The man running Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium says the venue is still hunting for sell-out concerts, despite being overlooked by a string of top international acts.
### ODT Online Tue, 27 Dec 2016
Concert quest ongoing despite setbacks
By Chris Morris
After a bumper period last year in which Rod Stewart, Fleetwood Mac and Neil Diamond all performed at the stadium, the venue’s international concerts have dried up, the last being Black Sabbath’s show in April. Hopes more big acts would stop in Dunedin this summer were dashed when performers such as British rockers Coldplay and pop superstar Adele opted for shows in Auckland instead…. Dunedin Venues Management Ltd chief executive Terry Davies [said] this summer’s “dry” period for concerts in Dunedin would continue for the first half of 2017.
Read more
****
Listen:
### radionz.co.nz Fri, 12 Dec 2008
Radio NZ National : Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan
Carisbrook Stadium in trouble (Link)
09:30 Malcolm Farry, Chairman Carisbrook Stadium Trust; and Jeff Dickie, property investor and outspoken critic of the stadium.
Audio | Download: Ogg MP3 (13′15″)
—
The instant the CST and the council started believing in their own hype and spin about Dalai Lama visits, world swimming championships and Royal tours was the moment that this city’s ratepayers were doomed to have to meet all of the “private funding”.
–Russell Garbutt ODT 13.4.12
Garrick Tremain – 13 May 2012
At various times, it was imagined that it might host international soccer, rugby league and even swimming; that penguins would frolic in a (converted) adjoining quarry, and not just that the biggest names in rock music would visit, but, perhaps, the Dalai Lama and British royalty.
–Steve Kilgallon Stuff 3.6.12
Then….
### channel39.co.nz Tue, 17 July 2012
█ Dalai Lama’s proposed visit puts smile on face
The Dalai Lama’s proposed visit to Dunedin has put a wry smile on the face of the man behind Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Video
Garrick Tremain – 17 Jan 14
Garrick Tremain – 1 Oct 2014
****
Full article:
[before we knew the GOBs were completely buggering Dunedin and Central Otago’s electricity network]
### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 05:00 03/06/2012
House of Blame
By Steve Kilgallon – Sunday Star Times
AMBITIOUS: The Forsyth Barr Stadium has left a city divided and its ratepayers facing vast debts.
….In June 2008, two major concert promoters had told the D-Scene newspaper what should have been self-evident: Dunedin was too small, remote and student-oriented to provide the sales base to attract big-name acts. In February this year, council-owned stadium management company Dunedin Venues Management Limited’s (DVML) chief executive David Davies said concert bookings for the stadium would be “thin” in 2012. “What’s thinner than one?” asks Garbutt. Cull says the council has to leverage the advantage of having a roof, guaranteeing events won’t be rained off. Farry, who wanted to run the stadium for its first two years, is disappointed the council hasn’t attracted more concerts.
Read more
*The same article, retitled, appears at Stuff Sport: Stadium builds under fire
****
### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 12:38 14/09/2012
Councils should stay away from business
By Chalkie – Tim Hunter
There are people who believe local councils should own businesses because they generate returns and ease the burden on ratepayers. Chalkie is not one of them. Your humble correspondent thinks councils should stick to their knitting. The reasons are many and varied. Taking a couple of examples at random:
a) Councils can start to think they are there to make money instead of, say, distribute water; and
b) Councils are not commercially savvy shareholders.
Poppycock, you say. Show me a single case of a council’s emptyheaded pursuit of unprofitable goals. In response, Chalkie invites you to consider Dunedin. In that southern city the council is the proud owner of Dunedin City Holdings, whose job, according to its report, is “to manage the commercial investments of the Dunedin City Council to maximise returns”. The businesses under DCH’s umbrella include electricity network company Aurora, forestry company City Forests, the Taieri Gorge Railway Company and an engineering business called Delta Utility Services. DCH’s 2012 numbers are not yet available, but last year it trumpeted an improvement in revenue and profit and a total cash return to the council of $23.2 million. If you thought that was a good result, you’d be wrong. When you look at several years of DCH numbers a disturbing pattern emerges of ever-increasing millions being borrowed and pumped into underperforming assets. The cashflow statements tell the story.
Read more
—
Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
This post is offered in the public interest.
What if? Dunedin... 