Thompson!) Go on, refute that “unfounded speculation”, Mr Gyroscope!

Therefore Mr Thompson had the two terminally unattractive options of 1) Paying Grady $600,000 to do nothing or 2) Paying Grady $600,000 to hang around and pretend that his help is “appreciated”. Chairman Thompson knew he would be sacked if he agreed to pay Grady $600,000 to do nothing, because What if? Dunedin and many others would find out in short order, and it would be curtains for Mr Thompson – sooner rather than later. However, Mr Thompson has made an elementary error. When you sack someone, get them gone. This is not Personnel Management 101, it’s 001. Despite $600,000 being a lot of cash, it was still the right thing to do because Grady’s other great failure as CEO was to preside over the accelerated decline of the staff at Delta.

It is past the tipping point and on its way to collapse, and if Grady stays another year collapse it will. At this stage in your correspondent’s post, the Greek chorus begins, accompanied by the rattling cups of Choysa : Evidence, evidence, give us the factual evidence!

Very well readers, have the Gaviscon ready, here are some stomach turning informational nuggets to show the appalling state of the Delta engineering department, the essential core of the organisation. Desk executive types like Grady and Matt Ballard can come and go, but the engineers make the place run.

While Mr Gyroscope and Mr Thompson trumpeted the two new external appointments today, they failed to mention that there are 45 vacancies – yes 45, that is 4 lots of 10 plus 5, Steve, at Delta.

Your correspondent understands these are in the main technical positions that any reputable company will have trouble filling, let alone a basket case like Delta.

Very recently, a capable senior design engineer was asked by either Matt Ballard or Grady “What would it take to get you to stay?”, as they had been alerted that the engineer was about to vote with his feet. “Nothing could convince me to stay” was the response and the engineer who was in the prime of his career and had worked for Delta for 6-7 years, departed to the North Island.

Next fact: There are now fewer than 10 design engineers left at Delta. There will be one less tomorrow because another resigned today but hadn’t advised The Management.

Alarming fact : Your correspondent is advised that of those left, at least three already have plans in place to leave that are not negotiable.

Strange but true : A design engineer recently resigned. Mule-like, Mr Cameron and his cohorts “refused to acknowledge his resignation”. This would appear to be code for “we will pay you absolutely anything you want because we know we will get no applicants for your position”, much like the example above. We can conclude from the example with Derek Todd quoted in #EpicPowerFail 9 that the practical limit is a tripling in salary.

There’s more : After deducting out those engineers, there are others actively looking to leave also. We can know this with confidence as a Wellington power company advertised a position for a design engineer recently. The recruiter called a contact at Delta and asked “What the heck is going on down there – we have had 4 applications and 3 of them are from Delta !!”

Grady’s response to this is to hire engineers from around the world, and try and fill engineering positions with “Project Managers” (Godfrey Brosnan is just the latest example). This is not to denigrate those with overseas qualifications or from a different culture but as Richard Healey notes, this is a dangerous high risk industry and ‘culture’ is important. Experienced local engineers with institutional knowledge and memory are priceless – and absolutely essential. The legacy of Grady and successive incompetent boards is that Delta and Aurora, are very likely to be left with somewhere between very few and almost none.

Your correspondent is given to understand that there is a funereal level of staff morale. Many staff around all departments have the view that (Delta)Aurora is only a few more key resignations away from being unable to function as a lines company. Richard Healey may be able to comment further on this.

The common theme from departed staff is that they would not work any longer under the management regime.

Normally your correspondent likes to finish with what he fondly imagines to be a witty riposte, but after surveying the decayed remnants of Aurora, humour is not appropriate. 

Since 2009, Grady Cameron has blazed across our power line landscape like a counterfeit comet. Grady’s disastrous tenure has created a giant financial crater for the city that will have to be made good by ratepayers for around twenty years – most of a generation.  

While not solely responsible, he encouraged a culture of cynical disinterest in the long-term health of the company he was charged with protecting, to flourish.

There is no wit to be had here, but justifiable anger. 

[ends]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: ODT 16.2.17 Cameron will not seek new role page 3 detail tweaks by whatifdunedin

Richard Healey on Aurora’s asset value —heralds “massive increase in rates”

Just some little things our beloved leader Mayor Cull isn’t talking about urgently with his Councillors and Dunedin ratepayers at large.

M U S T ● R E A D

Excerpts from Richard Healey’s Facebook 14.2.17:

[click to enlarge]

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Related Posts and Comments:
14.2.17 DCC not Delta #EpicFail : Wall Street falsehoods and a world class debt
11.2.17 Shudder : Aurora Energy programme leader likely delusional…
6.2.17 Delta #EpicPowerFail 9 —The Curious Case of Godfrey Brosnan and…
19.1.17 Jarrod Stewart is EXACTLY RIGHT [what would Steve Thompson know]

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *grady*, *steve thompson*, *richard healey*, *dchl*, *epicpowerfail* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Shudder : Aurora Energy programme leader likely delusional #retestingpoles

[OR, What to do when Grady Cameron’s much vaunted $30million project sum doesn’t exist anywhere except on Mars]

Defining dangerous workplaces and public disaster —with the largest, most ‘shocking’ capital D. No one has to Die in the plantation… but the level of unknowing company management tells us the risk is too high.

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[Say what?]

The programme needed to be based on “science and engineering” and not perception. –Godfrey Brosnan

### ODT Online Sat, 11 Feb 2017
Aurora affected by pole, staff shortages
By Vaughan Elder
Aurora Energy might not replace the number of poles it promised as part of its $30million fast-tracked scheme. In a wide-ranging interview with the Otago Daily Times, the man tasked with leading the programme, Godfrey Brosnan, accepted it might not be possible to replace by December all 2910 poles included in the original target.

“I’m not going to get into the tennis match with [former programme director Jarrod Stewart] and Richard [Healey]. All I can say is what my approach is. “What you do is you just race for it. You plant poles — you plant poles at speed but with safety and that’s going to be the approach.”

….The programme was starting next week, 20 days ahead of schedule … Mr Brosnan was unapologetic about the fact Aurora would re-test poles and not replace any deemed up to scratch … “One thing that the public needs to realise and I had to realise as well, is some of these wooden poles are ugly, but it doesn’t mean to say they are falling down.”
Read more

****

ODT Online Thu, 29 Dec 2016
Director for $30m pole project
By Vaughan Elder
Lines company Aurora Energy has appointed a director to oversee its $30.25million pole replacement programme. Two memos sent to staff at Aurora’s sister company, Delta, before Christmas have been leaked to the Otago Daily Times. One is from chief executive Grady Cameron and the other from newly appointed chairman Steve Thompson. Mr Cameron outlined progress on the company’s accelerated plan to replace nearly 3000 poles in Aurora’s electricity network which is spread across Dunedin, Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes area. He emphasised the scale of the job, saying it would be “one of the largest construction projects in Otago during 2017”. Godfrey Brosnan had been appointed programme director and would report directly to Mr Cameron. “Godfrey is an experienced project manager with a background in complex capital works,” he said. Mr Brosnan’s appointment comes after previous director Jarrod Stewart resigned.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
6.2.17 Delta #EpicPowerFail 9 —The Curious Case of Godfrey Brosnan and Jarrod Stewart
19.1.17 Jarrod Stewart is EXACTLY RIGHT [what would Steve Thompson know]

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *grady*, *steve thompson*, *richard healey*, *dchl*, *epicpowerfail* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: pinimg.com – planted poles…
aurora energy logo merge by whatifdunedin

Delta’s Mumbai recruitment drive

Received.
Wed, 8 Feb 2017 at 9:17 p.m.

The answer to Delta’s accelerated delayed stalled pole replacement program.

[webpage screenshot]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Delta #EpicPowerFail 9 —The Curious Case of Godfrey Brosnan and Jarrod Stewart

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Mon, 6 Feb 2017 at 8:27 p.m.

Dear readers, your correspondent was fascinated to learn of the appointment of Godfrey Brosnan as Aurora’s new saviour (Program Director for the Pole Replacement project), about a month ago, on 29 December 2016. One cannot escape the conclusion that the announcement was timed for maximum concealment. There was no shouting from the rooftops about the appointment of Mr Brosnan, but merely the witless Mr Cameron in full euphemism mode, stating that Mr Brosnan was “An experienced project manager with a background in complex capital works”. Grady, this is a waste of space, just like yourself. What precisely are the “complex capital works” that Mr Brosnan has experience of ? Are they power industry projects ? What does “experienced” mean ? The only experience that is relevant is power industry experience, and we can assume from your vague dissembling, that Mr Brosnan is a novice to the power industry.

Now Dunedin is a small town, and it is not hard to find someone who knows Mr Brosnan. The good news is that in a revolutionary new development, Delta and Aurora have employed someone with integrity to the executive tea room. (Hope you like madeira cake, Godfrey). The bad news is that Mr Brosnan is not experienced in the power industry. Mr Brosnan’s most recent role was involvement in a peripheral capacity on the $445M Christchurch Hospital Acute Services Building project. This building is right in the middle of construction, and will not be finished for at least 18 months, so there we have the first clue about Mr Brosnan : Why was he willing to leave a major project that was barely even half-way completed ? The answer is not that Mr Brosnan had a passion or the right experience to lead the pole replacement project, but merely wanted a job in Dunedin because his school-age family lives here. The position was sweetened no doubt, by the eye-watering amount of money on offer. Reputedly with incentives, the pole replacement director is up around Grady’s fantastical package of $600,000. Mr Brosnan’s lack of experience suits Delta and Aurora : he can be manipulated by being given a flood of fakery by the duplicitous remnants of the original executive team. Mr Godrey’s integrity compounds the profound problem of his lack of experience : People with integrity generally assume a similar level of integrity in their colleagues, which in the case of Delta/Aurora, is going to lead to a disastrous outcome, most likely for Mr Brosnan.

Richard Healey has recently outlined the enormity of the problem facing the pole replacement targets : It is madeira cake to margarine sandwiches that Mr Brosnan was not made aware of the full extent of the problems that are now his.

Readers, as you wash down the Tim Tams with a cup or two of Bell’s, I can hear you thinking – is this just the fevered imagination of CD at work again ? In the words of Walter Mondale, where’s the beef ?

Your correspondent offers as evidence the curious case of the short-lived previous pole replacement director, a Mr Jarrod Stewart. Mr Stewart, a lawyer by background, has achieved fame within Delta by appearing to achieve the impossible : three separate payouts by Delta in the space of a year. Let us count the ways :

1. Delta last year cancelled Mr Stewart’s two-year contract, which he was compensated for.

2. No sooner was the ink dry on that settlement then Delta realised that they did, after all, need Mr Stewart and offered him the position of Pole Replacement Program Director, with a contract package with incentives worth around $600,000.

3. Mr Stewart, not long after accepting the $3,000 per day position, then had misgivings that he might have been subject to a further flood of fakery from Mr Cameron and his cohorts. Mr Stewart then employed a colleague from the mining industry to do a risk analysis of the pole replacement programme and his liability as director of the programme. The risk analysis concluded that Mr Stewart should …, ahem … Get the hell out of there ! The “programme” (if such an ad hoc on-the-fly chaos can be called a programme), was destined to fail, likely with some serious safety consequences, and consequent liability to the head of the project, being of course Mr Stewart at that time. It is understood that Mr Stewart is seeking some form of compensation for misrepresentation that induced him to sign up.

4. Now readers, hold those cups tight : The following is not made up : After Mr Stewart made his dissatisfaction with the pole replacement project known, a Delta senior manager – an Indian gentleman called Mr Kewal Bagal, we understand – on instruction from the highest levels, no doubt – actually broke into Mr Stewart’s office to attempt to find incriminating evidence about Mr Stewart. Mr Stewart is now taking a personal grievance action seeking further damages for this latest act of extreme Delta stupidity.

****

We should be grateful to Mr Stewart that he went public with his concerns in December. Had Mr Stewart wanted to maximise his income and minimise his integrity, he could have emulated one Mr Derek Todd, a senior engineer in Asset Management, and a flawed accomplice of Mr Matt Ballard, the chief propagandist of Asset Management. Mr Todd was the one who told staff that “every extra dollar you spend is a dollar less for the Council”. Mr Todd was implicated in the revelations of deceptions and dishonesty perpetrated by Asset Management in October and November, and unsurprisingly, resigned late last year due to “ill–health”. However, Mr Todd has had an amazing Lazarus-like resurrection to full health over the Christmas break, and is now employed as a “consultant” to Delta at the simply unbelievable figures of between $4,000 – $6,000 per day. That is somewhere north of $1,000,000 per year. Your correspondent understands that the “arrangement” will only extend to March 31, and is for a maximum number of days. It has the look, the structure, and the smell of a hush money payment. Mr Todd likely has damaging information that Delta do not want to see the light of day. Delta also have no money to shut him up. Solution : employ him as a “consultant” in the pole replacement program and book the cost there.

It is hard to fathom how Delta and Aurora and their boards are permitted to stagger onwards by their owners. Aurora is the leper of the New Zealand lines industry. Your correspondent understands that it is not uncommon for no applications to be received for recent positions at Delta and Aurora. Mr Steve Thompson may spout about it being an exciting place to work but the industry has voted with its feet. Delta/Aurora is a place where careers are ended, not made.

One final nugget of information : We must hold our nose about Board chair Thompson’s shady past for a few months, as it is understood that he has been instructed to make life as difficult as possible for Grady Cameron, with the aim of having Grady resign prior to June. Mr Thompson is the enforcer, the Richard Loe of the boardroom. (A role he is familiar with and will relish). Welcome to the bottom of the ruck Grady…watch your eyes.

[ends]

****

Note: Personnel profile according to Aurora Energy’s website:
Kewal Bagal
General Manager Energy and Communication
Kewal (BEE) joined Delta in November 2010. He is responsible for Delta’s delivery of infrastructure services to the energy and communications sectors, including electricity and gas distribution, transmission and generation, retailer services and next generation fibre optic networks. Kewal has experience in leading and managing infrastructure services businesses in both the telecommunications and energy sectors in New Zealand, Australia, and Asia with Transpower, Powermark, Alstom, Telecom and Downer. He leads a highly skilled team of 300 people. [Source: Aurora Energy – Delta ELT]

Related Post and Comments:
19.1.17 Jarrod Stewart is EXACTLY RIGHT [what would Steve Thompson know]

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *grady*, *jarrod*, *steve thompson*, *dchl*, *epicpowerfail* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: dishmaps.com – madeira

Hilary Calvert complaint to Auditor-General #DCHL

DCHL chairman Graham Crombie rejected Ms Calvert’s allegation of “misleading” councillors during a two-and-a-half-hour discussion on the controversial $13million Delta refinancing last year. (ODT)

### ODT Online: Thu, 2 Feb 2017
Allegation councillors were misled
By Simon Hartley
A complaint filed to the auditor-general by former Dunedin city councillor Hilary Calvert claims “misleading” information was presented to councillors over the contentious Yaldhurst property development in Christchurch. Council-owned Delta became enmeshed in Yaldhurst when it made incremental loans to the initial developer for its infrastructure work, to the tune of more than $13 million from 2009-13. Ms Calvert, a Dunedin lawyer, sent a copy of her complaint to the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
Ms Calvert said in the August meeting DCHL recommended to all councillors they accept the proposal to refinance Delta’s debt, with a new loan agreement with Infinity Group. However, Ms Calvert claims it was not a loan agreement directly with Infinity Group, a successful multimillion-dollar Wanaka company, but a new “shell company”, Yaldhurst Infinity Ltd. Ms Calvert contends it was “misleading” of DCHL to provide details of Infinity Group and its proven track record, in order to have the loan approved to Yaldhurst Infinity Ltd, “which would never have been worthy of lending $13.4 million to”.
Read more

A March 2014 auditor-general inquiry into Delta over Luggate and Jacks Point was highly critical, noting the use of “artificial business structures to avoid public accountability” and a “lack of strategic and performance monitoring” of investments, among other findings. (ODT)

Note: Hilary Calvert is not complaining about the Council meeting held on Monday, 1 August 2016. Her complaint is with the reports received in that meeting pertaining to the decision sought from Council by Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL).

****

Email received:

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2017 11:46:31 +1300
From: Hilary Calvert
To: Elizabeth Kerr

Media release below.
Other papers attached

—

Dunedin City Council companies facing new accusation of misleading conduct  
 
Hilary Calvert, a former Dunedin City Councillor, has today forwarded a complaint to the Auditor General’s office concerning the wrong information provided by DCHL surrounding the loan of $13 million made by Delta Utility Services Ltd, to a company which purchased the failed Christchurch Yaldhurst development.
 
Ms Calvert complains that the information provided to the Dunedin City Council to encourage it to approve the loan included financial statements and benefits including that the proposed borrower ‘has an excellent track record’ and ‘already has a strong presence in Christchurch…’ whereas in reality the company which was to borrow the money turned out to be a newly formed company, likely formed with the specific intention of avoiding having the company with the ‘track record’ standing behind the debt.
 
‘There is something very wrong if the Audit Office were to think it OK for a Council owned company to get a Council to agree to a $13 million loan using the details of a reputable trading company in place of those of the insubstantial shell company which was actually borrowing the money.’ said Ms Calvert.
 
If such statements were in a prospectus, which is after all an invitation to the public to give over their money, there could well be implications of prison being bandied about. And Council money is public money, even if this report was not governed by the rules surrounding issuing a prospectus.
 
It was only by chance the Council meeting picked up from an aside that the loan would be to a new unproven company with no obvious assets.
 
When asked why the company described in the papers was not borrowing the money and doing the development themselves, The DCC was told that it was good practice to set up a different company. *
 
It may be good practice for a borrower to try it on, but it would not be good practice for a lender to accept. Any bank would demand a guarantee from the parent company, something which DCHL says is not in place with this loan.
 
To add insult to injury, DCHL is refusing to provide details of the loan under Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act so we still cannot know what deal has been actually made using Dunedin Ratepayers money.
 
The Audit Office is responsible for ensuring that public entities carry out their business with probity and financial prudence.
 
‘It is time to call enough for Council companies treating Council like mushrooms, kept in the dark and fed manure.” said Ms Calvert.
 
*In fact a similar manoeuvre happened with the same company, Infinity Investment Group Holdings Ltd, concerning the Pegasus development, where some $80 million was lost without IIGHL having to stand behind the company formed there either.
 
Hilary Calvert

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Attachments:
LGOIMA information release – DCHL to Council 1 August 2016
Request for examination 31.1.17

█ For more, enter the terms *dchl*, *crombie*, *grady*, *delta*, *infinity*, *yaldhurst*, *noble* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Aurora/Delta can’t be trusted on dangerous poles —some reasons why

Primed to FAIL.

Richard Healey reveals the dreadful reality of Aurora’s fast-track pole replacement program to be rolled out by Delta and other crews, with little regard for workplace safety —or public safety.

In a frightening note posted at Facebook tonight, Richard says:

“So what are we looking at? A divided workforce, where there is an us and them culture, with many off network workers, [led] by people, some of them with little or no leadership experience, who don’t have skills managing multiple teams or complex projects, working on a decayed asset, much of which has been mysteriously upgraded by some backroom process, presided over by a group of people with a vested interest in covering up mistakes and aiming for an unachievable target in a pressure cooker environment, for a company with two convictions for unsafe work practices in the last seven years?

Surely not – that sounds like Pike River Coal Ltd. But maybe if you have no background in the industry, and your previous job involved dodging bombs and bullets, it all sounds pretty reasonable?”

—

Please read the whole note, and click on each of the links Richard provides:

Good news! Delta plan to have all the condition zero poles replaced by April 30th.
Richard Healey · Monday, 30 January 2017
The bad news? I think the chances of a serious injury, or a death, are extraordinarily high.

Why? Let me count the reasons:

In the last 20 years, the largest number of replacement zero or one poles Delta has achieved in a year is around 400. Don’t believe the bollocks that Grady Cameron comes out with about Delta having “replaced” thousands of poles in the last two years. Here’s a clip from their website.

“Aurora Energy has replaced 1,670 poles in the past two years, of which 802 were either condition 0 and 1. We have already replaced 155 poles in the first four months of this year”.

Just how thick do you think the people of Otago are? From September 2014 to September 2016 Delta’s own GIS system shows 1528 poles installed, for all reasons. Many of those poles were new installs, most for new irrigation load – they were not replacements.

But let’s look at the sterling work you have done in the “first four months of this year” – 155 poles! That works out to 465 for a whole year, hmmm… that would be about half the number of poles that you claim to have replaced in each of the previous two years!

So let’s get this straight, you are claiming that in the last four months your replacement program has halved in speed? But now, miraculously, you are going to replace more than 1000 condition zero poles in a couple of months? So an increase in the rate of replacement of around 1300% – thirteen times the rate of replacement that you are achieving now. Bugger it, let’s be generous, let’s say that by some miracle you kick all this off tomorrow and have three months to finish, that would be an 860% increase in the speed of replacement.

So how is this sleight of hand to be performed? Well, more crews. That’s got to be good right?

Continues….

█ https://www.facebook.com/notes/richard-healey/good-news-delta-plan-to-have-all-the-condition-zero-poles-replaced-by-april-30th/10156057154724848

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Would CCOs lie to the Courts? #dangerous #power

Fascinating!

Tonight Richard posted another note at his Facebook page:

We know Delta feel free to play with the truth – But would they lie to the Courts?
Richard Healey · Saturday, 28 January 2017
It’s obvious that Delta think nothing of spinning the facts for you or me, think back to last December when a high voltage line fell to the ground in Tainui, burning the grass. Delta said, and I quote “it presented no danger to the public”. I guess, because no one was under it at the time it fell, you could argue that the statement is true. To me it’s like claiming that firing a gun down the Prince’s St presented no danger to the public because you didn’t hit anyone. Your call, was that a lie?

Or how about this one, when a cast iron cable termination fractured in several places showering the pavement with molten tar – “Delta marketing and communications manager Gary Johnson said the Havelock St pothead was found to have a “slow leak” of insulating material and was removed.” I suppose we could argue about the definition of slow, I’m sure the bitumen that came out did so very slowly – compared to the speed of light – but to characterise a failure that split a cast iron vessel many millimeters thick as a “slow leak” is disingenuous at best. Would you call that a lie?

In his second interview with TV3 Grady Cameron claimed that he wanted to talk to me about the issues that I’d raised but that I had resigned before he had the opportunity. Technically he is absolutely correct, I had resigned. What he didn’t say was that I was working out a months notice, that I was at my desk, with my cellphone on and my computer in front of me when he had me “quarantined” and removed from the office. Not only that, but he cancelled a meeting that I had been told to attend with both Grady and Matt Ballard (more about him shortly) the next day. Would you call that a lie?

The question that I’ve been considering for the last month or so is – would they lie in court?

Continues….

█ https://www.facebook.com/notes/richard-healey/we-know-delta-feel-free-to-play-with-the-truth-but-would-they-lie-to-the-courts/10156050337409848

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: Failed pothead, slow leak? – photo care of Richard Healey

Richard Healey : How Aurora’s lines killed in-calf dairy cows and some sheep

No, really.

M A N D A T O R Y ● R E A D I N G ● F O R
Y O U R ● P E R S O N A L ● S A F E T Y ● A R O U N D ● L I N E S

The following note at Facebook also includes a LGOIMA request directed to Grady Cameron, CE Aurora/Delta, and his interim reply.

Death on the Taieri
Richard Healey · Friday, 27 January 2017
Why should you care about eight dead cows and a dozen dead sheep? Let me explain… In 2010 eight cows were electrocuted on a farm on Maungatua Rd. You can read the story here. Have a close look at this photo:

The black line about a quarter of the way down from the top is 33,000 Volt powerline. The round object attached to it, just to the right of center, is the top section of an insulator that has failed. Now look carefully at this photo…

█ https://www.facebook.com/notes/richard-healey/death-on-the-taieri/10156045815054848

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Reiteration of the SAFETY VIDEO showing at Richard’s Facebook note – please share it widely.

Fortis Alberta Published on Jun 17, 2013
Step and Touch potential
Watch what to do and not to do in the event of a power line contact.

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Related Posts and Comments:
24.1.17 Aurora Energy lines, Lindsay Rd, Caversham, Dunedin
21.1.17 Mayor ignores serious plight of DCC’s FAILED Otago power network in favour of urban cycleways and CBD
● 19.1.17 Jarrod Stewart is EXACTLY RIGHT [what would Steve Thompson know]
18.1.17 Basic questions arising for the City, unpublished by the newspaper
18.1.17 Scandal : DCC / Delta obfuscate over destruction of Heritage Rose Collection
17.1.17 Whistleblower continues campaign vs #AuroraEnergy #DeltaUtilityServices
14.1.17 DCC/DCHL responsible for failed rollout of ‘gigatown’ #dangerouspoles
13.1.17 Aurora with yet another headache
12.1.17 No Integrity | Cull’s FULL INSULT to Ratepayers and Residents
12.11.17 How to drop Crombie and the mafia from City boards
9.1.17 Letter of opinion draws wide support, view not shared by deathly DCHL
8.1.17 Otago’s dangerous electricity network —Aurora’s INCONSPICUOUS and INEFFECTIVE public safety messaging
6.6.17 Message to Aurora/Delta : Upper Clutha dangerous poles DON’T MIX with Holiday Campers

█ For more, enter the terms *aurora*, *delta*, *dchl*, *dangerous*, *poles*, *richard healey*, *gigatown*, *roses*, *grady*, *cameron*, *crombie*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *auditor-general*, *noble*, *yaldhurst* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: odt.co.nz – dead dairy cows by Stephen Jaquiery, Maungatua Rd, 2010

Jarrod Stewart is EXACTLY RIGHT [what would Steve Thompson know]

At Facebook:

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Dunedin City Council-owned company [Aurora Energy Ltd] was showing signs it would return to its old ways as soon as public pressure began to lift.

ODT Online Thu, 19 Jan 2017
Claim Aurora facing $1b bill
By Vaughan Elder
The former director of Aurora Energy’s $30 million accelerated pole replacement programme says it is doomed to fail and believes the company faces a billion-dollar spend to upgrade its network. Jarrod Stewart says he quit the role last month in part because he believed the programme to replace thousands of compromised poles would be mishandled so badly someone would be injured. “I don’t enter jobs with the premise that I am going to fail,” Mr Stewart said. His claims were yesterday disputed by Aurora and Delta chairman Steve Thompson, who said they were “exaggerated” and it was disappointing he had gone public after leaving the company.
Read more

For real change to happen there needed to be a clean-out of management and the appointment of a “fixer” chief executive with an appetite for change and a willingness to make unpopular decisions.

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At Facebook:

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Whistleblower continues campaign vs #AuroraEnergy #DeltaUtilityServices

Last year’s news….

[Story/Newshub]

Back when….
Grady Cameron said on national television … “We Have A Safe Network” …
Did Grady get a tour of dangerous poles three years ago – or not ?
Was he shown just ONE pole at Green Island/Abbotsford.
Who would we rather believe.
Not Grader.

### newshub.co.nz 31/10/2016
Delta CEO fronts up on dangerous, toppling power poles
By Jendy Harper
A fortnight ago, we brought you the story of thousands of dangerous power poles which are putting lives at risk and have already been responsible for a death. The poles are the responsibility of lines company Delta and are dotted around Otago. A whistle-blower walked out on a 30-year career in electricity to speak out because he said management weren’t listening to his safety concerns. Richard Healey estimated there are 3000 power poles which need to be replaced. Today, Delta said they need to make dramatic changes and they will borrow $26 million dto replace 3000 power poles by the end of next year. Why did it take one man’s death and a whistleblower to speak out before the company acted? Delta CEO Grady Cameron finally speaks to Story.
MUST SEE Video [full Story report]

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At Facebook yesterday:

█ Deloitte’s Aurora report (Dec 2016)

█ For more, enter the terms *aurora*, *delta*, *dchl*, *dangerous*, *poles*, *gigatown*, *grady*, *cameron*, *crombie*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *auditor-general*, *noble*, *yaldhurst* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

DCC/DCHL responsible for failed rollout of ‘gigatown’ #dangerouspoles

14.1.17 ODT: Old poles choking Gigatown
13.1.17 ODT: Connecting to fibre not possible on red tag pole

Related Post:
13.1.17 Aurora with yet another headache

WHO IS DIRECTLY AND FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE ?

● Dunedin City Council
● Dunedin City Holdings Ltd
● Aurora Energy Ltd
● Delta Utility Services Ltd

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IN OLDER NEWS

### ODT Online Wed, 26 Mar 2014
Safety liabilities stop with directors
By Simon Hartley
Company directors are set to be held more accountable for employee injury or death under tougher new health and safety regulations, highlighted by Gloria Davis’ recent conviction over the eight deaths attributed to the sinking of the Easy Rider fishing vessel last year. The national Institute of Directors backs the expectations placed on directors, regardless of the company size or number of employees, saying ultimately the “buck stops” with company directors. […] Professional Dunedin director Stuart McLauchlan, national president of the Institute of Directors and former Otago institute branch chairman, says directors must get to grips with the new health and safety requirements and that “reporting” of health and safety issues, and acting on them, was “the key” for directors. Nothing has changed in terms of liability. After people advise administration on health and safety issues they must act; ultimately the buck stops there with directors,” he said when contacted in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. […] Mr McLauchlan said the directors’ institute and the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment last year ran roadshows together around the country, specifically outlining directors’ health and safety responsibilities, and have a template on the institute’s website, on health and safety requirements and obligations.
Read more

Related Post:
25.3.14 Delta blues . . . and Easy Rider

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The Deloitte report for Aurora Energy was released publicly on 12 Dec 2016.

Stuart McLauchlan ceased being a director of the council owned companies Aurora Energy and Delta Utility Services on 12 Dec 2016. Commencement date for his directorships of both companies: 1 Jun 2007.

Aurora Energy Ltd – http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/471661
Delta Utility Services Ltd – http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/453486
Dunedin City Holdings Ltd – http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/559098

█ For more, enter the terms *aurora*, *delta*, *dchl*, *dangerous*, *poles*, *gigatown*, *grady*, *cameron*, *crombie*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *auditor-general*, *noble*, *yaldhurst* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Aurora with yet another headache

At Facebook:

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Note this particular meat from Richard Healey’s Facebook post:
[my emphasis]

“If you have a property where the lines were built before 2001, then Aurora owns everything up to the house. The only exceptions are where the lines have been brought up to standard and a letter has been sent to the property owner transferring ownership of the lines or a prior agreement is in place. That has almost never happened in Dunedin. If you think that you have been billed, and shouldn’t have been, write to Aurora. If you don’t get redress file a claim.
If you would like to read the appropriate legislation, look up the electricity act 1992 and search for the definition of “point of supply”.
What does that mean? It means that it’s probable that thousands of Dunedin residents have been charged for maintenance to lines and poles that they do not own.”

█ Electricity Act 1992
Reprint as at 18 October 2016
http://www.legislation.co.nz/act/public/1992/0122/latest/DLM281858.html

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Letter of opinion draws wide support, view not shared by deathly DCHL

ODT 9.1.16 (page 6)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.