Dunedin schools —population demographics

Mural at Macandrew Bay School (detail)

—

Solutions proposed by school leaders so far include closing one or more secondary schools in the city, establishing enrolment zones or implementing roll caps.

### ODT Online Wed, 6 May 2015
Schools baulk at roll issue
By John Lewis
The Ministry of Education is being asked to step up and take responsibility for finding a solution to the city’s declining secondary school rolls, rather than asking the schools’ leaders to solve the problem. During the past eight months, secret meetings have been held between Dunedin’s secondary principals, board representatives and the ministry, to see if schools could agree on ways of making the city’s secondary school network more efficient, sustainable and equitable for pupils.
Read more

****

“We’re not just getting increases in the number of babies being born locally.” –Richard Newton, principal St Clair School

### ODT Online Thu, 7 May 2015
Migrants boost primary school rolls
By John Lewis
The latest Ministry of Education March roll figures show Dunedin’s primary and intermediate school rolls are the highest they have been in six years, despite the secondary rolls being the lowest in 15 years. The rise in overall rolls appears driven by primary rolls, which have been increasing for the past eight years and have reached their highest point since 2001. Intermediate rolls have been increasing for the past four years.
Read more

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Norman Foster: SkyCycling utopia above London railways #ThinkBig

Or how to put DCC and NZTA to shame for their dangerous, low-design segregated cycle lane solution at Dunners. See the latest DCC / NZTA report, Summary of Cycle Safety Options Made Public, at Comments.

Foster SkyCycle [click to enlarge]

So Big Norm’s a cyclist, and when he gets a wee bit of work in New York City from time to time he likes to travel The High Line [Wikipedia]. But then. He had a gazumping thought about London congestion.

Foster is the only architect on Britain’s rich list.

—

### dezeen.com 2 January 2014
Norman Foster promotes “cycling utopia” above London’s railways
News: British architect Norman Foster has unveiled a concept to build a network of elevated pathways above London’s railways to create safe car-free cycling routes, following 14 cyclist deaths on the city’s streets in 2013.
Entitled SkyCycle, the proposal by architects Foster + Partners, landscape architects Exterior Architecture and transport consultant Space Syntax is for a “cycling utopia” of approximately 220 kilometres of dedicated cycle lanes, following the routes of existing train lines.
Over 200 entrance points would be dotted across the UK capital to provide access to ten different cycle paths. Each route would accommodate up to 12,000 cyclists per hour and could improve journey times across the city by up to half an hour.
“SkyCycle is a lateral approach to finding space in a congested city,” said Foster, who is both a regular cyclist and the president of Britain’s National Byway Trust. “By using the corridors above the suburban railways, we could create a world-class network of safe, car free cycle routes that are ideally located for commuters.”
If approved, the routes could be in place within 20 years, offering relief to a transport network that is already at capacity and will need to contend with 12 percent population growth over the next decade.
“To improve the quality of life for all in London and to encourage a new generation of cyclists, we have to make it safe. However, the greatest barrier to segregating cars and cyclists is the physical constraint of London’s streets, where space is already at a premium.”
According to the designers, construction of elevated decks would be considerably cheaper than building new roads and tunnels.
Read more

****

### dezeen.com 28 November 2013
Sandwichbike flat-pack wooden bicycle by PedalFactory goes into production
A flat-pack wooden bicycle that can be assembled in less than an hour has gone into production. PedalFactory claims the Sandwichbike can be unpacked and put together in just 45 minutes. The single-speed bike is constructed from 19 parts that are packaged and delivered in a box along with the tools required to assemble it. The Sandwichbike was launched in Amsterdam on Sunday 1 December 2013. This innovative wooden bicycle is now being shipped.
Read more + images/slide show

“If you can make a sandwich, you can make a Sandwichbike.”

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images via dezeen.com

Directorships and council-owned companies

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 05:00 10/03/2012
Business
So you want to be a director?
By Tom Pullar-Strecker
Harsh light of day: Finance company directors in court have provided a “wake-up call” to all board members, with some wondering if the work is worth it.
At the Institute of Directors’ offices in Featherston Street, 20 high-fliers have gathered for a day-long course that is designed to help prepare them to take a seat as a director at a boardroom table. Contrary to stereotypes, there is little grey hair, nine are female and none are in handcuffs. Their reasons for attending the course are similarly quite varied.

The institute has 5500 members and, among them, the median fee for a directorship is about $35,000, chief executive Ralph Chivers says. For positions on boards of companies with a turnover of more than $500 million a year, that rises to about $70,000. However, there are probably no more than 500-600 people sitting on boards of the top-100 listed and private companies and they are by and large people “at the top of their game”.

Read more

****

### ODT Online Sun, 11 Mar 2012
Magazine
Keeping it all above board
By Mark Price
With Dunedin City Council-owned companies undergoing a restructuring, and question marks over who will fill more than a dozen directors’ seats, what is required of an effective company director.
J. Denham Shale was appointed by the council after the “Larsen review” delivered the council a list of recommendations to improve the running of its companies – city councillors being barred from the company boardrooms the most radical of them.

Shale’s arrival, along with that of deputy Bill Bayliss, of Queenstown, coincided with the resignation of some members of the old holding company board and the sacking of the others, including chairman and city councillor Paul Hudson. Shale and Bayliss are just the interim board – given 12 months to restructure the holding company and its subsidiaries. Recruiting new directors is part of that job.

Read more

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr