Portobello Road Consultation —Public Meeting | Monday 13 May

Here is the latest web update for the Portobello Community.

This week we look at the road widening project and the proposed changes that the City Council has made to the initial plan. The City Council will be giving the community another opportunity to have your say on the proposal and the changes they have made to the plan since the consultation period in March 2013. This is an important issue for our township and community and the meeting is to be held at 7:00 pm on Monday, 13 May 2013 at the Coronation Hall. Pass this message onto your friends, neighbours, colleagues and whanau.

Regards
Paul Pope – Chairman, Portobello Incorporated

● The meeting will be attended by council staff, Cr Jinty MacTavish, and Otago Peninsula Community Board members.

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Related Post and Comments:
28.3.13 | Updated 29.3.13
DCC Draft Annual Plan 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements Project

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC Draft Annual Plan 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements Project

Updated Post 29.3.13

Received yesterday by email.

Something that seems to have slipped the radar in Dunedin news of late is the WIDENING of Portobello Harington Point Road on the Otago Peninsula.

Looking at the Draft Annual Plan, the City Council intends to spend the following on what amounts to an environmental and heritage damaging folly. That’s only 33-34 % of the budget, given NZTA will subsidise the remaining 66-67% of the project.

[click on image to enlarge]

See page 24, Section 1 Group of Activities (PDF, 1.5 MB)
and page 142, Section 2 Financial Statements (PDF, 1.2 MB)

The road widening (including the Vauxhall and Macandrew Bay areas already completed) will reclaim nearly 11 hectares of the Otago Harbour — a conservative measurement given plans show significantly more reclamation if the topography requires it.

Consultation on the current design closed yesterday, Thursday 28 March, indicating approval of the plan is a given despite the consultation process for the Annual Plan this year and in years to come.

[29.3.13 – The plans are not available for viewing online, why not?]

There will be irrevocable damage to the Peninsula and Harbour landscape, heritage features and the ecology if this misguided piece of engineering continues.

It is feared the Council has the bit between its teeth on this project — described as being about “liveability”, according to Mayor Cull at the Portobello Annual Plan ‘roadshow’.

It might be worth pointing out to your readers that they look closely at the Draft Annual Plan in regards to this area of Council expenditure.

Searching Council for cost benefit and recreational analyses fails to show much other than what is in the June 2008 Cycle Strategy (PDF, 787 KB).

[See also: Dunedin’s Proposed Cycle Network, adopted August 2011]

Few will have problems with the desirability of access, but the lack of design sensitivity and impact on the values of the area seem inconsistent with the value of the Peninsula and Harbour to the community and our economy.

This is certainly an issue worth looking at more deeply.

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

“Little faith in financial decision making, what now DCC?”

Council spending: It’s got to the point the personages of Cull and Brown are indistinguishable – perhaps an iPhone would help map the moles.

### ODT Online Sun, 16 Dec 2012
Mixed reaction to axing plan hearings
By Chris Morris
An efficiency drive that could spell the end to days of public hearings on councils’ annual plans has drawn mixed responses from within the Dunedin City Council. A recommendation to axe the requirement for councils to prepare and consult on annual plans was included in an independent report released this week by the Local Government Efficiency Taskforce. The report recommended councils prepare long-term budgets – undertaken every three years – in the first year of their term, but then only annual budgets for the remainder of each term. The annual budgets would not require consultation unless they triggered an amendment to long-term plans, the report suggested.
Read more

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### ODT Online Sun, 16 Dec 2012
Greater use of technology promoted
By Chris Morris
Dunedin city councillors could soon be beaming in their votes by iPad and Skype if a push to increase the use of technology by local authorities finds favour. The suggestion came in a Local Government Efficiency Taskforce report released this week, which recommended investigating greater use of technology by councils. The taskforce suggested there were efficiencies to be gained by promoting the use of technology, which could potentially allow councillors to contribute to meetings – and even vote – without actually being there. The recommendation was met by a mix of cautious optimism in Dunedin, where a digital divide of sorts existed among city councillors.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Stadium debt goes to 40-year term

Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said he was “vehemently opposed” to repaying the debt over 40 years, because of the interest it would add to the bill, but would support it in the meantime to keep rates down. “But I see it as a short-term fix.”

### ODT Online Thu, 26 Jan 2012
Councillors spar over stadium debt
By Chris Morris
There were emotive arguments as Dunedin city councillors split into camps over the restructuring of Forsyth Barr Stadium debt repayments to a 40-year term yesterday. The move was approved by Dunedin city councillors for inclusion in the 2012-13 pre-draft annual and long-term plan yesterday, alongside a push to restructure repayments in later years to more quickly reduce the debt.
Read more

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It meant the council would be receiving the same rates as it would have from properties previously occupying the stadium site.

### ODT Online Thu, 26 Jan 2012
Backing for lowering stadium rates
By Chris Morris
Dunedin city councillors have given initial backing to a proposal to slash the Forsyth Barr Stadium’s $2 million annual rates bill. Councillors at yesterday’s pre-draft budget meetings voted in favour of resolutions that would cut the rates bill for Dunedin Venues Management Ltd – the company running the stadium – from $2 million a year to a more manageable $134,000 a year. That amounted to a 93% discount on the venue’s city council rates.
Read more

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### ODT Online Thu, 26 Jan 2012
Artificial turf stays in plan by one vote
By David Loughrey
An artificial turf, seen by Dunedin City Council staff as the future of sports fields in Dunedin, stayed in the city’s annual plan by a single vote yesterday.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Local government finances

Are many councils about to hit the wall financially and what impact will that have on the rates you pay?

### rnz.co.nz Monday 4 July 2011 at 09:08
Nine To Noon with Kathryn Ryan
Are many councils about to hit the wall financially?
Larry N. Mitchell is an independent finance and policy consultant and Lawrence Yule is President of Local Government New Zealand and Hastings Mayor.
Audio Ogg Vorbis MP3 (27′05″)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Transportation planning at Dunedin

### ODT Online Mon, 4 Apr 2011
Editorial: Talking about transport needs
Long-term planning, by its very nature, involves the use of the present to predict the future and therefore carries a high risk of inherent failure. When the Dunedin City Council – or any other local body – talks of 50-year plans, it is entering the realm of unpredictability. Global change is occurring at such a rapid pace today that decisions involving commitments beyond even 10 years ahead are fraught with potential pitfalls.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
2.4.11 At last, PRODUCTIVITY is?
31.3.11 Dunedin’s one-way system

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Your City Our Future – call for community feedback and suggestions

Dunedin City Council
Media Release

Your City, Our Future – Have Your Say

This item was published on 20 Dec 2010.

The Dunedin City Council is planning the third stage of the Your City Our Future (YCOF) community engagement programme.

The first stage was the Futures Forum held in July 2010 when more than 200 stakeholders met to discuss the future direction of the city. The second stage involved nine leadership teams, made up of key community leaders and stakeholders, meeting regularly to discuss the future direction of the city.

Mayor Dave Cull says, “This programme provides a holistic vision for the city and it is important that the community plays an active part in creating that vision. ” I’m pleased that in my new role as Mayor, I have the opportunity to build on the work that has been done to date, and help shape Dunedin into the city its community wants it to be.”

To this end, the DCC is inviting the community to provide input into the YCOF programme. From this week, Dunedin residents will be able to offer feedback and suggestions on the Your City Our Future project at www.dunedin.govt.nz/ycof. The DCC has made the project available online to engage as wide a cross-section of the community as possible.

DCC Corporate Policy Manager, Nicola Johnston says, “We want to make this process as open and accessible as we can. We have had extremely good feedback from the leadership teams, with 96% enthusiastic about continuing to be part of the process and placing the information on the website with the feedback form allows us to gather a more informal perspective.”

The YCOF programme seeks to ensure a co-ordinated approach for community input into visioning and futures thinking in:

* Community Outcomes – refresh the Community Plan vision and outcomes;
* City Development Strategy – an integrated strategy for Dunedin’s urban development over the next 30 years, including a Spatial Plan; and
* Sustainability Framework.

The YCOF process was developed based on the strategic consultation process undertaken in 2001/02 – ‘Choices for the Future – 2021’ on which Dunedin city’s original Community Plan was based.

Contact Nicola Johnston or Tami Sargeant on 474 3327.

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Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Redesign for Botanic Garden, without Lovelock Ave realignment

### ODT Online Tue, 16 Nov 2010
Realignment rejected after long debate
By David Loughrey
The Dunedin City Council has realigned its policy on Lovelock Ave, reversing its decision on a project that has been years in development… In the end, the project’s backers were told to go away and redesign the project, and come back to the council with a plan that did not involve realigning the road.

After about three hours’ debate, Crs Cull, Vandervis, Thomson, Teresa Stevenson, Chris Staynes, Kate Wilson, Neil Collins and Jinty MacTavish voted not to go ahead with the realignment. Crs Bezett, Syd Brown, Bill Acklin, Paul Hudson and Andrew Noone voted for the project.

Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
13.11.10 Mayor Dave Cull shows prudence
16.10.10 Lovelock Avenue Realignment

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC concerned by Hide’s call for transparency if it means producing more reports

From the can you believe it file…

### ODT Online Fri, 16 Apr 2010
Hide’s call for transparency baffles council
By Chris Morris
A plan by Minister for Local Government Rodney Hide to force councils across New Zealand to open their books in new ways has been questioned by Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin. Mr Hide used part of his address to yesterday’s Sister Cities New Zealand Conference in Dunedin to outline plans for a new financial reporting system for local authorities. Under the new regime, council staff would be required to prepare pre-election financial reports every three years, providing ratepayers with simplified explanations of expenditure over the previous term and plans for the next term.

The move aimed to encourage greater understanding of council finances by ratepayers, who would then be in a better position to “put hard questions” to their elected representatives, Mr Hide said.

Read more

Related ODT story:
Sister cities’ link lauded

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC Media Release – South Dunedin

Dunedin City Council – Media Release
DCC Strategy To Breath New Life Into South Dunedin Retail Area

Last reviewed: 07 Apr 2010 12:04pm

The Dunedin City Council is about to consult with the public on the future of the South Dunedin Retail Centre. The consultation will be the first step in the development of a strategy to revitalise the area.

The DCC has released an Issues and Opportunities consultation document, and is inviting feed-back from the community on the range and relative importance of the issues and options identified to date, as well as support for, and prioritisation of, options identified.

Chairman of the DCC’s Planning & Environment committee, Cr Michael Guest, is excited by the opportunities the strategy will offer to the South Dunedin community and the wider city. “I have vivid childhood memories of the special character of South Dunedin with its variety of shops and verandahs. This strategy, arrived at jointly by the Council and the community, is an initiative which is well over-due and which we sincerely hope will bring a new vitality to the area and go some way towards restoring that well-remembered South Dunedin ambience.”

The move has also received strong support from the local South Dunedin Business Association. President Jane Orbell says “We’re really pleased that most of the issues we raised through last year’s Community Plan process have been identified as ‘opportunities’ in the document. South Dunedin is changing – it’s becoming busier, and the time is certainly ripe for us to turn these visions into reality with the support of the Council and the wider Dunedin community. We are excited to be working with the DCC teams towards a long-hoped for positive future for the South Dunedin retail area as part of a stronger community for the benefit of all Dunedin residents.”

Steve Miles, DCC Principal Urban Designer, City Planning, says the Council feels the community has a leading role to play in any revitalisation, especially in those areas where the Council has limited influence.

The final strategy will propose a programme of physical improvement and community-focused projects to be delivered by the Council, in partnership with the South Dunedin community.

The Issues and Opportunities consultation document lays out perceived strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities on topics such as retail development, amenity and community development. It looks at under-used shops in the retail space and questions whether there are opportunities to develop businesses catering to the increasingly elderly population nearby.

The report notes the lack of open public spaces and wonders whether, if people were encouraged to spend more time in the area for meeting friends or other social activities, they would spend more money while there. Emphasising the quality of historic buildings in the area to enhance townscape and amenity values, and capitalising on the uniqueness of the nearby Gasworks Museum are among other suggestions.

Copies of the document will be circulated to community stakeholders and organisations and to owners and occupiers of buildings in the South Dunedin retail area. Copies of the document will be available from various South Dunedin outlets and on the http://www.dunedin.govt.nz website.

Submissions on the proposals will close on 28 May 2010.
Contact DCC on 477 4000.

DCC Link

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Carisbrook’s future: DCC plays commercial sensitivity card

### ODT Online Tue, 16 Mar 2010
Carisbrook discussion remains in private
By Chris Morris
Plans for the future of Carisbrook – now owned by the Dunedin City Council – were debated behind closed doors by councillors yesterday, after a last-minute bid to hold the debate in public was defeated. Councillors were set to debate an agenda item on “Ex ORFU properties” in a public-excluded section of yesterday’s council finance and strategy committee meeting.

Mayor Peter Chin has previously said no decision on the future use of Carisbrook would be made until after “extensive discussion and consultation”.

Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Cr Dave Cull has the measure

### ODT Online Tue, 2 Mar 2010
Council ‘like chickens with heads cut off’
By David Loughrey
The Dunedin City Council is either an organisation acting like a chicken with its head cut off, or a responsible local authority that adjusts its decisions to account for financial and community concerns. Both those analyses were trotted out by councillors yesterday, as a meeting was held to rubber-stamp the draft annual plan for the next financial year.

Cr Dave Cull had concerns about the process that had delivered the draft plan. “I would contend the decision-making process has been completely unacceptable.” Residents had told the council the “debt hump” was too high, and that had been ignored until annual plan time. “Come 2010, we realised it was completely unsustainable,” he said.

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

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

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

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

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC on stadium

UPDATED

“A comprehensive response to all those who submitted on the Stadium, whether for or against, during the 2009/10 Community Plan process”

Response to LTCCP Stadium submitters 2009/10 (PDF, 88.3 kb)

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### ODT Online Sat, 27 Jun 2009
Council posts letter to submitters on stadium
By David Loughrey

The much debated letter to residents who presented submissions to the Dunedin City Council on the Forsyth Barr Stadium was sent yesterday.
Read more

More coverage in Monday’s ODT.

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Wait for the splash, and further insult to ratepayers…

• The Carisbrook Stadium Trust is launching its new brand for the stadium at a function on Thursday 2 July.

City councillors plump for 7% rates increase

UPDATED

Channel 9 News

After long deliberations the Dunedin City Council has decided on a 7% annual rates increase.

Attracting some debate, the council has also accepted the Long Term Council Community Plan 2009/10 to 2018/19.

ODT will have full coverage tomorrow.

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ODT Online Tue, 23 Jun 2009
DCC lifts rates by 7%
By David Loughrey

Dunedin’s rates were finally set yesterday, with a 7% rise. Mayor Peter Chin told a short meeting for that purpose it was the end of a long process of “decisions, debate, deliberation and recommendation”.

The meeting also voted to proceed with a plan for changes to representation in the city, beginning a process to possibly put in place a new 11-councillor super ward, but not before another debate on the issue.
Read more

Stadium: DCC's explanation due to submitters

The Dunedin City Council is meeting this month to finalise the Annual Plan budget. With this, we are led to believe (ODT 12/5/09 Link), comes the reply to residents who presented submissions to the council opposing the Awatea St stadium.

In the annual round there were 538 submissions opposing the stadium, and 10 in support.

In May, Cr Richard Walls was reported as saying there was a problem explaining the fixed cost of $66 a year for the average value property, and he had seen some “extra- ordinary” calculations of costs in stadium blogs.

Chief executive Jim Harland said a major issue confusing people was changes to the funding model.

Mr Harland had been working on a standard “but very detailed” response, including the history of the project. Councillors would debate the response before it was sent out.

Dunedin resident Calvin Oaten said, in a comment at ODT Online, “That should be an interesting exercise which I hope the recipients appreciate. After all, we have spent over $20 million endeavouring to get the council to understand it, and by all accounts it is not even certain that they do yet.”

In another comment at ODT Online ro1 said: “People who oppose the stadium aren’t confused; they are simply not comforted by the spin. The reason they aren’t is twofold: first, while they are perfectly prepared to accept that the direct impost on the average residential rate may only be $66.00 – and may, after a massive but futile job of work by council officers, be even less – they realise that this is only part of the project’s budget and the rest comes out of the Holding Companies’ operations which will have to be compressed for a stadium few people want.”

We eagerly await the council’s deliberation in print. Not long to go now.

The full council meets on Monday 22 June to adopt the Community Plan (LTCCP) and confirm rates. The meeting will be held in the Council Chamber, Municipal Chambers, at 1pm.

ORC – illegal intent?

### ODT Online Wed, 27 May 2009
ORC denies breach claim
By Chris Morris

Claims the Otago Regional Council has breached a High Court undertaking over funding of the Forsyth Barr Stadium have been dismissed as “ridiculous”. Queenstown stadium opponent Basil Walker made the claim in a letter to High Court Justice Christine French and ORC staff yesterday, copied to the Otago Daily Times.
Read more

ORC confession…

### ODT Friday, May 8, 2009 (page 10)
Stadium Funding processes ‘confusing’
By Rebecca Fox

The processes the Otago Regional Council has had to follow to part-fund the Awatea St stadium are confusing to many, director corporate services Wayne Scott says.
{story continues}

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See ORC chief executive Graeme Martin’s report to Extraordinary Council Meeting 11/2/2009 which provides a précis of the council’s stadium decisions.

ORC’s stadium decisions

June 5, 2008:
Council decides to undertake, subject to nine conditions, the proposed new activity of part-funding the Awatea St stadium and recommend a revenue policy.

June 25, 2008:
Sets February 2, 2009, as deadline for it to be provided with evidence of a tender for the stadium for a guaranteed maximum price of not more than $165.4 million.

February 11, 2009:
Council resolves to confirm part-funding of stadium subject to eight conditions including an assurance private sector capital funding shortfall of $15 million be met.

March 9, 2009:
Council satisfied condition 5 – assurance of government funding of $15 million – had been met and resolved for the draft long-term council community plan 2009-19 to incorporate funding of proposed stadium.

Stadium submissions on DCC LTCCP

### ODT Online Sat, 2 May 2009
Council facing flood of stadium submissions
By David Loughrey

The Awatea St stadium may be the subject of 500 of the more than 800 annual plan submissions to the Dunedin City Council next week, but with the contract to build the project already signed, their relevance appears to have waned.
Read more

Stadium fight to High Court

UPDATED

### Channel 9 News May 1, 2009
Saturday’s ODT covers the stadium fight’s move to the Dunedin High Court this Wednesday, May 6. Basil Walker’s application to be heard.

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### ODT Online Sat, 2 May 2009
Stadium hearing Wednesday
By David Loughrey

The latest legal challenge to the Otago stadium will go before the High Court at Dunedin on Wednesday, when former Queenstown property developer Basil Walker attempts to get an interim injunction to stop the Otago Regional Council from funding the project.
Read more

Another injunction?

### ODT Online Sat, 25 Apr 2009
Judicial review sought
By Elspeth McLean and Rebecca Fox
Former Queenstown property developer Basil Walker is attempting to file an application in the High Court at Dunedin for a judicial review related to the Otago Regional Council’s involvement with the Otago stadium project.
Read more

See Public Notice (April 16, 2009)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

STS v DCC: News at High Court (2)

### ODT Online Thu, 23 Apr 2009
DCC to get stadium decision tomorrow
The Dunedin City Council will know tomorrow whether it can proceed with the city’s new stadium project. The council says timing is now critical for the stadium project which was stalled by review action in the High Court in Christchurch today.
Read more

Christchurch Court News Link

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### ODT Online Thu, 23 Apr 2009
STS asks about ‘missing $13m’
By David Loughrey
Stop the Stadium has given its own calculations of the stadium’s cost today, as the group opened its injunction in the Christchurch High Court.
Read more

9 Local News “will endeavour to catch up with the winners and losers tomorrow”. Link

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### Radio New Zealand News Updated at 4:59pm on 23 April 2009
Stadium could cost ratepayers double, court told
A lawyer acting for opponents of a proposed sports stadium in Dunedin has told a court it could cost ratepayers twice as much as the city council has claimed.
RNZ Link

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

D Scene: Judge weighs up consultation concern

### D Scene 22-4-09 (page 6)
All ready for stadium finale
By Michelle Sutton

The High Court will focus on consultation with Dunedin ratepayers when it decides the fate of Otago’s $200 million stadium tomorrow.
{story continues}

Register to read D Scene online at http://fairfaxmedia.newspaperdirect.com/

What councillors said at Monday’s key meeting:
Neil Collins: “We need to have facilities that we are proud of and this will be one.”
Michael Guest: “We should thank Malcolm Farry, and the Mayor. It’s a wonderful project for Dunedin.”
Paul Hudson: “We haven’t communicated this well enough for our ratepayers.”
John Bezett: “You have to understand a lot of information has been given to the council that we haven’t been able to release.”
Teresa Stevenson: “As the community have said we don’t want it, we have become more firm in our view as council and have been fixated on the stadium.”
Dave Cull: “I think the issues are both funding and the public ownership. They are both financially problematic.We are rushing this to put this through. We are making decisions without detail.”
Andrew Noone: “People want us to make a decision. Dunedin has a history of punching above its weight.”
Chris Staynes: “We have an obligation to listen and we should be waiting until we have had the submissions.”

HOW THEY VOTED
YES Peter Chin, Syd Brown, Bill Acklin, John Bezett, Neil Collins, Michael Guest, Paul Hudson, Andrew Noone, Richard Walls and Colin Weatherall
NO Dave Cull, Chris Staynes, Teresa Stevenson, Kate Wilson

StS: blatant fundraising mode

Home at their website…
StS Link

URGENT APPEAL FOR FUNDS FOR
STS HIGH COURT INJUNCTION

Dear Members

You will know, by now, of the High Court injunction we have taken out against the DCC, in a last minute attempt to get them to listen to the submissions on the Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) before signing the contract with Hawkins Construction.
Read more

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StS emailed members this afternoon with the same message. StS didn’t tell members before this that everything “went” on the Town Hall meeting.

What no ability to seek sponsors. What no ability to fundraise in advance, not after the event. How many months has StS had to collude or collide with ‘money’.

StS reaches new heights. Mind you, I suspect it has a $$$$$meaty advance from somewhere to get to Court, Thursday. It’s after the hearing that hurts.

Injunction: Dunedin City Council response

### ODT Online Mon, 20 Apr 2009
Council responds to STS injunction
By David Loughrey

The Dunedin City Council has surfaced from its closed door meeting to announce its response to Stop the Stadium’s court injunction, designed to stop the council from agreeing to sign a contract to build the project.

View resolutions and read more ODT Link