Dunedin and the Accessible Journey —it’s hard work! #fixit

An uplifting educational element to election campaign pressures, an event involving the public too – Great going guys!

Channel 39 Published on Oct 4, 2016

### channel39.co.nz Wed, 5 Oct 2016
Mayor hopefuls tackle wheelchair challenge
Disability access is on the minds of some of Dunedin’s mayoral candidates. They’ve been participating in a wheelchair challenge orchestrated by a city council candidate with cerebral palsy. And it’s raised questions about the city’s accessibility.
Ch39 Link

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### ODT Online Thu, 6 Oct 2016
Wheelchair experience enlightening
Dunedin mayoral candidates got to experience life in a wheelchair yesterday, and immediately discovered difficult cambers, bus limitations and the problem of negotiating crowds. Jim O’Malley, Cr Andrew Whiley, Barry Timmings and Abe Gray joined council candidate Joshua Perry on a challenge to take a wheelchair two blocks down George St and back, a mission that proved harder than it sounded. The challenge was organised by Mr Perry, who uses a wheelchair.
Read more

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Published by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

ORC: City bus services, submissions

“Heart-wrenching” tales of parents walking with young children from Corstorphine to Dunedin Hospital or walking up steep hills carrying bags of groceries while buses zoomed past…

### ODT Online Fri, 12 Sep 2014
Call for cheaper bus fares
By Rebecca Fox
Calls for public transport to be more affordable and accessible for the “walking poor” dominated yesterday’s public transport hearing. “Heart-wrenching” tales of parents walking with young children from Corstorphine to Dunedin Hospital or walking up steep hills carrying bags of groceries while buses zoomed past were made to the panel of regional councillors Sam Neill (chairman) and Michael Deaker, along with Dunedin city councillor Aaron Hawkins, as they sat through the second day of public submissions on the draft regional public transport plan. About 330 people and organisations made submissions to the draft plan that contains sweeping changes, expected to lead to faster and more direct routes away from smaller residential streets.
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Related Posts and Comments:
28.5.14 Otago Regional Council: Buses —Journey Planner (now online)
10.4.14 Otago Regional Council + Dunedin buses
27.12.13 Otago Heritage Bus shines !!! —ORC holiday bus suspension…
24.11.11 Dunedin buses: ORC or DCC
29.11.10 Phillip Cole on Dunedin buses

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: radionz.co.nz – Dunedin buses, George Street

DCC: More IGNORANT ignore of Otago Chamber of Commerce

How DUMB is your Dunedin City Council? You’d think councillors and council staff might have some conception of what the Chamber is and who it represents–given Harbourside, given Parking, given freaking EVERYTHING commerce related. Perhaps the council has a collective brain aneurysm; there must be some sort of obvious explanation. Would it further insult the general populace to learn what it is. And who’s the chair of the council subcommittee considering the policy revision, oh right, none other than Councillor Wilson, a cafe owner of Middlemarch. 1 + 6 = 3

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### ODT Online Fri, 8 Jun 2012
Bold bid to clear footpaths
By Debbie Porteous
Dunedin city councillors are recommending all portable advertising signs and possibly all displays of goods be banned from city footpaths. But the moves to keep the city’s footpaths clear for the whole community’s use was greeted with scepticism by some of those who might be affected by the revised policy.
Second-hand trader Neville Herd, of Arkwright Traders, who displays furniture outside this South Dunedin stores, said the public should decide what was appropriate.

Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Christie said the proposals were very bold and it was frustrating the council did not include them in the original extensive consultation on the issue.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Stadium: disabled user experience

### ODT Online Tue, 29 Nov 2011
Opinion
Access, view, toilets, pass; temperature, fail
By Warren Palmer – Dunedin
What has the Forsyth Barr Stadium become from the point of view of the disabled? This is my chief interest. I have been to four rugby matches, one Otago game and three World Cup games, each time sitting in the area set aside for the disabled in the North Stand. (As yet I cannot comment on the seating in the South Stand.)
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC reviews Commercial Use of Footpaths Policy

### ODT Online Sat, 26 Nov 2011
Move afoot to ban pavement signs
By David Loughrey
Footpath advertising in Dunedin, whether simple chalk messages or a recent stencil and water blaster method, will be banned if a recommendation to the Dunedin City Council gets support on Tuesday. The ban will only target commercial messages, though, with non-commercial advertising subject to a new permit system.
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While the council was committed to supporting and enhancing local business and a vibrant and active street life, there “needs to be some control over the placement of objects on the footpaths to ensure there is always a safe and unobstructed passage for pedestrians of all abilities, and to ensure the visual amenity of our streetscapes is not detrimentally affected.” -Report

Report – PEC – 29/11/2011 (PDF, 247.4 KB)
Review of the Commercial Use of Footpaths Policy

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Have your say: South Dunedin Retail Centre Strategy

Issues and Opportunities Consultation Document
(PDF, 458.7 kb, new window)

DCC weblink for more information

South Dunedin has historically been an important manufacturing and service area for Dunedin, and it remains a destination retail area for a large number of Dunedin residents. However, the trend over the last 15-20 years has been for a general decline in the main retail centre along King Edward Street, and a comparative increase in large format retail activities on the adjacent industrial land along Hillside Road and Andersons Bay Road.

As a result of this general decline, many people have raised concerns over the increasingly dilapidated appearance of the main retail centre and the overall vibrancy and success of the centre from both an economic and social perspective. As a result, the Council has identified the need for a strategy to revitalise South Dunedin’s retail centre.

The purpose of the South Dunedin Retail Centre Strategy is to identify an integrated package of actions that can be used to revitalise the retail centre, both economically and socially. The suggested goals for the strategy are to:

» Re-establish the economic role of the South Dunedin retail centre as a retail destination for the city by developing the centre into a place that people want to visit and spend time.

» Restore the social role of the centre as a place that provides opportunities for local residents to make regular contact with each other while engaged in routine activities.

The package of actions required to achieve these goals will need to include actions by both the Council and the community, in order to be successful.

The Issues and Opportunities Document is open for public consultation from 14 April 2010. Submitters are invited to return the submission form by 28 May 2010.

Make your submissions via

* Freepost: delivery details are on the form included with the consultation document (address to Principal Urban Designer, Dunedin City Council, PO Box 5045, Dunedin)

* Submit your comments online by completing this online form

* Email to south.dunedin@dcc.govt.nz

* Delivery: Customer Services, ground floor of the Civic Centre, 50 The Octagon, Dunedin

Dunedin City Council invites the community to comment on the range and relative importance of issues and opportunities identified to date.

On Wednesday 12 May, a public open day on South Dunedin Retail Centre – Issues and Opportunities was held at the Gasworks Museum in Braemar St, South Dunedin.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr