thoughts and faces #loosematerial

My father [never a follower of the FedUp Farmers, as he deemed them; always the campaigner for removal of farm subsidies, to enhance production and market competition] had ‘stock’ phrases with which to judge the faces of female adversaries, those with little brain or spine in politics, pretenders. One adept phrase that sticks in my mind is “like a horse eating thistles” —so I look on the following with my tinted lens, and laugh, rurally (ruefully). No one target.

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On 19 May @StuFleming tweeted: “Spend $200k, revenue projections of $2.4M to others, 10% margin yields say $240k net”
[minus ODT news photo of face]

As ratepayer not involved in tourism or hospo, I’m wondering what to spend my windfall from Trenz on. Travel? Balclutha or Hampden? https://t.co/kau4b3aDSB

— T. Optional (@TomBoyOptional) May 20, 2017

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Rather bleak. pic.twitter.com/dI41cnqk0u

— Chris (@opetheater) May 20, 2017

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[DUD ‘money hype’ typically depends on false multipliers, anechoic silences, and arrogant self-belief —this (yes) bleak statement applies across a broad range of proposed deals and associated marketing detritus in the city, especially to events, conferences, sport, hospitality and accommodation, and even the re-use (Not conservation) of truly rare and precious instances of historic heritage] Here’s to all the fricking horses out there, including hypocritical colleagues and friends with blinkers like demo balls prepared to squeeze the last dollar and pass us to Hell. Anyway, back to “the business”…. cargo cult tourism. The wider effects of tourism are like those of dairying. Too many eggs in one basket and everybody (I mean, everybody) ends up doing it badly —killing Our Place for generations. Greed, like endorphins, like a running addiction, binds them up. They think they’re bright, they think they’re enablers (read risk takers/investors centred on their own gains only), they think they’re entrepreneurs, better than others (but because I for one will tell you things you don’t want to hear, you’ll say “I’ll ring you tomorrow”, that silence again) but they’re just funneled, tunneled sheepybaas – doing it wrong. Like cows, deer, Chinese gooseberries (Kiwifruit!), wines, stadiums….. or ‘getting a room’ behind the poorly remembered, heavily made-up, Disney’d facade of our city and nationhood. The worst kind didn’t, or didn’t bother to, ‘grow up’ here. They get desperate, create mess, import other yes men. Ring you like nothing happened, their exploits —not to ask deeply madly who and how you really are.

### ODT Online Sat, 20 May 2017
Trenz prompts high aspirations
By David Loughrey
Next year’s Trenz conference in Dunedin is set to cost ratepayers $200,000, but the long-term pay-off should run well into the millions.
The Dunedin City Council will next week be given an idea of the costs to the city of hosting the conference from May 7 to 10, and also the estimated benefits. The city learned last week it would host the tourism industry event next year, bringing up to 1200 international travel and tourism buyers, media and New Zealand tourism operators to Dunedin. It will be the first time the event, run by Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA), has come to Dunedin and the first time it has been hosted outside Auckland, Rotorua, Christchurch or Queenstown since it began in the 1960s. Trenz is an opportunity for New Zealand tourism operators to sell their product to buyers, effectively overseas travel agents who put together itineraries for overseas tourists. Attracting more than 350 buyers to experience the tourism products on offer here is considered a huge coup. On average, each buyer sends 4000 visitors a year to New Zealand, totalling 1.5 million. It comes as figures show New Zealand’s tourism market is expected to continue to grow strongly, topping $15 billion by 2023. Tourism contributes more than $690 million to Dunedin’s economy every year.
Read more

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South Islanders woke up to a snowy start this morning with the first Antarctic blast of winter https://t.co/AJsIxO5Pwe pic.twitter.com/0jBfYGEORq

— nzherald (@nzherald) May 19, 2017

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Meanwhile, although we (‘our stock’ NZ) and the UK farm gate look pretty much the same……

‘Herdwick Shepherd’ aka James Rebanks (@herdyshepherd1) farms Herdwick sheep in the English Lake District. Author of bestselling memoir, The Shepherd’s Life:

Still cold up on the fells pic.twitter.com/VsFBL9yJnX

— Herdwick Shepherd (@herdyshepherd1) May 19, 2017

Best thing this week… pic.twitter.com/CKD0DJtAxj

— Herdwick Shepherd (@herdyshepherd1) May 19, 2017

### ODT Online Saturday, 20 May 2017
OE to Britain set to get tougher
Prime Minister Bill English says the Conservative Party’s new plans to clamp down on immigration will sting New Zealanders wanting to live in the United Kingdom, including on the traditional OE, but there is little he can do until Brexit is completed. The British party’s election manifesto includes plans to drastically cut net migration from 273,000 to less than 100,000 by targeting students and those on working visas. It proposes cutting the number of skilled migrants to get visas, higher levies on employers who take on migrant workers and tripling the National Health Service immigration health surcharge from £200 to £600 ($NZ380 to $NZ1130) a year for those in the UK on visas of more than six months and 450 for international students. That surcharge increase will also affect those on the traditional OE, although there is no mention of scrapping the two-year youth mobility visa which allows young New Zealanders to get a two-year visa to work and travel in the United Kingdom. Mr English said the changes would affect those on their OE but they would have to grin and bear it until Brexit was completed. NZME.
Read more

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Super City mayor Phil Goff has a plan for getting money from tourists – it bears some similarity to that of the Mongrel Mob……

Amid talk of hotel taxes and tourist levies, Winston Aldworth says New Zealanders are missing a bigger opportunity https://t.co/oJNUiMesTL

— nzherald (@nzherald) May 19, 2017

### NZ Herald Thu, 18 May 2017
Winston Aldworth: Seeking the smart money
OPINION What do Phil Goff and the Mongrel Mob have in common? As hundreds of travel industry figures from all around the world gathered in Auckland for last week’s Trenz conference, one of the many topics up for discussion was the Auckland mayor’s enthusiasm for a hotel bed tax on visitors to the city. Meanwhile, up north at Ahipara on Ninety Mile Beach, three German tourists were approached by two local Mongrel Mob members who told them that they were on Maori land, and had to pay koha. They also told the tourists they’d be taking a few of their cigarettes. A tobacco tax, if you will. Perhaps their plan for putting heavy taxes on visitors was inspired by the Super City mayor. Goff’s bed tax is about as blunt an instrument as the Mob’s shakedown. “Look there’s a foreigner! Let’s get a couple of bucks off them.” The airport tax introduced by John Key a year ago is equally clumsy. It’s a travesty that these tariffs are the best we can come up with for making money out of tourism. Yes, other countries put dull levies on visitor arrivals, but that’s no reason to follow suit. We New Zealanders pride ourselves on being innovators, so let’s find innovative ways to get more money out of the tourism sector. Both Goff and Key were ministers in governments that did everything they could to remove tariffs from the dairy trade. Today, the best and brightest marketing wallahs of Goff’s inner circle are putting forward a plan no more sophisticated than one devised by two Mongrel Mob members standing on a Northland beach. I’m not against making money out of tourists — quite the opposite, in fact. I think it’s terrific that our country can be boosted by an industry that encourages us to care for our environment, celebrate the things that make our culture unique and spreads revenue quickly and efficiently to the regions. But how about instead of putting a dumb tax on the visitors, we upsell them? Take their money at the gate for sure, but give them something special in return.
Read more

Enough randomising. More rain and ice falls.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Bev Butler queries invoices for Delta hospitality at Stadium #LGOIMA

Received.
Another repetitive chore for Mr Cameron while he remains in office.

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From: Bev Butler
Sent: Wednesday, 14 December 2016 12:06 p.m.
To: Glenda McGowan [Delta]; Grady Cameron [Delta]
Subject: Fw: Urgent LGOIMA Request: Delta/Aurora dangerous power poles – reason for financial restraints/invoices further details

Wednesday 14 December 2016

Dear Ms McGowan and Mr Cameron

I wish to follow up further on some of the attached invoices.

The following was reported in the ODT (28/11/16):

“On the issue of the corporate suite, Mr Cameron said like any large business, “from time to time we host our customers to strengthen the working relationships”.

In the past financial year, Delta spent about $9000 on food and beverage hosting customers at the suite…….” 

In light of Mr Cameron’s comments in the ODT, there are a number of invoices on which I request further information as follows:

1. Carisbrook Stadium Trust Invoice PSF-26, dated 5 December 2009, 10 Lounge Club Memberships $40,000+gst. Please state the names of those who have access to the 10 Lounge Memberships paid for by Delta. I note on the Forsyth Barr Stadium website the following: “As a Member of Forsyth Barr Stadium you can attend any of our scheduled events and take in the view from your own designated premium seat in the Speight’s Stand (South).”

This is obviously 10 premium seats in the Speight’s Stand on top of the seating in the Delta corporate suite.

2. Invoice 1343, dated 29/06/2012, Highlanders vs Chiefs includes Beverage $711.30+gst and 20 3 course meals @ $67.00 = $1340+gst.

How many of these guests were:

(a) Delta management staff

(b) Other Delta staff

(c) Delta directors

(d) DCHL directors

(e) Mayor and/or councillors

(f) DCC executive management team

(g) DCC staff

(h) Carisbrook Stadium Trustees (CST trustees/rich listers have reputation for receiving ‘gifts’ of tickets/catered meals at the expense of the ratepayers)

(i) Delta clients

(j) other – please state

Please supply the names of those who attended.

Law Courts Hotel #sad

An institution. Great precinct and location for accommodation, what happened.
Enhance building performance, perfect for retrofitting and adaptive reuse.

### dunedintv.co.nz February 19, 2015 – 5:42pm
Law Courts Hotel in liquidation
The Law Courts Hotel in central Dunedin has been placed in liquidation. The hotel’s situated in lower Stuart Street, beside the Dunedin Courthouse. It’s been placed in the hands of liquidators by the High Court. Creditors owed money by the company have until the end of March to file claims. The sole director of the Law Courts Hotel is Mornington resident Leslie Scott. A financial report on the state of the business has yet to be made public. It was formally placed in liquidation last week.
Ch39 Link [no video available]

█ Wikipedia: Law Courts Hotel [edited]
‘One of the city’s most historic public houses and hostelries, the Law Courts Hotel, is located close to the Dunedin Law Courts (the courthouse) in Lower Stuart Street, in a large corner building with an Art Deco style facade (not the original frontage), directly opposite the Allied Press Building (the offices of the city’s main newspaper, the Otago Daily Times). Listed by Heritage New Zealand as a Category II historic place (List No: 2189). The prime location of this hotel near these two premises has greatly contributed to its history, as has its longevity (having originally been founded as the Auld Scotland Hotel in 1863).’ Link

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: wikimedia.org – ‘deco-tweaked’ by whatifdunedin

Emerson’s Brewery #Dunedin

Founder Richard Emerson (via stoppress.co.nz)

█ Premium Craft Beer | Emerson’s Brewery Dunedin http://www.emersons.co.nz/

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### NZ Herald Online 11:08 AM Wednesday Apr 10, 2013
Lion paid $8m for Emerson’s brewery
By Christopher Adams
Brewing giant Lion paid $8 million for Dunedin craft beer maker Emerson’s last year, according to documents filed with the Companies Office. At the time of the November takeover the Auckland-based company did not disclose the multi-million dollar price tag it paid for the South Island firm, which was founded in 1992, making it one of the most established and well-known craft brands in the country. But Lion is required to file its financial statements with the Companies Office due to its foreign ownership by Japanese brewer Kirin.
Read more

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Emerson’s Brewery On The Move
Monday, 20 October 2014, 3:22 pm
Press Release: Emerson’s

Dunedin, New Zealand – Emerson’s, with support from Lion, has today purchased a new site in Anzac Ave, Dunedin where they plan to build a brand new spiritual home for this iconic New Zealand craft brewery. The new site will allow Emerson’s to meet increasing demand for its high quality beers whilst continuing to bring new and interesting beers to beer lovers. This is the fourth move in the Emerson’s journey and Founder Richard Emerson says the new site will be a vast improvement on the place they currently call home.
“Moving brewhouses and tanks is not new to us but this time, we want to create a place where people can touch, smell, taste and experience more about Emerson’s and its story,” says Emerson.
Emerson’s, supported by Beca who will be project managing the development locally, are progressing well with the plans for the site which will house a new brewery, warehousing, retail store and bar area where visitors can enjoy a beer matched with good food. Improved staff facilities are also a key consideration for the new development.
Lion’s Managing Director, Rory Glass says today marks the start of another exciting chapter in Emerson’s history and Lion is delighted to be able to help them reach their full potential.
“We stand by our commitment of allowing Emerson’s to continue doing what they do well – experimenting and brewing great beer and we are genuinely excited about helping Emerson’s to build a new home in which they can realise their growth aspirations now and in the future” says Glass.
Work is expected to get under way on the site in December 2014 with a target completion date for the new Emerson’s Brewery in early 2016. Final plans for the site will be shared more widely in due course but Emerson’s have extended their current lease at Wickliffe Street to cover them until the new site is fully operational.
For now however, it is business as usual for Emerson’s and the team remain focused on creating great beers for Emerson’s fans to enjoy.
Link to Scoop

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DCC Webmap [click to enlarge]

Cr Hall had been in dispute with the council over access to his land for three years, after realignment of State Highway 88 during Forsyth Barr Stadium’s construction.

### ODT Online Tue, 21 Oct 2014
Brewery’s big plans revealed
By Vaughan Elder
An expanding Emerson’s Brewery is set to become a ”world-class” tourist destination now an agreement has been reached to buy a new site. The development – expected to cost in the millions – will be open for tours and house a new brewery, warehousing, retail store plus a bar and restaurant. The 22-year-old Dunedin brewery’s purchase of two adjacent pieces of land in Anzac Ave, belonging to the Dunedin City Council and Cr Doug Hall, also resolves a long-running access dispute over the land.
Read more

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The global environment in which we operate has always meant swings and roundabouts for New Zealand goods and services.

### ODT Online Mon, 27 Oct 2014
Editorial: Swings and roundabouts
It has been a tale of two fortunes for city businesses this month. […] And as one door closes [Donaghys], another opens. Dunedin’s Emerson’s Brewery last week announced it had bought land on Anzac Ave, and would move from its nearby Wickliffe St site to build a multimillion-dollar expanded operation with a new brewery, warehousing, retail store, bar and restaurant. The company envisaged it would become a “world-class” tourist destination and the expansion would create jobs.
Read more

Image via 3news.co.nz

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Related Posts and Comments:
2.9.13 SH88 realignment: decision to Environment Court?
3.8.13 SH88 notice of requirement [more maps]
30.4.13 DCC governance = management ?
20.11.12 DCC vs Anzide Properties decision: The road “has no legal basis”
27.5.12 SH88 realignment – information
25.5.12 SH88 realignment costs (injunction)
27.2.12 Bringing DCC, related entities and individuals to account…
23.8.11 Stadium project tangles
4.11.10 SH88 realignment for stadium disrupts traffic
21.7.10 SH88 realignment – update
7.7.10 Goodbye to great store buildings in Parry St
21.4.10 SH88 realignment – update
31.3.10 SH88 realignment
24.2.10 SH88 realignment: Are ratepayers buying the land twice?
20.11.09 Interesting. SH88 realignment.
2.9.09 SH88 realignment past stadium

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin old boys, councillors & staff collude on 5-star accommodation

The following report was tabled at a meeting of the Dunedin City Council on Monday 22 September 2014:

█ Report – Council – 22/09/2014 (PDF, 3.8 MB)
Tourism Dunedin Annual Report

Oh dear, oh dear. Ex Tourism Dunedin chief Hamish Saxton says…. “The Tourism Dunedin report showed Dunedin’s total visitor nights increased 7.4%, to 826,431, in the year to May 2014, with domestic visitors up 6.3% and international visitors up 9.2%.”

Add this next report to bolster confidence and supply for old boy in-groups and the ever pea-brain assortment of city councillors – and the megalomaniac council staff who NEVER waste an opportunity to empire build or focus pressure in pursuit of higher salaried positions:

█ Report – Council – 22/09/2014 (PDF, 271.8 KB)
Growth Assumptions in the Long Term Plan

The message is, since We know grand theft auto already…. “We want CAKE! Want it now!” so, “Let’s be having it, Ratepayers, empty your sorry pockets for Our Edification, Delight and Comfortable Pay Cheques, for We at DCC don’t stand a F***’s chance of ever knowing how to create real jobs in the productive export sector. Give us FIVE STAR, now!!”

Nor was it their business.

### ODT Online Wed, 24 Sep 2014
City needs to offer visitors five-star hotel – report
By Chris Morris
Tourism Dunedin has left a call for more money, a five-star hotel and closer links with Queenstown ringing in the Dunedin City Council’s ears. The comments came from former Tourism Dunedin trustee Rainsford Grubb as he presented the now-defunct entity’s final annual report to the council this week. The report came months after Tourism Dunedin was subsumed by Enterprise Dunedin, an in-house council entity responsible for a broader mix of tourism, events and other activities, on June 30.
Read more

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Who is right?

Comment at ODT Online:

Targeted taxes
Submitted by Stevesone57 on Wed, 24/09/2014 – 11:25am.
….The fact is that motels and hotels in Dunedin have been hovering around 60% occupancy for three years now. Anyone in the industry will tell you this is nothing more than break even. It is clear that this announcement by Mr Grubb is the precursor for targeted [taxes] to promote Dunedin’s wonders. Targeted taxes on businesses already struggling to survive – these include hotels, motels, bars, cafes etc….
Read more

█ Recordings of council meetings are on the DCC YouTube channel.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Eiontown killing it: Plans for upmarket convention centre + NTT hot pools

Another reason to avoid fubar stadium at Dunedin for hosting your little seminar of six people. It’s all over to Queenstown….

Artist’s impression of a $25 million hot pools complex proposal for QLDC’s Lakeview Holiday Park site [image via Mountain Scene]

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### scene.co.nz Monday 16 Dec 2013
Tribe and Queenstown council in $25m hot pools talks
Maori tribe Ngai Tahu wants to make a bigger splash on Queenstown’s tourism scene with a $25 million hot pools complex. Today’s announcement says Ngai Tahu Tourism is in early discussions with the resort council over leasing 0.75 hectares of prime public land in the Lakeview site on Man Street. The Lakeview site is being pushed by Queenstown Lakes District Council as the preferred home for a $50m convention centre proposal, possibly linked to a casino-hotel complex to be built by SkyCity Entertainment Group. Ngai Tahu’s proposed development would include about 12 large public hot pools, four smaller private hot pools, changing facilities, a health spa, reception and retail building, and a café-restaurant. Annual patronage is projected at 300,000 to 350,000 customers. Ngai Tahu is already a major property and tourism player in the resort.
Read more

ODT: $25m hotpool plan for resort

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC team building at your expense (2 events)

Updated post 16.12.13

Comment at ODT Online:
Not convinced
Submitted by topsy on Mon, 16/12/2013 – 1:08am.
“council’s senior managers met the cost of alcohol personally”. Not 100% clear on this comment. Did the managers pay from their own pocket ? Or did they each pay from their respective department’s personal budget, as opposed to the bill being paid by the DCC as a lump sum?
Read more

1.
ODT reports “a budget-conscious Christmas party (12 December), with senior managers picking up the booze bill”; you paid for free nibbles (350 pax) and entertainment, and the venue (DPAG not available for external commercial hireage). Cost to ratepayers not including the venue estimated as $2530.

2.
Last ODT reports “Mayor Dave Cull, councillors and members of the council’s executive leadership team, together with their partners, enjoyed a Christmas function in Middlemarch” (8 December). This was tied to “a teambuilding exercise and familiarisation trip for new councillors”. You paid for bike hire ($360), a barbeque ($875; “partially BYO”), bus travel (no figure), and train travel to Pukerangi (care of Taieri Gorge Railway, a council-controlled trading organisation). Total cost to ratepayers unknown.

The mayor, Liability Cull says the council “as an good employer, wanted to acknowledge the festive season without ”penny-pinching” but while being responsible…Clearly we are being very prudent, as we should be.”

You paid for these —unsurprisingly, one was held on Kate Wilson’s turf.

Could you call these a spree?
Were either of the events necessary?
The councillors and staff do receive rather excellent pay.
Why would we pay for partners?
Is this gravytrain or sleazy or important?
How many reading this have got $360 to spend on recreational bike hire, and altogether don’t mind their rates being used this way?

Think about this at your next potluck or porridge day held at home.

Was this unwise, something you would rather not happen?
Could the council have volunteered its collective resources to the community in a way that adds value, outside council work hours (for example, a working bee)?
Other thoughts?
What is team building – isn’t that cemented into all council work, every day?
Community fundraiser, really?

We should generously embrace this very minor self-entitled ‘bonus’?
Or not sneeze?

Link to ODT story

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Related Post and Comments:
24.10.13 DCC in-house catering, pruned like CCC?

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: telegraph.co.uk – piggy bank re-imaged by Whatifdunedin
[uncanny cartoon resemblance to Athol and Ms Howard]

Stadium: Insurmountable debt but gosh, look at our numbers!

Stadium numbers (via ODT):
• 605,000 ticketed fans since opening day in 2011
• 158,000 so far this year
• Up from 136,000 same period last year (16.2% increase)
• 80% rugby crowd last year
• 45% this year

### ODT Online Sat, 8 Jun 2013
Stadium numbers up and diversifying
By Chris Morris
The Forsyth Barr Stadium crowd is diversifying, but the punters still love their beer and chips, the company running the venue says. Figures released by Dunedin Venues Management Ltd yesterday showed 605,000 fans have now paid to attend a ticketed event at the stadium since opening day in 2011. That included 158,000 fans in the first five months of this year, which was up on last year, when 136,000 paid to enter during the corresponding period, DVML chief executive Darren Burden confirmed. The venue’s reliance on professional rugby was also diminishing, with the proportion of overall attendance linked to rugby games during the five-month period dropping from 80% last year to 45% this year.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Jim Sullivan on DCC culture

On February 25, 2011, the DCC customer services manager, Grant Strang, purchased for $69.38 two books from Whitcoulls. They were charged to his DCC credit card. Both books are held at the Dunedin Public Library.

### ODT Online Mon, 15 Oct 2012
All will be revealed – it’s on the cards
By Jim Sullivan
OPINION For Dunedin journalists, given that the opportunities for being knocked off by a drug-crazed Afghan tribesman are limited, attempts at fearless investigative journalism usually involve an unflagging pursuit of information about credit card use by Dunedin City Council staff. The result is a shining beacon to those who espouse the cause of freedom of information. Recent revelations tell us much about the DCC culture and, while having the latte put on the DCC credit card is being rigorously stamped out by executive orders (the pun is irresistible), other examples of profligacy remain. The $1202 bill for a meal for delegates here for matters relating to the Chinese Garden certainly helps to explain the deficit facing the garden.
Read more

● Jim Sullivan is a Dunedin writer and broadcaster.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC gifts and hospitality

Paul Orders said he had planned an “overhaul” of rules for gifts and hospitality following his appointment earlier this year.

### ODT Online Sat, 19 Nov 2011
Council tougher on gifts
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council is cracking down on unsolicited gifts to its staff, after being showered with free rugby tickets, dinners and a $1000 donation for a night out in the past year. The move by council chief executive Paul Orders was confirmed this week as he released a copy of the council’s gift register following an Otago Daily Times request.
Read more

• Staff would in future be required to register any gift worth more than $50 – lowering the existing threshold from $100 – and had also been issued with a new “standards of integrity and conduct” guideline.
• The way gifts were signed off by managers was also being tightened, and the gift register would be published on the council’s website each month, beginning next year.

Council community life general manager Graeme Hall said Highlanders and Otago rugby players were offered free use of Moana Pool in return for advertising at Carisbrook and free match tickets for council staff. That dated back more than a decade, but would cease now Carisbrook was to be sold, he said.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Is there a conflict of interest?

### ODT Online Wed, 21 Sep 2011
Conflict of interest claim denied
By David Loughrey
Anti-stadium campaigner Bev Butler has again taken aim at the people who worked to build the Forsyth Barr Stadium, but this time she has got no backing from a former ally, now mayor, Dave Cull. Ms Butler’s latest target is Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL) director Mike Coburn, who has also worked on the project delivery team that made sure the stadium was built. She claimed there was a conflict of interest in the role, and that two invoices she unearthed to Mr Coburn’s company Ruboc Holdings for “casual corporate suite rental” last year for the All Blacks v Wales game, showed about $6000 that should not have been paid for by ratepayers.
Read more

****

This morning, Bev Butler emailed the following notes and information to What if? Dunedin…

She says:
• Attached are 23 Ruboc Holdings invoices.
• Below is the covering note with [Mike] Coburn’s explanation.
• My overall comment: “The public will be shocked at the pure unadulterated greed.”
• My comment on the covering note by Coburn is “Pathetic”.

Notes:
DCHL director Mike Coburn’s company, Ruboc Holdings Ltd, invoiced the Carisbrook Stadium Trust (CST), then paid for by DCC, for casual lease of a corporate box for the All Blacks vs Wales test game last year.

The invoice was for $4,429.69 (incl GST). This was approved by Malcolm Farry, CST chairman. Note also the invoice is dated 12 May 2010 and payment made a month in advance of the rugby All Blacks test.

Another invoice was for Additional Test tickets $2,409.69. From the invoices this was a day out for the Project Delivery Team and ……..

Total of all Ruboc invoices: $83,370.04 (incl GST)

Coburn started claiming fees from 9 March 2009. This is before the Hawkins contract was signed on 27 April 2009. He was right in there from the start.

Some invoices claim expenses for meals, taxis, phone, parking and accommodation. Not sure where the accommodation would fit in as Coburn lives in Dunedin and there are no claims for travel elsewhere.

Mike Coburn is the sole director and sole shareholder of Ruboc Holdings Ltd. He is the company.

Mike Coburn was being paid $1000 per day as Project Delivery Team member to push the stadium construction further while failing in his duty as a director of DCHL to inform DCC that DCHL was unable to supply dividends to pay off the stadium debt.

Mike Coburn invoiced the CST $4,429.69 for the one day casual hire of his corporate box so that the Project Delivery Team could watch the All Blacks vs Wales test match.

This invoice was approved by Malcolm Farry then sent to DCC for payment under the guise of construction cost.

Mike Coburn also invoiced CST $2,409.69 for extra Test tickets for the same All Blacks vs Wales game.

[Malcolm] Farry then claimed this as a construction cost of the stadium.

Did Coburn also claim $1000 payment for attending the test match day as well because he was ‘working’?

Who were the other tickets bought for?
Who are the members of the Project Delivery Team?
Are these members all being paid $1000 per day and did they all get paid $1000 to attend the rugby as well as their tickets paid for?
Do any of these other members also have conflicts of interest?

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Covering note from DCC:
Dear Bev
As previously indicated, here is the covering note for the release of Ruboc invoice information.

“Please find attached the information requested regarding Ruboc Holdings Ltd invoices. All the invoices held by the Council have been released. The invoices, in the main, cover Ruboc Holding’s[sic] time in respect of the many meetings attended relevant to the delivery of the stadium project including those with the PDT, DCC committees, Council meetings, University, DVML and Hawkins.

“Two invoices relate to the rental of a suite at Carisbrook. The hosting of contractors at Carisbrook was an exercise by the PDT to strengthen the working relationship primarily between the main contractor Hawkins, subcontractors and Arrow International Ltd at a time when they were facing significant challenges to reduce costs to remain within budget. Initially there was only sufficient interest to fill part part the suite and Ruboc committed to the balance but as word got around, enthusiasm grew as did the numbers, and Ruboc had to forgo the balance, hence two invoices.

“I trust this answers your enquiry.”

Sandy [Graham]
[DCC governance manager]

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The invoices:
Ruboc Holdings – 00000041 – $900
Ruboc Holdings – 00000047 – $2,025
Ruboc Holdings – 00000053 – $900
Ruboc Holdings – 00000065 – $1,800

Ruboc Holdings – 00000069 – $1,487.50
Ruboc Holdings – 00000075- $5,580
Ruboc Holdings – 00000112 – $2,180.50
Ruboc Holdings – 00000125 – $2,197.50

Ruboc Holdings – 00000130- $2,120
Ruboc Holdings – 00000133 – $3,937.50
Ruboc Holdings – 00000138 – $3,583.50
Ruboc Holdings – 00000148 – $2,141.95

Ruboc Holdings – 00000150 – $4,459.25
Ruboc Holdings – 00000167 – $3,240
Ruboc Holdings – 00000180 – $3,330
Ruboc Holdings – 00000190 – $4,680

Ruboc Holdings – 00000198 – $4,950
Ruboc Holdings – 00000213 – $4,275
Ruboc Holdings – 00000221 – $2,475
Ruboc Holdings – 00000234 – $4,725

Ruboc Holdings – 00000246 – $5,625
Ruboc Holdings – 00000253 – $2,700
Ruboc Holdings – 00000261 – $4,050

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Hey, mate . . . #2011RWC

Our thanks and appreciation to Garrick Tremain for contributing this work, previously published in Otago Daily Times on Saturday, 24 January 2011.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

No Fanzone at Octagon

### ODT Online Sat, 22 Jan 2011
Octagon fan zone dropped
By Stu Oldham
Dunedin’s world cup fan zone might be shifted to the Forsyth Barr Stadium after the Dunedin City Council decided yesterday not to have it in the Octagon. Councillors yesterday dropped the $300,000 plan for a sanctioned central-city fan zone in favour of what they hope will be a cheaper option at the new stadium.
Read more

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Related Posts:
20.1.11 No final RWC party at new stadium
18.1.11 Is the stadium worth it, to private hospitality spending . . .
15.1.11 DCC Annual Plan 2011/12

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Posted by Elizbaeth Kerr

2011 RWC plans for Dunedin

### ODT Online Thu, 10 Jun 2010
Rugby World Cup plans gather pace
By Debbie Porteous
The build-up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) is gathering momentum in Dunedin, with plans progressing for entertainment, management and security of what is expected to be the biggest international event held in the city. Dunedin will host three pool matches and six teams during the event in September and October next year.
Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

RWC 2011 hospitality and tourism

### ODT Online Fri, 28 May 2010
Industry briefed on Cup
By John Lewis
Rather than roll out the red carpet and spend large quantities of money on premises to attract Rugby World Cup visitors, Dunedin’s hospitality establishments are being advised to focus on the basics.
Read more

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### ODT Online Fri, 28 May 2010
PM will keep tourism role
By Hamish McNeilly
In a Monty Python moment, Prime Minister John Key praised himself as Minister of Tourism for doing a “wonderful job”, and said he planned to continue with the tourism portfolio. Mr Key taking on the role as tourism minister has been widely praised by industry leaders, and raised the profile of the high-flying sector, which is responsible for one in 10 jobs and accounts for 20% of export receipts.

Mr Key said 2011 was shaping up as one of the most important for the sector, largely due to the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He singled out the Dunedin stadium for special mention, with the complex set to go “close to the wire”.

Read more

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### ODT Online Fri, 28 May 2010
Queenstown to host Trenz event
By Hamish McNeilly
The Southern Lakes region, billed as the “jewel in the crown” of the $9.3 billion New Zealand tourism industry, has been announced as host of a major international tourism conference. Queenstown, as revealed in the Otago Daily Times earlier this week, was confirmed as venue for the 2011 Tourism Rendezvous New Zealand (Trenz) trade event for the first time.

It was hoped the event would alternate each year between North and South Islands, and other regions, such as Dunedin, could be an option in the future.
-Tim Cossar, Tourism Industry Association

Read more

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### ODT Online Fri, 28 May 2010
Tourism event coup
By James Beech
Queenstown can cope with hosting a thousand domestic and international tourism agents at Tourism Rendezvous New Zealand (Trenz) next year and the Southern Lakes will be poised to reap the benefits, tourism and civic leaders say.
Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Imagine $millions for the region…

…against how much we’ve been told we will spend on ‘facilities’ for the next twenty years. Robin Hood, taking from the poor and giving to the rich, Otago style.

### ODT Online Sat, 19 Dec 2009
Cup ‘gold’ for the South
By John Lewis and Tracey Roxburgh
Otago and Southland have scored a financial bonanza with the announcement the English, Scottish and Irish rugby teams will be among the six teams hosted in the South during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Read more

Will the euphoria of RWC 2011, timed near to next year’s local body elections, mask any shortcomings of the incumbent local body representatives…

We understand, from Cr Syd Brown on Channel 9 News yesterday, that a “spruce up” of Dunedin will occur prior to the tournament.

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### ODT Online Sat, 19 Dec 2009
Rugby World Cup fixture affords chance
By Tracey Roxburgh
Yesterday’s announcement Queenstown is one of 23 centres across New Zealand which will host Rugby World Cup teams in 2011 has presented the resort with a great opportunity.
Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

City waterfronts

### Radio New Zealand National 101FM 6 September 2009
Sunday Morning with Chris Laidlaw
radionz.co.nz/sunday
8:12 Insight: Waterfront Wars
Insight looks at the on-going tussle over the development of the waterfronts in Auckland and Wellington. Can new buildings re-vitalise the areas or should open space be preserved for public access?
Written and presented by Eric Frykberg
Audio | Download: Ogg MP3 (26′ 27″)

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### RNZ National Friday, 04 September 2009 08:50
Morning Report with Geoff Robinson & Sean Plunket
Activists cautious of waterfront development
Activists remain on watch as Wellington and Auckland city authorities intensify development of their waterfronts. (duration: 3′20″)
Audio | Download: Ogg Vorbis MP3 (3′ 20″)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr