Dunedin Prison: Community Trust grant for restoration

39 Dunedin Television Published on Sep 17, 2015
Historic prison restoration gets kickstart

● Resource consent granted for conservation and repair
● Funding from Otago Community Trust
● New visitor centre
● Prison tours
● Restaurant for courtyard

### dunedintv.co.nz Thu, 17 Sep 2015
Historic prison restoration gets kickstart
A $90,000 grant is kickstarting the project to restore Dunedin’s historic prison to its former glory. The money will enable the Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust to start exterior repairs. And that means members are finally able to turn their vision into reality.
Ch39 Link

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[click to enlarge]DCC Webmap – 2 Castle Street, former Dunedin Prison [Jan/Feb 2013]

█ Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust

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28.2.13 Tour the old prison in March (2013)
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█ For more, enter the term *heritage* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Home insulation scheme

### ODT Online Thu, 1 Mar 2012
Insulation subsidy for 100 homes
By Rebecca Fox
Low-income Dunedin residents struggling to afford to insulate their homes may soon get the chance, thanks to a new subsidy. The subsidy, which could cover up to 75% of the cost of insulating a home, will be available to 100 Dunedin homes from March to June. It is an extension of the Otago Regional Council’s Clean Air Clean Heat programme in Central Otago. The Dunedin project, Clean Heat Healthy Homes, has funding from Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), Dunedin City Council, Aurora Energy and Otago Community Trust.

To qualify for the scheme, applicants must own their own home within greater Dunedin city, and have a Community Services Card. Priority will be given to high users of the health system. Application forms are available from both council offices.

Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

“High Performance Sport New Zealand Dunedin Centre of Excellence” – another gift to RUGBY GOBs

Where was this project proposed and tabled in the DCC Annual Plans for public submissions ? Is there a clear track on this… It’s not enough that the Mayor of Dunedin supports the facility’s emergence, or backs the ‘rugby’ thinking of his spendthrift councillors.

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HPSNZ was created in August from a merger of Sparc and the New Zealand Academy of Sport, after the Government announced a review of New Zealand’s high-performance sport structure.

### ODT Online Tue, 20 Dec 2011
New centre to churn out champions
By Nigel Benson
A multimillion-dollar Dunedin sports excellence academy could be a factory for future world champions. The High Performance Sport New Zealand Dunedin Centre of Excellence was officially opened at Forsyth Barr Stadium yesterday. The $4.8 million building will be a hub for Otago athletes and house HPSNZ and its tenants – the Highlanders, Sports Medicine New Zealand and New Zealand Turf – which formerly occupied the old Logan Park art gallery building.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ODT 150th birthday bash

Updated 15 Nov 2011 at 1.14 pm
Received from Ahmad:

On Saturday night I went to the Otago Daily Times “Big Night In” – a “free community concert” hosted by the Otago Daily Times as part of their 150th anniversary celebrations. Like many who attended I enjoyed much of the night. Of course when you haven’t paid anything you can’t really complain, but that’s exactly where this story begins.

Promoted for months by the Otago Daily Times as their big birthday bash, entry to this “free community concert” was by way of gold coin donation to charity. All good. That is until you look at which charities the money went to.

On Friday 26 August the ODT said that “the concert is free, but ticketed, with gold-coin donations being collected for the KidsCan charitable trust”. On Saturday 1 October the ODT said “entry is by free ticket only. Gold-coin donations will be accepted at the gate for the KidsCan charitable trust and Lions club”. Subsequently, the information being provided stated that “the gold coin donation will go to three areas: 50% KidsCan, 10% Dunedin North Lions Club, 40% Big Night In Charities Ltd”. And finally the admission from the ODT that has me most concerned on Saturday 5 November and repeated on Saturday 12 November that “entry is free, with gold coin donations collected at the gate. The KidsCan child cancer fund will get 50% of money collected, Dunedin Lions service clubs will get 10%, and 40% will go to Big Night In Charities Limited, a not-for-profit company, to help offset the cost of the concert.”

Why on earth should those attending a “free community concert” hosted by the ODT as part of their birthday celebrations be helping to “offset the cost of the concert”. With sponsors including Deloitte (associate sponsor) and the Dunedin City Council (partner and contributor of $70,000 of ratepayers’ money towards this event), surely one should be able to assume that the full costs would have been met by those promoting this “free community concert”?

And who exactly are “The Big Night In Charities Limited” anyway? They are a registered company with the two Directors listed as Doug Kamo (the Artistic Director/Producer of ODT’s Big Night In), and Stuart Walker (Musical Director of Big Night In). James Smith (ODT Circulation Manager) says it is a “not-for-profit company”, and that “money allocated to BNICL is used to help offset costs of the free community concert” (direct quote).

Now I fully appreciate that not every dollar I donate to any chosen charity will actually reach those in need due to running costs of the organisation. However in this case I do not believe the ODT have been completely up front about the funding for this event.

Despite what the ODT had been publicising for months, the concert was not actually free. It was low cost, certainly, but not free, given that part of my entry donation was to offset the concert costs. I (like everyone else) believed that I was attending a concert paid for by the Otago Daily Times and other sponsors, and making a genuine donation to charity as part of the condition of entry. Is giving money to a not-for-profit company to stage the concert a true “donation to charity”? I believe most would consider it not to be.

I believe that the Otago Daily Times owes its readership an explanation about the true nature of funding for this event. I feel deceived by the marketing of this concert and I know of others who feel similarly. I have spoken to representatives from The Southern Trust and Otago Community Trust to pass on my concerns and they seemed genuinely surprised by these revelations. Both appeared to believe they were contributing to a local organisation – which technically they were because Big Night In Charities Ltd is registered to a Dunedin address.

The Otago Daily Times should also, in my opinion, reveal to the people of Otago where the money donated to KidsCan will be spent. On Saturday night the $12,000 cheque was presented to a KidsCan representive who the MC announced was from Auckland. Will the money be spent in our region? And if not – why not? Why would the newspaper serving the Otago region for 150 years use grants from local charities (The Southern Trust, Otago Community Trust, and Bendigo Valley Foundation) to hold a big birthday party only to raise funds for a charity to spend outside of the region? Surely it would be fitting for such funds to be spent in the region that the ODT serves?

I don’t mean to be a 150th anniversary party pooper but these questions do need to be addressed. I have no competing interests to declare and am simply a proud Otago resident and long time reader of the ODT.

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Related Posts:
12.11.11 The little horrors 2
30.7.11 LGOIMA request – stadium event

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Malcolm Farry: “Embrace the vision”

### ODT Online Mon, 30 Aug 2010
Opinion: ‘News’ already in the public domain
By Malcolm Farry
A recent front page article in the Otago Daily Times highlighted items not included in the Forsyth Barr Stadium’s main construction contract. Malcolm Farry points out this information was already in the public domain and suggests the article carried unfortunate implications.

Over the past four years, I have become accustomed to being called at home by members of the public wanting a “chat” and to share their contrasting views on the merits of the Forsyth Barr Stadium project. However, these exchanges reached a new level of intensity following the Otago Daily Time’s article on August 12 under the headline “Stadium extras to cost in millions”.
Read more

-Malcolm Farry is chairman of the Carisbrook Stadium Charitable Trust.

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Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Council meeting – Otago Community Trust donation requirements

UPDATED
Below ODT on consents for the Awatea Street site…

Dunedin City Council meets on Tuesday 2 June 2008, Council Chamber, Municipal Chambers, at 10am.

Agenda – Council – 02/06/2009 (PDF, 16.9 kb, new window)

Note agenda item 5:
COMPLIANCE WITH OTAGO COMMUNITY TRUST DONATION REQUIREMENTS
Report from the General Manager Finance and Corporate Support (Athol Stephens).
Refer to pages 5.1 – 5.4.

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Report – Council – 02/06/2009 (PDF, 123.7 kb, new window)
Compliance with Otago Community Trust Donation Requirements

In a letter from the Otago Community Trust dated 12 February 2009, the donation towards the Otago Stadium project was confirmed at $7 million under terms and conditions. Since then, Dunedin City Council has progressively met all of those terms and conditions, except for one, which is to be dealt with at this meeting. That condition is that, “at a properly convened meeting of Dunedin City Council it was resolved to accept the donation and its attaching terms and conditions”. This report recommends acceptance of the terms and conditions in accordance with the letter of 12 February 2009.

RECOMMENDATIONS
That Dunedin City Council accepts the donation from the Otago Community Trust under the terms and conditions specified in its letter of 12 February 2009.

DISCUSSION
There remain a number of aspects of the terms of the donation which, following discussion with the Otago Community Trust, may be agreed by exchanges of correspondence, taking a reasonable approach. For example, the drawdown of instalment one is specified as the date that construction commences. Technically, construction has already commenced but it is not clear, on the face of the letter, exactly what the Otago Community Trust has in mind. The intention is to discuss that with them. Similarly, a reasonable agreement needs to be achieved on the agreed milestones for instalments two and three.

We are also required to provide information, some of which confirms material previously provided to them.

We will also need to indicate the extent to which we consider that the Appeal Court hearing represents a threat to the project and the extent to which the Regional Council hearing in the High Court on 4 June 2009 may be a threat.

Finally, the Otago Community Trust expressed a wish to have placed before them an actual resolution indicating acceptance of the donation and its terms and conditions.

CONCLUSION
The recommendation in this report gives effect to that request. Passage of that resolution will enable the Mayor to sign the Otago Community Trust’s document. That document, along with the further information required in paragraph four, will then be returned to the Otago Community Trust.

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A copy of the Otago Community Trust’s letter (12 February 2009) setting out the conditions for the grant is attached to the report. The conditions are:

* All contracts, consents, authorisations and legal approvals being in place to enable the Project to be completed;
* The Council committing to proceeding with and completing the Project;
* The stadium being built substantially in accordance with the specifications and in accordance with all legal requirements;
* The Council having the requisite jurisdictional power to proceed with the stadium.

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### ODT Online Sat, 30 May 2009
DCC set to accept $7m from trust
By David Loughrey

Asked how the council had met the condition on consents when some of those were yet to be granted, Mr Stephens said resource consent was effectively approved for the project when a hearings committee approved a district-plan change to allow a stadium zone at the Awatea St site earlier this year. Building consents had yet to be issued, but the trust was “not really worried about those”.
Read more

Stadium debate invades trust meeting

I’m all for public accountability, however…

There was a letter in the paper (again, letter a day-athon at the moment), stating that the CST (and Malcolm Farry) must trust and accept the professional opinion of so called critics of the stadium. Which is a little two faced, as the stadium proposal has been put together by professionals, but the StS doesn’t want to accept these professional opinions, only theirs.