Christchurch City Council : Highly Dubious Entity #YaldhurstSubdivision

Subject: Ongoing Property Dispute at Yaldhurst Subdivision

Christchurch City Council held a full council meeting on 27 July 2017.

Readers, the CCC meeting video of Agenda item 26, about Yaldhurst Subdivision, is recommended viewing/listening.

Legal advice to Council is given by Rob Goldsbury, CCC Head of Legal Services – an atrociously lacklustre, unjust and obstructive performance.

The Council stupidly steps itself into (again!) the Constructive Fraud Action being progressed at the Christchurch High Court by Residents/Caveators of the Yaldhurst Subdivision. Although, we see that Councillors supposedly have no idea they’re already in it up to their eyeballs through the actions of Council staff and issues of non-compliance. Interesting.

Christchurch City Council Published on Jul 26, 2017
Christchurch City Council VIDEO
27.07.17 – Item 26 – Yaldhurst Village Subdivision – Dedication of Road – Sir John McKenzie Avenue

The video continues at about 1:26 after a preliminary silence [muted blue screen] – keep watching. The quality of picture is poor throughout. The discomfort of those seen in the public gallery is most perceptible.

Meeting Agenda and Unconfirmed Minutes follow here below – minus Attachment A, Yaldhurst Village Lots 601,613 Plan.

The Council did not vote unanimously.

The Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board motion was lost.

With the second motion, in short, the Council resolved that Lots 601 (residential) and 613 (commercial) on LT 448725 will be dedicated under Section 349 of the Local Government Act 1974 as a road, in order for the road to vest.

The resolution goes against the Residents’ private property rights.

See the previous post to refresh on the Residents’ situation.

Note, by the votes for, the dishonesty and incompetence present.

Note, by the votes against, the integrity of those supporting the Community Board and members of their community: the private property owners (the Residents), in their protracted, brave and courageous fight against an unjust malevolent council staff working in cahoots with unscrupulous developers.

Vicki Buck is a class act.
Rob Goldsbury, an utterly shameful man.

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Christchurch City Council
Agenda

Notice of Meeting:
An ordinary meeting of the Christchurch City Council will be held on:

Date: Thursday 27 July 2017
Time: 10.05am
Venue: Council Chambers, Civic Offices,
53 Hereford Street, Christchurch

….

[agenda item]
Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board

26. Yaldhurst Village Subdivision – Dedication of Road – Sir John McKenzie Avenue ………. [page] 529

[the report]
Council
27 July 2017

Report from Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board  – 13 June 2017
 
26. Yaldhurst Village Subdivision – Dedication of Road – Sir John McKenzie Avenue
Reference: 17/733313
Contact: Richard Holland richard.holland@ccc.govt.nz 941 8690
 
Note that this report was left to lie on the table at the Council meeting on 6 July 2017.
 
1. Staff Recommendations
 
That the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board recommend to the Council:

1. That Lots 601 (residential) and 613 (commercial) on LT 448725 will be dedicated under Section 349 of the Local Government Act 1974 as a road, in order for the road to vest.

2. Note that a Deed of Indemnity will be executed by Infinity Yaldhurst Limited which will indemnify and keep indemnified the Council from all actions, proceedings and claims made by any land owner in relation to the Council accepting the dedication of Lots 601 and 613 on LT 448725, as road.

3. Also note that the Council shall not be required to issue a Section 224(c) Certificate under the Resource Management Act 1991 in respect to Lots 601 and 613 on LT 448725 until all the safety audit requirements as specified by the Council, and included in the Variations of the subdivision consent, have been physically built to the Council’s satisfaction.

4. That the General Manager City Services be delegated authority to negotiate and enter into on behalf of the Council, such documentation required to implement the dedication.
 
2. Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board Recommendation to Council
 
Part A

That the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board recommend to the Council:

1. Option 2 of the staff report, namely, That the Council not agree to a dedication process and inform Infinity Yaldhurst Limited to pursue the matter through the Courts in accordance with the Property Law Act.
 
2. That the Council agree to meet with the adjoining property owners to discuss options on a way forward regarding the Yaldhurst Village Subdivision.
 
Vicki Buck and Anne Galloway requested that their votes against the above decision, be recorded.
 
Attachments
There are no attachments for this report.

Delta | Infinity | CCC staff collude to defeat Yaldhurst residents (again)

Yaldhurst Subdivision (former Noble Subdivision)

S T A T E ● O F ● P L A Y

Christchurch City Council is failing to ensure compliance with the subdivision consent and is then assisting the developer Noble/Delta – Infinity/Delta, to screw the Yaldhurst residents.

[click to enlarge]

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About five of the affected Yaldhurst residents gave deputations to the full meeting of the Christchurch City Council on Thursday, 6 July 2017.

Prior to the meeting, the Infinity Joint Venture of which Delta is a majority partner (with its $13m gift investment from Dunedin City Council) had convinced CCC staff to sway Christchurch City councillors to vote for the dedication of private roads as opposed to vesting ownership in the Council. This in the attempt to first defeat land covenants the affected residents have over the property registered in 2003 to protect their inclusion in any subdivision. However, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) cannot accept roads vesting in ownership with the Council when there are any encumbrances on the land – such as the residents’ covenants.

For the residents, Colin Stokes, at the council meeting, distributed to councillors a review of what CCC staff have done over the years.

Of course, as the facts flow they continue to entwine around Delta.

The residents are fighting to protect and enforce their rights in the subdivision consent; and to halt Delta and their Southern associates’ onslaught against them.

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Received from Colin Stokes (Yaldhurst resident and caveator)
Wed, 12 Jul 2017 at 9:16 a.m.

Thanks for your ongoing support Elizabeth

Chris Hutching’s piece (The Press 10.7.17) is weak and void of facts that present our case.

● We have Land Covenants registered over all the land in 2003 to protect our inclusion in any subdivision – our specific Access Lot road has to be formed and vested to Christchurch City Council standards with CCC as a term of extinguishment of the covenants.
● The encumbrance on the land prevent vesting of roads as LINZ won’t allow roads to vest with the council with them on.
● Infinity/Delta behind closed doors with CCC staff came up with a scheme to dedicate the roads under old rules (not compliant with the RMA and the subdivision consent) so as to circumvent our covenant protection.
● The real story is that CCC is breaking rules and NOT requiring compliance with the subdivision consent so as to cheat the residents of their protection and their interests protected by that protection so as CCC and the developer can cut them out of the subdivision.
● CCC and the developer Noble/Delta – Infinity/Delta have taken conditions out of the consent, varied the consent, and permitted non-complying undersized infrastructure that makes our part of the subdivision impossible – specifically stormwater pipes and basins required on the lower lying developers’ land which is where the consent (and physical topography and site layout) requires our stormwater to go.
● CCC failing to enforce the conditions of the consent as the law requires means our Access Lot road cannot be formed, meaning we can not subdivide.
● Delta with the misuse of mortgagee powers passed the property to itself, or at least part of the property ($13.4m of an $18.35m “sale” = 73% of which $12.5m was left in the property in passing it to Infinity in the orchestrated “sale”).

[ends]

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Prepared Summary and Review with subdivision plans as tabled at Christchurch City Council’s meeting (6 July), to assist understanding:

███ D 2017 07 04 Summary and Review of Circumvention of Covenants for Councillors Yaldhurst (16 pages)

1 Plan RMA92009135

2 Plan RMA92009135 hlite

The coloured plan shows the residents’ Access Lot between green lines going from Yaldhurst Rd and then dog-legging east to west. What is inside the yellow border is what is within the Subdivision Consent (note there is an internal yellow small 2 sites that are NOT in the consent – and 3 other of the residents’ lots in common ownership on the NS leg are not included in the consent).

It is this east west leg of the Access Lot that requires widened roading to enable the Lots each side to be subdivided pursuant to:-
– 2002 Agreements for sale and purchase (and 2008 further agreement)
– 2003 Registered Land Covenant Protection [see Summary and Review, page 1 para 2 for terms of extinguishment]
– 2009 Subdivision Consent (Condition 5 and stormwater Conditions for it 9.) [see Summary and Review, page 5 para 12]

The problem is
– the Security Sharing Joint Venture (Noble/Delta/Gold Band) SSJV designed and constructed their part of the subdivision such that it made the East West Access Lot owners (residents) parts of the subdivision impossible AND that the Council permitted this.

– Undersized stormwater infrastructure was corruptly installed without consent to NOT include the residents’ subdivisions (all the while falsely assuring residents it did).

– The stormwater is required to be on land the residents transferred to the developer in return for this stormwater and other provisions. It is required to be there for numerous reasons including physical and legal reasons;
* Residents transferred the land in return for this provision
* 2003 Land Covenants protect this land for that provision (required for the Access Lot Road to be formed and vested)
* 2009 The Subdivision Consent requires it to be on the developers’ land (Condition 9.5 which “disappeared”) [see Summary and Review, page 5 para 12 and page 10 email 16 Feb 2010]
* Residents that are part of that subdivision consent have the legal rights to the stormwater (s134 RMA) – the Council is refusing to enforce the conditions of the consent; and permitted the developer to NOT comply with the conditions.
* Land topography and layout physically requires it to go there. The land slopes High NWest to SEast Low

– Delta went ahead and constructed the infrastructure without legal consent – [see Summary and Review, page 10 email 22 Aug 2012]
* This is akin to a builder building a house without consent.
* Council failed to issue an abatement notice for works being complete without consent, and to non-complying standards.

For all the Council staff failings, and the consent holders and JV partners’ failings and corruption of making the residents parts of the subdivision impossible:-
– Delta/Infinity and Council staff are recommending to the Elected Council to vote to circumvent the residents’ Land Covenants so:-
* the residents roading and subdivisions will no longer be protected and will be impossible;
* the JV Infinity/Delta will make more profit by not having to comply with the conditions of the consent that requires the residents’ roading and inclusion (as above)
* Council staff “mistakes” and wrongdoing of permitting non-complying works and not enforcing the conditions of the consent (as required by law) will be covered up.

– Delta and DCC was the facilitator of transferring the property from the Delta/Gold Band/Noble Joint Venture to the Delta/Infinity Joint Venture.
– Delta (illegally) owned 67.5% of the 1st mortgage and controlled Gold Band through their Security Sharing JV.
– Delta’s assurances it had nothing to do with the mortgagee sale is a lie.
– Delta refused to allow Gold Band to accept offers to redeem the 1st mortgage (illegal under s102 & s103 Property Law Act).
– DCC refused to allow redemption of the 1st mortgage.
– DCC (and Delta) refused to accept assignment of the 1st mortgage when Colin Stokes and another (as parties with interests in the land entitled to redeem) offered it to them
* had they done, Delta could have registered about an additional $16m in agreements to mortgage they were sitting on
* all that was required in return was “our little road” which is a LEGAL REQUIREMENT of the subdivision consent in any event.

[ends]

As reported by The Press, the eight-year dispute involving the stalled Yaldhurst subdivision has now gone to mediation between the property owners and the developers.
The dispute has been aired in several High Court cases between the private landowners and the developers, which are continuing.

Related Post and Comments:
11.7.17 Delta has deep fingers into 8-year subdivision dispute at Yaldhurst

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *grady*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *dchl*, *auditor-general*, *noble*, *yaldhurst* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Delta has deep fingers into 8-year subdivision dispute at Yaldhurst

Blind Justice (detail) by Beeler – Columbus Dispatch 2016 [caglecartoons.com]

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### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 17:37, July 10 2017
Delta and Infinity’s Yaldhurst subdivision dispute at mediation
By Chris Hutching – The Press
An eight-year dispute involving developers and a group of property owners in a stalled Christchurch subdivision has gone to mediation. Late last year Dunedin City Council agreed to authorise its Delta Utilities company to refinance a $13.4 million outstanding debt to go ahead and complete the Yaldhurst development along with Wanaka-based developer, Infinity. To allow the development to proceed, Christchurch City Council staff recently recommended the unusual step of “dedicating” the access road rather than “vest” it with the council. But a representative of the private property owners, Colin Stokes, told city councillors that his group’s rights to compensation for land for the road had not been addressed. […] The dispute has been aired in several High Court cases between the private landowners and the developers, which are continuing. Most people who originally signed up to buy properties at the subdivision have pulled out and meanwhile Christchurch’s residential property market has cooled significantly.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
15.6.17 Site Notice : post(s) removal [we heard from Steve Thompson’s solicitors]
4.3.17 Christchurch housing : ‘If you build the right thing, buyers will still come’
17.2.17 Gurglars visits the Delta/Noble JV subdivision at Yaldhurst
2.2.17 Hilary Calvert complaint to Auditor-General #DCHL
30.12.16 Hilary Calvert on Deloitte report for Aurora/Delta
12.12.16 Deloitte report released #Delta #Aurora
7.12.16 Audit and Review, Deloitte
26.9.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #14 : The Election and The End Game revisited
22.9.16 DCC : Delta deal 1 Aug 2016 Council meeting (non-public) #LGOIMA
9.9.16 Calvert on DCC, ‘We could have a much more democratic and transparent operation of council’
2.9.16 Delta Yaldhurst : Local Opinion + Update from Caveators via NBR
18.9.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #13 : Councillors! How low can you Zhao ?
26.8.16 Delta #EpicFail —EpicFraud #12 : The Buyer Confirmed
24.8.16 Delta peripheral #EpicFail : Stonewood Homes —Boult under investigation
8.8.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #11 : The Buyer
3.8.16 LGOIMA requests to DCC from Colin Stokes #Delta #Noble #Yaldhurst
1.8.16 Delta #EpicFail —The End Game according to CD
31.7.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #10 : The Beginning of the End : Grady Cameron and his Steam Shovel
29.7.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #9 : The Long & Winding Road…. Leads Back to Delta’s Door
21.7.16 Delta EpicFail #8 : Cr Calvert goes AWOL, 23 Questions for Mr McKenzie —Saddlebags !!
19.2.16 Delta: Update on Yaldhurst subdivision debt recovery
17.7.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #7 : The Long & Winding Back Road
15.7.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #6 : What do you mean, Property Law Act ?
12.7.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #5 – Delta and the ghostly hand of Tom Kain
8.7.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #4 : Tales from the Courtroom….
30.6.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #3 : Security Sharing and not Caring….. who’s got that Constricting Feeling ?
27.6.16 Delta #EpicFail —Epic Fraud #2 : WWTKD – What Would Tom Kain Do ?
5.6.16 Delta #EpicFail —Noble Subdivision —Epic Fraud
13.3.16 Delta #EpicFail —Noble Subdivision : [rephrased] Conflict of Interest
11.3.16 Delta peripheral #EpicFail : Stonewood Homes and ancient Delta history
6.3.16 Delta #EpicFail —Nobel Subdivision : A Neighbour responds
29.1.16 Delta #EpicFail —Yaldhurst Subdivision ● Some forensics
21.1.16 Delta #EpicFail —Yaldhurst Subdivision

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *grady*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *dchl*, *auditor-general*, *noble*, *yaldhurst* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Aurora with yet another headache

At Facebook:

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Note this particular meat from Richard Healey’s Facebook post:
[my emphasis]

“If you have a property where the lines were built before 2001, then Aurora owns everything up to the house. The only exceptions are where the lines have been brought up to standard and a letter has been sent to the property owner transferring ownership of the lines or a prior agreement is in place. That has almost never happened in Dunedin. If you think that you have been billed, and shouldn’t have been, write to Aurora. If you don’t get redress file a claim.
If you would like to read the appropriate legislation, look up the electricity act 1992 and search for the definition of “point of supply”.
What does that mean? It means that it’s probable that thousands of Dunedin residents have been charged for maintenance to lines and poles that they do not own.”

█ Electricity Act 1992
Reprint as at 18 October 2016
http://www.legislation.co.nz/act/public/1992/0122/latest/DLM281858.html

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Letter of opinion draws wide support, view not shared by deathly DCHL

ODT 9.1.16 (page 6)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Otago’s dangerous electricity network —Aurora’s INCONSPICUOUS and INEFFECTIVE public safety messaging

[smartphone screenshot 2017-01-08]

The advertisement (safety message!) appears at ODT Online.
Blink and you miss it!

This is what Aurora Energy puts out for You to access Public Safety information. A yellow box with some branding, lost amongst news stories within a plethora of webpages.

Did anybody read ODT Online this summer ?
Did anyone see the ad ?
Did anyone notice the weblink ?
Did anybody click on the link ?
Did anyone do up their seat belt or wear a life jacket ?
How do you stay SAFE around a dangerous power network ?
What do you look out for ?
What do you avoid ?
In an emergency, what do you do ?
What sort of emergency ?
Clear guidelines ?

Or, read as ‘So what’ from the DCC-owned company.

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How extensive is Aurora’s public safety messaging across all available media these holidays —and typically, across a year ?

Is Aurora’s public safety messaging evolving to provide clear informational content to keep the public SAFE around the DANGEROUS and DEGRADED electricity network ?

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The adverteaser, and the related web information (reproduced below) is at the very low end of public safety information required to prevent personal injury or death. There is little informational value beyond the obvious.

Real life scenarios you should guard against, what are they ?

Other lines companies create graphics, audio and short videos that clearly explain what to do and what NOT to do around electrical facilities and in emergency situations involving live electricity.

Not so Aurora.

This YELLOW-BLOCK commercial branding exercise is cheap, casualised, determinedly ineffective and fully irresponsible. Further, it merely links to what has been up at the Aurora website for some time, which is basic and untelling.

Here’s the Aurora Energy link and their bland factless webpage content:

█ http://www.auroraenergy.co.nz/safety/

Aurora Energy puts your safety first. We want all our customers, employees, contractors and the wider community to be safe around electricity. Always keep a safe distance from electrical equipment and take extra care when working around electricity.

You can take some simple steps to make sure that you, and others around you, know how to keep yourself safe when around electricity.
● Treat all electricity as live and never touch electrical equipment
● Report electricity faults to your electricity retailer via their faults number
● Phone 111 immediately if there is an injury or risk of a fire
● Follow safe work practice near electrical equipment
● If you see a tree that is growing near or into a power line, contact Delta to arrange pruning services
● Inform others around you of the dangers of electricity
● Be prepared in the event of a natural disaster or extended power outage.
 
Read our free guide to working safely around Aurora Energy’s electricity network (PDF) before working near our electricity network. We’re here to help and can provide you information and services to help you stay safe.
 
Our Public Safety Management System controls hazards that present significant risk of serious harm or major property damage. The System complies with the requirement of the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010. To report a potential hazard, please complete the Report a Hazard form or contact Delta.

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If Aurora has conducted a full PUBLIC SAFETY CAMPAIGN IN OTAGO
across all available media – including dailies, community newspapers, schools, public libraries, council service centres, magazines, online noticeboards, radio, television, instant text messaging, flyers, billboard posters etc
—we have missed it.

It’s not ‘just’ dangerous poles and lines – it’s the condition of the other dangerous and degraded network assets (including conductors, transformers, cast iron potheads, cables, oil-filled switchgear, airbrakes etc) that the public needs to be concerned about.

Aurora Energy is NOT telling you about these : the condition of other network assets after 20-30 years of Dunedin City Council-owned companies’ inept management and criminal neglect of Otago’s power supply.

What would make the best Public Safety Campaign ?

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The Aurora report by Deloitte made public on 12 December 2016 says:

Refer page 8 (1.5.9 Summary of Recommendations | Health & Safety), and page 31 (4.6. Health & Safety recommendations) – bolding by whatifdunedin:

The Board and management of Aurora need to adopt a more transparent approach with staff and the public. There needs to be acknowledgement of the state of the network along with detailed plans on how these issues are going to be rectified.

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ODT 13.12.16
– “The Deloitte report did not include a detailed investigation of health and safety issues, but said risk had been increased by a lack of investment. “It is inevitable that this increases the level of risk inherent in the network that could have implications for staff and/or members of the public,” it said.”
– “Mr Cull also refrained from saying the network was unsafe, instead saying: “I don’t think it is as safe as it should be.”
– “[Richard] Healey said he was satisfied for the most part with the report, but not with the response from Mr Cull, DCHL chairman Graham Crombie and Mr [Steve]Thompson, who he said were all still trying to minimise the extent of the problem.”

ODT 21.12.16
– Grady Cameron: ““The accelerated programme uses additional internal and external resources to get the job done quicker. What won’t change are the safety, risk management and work practice measures we have for the safety of workers, contractors and the public.” The programme would prioritise the removal or repair of condition-zero poles close to schools, camping sites and other “high social” areas.”

ODT 24.12.16 ‘Poles spared as condition reassessed’
– “[Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult] asked Aurora to stabilise or replace condition-zero poles in the Queenstown, Wanaka and Arrowtown central business areas before Christmas.”

It’s not just about the poles.

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Related Posts and Comments:
12.12.16 Deloitte report released #Delta #Aurora
30.12.16 Hilary Calvert on Deloitte report for Aurora/Delta
6.1.17 Message to Aurora/Delta : Upper Clutha dangerous poles DON’T MIX with Holiday Campers

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *dchl*, *auditor-general*, *noble*, *yaldhurst* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Message to Aurora/Delta : Upper Clutha dangerous poles DON’T MIX with Holiday Campers

Four “condition zero” poles identified in Upper Clutha as needing to be replaced or reinforced before busy holiday period.

Other poles inside camping grounds identified as needing to be checked regularly by Delta staff during same period.

### ODT Online Fri, 6 Jan 2017
Problem power poles getting regular checks
By Tim Miller
Potentially dangerous power poles in Upper Clutha camping grounds are being checked regularly by lines company staff over the holidays. Before Christmas, Aurora Energy identified and checked the condition of poles in what were considered high-traffic holiday areas, such as camping grounds and parks in Upper Clutha. The company consulted the Queenstown Lakes District Council to identify the high traffic areas.
Read more

█ All 1181 condition zero poles in Otago expected to be replaced by April 2017.

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At Facebook:

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Related Posts and Comments:
1.1.17 A successful Lines company….
30.12.16 Hilary Calvert on Deloitte report for Aurora/Delta
28.12.16 Just beginning…. inquiries into council company rogues
27.12.16 Michael Lewis : The Undoing Project —Interview… #RNZ
25.12.16 The very idea
22.12.16 What GIVES : Aurora/Delta/DCHL/DCC…Energy Safety…ComCom ??
20.12.16 Aurora/Delta : RNZ’s Kathryn Ryan with Rod Oram
16.12.16 Tim Hunter, NBR —Aurora/Delta, DCC and ComCom
16.12.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 8 —Stuart McLauchlan : contamination, code…
15.12.16 DCHL/Aurora/Delta unravelling
14.12.16 Bev Butler queries invoices for Delta hospitality at Stadium #LGOIMA
14.12.16 Aurora/Delta : Richard Healey on the [SOON departing] CEO
13.12.16 DCHL/Aurora/Delta ‘PR fashion statements’ fb DCC rates increases
12.12.16 Deloitte report released #Delta #Aurora
9.12.16 Deloitte report pending —Public Notice at ODT | Facebook entry
7.12.16 Delta/Aurora : Nobody’s willing to call it after misrepresentations
7.12.16 Audit and Review, Deloitte
3.12.16 Delta/Aurora : The Dirty Twist —EXTREME Misrepresentation…
1.12.16 Oi Grady— “It’s Us, Delta’s Electrical Workforce, unanimously!”
30.11.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 7 : Kyle Cameron —The Money or the Bag?

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *grady*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *dchl*, *auditor-general*, *noble*, *yaldhurst* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Hilary Calvert on Deloitte report for Aurora/Delta

ODT 30.12.16 (page 12)

Aurora – Safety webpage (detail) 30.12.16

WorkSafe New Zealand
Contact WorkSafe 0800 030 040
█ http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe

Energy Safety
Part of WorkSafe New Zealand, Energy Safety acts as the regulator for ensuring the safe supply and use of electricity and gas in New Zealand. Energy Safety is responsible for providing an effective investigation, compliance, enforcement, and conformance regime for achieving electrical and gas safety outcomes.
█ http://www.energysafety.govt.nz/

Note: On Monday 4 April 2016, the new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) came into effect. HSWA repeals the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, with immediate effect.

‘Delta’ bovver boys by Douglas Field 29.11.16 (detail)

On 19 October 2016 former Delta manager Richard Healey went public about workplace and public safety concerns at Dunedin and across Otago via TV3’s Story (newshub.co.nz).

From 19 October through November posts and comments at What if? Dunedin, including those by Richard Healey, focused on the dangerous network, and poor governance within the council owned companies Aurora/Delta, within the council’s holding company DCHL, and within the duly elected Dunedin City Council itself [relevant trimesters].

The full extent of the dangerous and deliberately degraded network is attributable to criminal negligence and extreme mismanagement of financial resources (public funds).

The young inexperienced chief executive of the companies Aurora/Delta, Grady Cameron, has personally resisted taking any blame for the dangerous network – note, the findings and advice of the 2010 report by LineTech Consulting, commissioned shortly after Cameron’s appointment, have failed to flow into various Asset Management Plans drafted by Aurora, subsequently.

As a result of Richard Healey’s revelations three investigations were to take place:

1. Deloitte report for DCHL (released 12 Dec 2016)
2. Energy Safety (WorkSafe) investigation (no date given for release)
3. Commerce Commission investigation – industry regulator (no date given)

The courts await.

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I N ● J U S T ● O N E ● M O N T H

Related Posts and Comments:
28.12.16 Just beginning…. inquiries into council company rogues
27.12.16 Michael Lewis : The Undoing Project —Interview… #RNZ
25.12.16 The very idea
22.12.16 What GIVES : Aurora/Delta/DCHL/DCC…Energy Safety…ComCom ??
20.12.16 Aurora/Delta : RNZ’s Kathryn Ryan with Rod Oram
16.12.16 Tim Hunter, NBR —Aurora/Delta, DCC and ComCom
16.12.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 8 —Stuart McLauchlan : contamination, code…
15.12.16 DCHL/Aurora/Delta unravelling
14.12.16 Bev Butler queries invoices for Delta hospitality at Stadium #LGOIMA
14.12.16 Aurora/Delta : Richard Healey on the [SOON departing] CEO
13.12.16 DCHL/Aurora/Delta ‘PR fashion statements’ fb DCC rates increases
12.12.16 Deloitte report released #Delta #Aurora
9.12.16 Deloitte report pending —Public Notice at ODT | Facebook entry
7.12.16 Delta/Aurora : Nobody’s willing to call it after misrepresentations
7.12.16 Audit and Review, Deloitte
3.12.16 Delta/Aurora : The Dirty Twist —EXTREME Misrepresentation…
1.12.16 Oi Grady— “It’s Us, Delta’s Electrical Workforce, unanimously!”
30.11.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 7 : Kyle Cameron —The Money or the Bag?

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *grady*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *dchl*, *auditor-general*, *noble*, *yaldhurst* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

Mobile substation Willis St, Harbourside 12.11.16 [photo: Christchurch Driver]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Tim Hunter, NBR —Aurora/Delta, DCC and ComCom

Essential reading:

National Business Review 16.12.16
Hunter’s Corner by Tim Hunter (page 2)
Opinion: Lines companies: it’s worse than we thought

The article appears in today’s NBR print edition, available at bookstores and supermarkets, and by subscription. Short excerpt at right.

Tim Hunter has appraised the Deloitte report and the activity -or not- of the lines company Aurora Energy and ‘contractor’ Delta Utility Services. He also provides brief overview of the companies’ position as seen (problematically!) by industry regulator, the Commerce Commission. The award-winning business writer typically shows fine ability to crack code, applying thrift and plain sense in noting gross impediments to good governance and operational performance. Mr Hunter could write the book on Aurora/Delta, the ugly sisters, a true Horror Story —not the kitten tale by Deloitte, which anyway gets things rolling. As one of three investigations, Deloitte’s was always going to suffer lack of scope and independence given its commissioners:
the brothers Grimm —DCHL and DCC.

█ LineTech Report July 2010

█ For more, enter the terms *aurora*, *delta*, *grady*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *dchl*, *auditor-general*, *noble*, *yaldhurst* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: NBR excerpt by smartphone (screenshot)

Delta #EpicPowerFail 8 —Stuart McLauchlan : contamination, code brown and farting in church

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 at 1:04 a.m.

Your correspondent has been spending some time in airport bookstores recently, and it is hard to escape the plethora of get-a-plan-and-get-your-life-in-order books that seem to breed like unwanted spawn in such places.

While your correspondent has no truck with such boilerplate muck, he will admit to a quiet sense of satisfaction this week of some goals achieved. It is a good thing to have a goal, and a plan to get there. This year, your correspondent was disgusted by the arrogant lawlessness and simply fantastic level of self interest and waste of public funds by DCC and DCHL directors at the Noble subdivision, Yaldhurst. He made it a goal to put his shoulder to directorial posteriors and assist in the push of the dismal Delta directors into the Delta wood chipper (leased of course). Aided by some insider knowledge (what? – reveal my sources – never !) and plenty of tangential side trips, your correspondent is proud to think he has helped (in some small way) What if? and the majestic Richard Healey achieve a clean out at Aurora and Delta.

This week’s dismissal of Parton and McLauchlan is the start, and more will follow.

Mr McLauchlan’s risible statements in the ODT yesterday show your correspondent was 100% correct when he predicted that blame would be sheeted home to That Bad Man, John Walsh.

Mr McLauchlan’s arrogance was in full view with his claims that his decision to step down was unrelated to the billion dollar problem he has co-authored. Mr McLauchlan cannot admit what all of Dunedin knows – he troughed literally while lines exploded, and failed as a director. To do so would jeopardise his other sinecures, and Mr McLauchlan is nothing but self interest. Mr McLauchlan had absolutely nothing to offer the DCC, Delta or DCHL, and we should be at least grateful to Mayor Cull that the scales appear to have finally have fallen from his eyes and he sees Mr McLauchlan for what he is.

Let us not forget the most telling example of Mr McLauchlan’s invertebratedness : In the 2007 directorial decision to waste $8-9M at Luggate Mr McLauchlan’s sole contribution was : “If the other directors agree the I agree”. Not forgetting also that in the case of the Scenic Circle Dunedin City legal dispute with the JV partner, Mr McLauchlan was found by the Court to be an unreliable witness.

Mr McLauchlan is so toxic he doesn’t just need to be signposted, he is a walking talking accounting contamination.

On the subject of contamination, Kyle Cameron – stand up and take a bow, Kyle Cameron! – has made it very sure that Grady Cameron will never lead either of Delta or Aurora, by recommending that they need separate CEOs. As Mr Healey has said, the board will do to Grady what he has done to many others – disestablished their positions, creating new roles, and of course Grady will not quite have the “most appropriate skill sets” for either role. Sorry about that old chap, terribly close call of course, better luck next time– (in another continent please).
Grady, you have just been right-sized.

Another right-sizing would be to appoint Kyle Cameron to the Aurora board, and remove former ORFU/Highlanders director Mr Thompson with links to the $5M ORFU pokies scandal. Mr Thompson is tight with Mr McLauchlan of course, Mr McLauchlan being the Chairman of the Highlanders at the time the South Auckland pokies scandal was in full swing. McLauchlan – scandal – bees – honey.

Not right-sized, of course, is the matter of the Aurora replacement budget. We all know – now – that Aurora were going to spend $443M in deferred maintenance over 10 years (yes, stop dissembling Grady, it’s $443M, not $417M, but what they haven’t set out is where the money is coming from. Lines charges are fixed, and in very, very broad terms if we, the ratepayers, have to spend $443M to basically maintain what we have – then the very big question is – what is the depreciated, deteriorated asset worth …right now?

[An alarming example that comes to mind is the DCC purchase of the Dunedin Railway Station in the early 1990s. A wonderful asset now (pity about the decks) after a number of millions have gone into its restoration and upkeep over a 10-12 year period ….but what did the DCC pay ? ….the answer ? precisely one dollar.]

Now the Aurora 2016 Annual Report says in its headline “Trend Summary” (aka the good news feel-good piece early in the report at page 12) is that the ratepayers have equity of $183M in Aurora, and equity to assets is 42.1%, but unsurprisingly (this is Grady and the gyroscope we are dealing with here) the very bad news – the debt is $253M and is not going away – doesn’t quite make it into the good news piece.

So if we are charitable and assume that only say $250M of the $443M is actually for direct Dunedin infrastructure renewal and the balance being for actual expanded capacity then, then $250M of shareholder equity is needed for the upgrade. But wait Batman ! We only have $185M of equity. Holy exploding potheads Batman !! What do we do ? Batman: Elementary, my dear Doctor Parton —In the immortal words of Christine Fletcher, mayor of Auckland in 1986 when asked the same question by Fletcher Construction (of the cost to finish the Aotea Centre), “That’s what the ratepayers are for.”

Readers, you might well be thinking at this stage, CD has it wrong again – when I put in a new kitchen and bathroom in my villa in Belleknowes, it was worth more, so it didn’t matter that there was more debt ….because the asset was worth more. However, the value of power networks is determined by the Commerce Commission, who regulate what amounts each network can charge ….based on the value of the asset. Your correspondent surmises that the next scandal to unfold at Aurora is that resident Delta toxicologist, Matt Ballard of Capability and Risk, has overseen a massive overstating of the present value of the network. The bottom line is : with $250 – $400M of work needed FOR MAINTENANCE, ie NOT GENERATING EXTRA CAPACITY, it is worth nowhere near $436M right now. What does that mean? It means, readers, that the “jewel in the crown” of the DCHL, our cash cow HAS NO SHAREHOLDER EQUITY and has 100% debt to equity. Hilary Calvert is correct – if this were DC Ross, or any other private company, the receivers would have been called in long ago. However, accountants like the caustic Mr McLauchlan prefer companies with no shareholder equity because the returns on equity are out of this world…. until something happens.

Readers, what dissembling Mayor Cull will never tell you is that just like in Central Otago, as helpfully described by Nick Loughnan in the ODT a few weeks ago, you are about to experience in your future either some eye watering rates increases or, if the Commerce Commission allows, some similar exponential line charge increases. It’s one or the other. There is no other way.

Mayor Cull is aware of the consequences set out above : he said at the outset of Mr Healey’s crusade that he did not want public confidence shaken.

The questions or scenarios above are not pleasant – as the biblical line goes, these are hard questions, who can answer them ? They are the lines industry equivalent of farting in church – rude, inappropriate but better to get it out in the open before there is a big mess (or at least know the mess is coming). Yes, the air will be blue for a while – a long while. Messrs McLauchlan, Parton, Kempton, Frow, Wood, Thompson have done more than farted, they have created a stinking “code brown” mess. They will not be missed.

[ends]

*Note: New Zealand Companies Office records show McLauchlan and Parton ceased being directors of the Aurora/Delta Boards on 12 December 2016.
Aurora Energy | Delta Utility Services

Legal advice to the DCC on new 3-term limits for CCO directorships ‘may have’ forced this change. Debatable.

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *grady*, *luggate*, *jacks point*, *dchl*, *auditor-general*, *noble*, *yaldhurst* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: markeweebly.com – farting dog by mark cable, tweaked by whatifdunedin

Delta #EpicPowerFail 6 – Thick as a Brick

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Thu, 3 Nov 2016 at 10:59 p.m.

Thick as a brick
Shallow as a bird bath
Not the sharpest knife in the drawer
A few sandwiches short of a picnic
Bought his doctorate online.

Come in Dr Parton….

Your correspondent was both entertained and aghast this morning when enjoying Choysa and a scone, he read Dr Parton, Aurora chair, dutifully parroting Grady Cameron’s lines in the ODT …. “aged network”, “our approach to its management is conservative”. Dr (Polly) Parton also said “it was “not appropriate” for him to respond to comments made by another chairman”. Your correspondent agrees it is not “appropriate”. It is essential to his credibility to do so, as Polly Parton is right – it is amazing that the chairman of a lines company, far away, has felt the need to make scathing comments about the lackadaisical approach to essential infrastructure he has found in the South, and called Aurora’s response “a lame excuse”. When did you last hear the CEO of a council make scathing comments about another ? —or one mayor disparage another in biting terms. It just isn’t done…. so now the attention of the entire lines industry, and the Commerce Commission is riveted upon Aurora as it has just been confirmed by the chair of Marlborough Lines, with no axe to grind, that Aurora’s mess and subsequent evasions are inexcusable.

Some other gems of the re-cycled obvious from Polly in the ODT were “Age … is one reason why we have marked so many poles for replacement” – how fascinating that the board and Mr Cameron only discovered these 40- to 60-year-old poles were aged and needed replacement around the time Mr Healey left three weeks ago.

Readers, while Aurora and Delta have an arrogant disregard for the interest of the consumers and ratepayers, they are very fearful of the Commerce Commission. And the Commerce Commission is under no illusions about the incompetence of Aurora. Not only did Aurora get warned for network failures this year, and are now ranked in the bottom 3 of the 29 lines companies for reliability, they were also warned about their lack of investment and incompetence in 2014 by the Commission.

On 26 June 2014 the Commission wrote to Aurora issuing them with a warning for non-compliance and raising concerns. They said:

“21. There are a number of concerns that we would particularly like to draw to Aurora’s attention … These concerns are:

21.1 Aurora’s vegetation control has been insufficient to prevent significant tree encroachment on lines, which has likely contributed to the frequency and duration of outages….”
Mr Cameron took great delight in waxing lyrical about the dedicated vegetation management unit Delta set up in 2015-16, and how Delta charged Aurora $4M for clearing 34km of lines. We now know it wasn’t anything to do with Mr Cameron, it was forced upon them by the Commerce Commission because they had neglected it for decades. In true Delta form, the cost of $130,000 per km is probably overstated by a factor of 5-10 dependent on difficulty.

“21.2 Aurora has had an increase in defective equipment incidents”.
Oh yes. Aurora’s own Asset Management Plan (AMP) spells out the failures, and impending ones, as noted in #EpicPowerFail 5. In relation to poles, Aurora reduced the number of poles it was going to replace in 2017-18, in its 2016-2026 plan, due to the mendacity of Matt Ballard, GM Capability & Risk. Reacting to public pressure and casting aside the long term plan due to a “perception problem”, without a funding plan in place is just giving the Commerce Commission all the evidence they need that the board isn’t in control and doesn’t know what it’s doing.

“21.3 There seems to be shortcomings in Aurora’s knowledge of its asset condition”.
….(Translated from bureaucratic-ese, this is : YOU ARE USELESS AND INCOMPETENT, and everything we have heard from Aurora recently confirms that this fault has become exponentially worse.

“21.4 Aurora’s reliance on its 6.6kV network as a back up to its aging 33kV cables in Dunedin could lead to major power outages.”

Ominously for the Directors, the Commission was clear about the consequences of further non-compliance, warning Aurora :

“Notwithstanding its 2013 and 2014 compliance, if Aurora fails to comply with the quality standards again, its 2012 non-compliance will be a relevant factor that may lead us towards a stronger enforcement response. Particularly relevant would be the extent to which concerns raised following Aurora’s 2012 non-compliance contributed to the second non-compliance.”

Here we are, four years later, and 3 of the 4 concerns are front and centre of the latest crisis. A lot of words have been written, meetings held, and plans begun, but the network has continued to decline. Unless the Commerce Commission has another spineless apologist like Rebstock of the Audit Office investigating, then the springs in the boardroom ejector seats are tightening.

Readers, we are all frustrated that Mr Cameron, Mr Ballard, and the directors have not a thread of integrity left among them, preferring eventual forcible removal (health problems anyone ?) to decency. But readers, how delicious will it be when they are kicked out, as that will almost certainly be the end of all of their directorial ambitions. Getting kicked out by the Government is the sort of thing that even the Institute of Directors would frown upon, despite overlooking a lot of other venality. As noted at What if?, the Government cannot afford to have tourists killed or suffering from power outages in their #1 tourist region in Central Otago, so it will not be open for Mr McLauchlan to go crawling to Minister Woodhouse, who doesn’t carry a lot of weight now in any case. McLauchlan’s other great fixer, fellow South Canterbury Finance trougher, Denham Shale, is now dead. Mr McLauchlan feeling the chilled air of exposure perhaps ? Perversely, we can be glad that Messrs Parton, Kempton, Thompson, McLauchlan and Frow are all….“thick as a brick”.

Final thought for the evening. If you were Grady Cameron and the board, and wanted to quickly replace 10,000 poles to “restore public confidence” then does buying steel poles from China that are made from less ductile steel (ie more brittle) sound like a good plan ? (Chinese steel is typically 20-25% ductile, whereas NZ seismic requirements generally require 32-34% ductility. It is near impossible to get Chinese steel at this ductility. A recent example is the problems with steel products imported from China by Steel & Tube). Yes readers, you heard it here first, not only did Mr Cameron fail to tell you where the $30M was coming from (they don’t know yet), he also neglected to mention they are buying steel poles from China. And remember, readers, not only did Mr Cameron describe this as “a good plan” on National Radio, but that he “was excited by it”. Truly…… “thick as a brick”.

[ends]

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Related Posts and Comments:
2.11.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 5 : Grady Cameron on RNZ : How many Asset Management Plans does it take to get a Real One ?
1.11.16 Delta/Aurora/DCHL corporate whitewash #dangerousnetwork
31.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 4 : Delta/Aurora, Drugs and Dividends
29.10.16 Mr Crombie, not quite the spent force
28.10.16 Heads of Delta/ Aurora/ DCHL/ DCC out to lunch
27.10.16 Bev Butler says ‘Come in, Grady’ #LGOIMA #Delta
27.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 3 : Rotten Poles and Greedy Algorithms
25.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 2 : Plaudits to Saunders & Elder : Delta…
22.10.16 DCC struggles with Governance…. Delta/Aurora/DCHL…
21.10.16 Dunedin City Council must hang the companies out to dry
20.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy
19.10.16 Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: pinimg.com – gary larson the far side, tweaked

Delta #EpicPowerFail 5 : Grady Cameron on RNZ : How many Asset Management Plans does it take to get a Real One ?

Tue, 1 Nov 2016 7:50 a.m.
Morning Report with Guy Espiner Link
Hefty pricetag to replace Dunedin’s rotting power poles
Audio | Download: Ogg MP3 (duration 3′40″)
Dunedin and Central Otago power company Aurora Energy is to replace 3-thousand rotting power poles at a cost of 30-million dollars.

****

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Tue, 1 Nov 2016 at 11:35 p.m.

Readers, your correspondent has nothing new to offer tonight —but just many examples of what we already knew : Delta/Aurora chief excutive Grady Cameron treats the facts with almost radioactive distaste, and is completely willing to say and do anything to save his own skin. Now, we have a “polemic” of evidence.
Rob Hamlin is correct – there is a massive coverup underway. Let us consider Mr Cameron’s cancerous comments on RNZ with Guyon Espiner today :

The new Aurora plan with an extra $26M was ‘nothing to do with Richard Healey’ ….The board already had a plan in place because “back in September I went to the board and advised them that I wasn’t happy with the progress of our current plan in terms of how fast we were getting through the replacement programme” …. and “the plan that was announced yesterday was the revised plan”.

Now there are several obvious problems here, and the first is Mr Cameron’s mealy-mouthed dissembling that “back in September” he went to the board. September was only 5 weeks ago, and, just 4-5 weeks or so before that, in April 2016, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, Mr Cameron released Aurora’s long term Asset Management Plan (AMP), all 185 pages of it for the period 2016-2026. The specific purpose of this doorstop is to schedule “asset replacement”, and the plan of course specifically provides for pole replacement. Mr Cameron is asking us to believe that the very next week after the 10-year AMP was complete, he woke up and thought ‘Good grief ! We have completely messed up the asset management plan we have just had the board sign off, and which we have just spent months on ! We must re-do it immediately and add $20-30M to pole replacement ! That is Job #1 Today…. (after mid morning madeira cake and my daily PR strategy meeting). Readers, there are many at Delta who will confirm that Mr Cameron’s GM of Capability & Risk Matt Ballard, was instructing staff the exact opposite…. “that under no circumstances is the current $2.96M budget for pole replacement to be exceeded, for ANY reason, and GET USED TO IT”.

In the fantastic event that there is any shred of truth to this rubbish from Mr Cameron, he needs to be sacked for incompetence, because he has just shown he is incapable of producing an asset management plan that is credible or even somewhat reliable. It is so bad that Mr Cameron could be accused of numeric dyslexia. How can a board comprised of accountants, to whom forecasts and numbers are religion, put up with this ? Is it because Mr Cameron has promised them Mutually Assured Destruction if he was removed? There is plenty of evidence and emails to show that far from wanting to resolve this, Mr Cameron and his enablers wanted to play the man and sweep this under the rug, an approach that continues to the present day.   

Your correspondent has received information that provides the translation code for Grady Cameron’s weasel worded dissembling “back in September I went to the board … not happy with the progress”. It is this : Mr Cameron advised the board ‘We employed incompetent staff who claimed they could “reinforce” poles for around $1200 each, to give a maximum 10-year extra life, but this $1,200 was a figure pulled from their own fevered imaginations and staff and contractors have told us to take a hike, it will cost around $3,000, which compares VERY unfavourably with the cost of a straightforward new pole with a 50-year life at around $5,000. Being the desperate incompetents we are, we had latched onto this half-baked and untested theory like a barnacle on a boat hull and assumed we could reinforce more than twice as many poles as we needed to replace over 10 years. (7290 reinforcements vs actually replacing just 3381 poles).’ (Readers, see Page 78 of the Aurora AMP). ‘If we do a half-baked reinforcement approach we have another budget problem of $13M, but if we put in all new poles we will have a blowout of around $28M (over and above the apples vs oranges $26M issue I deceived the board about earlier).’

Grady Cameron confidently stated to the nation that the plan unveiled yesterday “was the revised plan” (the board had approved)…. For about three seconds, and then when queried by Guyon Espiner incredulously “so nothing at all to do with Richard Healey ?”, Mr Cameron went into high range reverse and forward mode – at the same time. He responded “NO…. the plan that we’ve we put forward is a more aggressive plan now….” due to “a significant amount of public scrutiny”. Memo to Mr Cameron : The public scrutiny only started because Richard Healey broke ranks and blew the whistle, to the cost of his career.

Your correspondent thinks that Grady Cameron is also fevered and mainlining on dividends. If Mr Cameron was telling the truth, that he had concerns, and a plan that very coincidentally was the same as Richard Healey’s then why did he cancel the meeting with Richard Healey who wanted to discuss his concerns about the state of the network ? He should have been saluting a fellow soldier, not burying him…. Instead of refusing to meet with him, why did Mr Cameron discuss taking legal action against Richard Healey when Mr Healey was still an employee of Delta ? (Yes we know about this Mr Cameron, you have very few allies left within Delta —perhaps you should be looking next to you and channelling Shakespeare ….et tu, Matt Ballard?). Instead of cancelling the meeting, why did he not send an email to say, ‘Dear Richard, I have some fantastic news, all or most of your concerns are solved, we are going to be announcing a huge increase in pole spending of tens of millions of dollars immediately (just as soon as I can arrange the requisite saturation PR coverage that portrays me in the best possible light and take the focus off the Noble debacle). I would be delighted to meet with you for 3.5 minutes at 10.36am after mid-morning espresso and madeira cake to outline this to you. Your humble CEO, Grady.’  

[thinkdelta.co.nz] 

It is often the little things that give the game away…. And try as they might, the PR minders can never control the interview process. Grady Cameron spent several minutes explaining to the country how this was just a misunderstanding and he had – before Richard Healey (!), realised what was wrong, and he and the board had a plan to fix the very things that Mr Healey was complaining about. Guyon Espiner asked near the end, “Do you thank Richard Healey for putting pressure on you for this ?” ie for helping Grady Cameron receive great exposure in the media to explain his hitherto secret new plan to the nation, very similar to Mr Healey’s, that all was well, the network was aged but safe, lots of poles were being replaced. Instead of “Come back Richard, my fellow safety conscious soldier in arms, all is forgiven,” we and the country heard his CEO mask slip and got the real, petulant Grady Cameron who snarled “No I don’t thank Richard Healey” —proving that this was all just a charade, and Mr Cameron and the board were ropeable that they had been exposed as ineffectual and incompetent guardians of the region’s electricity network.     

Continuing down the charade theme, consider this final thought for the evening, readers – Cameron, Crombie, and the board of accountants announced this plan WITHOUT ONE CLUE AS TO HOW IT IS TO BE FUNDED. This is sheer arrogance and disdain for power consumers and ratepayers – what other public expenditure of this level has ever been announced with no discussion about who or how it will be funded. The board of Delta and Aurora have proven yet again, how incompetent and derelict in their public duty they have become.

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Images: radionz.co.nz – Guyon Espiner | odt.co.nz – Grady Cameron

Delta/Aurora/DCHL corporate whitewash #dangerousnetwork

Updated post
Tue, 1 Nov 2016 at 3:30 p.m.

Anyone of sound mind will see that, as widely predicted, a vacuous tissue of lies and fabrication has flooded the media, with a SUDDEN dollop of RATES spend foretold – dished by the Ugly wide boys to the sound of chortles in repair from Our Enchained Melody (his worship).

ODT didn’t believe it either.

But those wheeling creatures.
Douglas Field starts in gently….

Satirical comment on the future of a Dunedin ‘owned’ utility company, and its imminent demise. Oct 31, 2016

****

Loss of “public confidence”…. [understatement]

In an interview, Mr Cull said he had no problem with spending an extra $26 million to fix a public perception issue.

### ODT Online Tue, 1 Nov 2016
$30.25m to replace poles
By Vaughan Elder
Aurora Energy has approved a $30.25 million programme to replace close to 3000 power poles but its chief executive is refusing to admit any fault over the way the network has been managed. Aurora Energy and Delta chief executive Grady Cameron […] said the claims that led to the loss of confidence – that lives were at risk from dangerous power poles and the two council-owned companies put profits ahead of health and safety – were wrong. He admitted no fault in his management, saying the network was ageing, but safe.
Read more

“My only wish is that he had taken the opportunity to come and speak to me directly, because I think if he had recognised the conversations that I was having with the board directly, he might have felt slightly different about what our plans were.” –Grady Cameron

Whistleblower Richard Healey was stunned by Mr Cameron’s response and questioned why Aurora would spend tens of millions of dollars to fix an issue which it said did not exist. “It’s utter rubbish,” Mr Healey said. […] He had tried to stay away from “personal” attacks, but was now willing to call on Mr Cameron to “man up” and resign.

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T R U T H F U L ● R E A D I N G

Comments posted at this website the day after Story (TV3 Newshub 19.10.16) broke the news about Delta/Aurora’s dangerous poles:

Richard Healey
October 20, 2016 at 8:46 am
Thanks for the support, it’s been a difficult few years, but the last few weeks have been the worst. Here’s a clip from a post I made on Facebook to give my former colleagues some background. My primary concern in all of this has been to keep everyone safe. No more tragedies like the death of Roger Steel.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I appreciate the support but I really had no option. In the last six years I’ve seen live high voltage lines sit on the ground for two days in the grounds of a major tourist attraction – and another set alive 600mm off the ground inside a property where you can look over the fence and see a yard full of kids toys.
I’ve seen thousands of poles that could kill my work mates, and I’ve seen one of them die on one of those poles.
In the past 15 months I’ve watched as the number of those really dodgy structures has increased by more than 1000. The crunch came for me when I realised that probably 2000 of those poles should have been fitted with “warning, DO NOT CLIMB” tags – but they were missing.
Discovering those missing tags made my gut churn. In December 2010 Roger Steel, one of the world’s good buggers died after climbing a pole that was missing a red tag. Both the District Court and the Coroner cited the missing danger tag as a significant factor in Steelo’s death.
The obvious thing to do first was to put out a safety alert to Delta staff. I was told not to do that, my voice was seen as too negative and, in any case, it was the asset management team’s role to put out the alert. I was asked to get one of the other guys to request that an alert be sent out urgently.
I kept pushing for the alert to go out, at that stage I thought around 1000 poles were affected. Nothing happened. Finally, I got the opportunity to raise the issue in an operations meeting. I was told that the Network Operations Manager would write an alert. Scot Jefferries pointed out that I’d written one already but was ignored. He pointed out a second time that an alert had already been drafted. Eventually I was asked to send through my alert and informed that it would be used as the basis of the final release.
Here’s where it gets really disturbing, This is what I said in my Safety Alert:
“During a recent ICAM it became apparent that a large number of poles (probably less than 1000) have been tested and been found to be “Condition 1” – but no red tag has been applied to them”
This is what the alert that the company issued said:
“It was identified during a recent ICAM that some poles assessed as being defective may not have been Red tagged in accordance with Aurora procedures.”
“Have been found” turned into “may not” – “probably less than 1000” turned into “some poles”. The effect is pretty obvious, the guys were free to believe that a few poles might not have been tagged as opposed to a 1000-odd were definitely not tagged. I was pretty upset.
But it got worse, we sent crews out to apply the missing tags. Asset Management found out that we were doing that and told us to stop. They were creating a software tool to capture the data about what poles we were applying the tags to. We pointed out that we were capturing the poles and the tagging teams were logging all the data on a form which they signed. No problem you might think, the data can be loaded into the new software from the forms when it is eventually developed.
Problem, we were told to stop immediately and that we wouldn’t be paid for the work; when asked to put it in writing, they did!
Then it got worse. While out looking for a site to install some equipment I found a pole that the GIS (the system that holds all the information about the plant that makes up the network) said was Condition 5 (good for many decades) had a red tag on it. The red tag was legitimate, that pole was buggered.
It was then that I figured out that the data that the pole inspectors had gathered was being reassessed, after some software changes, and that the the condition ratings of hundreds of poles had been changed as a result. I wrote some notes. Here’s a sample (condition 0 means so bad you must replace it in 3 months, condition 6 is essentially a brand new pole):
“Pole 12680
This 72% degraded, 44 year old pole was Deuar tested on 19/06/2015, rated as condition 0 and red tagged. It also carries a remaining life assessment of 30 years. One week later it was reassessed and the rating went from 0 to 6. One month after that it was again reassessed and went from condition 6 to condition 1. Finally, on 19/08/2015 the condition assessment went from 1 to condition 6. ”
Those notes were taken to the CEO, he cancelled the meeting. I wrote to him, he has never replied, I quit, we are here today.

Richard Healey
October 20, 2016 at 8:57 am
I forgot to mention it, but on my last day at Delta two more poles fell down, both in Alexandra area. It looks to me like the company has failed to tag around two thousand poor condition poles, but the final number won’t be known until the end of the month. That’s the bad news, the good news is that crews are out there now nailing those tags to poles all over Dunedin and Central Otago.
My advice is this, if you’re dropping your kids off at school and notice the poles outside have suddenly sprouted red “do not climb” tags then ring Delta and ask about the condition of those poles and the risk they may pose to you and your kids. If a red tag suddenly appears on the pole outside your house, do the same thing.
Don’t be put off with a standard “the company takes your wellbeing very seriously” answer. Ask for specific information, when was the problem first identified, how long does Aurora have under the Electricity Safety regulations 2010, regulation 41 to replace the structure, what do I need to do to stay safe, what are the penalties that apply if Aurora fails in its primary duty of care?

—

Related Posts and Comments:
31.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 4 : Delta/Aurora, Drugs and Dividends
29.10.16 Mr Crombie, not quite the spent force
28.10.16 Heads of Delta/ Aurora/ DCHL/ DCC out to lunch
27.10.16 Bev Butler says ‘Come in, Grady’ #LGOIMA #Delta
27.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 3 : Rotten Poles and Greedy Algorithms
25.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 2 : Plaudits to Saunders & Elder : Delta…
22.10.16 DCC struggles with Governance…. Delta/Aurora/DCHL…
21.10.16 Dunedin City Council must hang the companies out to dry
20.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy
19.10.16 Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Delta #EpicPowerFail 4 : Delta/Aurora, Drugs and Dividends

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Sun, 30 Oct 2016 at 9:09 p.m.

Readers, your correspondent has decided that the present Delta/Aurora situation has many similarities to a drug deal gone wrong.

Grady Cameron and Matt Ballard have a drug problem, and the drug concerned is dividends. They are being stood over by their directorial pimps, Stuart McLauchlan, Trevor Kempton, Ian Parton, David Frow and ex ORFU beat-up specialist Steve Thompson (who are also heavy users of the dividends concerned), to produce more, more, more, every year. Despite the intimidation from the pimps, and threats of financial violence (if you don’t meet the most important KPI being $9.5M of dividends, no salary increase for you !), they bought themselves some breathing space, for a year or two, but down at the street corner (where the poles are !), Messrs Cameron and Ballard stopped looking after the infrastructure that laid the golden eggs of revenue a long time ago and stiff-armed them instead. The result ? – the “network” concerned voted with their cross-arms and simply “fell away” ….but who are the pimps working for ? Who has the raging dividend habit ? Who is the junkie that like all junkies, will engage in lies, fraud, misrepresentation as grist to its mill to feed its dividend habit ? It is of course the atrophied and hollowed out financial wreck that is the Forsyth Barr Stadium, that has a 40-year $7.2M dividend drug habit that it needs and feeds on for survival. Who allows this habit to continue and feeds off it also ? Mayor Cull, the Pablo Escobar of Portobello Rd.

While on the subject of addictive behaviour, Vaughan Elder and Chris Morris will also soon have a drinking problem, because from Saturday every time they venture into a bar, they will be shouted a drink by all Dunedinites that live or walk by a rotten power pole (all of them). The Otago Daily Times (ODT) had a flood of coverage and it was excellent, including a precise summary of the recent dismal Delta and Aurora history. Book your flights to the national media awards now guys. Hopefully this is the virtuous circle in action – excellent coverage, more ODTs and advertising sold, more resources given to the story, more revelations, more ODTs sold. Your correspondent has been proven to be very wrong in his earlier #EpicPowerFail post. Far from being missing in action, after a late start they are all over the issue, and instead of making us sick they are making us proud. Go ODT !!

Today your correspondent was alarmed at the offhand comment made by Pablo Escobar’s DCHL sideman, Mr Crombie, when he said in response to being grilled by the ODT that “the financial effects of replacing thousands of poles could be managed by changes to the timing of Aurora’s planned capital programme”.

There are two very important questions that arise from this – 1) How much will the replacement of the poles cost, and 2) what items of Aurora’s capital programme can be deferred.

Dealing with 2) first, Mr Crombie must have been mainlining on dividends and as high as a kite when he said this. Either that or there was a forlorn attempt at some more quarter truths and a desperate hope that the long term Aurora Asset Management Plan 2016-2026 (AMP) might disappear from the Internet. Your correspondent, fortified with a LOT of Bells did some heavy lifting through the 185-page document and can report the following pearls from Aurora’s own AMP that show that Mr Crombie, like so many addicts, is delusional :

Firstly, in the space of one year from 2015 to 2016, the state of the network (without the recent revelations) was so knackered that even with the best attempts of Matt Ballard, the Delta ‘General Manager for Risk and Capability’, to minimise capex by various sleights of hand, including the famous algorithms outlined in #EpicPowerFail 3, the amount of capital spending required ballooned – in the space of a year – from $373M to $443M, an increase of $70M. (AMP, 7.1 Financial Forecasts). Incredibly, Mr Cameron and the Board indulged in misrepresentation by reporting to DCHL that the total 10-year capital spending increase was only $417M, not $443M, by the simple and dishonest expedient of comparing
two different 10-year periods. This piece of elementary financial alchemy clearly escaped Mr Crombie and the other DCHL directorial head nodders also.

Councillors, please remember that Mr Crombie is going to lecture you in a month or two that you Must Lend $13.2M as a second mortgage to a shell company, Infinity Yaldhurst, with no visible means of support, because There Is No Alternative. It is clear from the above he either cannot read an elementary spreadsheet, or considers an error of around $26M of ratepayer funds trifling and not worthy of comment or correction. Coincidentally, this is the amount of the Yaldhurst debt. Not coincidentally, Mr Crombie doesn’t think $13M of ratepayer funds written off at Yaldhurst is significant or comment-worthy either. Where do we find these people ? You have been warned, Councillors.

To justify this sudden $70M increase in spending, the asset management plan helpfully provided some explanations of the scope of the work, and why it was urgent, which is going to haunt Mr Crombie, hopefully all the way to resignation. On Page 160, Aurora explained that “half of the increase is associated with deferred zone substation expenditure for which there is no further opportunity for deferral”.

In the next five years (2020-2022), there is $29M allocated for rebuilding worn out substations in Dunedin (Andersons Bay, Neville St, Smith St, Willowbank) that cannot be deferred. The reason that the substations are not being rebuilt before 2020 is because the major 11kV / 3kV lines that serve the substations are in even worse shape than the very aged substations built in the 1950s and early 1960s. The cables are already failing and have to be replaced even before the substations. Page 156 of the AMP helpfully describes the problem, “These cables are very old … These cables are now at the end of their life as the bronze tapes [that act to retain the gas insulation] are corroded and failing.” Regarding the possibility of failure, the AMP is candid “….have had some gas leaks … Gas leaks are difficult to locate and expense to repair … requires the cable to be out of service for several days for repairs to be made”. In relation to another type of cable, PILC cable, the ever helpful AMP notes, “We have had a number of failures of the Kaikorai Valley cables” [due to the oil impregnated cables leaking, then drying out and failing].

If readers are in any doubt as to how much of a knife edge their power network is being run on, Page 62 (Asset Risks 4.5.3) will spill the Bells all over the sofa : “Perhaps the most significant risk of a catastrophic asset failure relates to our remaining 33kV gas filled cables.”

To conclude, readers, Mr Crombie is simply creating yet more mad hatter conditions at Delta/Aurora with the desperate and inaccurate statement, that tens of millions of unplanned expenditure (the actual cost will be the subject of the next post, out of time and tea tonight !) could be accommodated by simple funding re-arrangement. (Deck chairs on the Titanic, anyone ?). There are more distortions at Delta/Aurora than in a fairground hall of mirrors.

[ends]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: pinterest.com – Danny LuVisi | Grand Theft Otto series, Homer

Mr Crombie, not quite the spent force

Graham Crombie: Review starts Monday, preliminary findings not public by then as Mayor Dave Cull hoped….

### ODT Online Sat, 29 Oct 2016
Crombie: heads could roll
By Vaughan Elder
Jobs could be on the line at Delta and Aurora after claims lives are at risk because of the two companies’ failure to replace dangerous power poles.
Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL) chairman Graham Crombie yesterday said there could be “consequences” for the board and management of the two council-owned companies if an independent review found their response to the power pole situation in Dunedin and Central Otago had been lacking. Mr Crombie was working through the final stages of appointing an independent party to review the claims yesterday, but was not ready to announce who that party would be because nothing had been signed.
Read more

—

OK. So Mr Crombie’s comments in the ODT today (joy oh joy for readers!) do help to force chief executive Grady Cameron and the Aurora/Delta Directors into an unholy corner for their multiple sins.

Understandably, they have turned media shy, no doubt while they consult their lawyers – Every Man for Himself now applies. Will they shop their fellow henchmen.

Watch and wait.

However, stupidly, Mr Crombie admits he was not shocked about the extent of the problem “because everybody knew that”….

WOW, Graham Crombie, chair of DCHL, knew there was a problem.

How soon did he know ?
But hey. Aurora’s asset management plan (AMP) is not a FIX. Mr Crombie is a little confused.

Best he trots out the reports to DCHL from Aurora/Delta which describe – ie quantify and qualify – the extent of the problem, received on his watch (!).
How long have DCHL/Mr Crombie known about VERY SIGNIFICANT non compliance with statutory Health and Safety requirements, and SCALE of risk and endangerment to company staff and the public.

How can any of this be A SURPRISE.
To a professional chairman-director of a council holding company.

Well, in surprising fashion, Mr Crombie states his advice ‘from Aurora and Delta had been the network was safe and he did not believe this was contradicted by Aurora’s asset management plan acknowledging thousands of compromised poles needed replacing’.

Further, ‘He thought the financial effects of replacing thousands of poles could be managed by changes to the timing of Aurora’s planned capital programme.’ Oh dear.

An EXTRAORDINARY statement, Mr Crombie.
As chairman of Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL), you are responsible to Dunedin City Council (the Shareholder) for KNOWING AND ENSURING that all Council-controlled organisations (CCOs) are compliant —not, that they are LIABILITIES for every Ratepayer and Resident in the district, who it appears are repeatedly picking up the tab for true lack of governance and oversight by the vainglorious Dunedin Mayor and Councillors.

‘Gusty’ Mr Crombie, proverbially thus far, came down in the last rain shower. But he may yet be of public assistance to have the company chief executive and bunch of defunct directors SACKED.

****

[Black White] on the nearly 3000 dangerous poles now scattered across the network, John Walsh says: “That’s not evidence. That’s hearsay.”

Delta worker Graeme Jeffrey, in an email to Mayor Dave Cull and councillors, said the companies had “closed their eyes in the pursuit of maximising profit”.

### ODT Online Sat, 29 Oct 2016
Dunedin Insight: Warned, in black and white
History of headaches for Delta
By Chris Morris
The warning was there in black and white. It came in an Otago Daily Times article, published in 1998, blowing the whistle on maintenance cuts across Dunedin and Central Otago’s electricity network. In it, former union delegate Ian Berry cautioned against the “never ending pursuit” of profit by Aurora’s predecessor, Dunedin Electricity Ltd. Unless the practice changed, the consequences for the network would be dire, he warned. […] But, far from rejecting the allegations, then-DEL chief executive John Walsh — later the man in charge of Delta — defended the cuts. […] Fast forward 19 years to the present, and former Delta worker Richard Healey has resigned to blow the whistle again — this time on the dangerous state of 2910 power poles across the network.
Read more

Key figures in Delta and Aurora’s history declined to comment this week, including former chairman Ray Polson, current chief executive Grady Cameron, and long-serving board member Stuart McLauchlan. The ODT asked repeatedly for an interview with Mr Cameron, but he pulled out on Thursday night, saying he had “nothing to add” beyond emailed responses.

Rotten power pole falls and cuts power, Dunedin ODT
Photo: Tyler Christmas 19 Feb 2013

****

“The story really is how a culture can shift from ‘we are doing this to provide a safe service to the community’ to ‘Jesus, if I just keep my head down’.” –Richard Healey

### ODT Online Sat, 29 Oct 2016
Informant, Delta poles apart
By Vaughan Elder
Giving up a 35-year career and a healthy pay cheque to blow the whistle was not easy for Dunedin man Richard Healey. But one tragic day loomed large in his decision. In lifting the lid on the serious danger from Aurora Energy’s “neglected and decaying” network, Mr Healey keeps going back to colleague Roger Steel’s death on December 9, 2010. Mr Steel was working on his own at  Millers Flat on a power pole when it toppled over. The fall of more than 20m left him with injuries a coroner said were “immediately and inevitably lethal”. […] Mr Steel’s death was followed in 2014 by an incident in which Vincent Moore suffered left leg fractures and a fractured lumbar vertebra falling from a pole while completing a service connection in Cardrona. […] Once again Delta pleaded guilty and was fined for health and safety breaches and once again Mr Healey said not enough changed at the company.
Read more

****

### ODT Online Sat, 29 Oct 2016
Hoping husband did not die in vain
By Lynda van Kempen
Karyn Steel fears safety standards have not improved in almost six years since an untagged, dangerous power pole caused the death of her husband. Delta was fined $75,000 for failing to take all steps to ensure the safety of its employees when lineman Roger Steel (63) died after the concrete power pole he was working on near Millers Flat toppled over, in early December, 2010.
….Following the inquest finding, Delta chief executive Grady Cameron said the company had upgraded and enhanced its work practices “to make sure we never have another workmate in this position again”.
….[Mrs Steel’s] husband had spent 43 years as a maintenance worker on electricity lines and loved his job but talked to her about his concerns over a “lowering of safety standards” at his workplace. The comments by whistleblower Richard Healey echoed those concerns and she admired his bravery in speaking out.
Read more

****

### ODT Online Sat, 29 Oct 2016
Regions: Central Otago
Wait to hear pole advice
By Tracey Roxburgh
Delta has responded to an urgent request from the Queenstown Lakes District Council seeking assurance that residents and visitors in the tourist town will be safe in the wake of allegations the company had neglected to replace dangerous poles across the district. What Delta has advised the council, however, will not be made public until next week, after the council has had a chance to consider it. Maps showing dangerous poles in Central Otago and Queenstown-Lakes towns were leaked to the Otago Daily Times this week.
Read more

****

What should you do if there is a dangerous power pole near you?
Call Aurora Energy and ask for details about the condition of the pole/s and ask about its replacement plans.
Look out for movement over time, swaying in the wind, cracking, and the tension on the lines to your house increasing to the point where the barge board is damaged.
Contact Aurora immediately if you notice any of the above happening.
Consider not parking your car next to a damaged pole. 

█ Aurora Energy Ltd http://www.auroraenergy.co.nz/
█ Delta Utility Services Ltd http://www.thinkdelta.co.nz/

Alternatively, contact Delta on 0800 433 582

● ODT: Detailed map of dangerous poles at Dunedin
● ODT: Dangerous power poles – Mosgiel
● ODT: Dangerous power poles – Corstorphine and part of South Dunedin
● ODT: Dangerous power poles – North Dunedin and Leith Valley
● ODT: Detailed map of dangerous poles – Central Otago and Queenstown

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Images: teara.govt.nz [source: ODT] – graham crombie, accountant | irational.org – blue white umbrella skeleton, tweaked by whatifdunedin

Heads of Delta/ Aurora/ DCHL/ DCC out to lunch

Link received.
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 at 1:14 p.m.

### zerohedge.com Oct 27, 2016 4:01 PM
Source: sprottmoney.com (blog)
The Establishment Has Rigged the System: It’s Time to Shake Things Up
By Nathan McDonald 
Is the entire system rigged? Can we trust any of it? Yes and no. Large parts of the current “modern” day system we find ourselves living in is undoubtedly rigged against the little man. This is by design – make no doubt about it – but you should not let it rule your life. Because as history has proven time and time again, the true power lies in the people – we just don’t typically know it. The establishment is once again learning this harsh lesson. People are “waking” up at a pace that I have NEVER before seen in my life. […] The MSM has proven itself to be a powerful weapon, but its control is slipping. The alternative media are rising and rising fast. We are becoming the main source of most people’s information, proving once again my point that the power rests in the masses, not the elites.
Read more

****

****

Tonight at Channel 39 News, ODT deputy editor Craig Page tells us what’s in Saturday’s newspaper:

● More on the continuing investigation into the “Delta/Aurora saga”…. ‘neglect of repairs’ means “3000 dangerous poles in Dunedin” need to be replaced within 12 months.

[See Richard Healey’s latest comments on pole numbers at What if? Dunedin]

● DCHL chairman Graham Crombie offers “an explanation of sorts” and says there could be “consequences for Delta staff” down the track.

● Whistleblower Richard Healey “who broke the story at ODT”.

[TV3 first broke the news with Richard Healey at The Story (Newshub)]

● Chris Morris looks back at the history of Delta.

Mr Page says to expect “a lot more headlines out of it in the weeks to come”.

—

Related Posts and Comments:
27.10.16 Bev Butler says ‘Come in, Grady’ #LGOIMA #Delta
27.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 3 : Rotten Poles and Greedy Algorithms
25.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 2 : Plaudits to Saunders & Elder : Delta…
22.10.16 DCC struggles with Governance…. Delta/Aurora/DCHL…
21.10.16 Dunedin City Council must hang the companies out to dry
20.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy
19.10.16 Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: sprottmoney.com – censored | cathtatecards.com – social mendia without electricity by Leunig

Delta #EpicPowerFail 3 : Rotten Poles and Greedy Algorithms

Grady’s old poster (office)

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 at 11:10 p.m.

Readers, do you know what an algorithm is ? OK, make a brew and consider this while letting the Bells blend with the white stuff : WiseGeek advises that an algorithm is “a set of detailed instructions which results in a predictable end-state” (that’s geek for : “result”), however it also cautions that algorithms are only as good as the instructions given.

WiseGeek goes on to say that examples of the algorithmic, are instructions for assembling a model airplane, or, for the manually challenged among you, a computer programme ie simply, instructions in a set order, designed to perform a specific task….

Now, diving deeper, WiseGeek advises there are a number of different types of algorithm, with such esoteric names, as, “brute force algorithms”, “randomised algorithms”, and even backtracking algorithms (buy one of those quickly Grady !!), and my personal favourite, the “divide and conquer algorithm” (Yes Grady, Mr Crombie has bought one of those and was practising with it in today’s ODT….). Speaking of the ODT, if Vaughan Elder keeps up his sterling work, awards are beckoning for him, and deservedly so.

But the algorithm that Delta prefers and uses is the Greedy Algorithm, which is defined as an algorithm that “attempts to find not only a solution, but to find the ideal solution to any given problem”.

Now readers, stop stamping your feet, spilling the Bells and making the super wines all soggy (no madeira cake for you, ratepayers !). I understand that you don’t want to know about arcane formulas to balance electrical loads and the like, and how could algorithms possibly have anything to do with replacing rotten power poles ?

Within the “asset strategy” department of Delta – yes there is such a thing, and yes, they are six-figure inhabitants of the Delta payroll, there are some computer scientists, who have constructed a greedy algorithm to Grady’s specifications. Within the lines industry, this algorithm is the 8th wonder of the world. It can take a linesman’s power pole condition report, complete with photographs and evidence of rotten bases, and re-classify it from Condition 0 (immediate replacement) to Condition 4, 5, 6. This is a wonderful thing, because it enables Grady and his enablers to say that poles have been “rigorously tested by computer analysis”, and of course, computers are never wrong and are far more accurate than a few crusty old linesmen who only do actual visual inspection.

Your correspondent has been given information that recently, Chorus asked for permission to attach a Telecom line to an aged pole (is there any other sort in Dunedin?). The report from the field was that the pole was knackered. However, the computer had not been consulted, and the strategy department duly ran it through the algorithm, and it returned a classification of 0. Bad computer !! That was not “the ideal result !”. A bit of tough computer love ensued, and the pole was re-run through the algorithm again, and the pole re-emerged with a barely adequate rating of 2. There you go, said strategy, all fixed and ready to roll for Chorus ! “Not quite” said the people whose staff had to risk their lives getting up the pole, the pole is still had it ….regardless of what the algorithm says. Undeterred, the mad scientists of strategy ran the pole through the algorithm again and this time…. it yielded a rating of 4 ! Problem solved ! said the mad scientists, climb as high as you like – hook 10 Telecom lines on there !

The department responsible for the lines staff, then had had enough of the madness, and wrote an email that has become famous within Delta ….it said

“IF THIS POLE GETS RUN THROUGH THE COMPUTER ALGORITHIM AGAIN, THERE IS A VERY STRONG CHANCE THAT IT WILL SPRING TO LIFE AND GROW BRANCHES.”

This is the mad hatters world that Grady Cameron, Parton, Frow, Kempton, McLauchlan have created and presided over at Delta. A March hare would be envious.

If Delta had a belfry, bats would fly out of it.

[ends]

—

Related Posts and Comments:
25.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 2 : Plaudits to Saunders & Elder : Delta FunnyMoney
22.10.16 DCC struggles with Governance…. Delta/Aurora/DCHL…
21.10.16 Dunedin City Council must hang the companies out to dry
20.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy
19.10.16 Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: slidesharecdn.com – design open badges University College London | overlay: perdue.edu – utilitypolelodging, tweaked by whatifdunedin

Delta #EpicPowerFail 2 : Plaudits to Saunders & Elder : Delta FunnyMoney

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Mon, 24 Oct 2016 at 11:08 p.m.

Readers, we must again raise our teacups – yes, a bit of condensed milk would be nice, makes the shareholder revenge all the sweeter ! – to Vaughan Elder of the ODT, who rose to the What if? challenge, and lifted the lid (25.10.16) on some astounding revelations at Delta : Management “instructing” staff not to deal with urgent, “compromised” poles but instead, continue with programmed pole replacement. The following is the intellectually threadbare accounting intellect practised by Grady Cameron and the directors (and others) : We only have X funds allocated, and those funds have to replace Y poles and Z number of urgent compromised poles. No one knows the number of Z, but everyone knows Y because we have to publish it in our public records. Therefore we will continue with non-urgent Y, because if we reduce it awkward questions we can’t be bothered answering will be asked, and we will just defer – yet again – urgent work. She’ll be right. There’s not that many Z number poles falling down – we’ve just made a resolution that they are within our risk tolerances – no one’s been killed yet (Oh yes, Steelo, shame about that) – moving on – pass the madeira cake with the almond icing over here will you Trevor ?

Readers, it does appear that Nigel Saunders has confirmed that Delta management are telling staff to break the law, and refusing to put it into writing. Mr Saunders wrote in a memo “line supervisors are currently acting on a verbal instruction only which no-one seems to be willing to back up in writing, and if something goes wrong we all know what happens next”. What happens next in the event of an accident, is that Grady would solemnly pronounce that Procedures Have Not Been Followed, and Immediate Disciplinary Action Has Been Taken, and We Are VERY Sorry About the Failure By Line Staff To Follow Clear & Comprehensive Delta Regulations. (Code: Nothing to do with me, NOT MANAGEMENT’S FAULT….). That Mr Saunders had to put this in a memo and put his neck on the line shows what a toxic, dysfunctional place Delta has become.

If we were in any doubt that Delta and Aurora must be terminated, it came with Mr Saunders next revelation, that even when compromised poles are stabilised the solution actually involved waratahs and number 8 wire. Delta and Aurora must be the laughingstock of the lines industry.

The depth of the arrogance and cynicism displayed by Grady Cameron and directors Parton, Frow, Kempton and McLauchlan towards the shareholders is nowhere more evident than the 2016 accounts :

The directors gave Grady Cameron a massive pay rise for failing to meet 5 of the 8 Financial Objectives set by the Delta board last year; but Grady says in the report “we have increased shareholder equity with a prudent approach to risk and revenue growth”, and we get the euphemism meter off the scale as Grady attempts to explain why operating cash flows, the life blood of the business, are down from the forecast $9.974M to just $3.439M. Grady came up with this pearler, “Operating cash flows were $3.4M for FY16, below the forecasted $10M, due to temporary differences in the timing of receipts from customers.” Grady, would those “customers” be effectively just ONE customer, and would that customer have been Noble Investments, and is the temporary difference in timing, your sub-truthful way of saying that Delta will not receive all of its expected funds until, as the DCHL chairman admitted, until 2024 ? Shall we expect to see this disgraceful quarter truth featuring in your reports until 2024 ?

As well as the debacle over the cash flow, Grady and Delta failed spectacularly on the debt : The objective was debt at $21.728M, but debt is at….$29.165M, which is over $2M MORE than last year, ($26.5M), when Grady was singing the same cheerful song, all is well, we have our debt well in hand.

The truly depressing thing, is that if we look at what 3 financial objectives Delta did achieve, there is no cause for celebration there either :

Net Profit : achieved (just) $4.67m, vs objective of $4.61M. Now as any accountant knows, with turnover of $100M, it will not be hard to adjust the average $8.5M work in progress (WIP) to get whatever profit figure you want, within reason, so we should take no comfort that the $4.67M is a real figure, but that it might suffer an embarrassing reversal next year. (Remember readers, “I’ll be gone, you’ll be gone”…. that refrain in the boardroom must be getting louder….)

Capital Expenditure : Delta achieved its “target” of not spending MORE than $6.421M, by only spending $4.101M. This is an odd measure to gauge the health of a capital intensive business – to gauge how LITTLE the company spends on essential assets needed to perform their work efficiently. It shows the company is very constrained and has almost no capital base of liquid funds or retained earnings to use for capex.

Finally, Dividends : Yes, The target $2.5M DCHL dividend was achieved, because once again, the debt levels went up $2.7M to accommodate this, from $26.5M last year to $29.2M. Directors, if you want to deny this, show us, don’t tell us, and by the way, where is the “Investment in Financial Instrument” of $2.19M recorded as an asset ? Back to the dividend, at $5,000 each, this would have given Dunedin 500 new power poles and a much safer electrical environment. Grady, for all your faff about your environmental performance (heard the news, fleet fuel consumption down from 9.68 to 9.62 l/100km!) – what about the ratepayers’ street environment who have to dodge hundreds of your disgraceful poles with fear and trepidation. The fear and trepidation will soon belong to you – because there will be some waste management of the management waste, to coin a phrase, and it will involve “recycling” you to an “out of region facility”, and “recycling” those dismal directors back to their day jobs.

[ends]

—

Related Posts and Comments:
22.10.16 DCC struggles with Governance…. Delta/Aurora/DCHL…
21.10.16 Dunedin City Council must hang the companies out to dry
20.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy
19.10.16 Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: cagle.com – cold comfort by Nate Beeler, tweaked by whatifdunedin

DCC struggles with Governance…. Delta/Aurora/DCHL in slipslidy mode

More than ever, the Mayor and Councillors look/sound totally STUPID, glib and unthought. That we didn’t ditch the whole Council in the October elections, we can punch ourselves for NOW.

Here is yesterday’s verbose media statement from Aurora Energy chief Grady Cameron. Just stick to the real facts Grady. Answer why (as a former award winning ‘young energy executive of the year’) you have unwittingly compromised Public Safety, Workplace Safety, and Industry Compliance. The Commerce Commission (the regulator) has already been on your tail – so no surprises there! Stop the blither and Man Up.

Aurora Energy urgently reviewing pole maintenance programmes
21 Oct 2016

In light of safety concerns raised earlier this week, Aurora Energy is urgently reviewing its maintenance programmes to identify if there are any outstanding safety risks not already being addressed.
“Specifically, we are re-checking that all poles needing replacement are appropriately tagged, working with the Energy Safety Service on compliance, and reviewing the rate and priorities of the existing pole repair and maintenance programme,” says Chief Executive Grady Cameron.
Aurora Energy is re-checking 2,170 poles earmarked for replacement to confirm they all have the correct safety tag in place as a visual reminder for line workers not to climb. “We are halfway through that process and will have completed remaining re-inspections in the next two weeks. This verification work started on 5 October as part of our ongoing commitment to health and safety.”
The Energy Safety Service has initiated a safety compliance audit of our maintenance programme and we are cooperating fully. It will be carrying out a compliance and safety audit, including a documentation review this month, followed by a site visit in November. “We welcome the opportunity to work with the Energy Safety Service to ensure our risk assessment for the on-going safety of our works programme is optimal,” says Mr Cameron.
By December this year, the company will have completed most of its $4 million pole maintenance and replacement programme, as set out in its annual asset management plan, and will look to allocate more funding in the second half of the year. The Board has asked for an immediate review of the timing and prioritisation of pole replacement. The Board also supports further acceleration and investment in Aurora Energy’s existing pole replacement, repair and inspection programmes to address the replacement backlog and align with industry regulations.
There are 54,000 wooden and concrete poles within the Aurora Energy network. Of these 1,181 are identified for replacement within the next three months and 1,729 for replacement in the next 12 months. Last year, Aurora Energy replaced 770 poles and carried out 8,300 condition inspections.
“Aurora Energy wants to reassure the public that the concerns about poor condition power poles and pole tagging are an urgent priority. We’ve committed more than $400 million to secure the future reliability of our network over the next 10 years,” says Mr Cameron.
Aurora Energy is New Zealand’s sixth largest electricity network, supplying electricity to 86,400 homes, farms and businesses in Dunedin and Central Otago.

[ends] Link

Or, Mr Cameron could have said we’ve failed, we’re broke, and we resign.
Royal we.

—

Has Delta’s investment in failed subdivisions come at the cost of investment in core infrastructure. Council previously briefed on backlog of maintenance work, but no indication of anything “approaching the scale that may well now be the case”.

### ODT Online Sat, 22 Oct 2016
Call for heads to roll at Delta
By Vaughan Elder
A leaked internal email has revealed Dunedin City Council-owned Delta this year stopped prioritising work on its most dangerous power poles in favour of other work. […] Delta and Aurora Energy chief executive Grady Cameron declined requests for an interview yesterday […] In the leaked email, which was sent internally last week, Delta project manager Nigel Saunders called for urgent action to address a change in policy which meant “compromised poles” no longer had to be treated as “requiring support immediately”.

Mr Saunders said the change had been stated at numerous meetings, but staff had never been given written instruction of the change.

….[Mr Cameron] did not respond to a question about whether he should resign or whether investment in infrastructure had suffered because of Delta’s failed investments, including at least $13 million in bad debt it accrued over the Yaldhurst subdivision in Christchurch. DCHL chairman Graham Crombie did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.
Read more

****

WorkSafe not advised by Delta of issues concerning pole replacement, only information had was from whistleblower Richard Healey.

### ODT Online Sat, 22 Oct 2016
Worksafe starts looking into Delta
By Vaughan Elder
Worksafe has started a safety review of Delta after a whistleblower raised serious concerns over the lines network it maintains. A Worksafe spokesman said its responsible division, the Energy Safety Service, had begun an immediate documentation audit, which would be followed by an on-site review at Delta in the middle of next month. It said its review was started following an interview with former Delta worker Richard Healey, who has raised serious concerns about the state of the network. 
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
21.10.16 Dunedin City Council must hang the companies out to dry
20.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy
19.10.16 Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: Aurora 2015 Annual Report (detail from cover by whatifdunedin)

Dunedin City Council must hang the companies out to dry

Serious state of neglect in Aurora’s electricity network has potential to kill residents and leave Dunedin with a power crisis

—

AGAIN, why is the Otago Faily Times not taking out Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie from them there poles.

### ODT Online Fri, 21 Oct 2016
Fears poles could kill
By John Lewis
….Aurora Energy has said it would invest more money into its pole maintenance and replacement programme, and had contacted the Energy Safety Service to organise a compliance and safety audit, in a bid to ensure Aurora Energy’s infrastructure met safety requirements.
….[Richard] Healey said the Electricity Safety Act 2010 stated power poles that  were in poor condition had to be red-tagged and classified as either “Condition One  — not fit for design load” which meant it could fall down if the wind blows; or “Condition Zero — not fit for actual load”, which meant it could fall down without any environmental influences.
….“In total, there are about 3200 Condition One and Condition Zero poles. That’s a concern. The magnitude of the problem is fairly large.” [Richard Healey]
….Mr Healey said another big concern was the North City Two power cable, a 33,000 volt power cable which feeds the Dunedin city centre. The cable had been daily leaking about two litres of oil, used to insulate the cable,  for the past six years. There had been “token” efforts to find where the oil was going.
Read more + Videos

****

“In terms of proximity to schools, hospital, rest homes… it is just out of control.” –Richard Healey

Delta had not advised WorkSafe of the pole replacement issue.

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 18:45, October 20 2016
Dunedin lines company Delta under audit after whistleblower’s claims
By Jamie Small, Hamish McNeilly and Michael Hayward
WorkSafe has started an audit of lines company Delta after a whistleblower claimed its power poles were unsafe. A WorkSafe spokesman said the “immediate documentation audit” would be followed by an on-site review of Delta in mid-November. Delta, a Dunedin and Otago lines company, came under fire after former manager-turned-whistleblower Richard Healey said its power poles were neglected and dangerous.
….The Worksafe spokesman said it was not yet known when the audit would end. Energy Safety, a division of WorkSafe, is the national regulator for electrical safety and will conduct the audit. The audit will look at Delta’s safety management system and its performance. Identification, management and replacement practices for damaged poles would be part of the audit.
….WorkSafe was unable to comment on whether other lines companies in New Zealand had similar problems with rotting poles. All major lines companies contacted by Stuff said they had no problem.
Read more

****

### channel39.co.nz Thu, 20 Oct 2016
Delta gets flack over neglected poles
A southern electricity company is under scrutiny for allegedly failing to repair and replace dangerous power poles. A random sample reportedly revealed that 99% of poles needing replacement within a year didn’t have the required red warning tags on them. Delta manages the electricity network in Dunedin and Central Otago and is part of the Dunedin City Council’s financial arm.
Ch39 article + Video

****

Earlier story, the LINESMEN’S VOICES…..

### ODT Online Mon, 12 Sep 2016
Linesmen suggest powerpoles and lines a danger
By John Lewis
Electricity linesmen say it is only a matter of time before someone is killed by Dunedin’s decaying power network, after several poles and lines were downed by strong gales last week.
….A person from the industry, who declined to be named, said he and his colleagues were becoming increasingly concerned about the safety of the city’s network, particularly following the strong gales which buffeted the area on Wednesday.
….Another anonymous person, who appears to work in the industry, agreed. They sent an email to the Otago Daily Times expressing grave concerns about the condition of the city’s ageing power poles and lines, which were being severely damaged by “years of under-investment in the Aurora network”.
Read more

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WorkSafe New Zealand
Contact WorkSafe 0800 030 040
█ http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe

Energy Safety
Part of WorkSafe New Zealand, Energy Safety acts as the regulator for ensuring the safe supply and use of electricity and gas in New Zealand. Energy Safety is responsible for providing an effective investigation, compliance, enforcement, and conformance regime for achieving electrical and gas safety outcomes.
█ http://www.energysafety.govt.nz/

Note: On Monday 4 April 2016, the new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) came into effect. HSWA repeals the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, with immediate effect.

—

Related Posts and Comments:
20.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy
19.10.16 Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: bbc.com – bear, tweaked by whatifdunedin

Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Thu, 20 Oct 2016 at 11:28 p.m.

Readers

There is no time for a Choysa tonight, we must address matters that have burst upon the national consciousness, at last.

The carefully constructed electoral feel-good fiction of Mayor Cull came crashing down on TV3 last night, like a rotten, toppling power pole crushing a car….(sound familiar, readers?). CEO Grady Cameron was a televisual train wreck, stammering, sweating profusely, looking anywhere but at the reporter grilling him, failing to answer some questions, then digging himself deeper on the ones he did answer. This train wreck must surely be a fatal one. Like all fatalities, decency would require that we look away, but there was a morbid fascination to see Grady bury himself, and his career at Delta. TV3 promised “this is not going away” and all Dunedinites who walk within 8 metres of a power pole owe a debt to TV3 for this. Unlike the sycophants at National Radio concerning the Delta “breakthrough” at Noble, TV3 couldn’t be manipulated into reporting deceptions.

And where was the ODT with this story that headlined on national news ? Nowhere. A complete silence. Editor Stewart, you make us sick. Editorial independence, never a strong point at the ODT, now looks to be completely eliminated with respect to DCC matters…. because the new CEO was the chief sidekick and enabler for the mayoral fiction that “financial dangerous messes” at DCHL and DCC were but a distant memory. In fact not only did the ODT prefer the front page ‘headline’ of an “Intimate visual recording” that ordinarily would have barely rated a paragraph in the court news, it also played a sick joke on readers by giving page 5 coverage about lightning striking a retirement village. Cynically, the article went on to acknowledge that an electrician said this wasn’t common – he knew of 6 incidents in 40 years. Delta whistleblower Richard Healey, of course, could name 6 fallen power poles that occurred within a month in Dunedin. Mr Cameron and Mr Crombie, as the ODT headline said, “A frightening bolt from the blue” … is coming for YOU.

It is clear, it seems, that all chest puffing about the tens of millions of Delta and Aurora dividends paid to DCC since the late 1990s (promoted by everyone from CEO Bidrose, DCHL Directors to Mayor Cull) was just that – puffery. Asset replacement has been deferred for a very long time, and has been aided and abetted with inept directors such as Kempton, McLauchlan, Parton, and before them, Polson and Coburn. (Note, this is a far from exhaustive list !), who either did not have the integrity to say to Council to take a hike on the dividends because the priority is a functioning electricity network, or were out of their depth, and resorted to an accounting approach and signed off on capital expenditure that bore no relation to reality. These directors expected that they would not suffer any consequences. “I’ll be gone, you’ll be gone” in the famous words of the 2015 John Kay treatise, Other People’s Money (highly recommended, readers !).

The alleged profits and dividend payments from Delta and Aurora, can be seen now as defined in the 2007 exposé, The Black Swan, as nothing more than “profits were simply cash borrowed from destiny, with some random payback time”. The directorial trick was to have departed when the music stopped and payback time arrived.

Mayor Cull must stop his bromance with the dismal Mr McLauchlan, who, as it has been pointed out in recent threads, has been present at the DCC trough for every major DCHL debacle since his appointment in 2007. Mr McLauchlan was instrumental in appointing Mr Cameron as CEO in 2009. A number of people can confirm that Mr McLauchlan told anyone who would listen in 2008 that he had found this excellent young executive, Grady Cameron, who apparently was far, far better than then present incumbent John Walsh. Another failure, Mr McLauchlan, one that has cost the city tens of millions, if not nine figures. Mr McLauchlan is on the outer at the University, and the DCC has shown some good sense by introducing director term limits so he is out next year. Mayor Cull, don’t wait for next year, show some leadership and ditch him, Kempton, Parton and Mr Crombie now. At least then you can say to the inquiry that you’ve done something. (And yes, there will be an inquiry that you will not be able to influence, unlike the another recent Delta inquiry).

The truly amazing point is that if Mr Healey’s allegations are true (and this correspondent has been given credible information that Mr Healey can prove everything he alleges), then yes-man-in-chief Grady has presided over some amazing deceptions that trump even the lies and deceptions at the Noble subdivision. How could a functioning competent and credible organisation allow the sudden and false misclassification of thousands of rotten and dangerous power poles from rotten to robust ? The answer is that Delta is dysfunctional, incompetent and corrupt and must be stripped from top to bottom.

Adam Smith said it best in 1776 :

“The directors of such companies, however, being the managers rather of other people’s money than of their own, it cannot be expected, that they should watch over it with the same anxious vigilance with which the partners in a private copartnery frequently watch over their own… negligence and profusion must always prevail, more or less”.

Time to stop the negligence and profusion of waste and incompetence, and make Delta a department of the Dunedin City Council. Cr Lee Vandervis, who has warned about the impending Delta disasters for years, and stated publicly in the election campaign that he strongly favoured a return to direct council control of Delta, has been proven to be right.

[ends]

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

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References:

● John Anderson Kay is a visiting professor of economics at the London School of Economics and a fellow of St John’s College, Oxford University. He is a director of several public companies and contributes a weekly column to the Financial Times. In his book Other People’s Money: The Real Business of Finance (2015), Kay demonstrates “an ability to explain the role in the 2007-08 financial crisis of such concepts as credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations and moral hazard… [He] is at his best in reminding us that the financial system is still fragile and in explaining that more regulation is not the answer… We can applaud his call for a cultural change that will enhance ethical standards and put the customer first.” —Wall Street Journal

● The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (2007) is a book by the essayist, scholar, philosopher and statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb. It focuses on the extreme impact of certain kinds of rare and unpredictable events (outliers) and humans’ tendency to find simplistic explanations for these events retrospectively. This theory has since become known as the black swan theory. The book also covers subjects relating to knowledge, aesthetics, and ways of life, and uses elements of fiction in making its points. The author frequently shares anecdotes from his own life to elaborate his theories. The first edition spent 36 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. The book is part of Taleb’s four volume philosophical essay on uncertainty, titled the Incerto.

● An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, generally referred to by its shortened title The Wealth of Nations, is the magnum opus of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. First published in 1776, the book offers one of the world’s first collected descriptions of what builds nations’ wealth, and is today a fundamental work in classical economics. By reflecting upon the economics at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the book touches upon such broad topics as the division of labour, productivity, and free markets.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: Delta 2016 Annual Report, page 63 illustration (detail tweaked by whatifdunedin)

Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL

The What if? Dunedin team has received repeat ‘word’ in the last 24 months from disgruntled ratepayers and residents, as well as senior personnel inside and outside Delta Utility Services / Aurora Energy…. (Otago and Canterbury).

Whistleblower Richard Healey is not alone [Story newshub.co.nz]

That Mr Healey was “escorted from his workplace of seven years” speaks volumes about the sad-arsed top tier trougher and ‘Board of Directors’ that prop up the two Dunedin City Council-owned companies [Luggate, Jacks Point, Yaldhurst, civil construction and contract fails, property speculation, joint venture quackery and rorting, vehicle pool and equipment indulgences at mates rates and for ‘friends’, exorbitant chief executive salary rise with bonuses, top heavy over-paid management, ratepayer subsidised tender bids, a crippled if not completely broken electricity network, anyone?] ….and annual subvention payments to the multimillion-dollar-loss-making Dunedin stadium.

Does that sound competent.

Wide public knowledge of the state of the ill-managed electricity network apparently hasn’t assaulted the senses of our Award-winning young executive Grady Cameron or indeed the short and stout DCHL chairman Spongebob Crombie.

Thanks to Media Man for the tweet alert earlier this evening.

#Dunedin #NZ #Delta @whatifdunedin @clarecurranmp https://t.co/q6YGQwlb8e

— Media Man (@TheWarRoomNZ) October 19, 2016

—

“No guarantees” for the public or the workers [Story newshub.co.nz]

### newshub.co.nz Wed, 19 Oct 2016 7:25 p.m.
Source: Story at TV3
Ex-manager blows lid on ‘dangerous, toppling’ power poles
By Jendy Harper
A former manager in the electricity industry has quit his job to go public over the state of New Zealand’s power poles, which he says are toppling from neglect. Last week Richard Healey quit his job at Delta, which manages the electricity network in Dunedin and Central Otago, and was escorted from his workplace of seven years. He called Story after he left the building and said he had resigned over the rundown and unsafe state of the electricity network in his patch, and he wanted to go public about it. […] Whistleblower Mr Healey has since met with Energy Safety, a division of Worksafe, and they will follow up on the matters he has raised.
Read more + Video (full Story report)

“A decaying and dangerous network” [Story newshub.co.nz]

—

Related Posts and Comments:
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust —Update, July 2016

PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday, 28 July 2016 at 7pm
South Dunedin Presbyterian Hall (at back)
The Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust will hold a public meeting to update the community on its progress and announce the formation of the High Street Cable Car Society Inc, which will take over much of the work of the trust.

Mornington Trailer No. 111 [ODT files]

ODT Online Thu, 7 Jul 2016
Cable car group seeks funds to build
By Timothy Brown
The group behind a bid to re-establish High St’s cable car route hopes to open its temporary display museum by Christmas. The Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust is applying for funding and building consent for its temporary 72sq m display museum after securing a lease in Mornington Park from the Dunedin City Council last month. The museum would house a trailer and two grip cars in a bid to raise funds for a proposed $2.5million future facility, trust member Neville Jemmett said. “This is what we are calling our elephant step, because it’s the first time we have got a foot on the ground. Everything has been in folders and papers before now,” he said. The museum would comprise a three-door steel garage with a track for Mornington trailer No111 to be rolled in and out to allow for access and to display it. “It’s only temporary, that’s why it’s not a fancy building. It’s to basically show people that we mean business.”
Read more

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Mon, 11 July 2016 at 12:27 p.m.
Received from Neville Jemmett, Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust
█ July 2016 DHLRT Heritage newsletter (PDF, 8.17 MB)

[cover page]

—

Related Posts and Comments:
27.5.15 Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust Newsletters 2015
4.11.14 Phillip George (Phil) Cole, RIP
5.6.14 DCC Transport Strategy and Riccarton Road
28.7.13 Dunedin Cable Car Trust – Public Meetings Sunday 28 July
14.2.13 Phil Cole on the High Street Cable Car
15.1.13 Return of High Street cable car
23.12.11 High Street cable car update
29.11.10 Phillip Cole on Dunedin buses
16.9.10 Pre-election opinions on public transport and the stadium
26.11.09 The Chronicles of Yarnia
19.10.09 Cable Car Meeting @Dunedin
27.8.10 Invitation to ALL #High St Cable Car
23.11.09 High Street Cable Car a possibility
9.7.09 Designing public transport for repeat use

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Harbourside: Official information request to Dunedin City Council

Note: LGOIMA official information requests can be emailed direct to officialinformation @dcc.govt.nz

DCC Webmap – Upper Harbour Central Dunedin JanFeb 2013

—

From: Elizabeth Kerr
Sent: Monday, 7 September 2015 2:30 p.m.
To: Sandy Graham [DCC]
Cc: Elizabeth Kerr; Grace Ockwell [DCC]; Sue Bidrose [DCC]
Subject: LGOIMA Information Request

Dear Sandy

Re: Urban Design and Envisioning for Dunedin Harbourside

I note the following media items:

● ODT (19.8.15) Cull to push for more city hotels [hotel accommodation]
● ODT (20.8.15) Under-fire Cull stands by comments [hotel accommodation]
● ODT (26.8.15) – A Mackay, Opinion Harbourside development adds vibrancy
● ODT (31.8.15) – P Entwisle, Opinion Extraordinary works inspired by nature [Van Brandenburg]
● ODT (5.9.15) Waterfront the next big thing? [bridge, aquarium, ORC headquarters, hotels etc]
● ODT (5.9.15) Harbourside views in conflict
● ODT (5.9.15) ORC denies hindering development
● ODT (7.9.15) Vogel Street Party spreads its wings [Van Brandenburg ‘hotel’ model]
● ODT (7.9.15) Conferences ‘great’ boost for city

●● DCC media release (27.8.15) Building stronger local government connections with China

●● Indications are that DCC wants Otago Rowing Club to relocate from their premises to a site of the DCC’s choosing.

I wish to formally request ALL reports and visionary/guiding documents and or statements/statements of proposal or intent that are currently being used by Dunedin City Council in consultation with other parties (real and potential – local, national and international) be they:

focus groups, steering groups, working parties, development partners, surveyors, designers/architects, resource management specialists, investors, project facilitators, project managers, University of Otago, Otago Polytechnic, Otago Chamber of Commerce and or other – to ‘shape and envision’ the future development of Dunedin Harbourside in the urban area that extends from:

Otago Boat Harbour and its vicinity (includes Industrial 1 zone, Stadium zone, Port 2 zone) to the area zoned for mixed use south of Dunedin’s Steamer Basin (Harbourside zone) and further south to Portsmouth Drive (Industrial 1 zone); including connections to existing precincts TH12, TH13, TH05, TH04, TH03 and TH02.

Any corresponding information and explanation that derives from the, to be publicly notified (this month?), second generation plan (2GP) for these city blocks and foreshore area is also requested.

I look forward to prompt receipt of all available information in electronic format.

Regards

Elizabeth Kerr
[Dunedin North]

——————

From: Sandy Graham [DCC]
Sent: Monday, 7 September 2015 2:42 p.m.
To: Elizabeth Kerr
Cc: Grace Ockwell [DCC]; Sue Bidrose [DCC]
Subject: RE: LGOIMA Information Request

Dear Elizabeth

Thanks for your very detailed LGOIMA request which I have forwarded to the officialinformation @dcc.govt.nz. Your request will be processed under the terms of LGOIMA and a response will be provided as soon as practicable but in any event within 20 working days.

Regards
Sandy

[DCC Group Manager Corporate Services]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
[it’s OK, not holding my breath for too much public disclosure]

University rolls down, Harlene not the only problem….

Due to an observable fall in student numbers, we have claimed if not predictably on other threads that there is PANIC !!!! at the University of Otago.

We’ve set to encouraging “our people” to attend other universities; while University of Otago continues to generate and support drunken disorder and lawlessness in our public domain —by allowing wayward noisy destructive gatherings (euphemistically known as parties!) in the tertiary campus area, particularly at the likes of Hyde and Castle Streets. These combine the usual assortment of assaults, vandalism, fires, hospitalisations and arrests, with undue waste of personnel, money and resources by emergency services, city council and university —impacting taxpayers and ratepayers. This so-called support from University of Otago and OUSA for youthful hijinks (civil unrest and criminality) comes as “ambulance at bottom of cliff”.

Funny we should say “ambulance” —perhaps it’s better to use “rapid response vehicle with broken windscreen”, Harlene?

Although you prefer “paving” and “village square”, or whisper “quality”.
How about ‘Dark Disgrace’ ?

█ QUESTION: Is University of Otago using an open tendering system for construction projects? YES/NO
If not why not, contact head of http://www.otago.ac.nz/propertyservices

—

### ODT Online Thu, 2 Apr 2015
Editorial: Jolting any university complacency
OPINION Whatever the spin from the University of Otago, the sudden drop in first-year domestic student numbers is a shock. The fall of 350 full-time equivalents (Efts) equates to nearly 10% over last year. It reverses the previous year’s first-year domestic increase of 119 (3.2%). […] Overall, the roll decline compared with March last year is 469 to 17,172, against a budgeted prediction of an increase of towards 200. Vice-chancellor Harlene Hayne might say projected shortfall in income is less than 1% of the total budget. But the university is a huge organisation and 1% represents about $6 million.
Read more

****

BORING SALES TALK FROM HARLS

### ODT Online Wed, 1 Apr 2015
Luring the best and brightest
By Harlene Hayne – Vice-chancellor, University of Otago
OPINION It is easy to forget that neither constant growth nor sheer size define the world’s great universities. Indeed, if anything, the opposite is true. Among those that consistently make the top 10 in the prominent international rankings, the vast majority – including Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge, MIT, Chicago and Caltech – have a student roll either similar to or smaller than Otago’s.
Read more

—

Related Posts and Comments:
28.3.15 University of Otago landscaping
22.3.15 University of Otago: More national and global publicity #HydeStreet
10.3.15 *Surprise!* Farry’s f.u.b.a.r. Stadium not attracting first year Efts
18.2.15 University of Otago: Toga Party 2015 #video
16.2.15 University of Otago can’t beat broadcast news and social media #image
18.12.14 University of Otago —um Harlene, what you sellin’ now, girl?
12.8.14 Cameras in North Dunedin
1.8.14 University Partyville, North Dunedin: Put the cameras in ~!!
16.7.14 Stadium: Out of the mouths of uni babes…. #DVML
30.4.14 Octagon mud
22.3.14 Dunedin North care less filthy slum
19.3.14 Dunedin North drunks
15.2.14 University of Otago: Starter questions for Harlene
10.2.14 University of Otago major sponsor for Highlanders
9.1.14 Facadism: … University of Otago warps Castle Street
19.8.13 Cull on senility (firing up graduates)
24.7.13 University: Leith flood protection scheme and landscaping
31.5.13 University of Otago development plans
25.3.13 UoO: NEGATIVE PRESS: Weekly disorder in Dunedin campus area
20.2.12 University of Otago student orientation
17.2.12 Salvation Army: The Growing Divide
17.12.11 Stadium + Cull love = University of Otago + OUSA party
23.11.11 Judge Oke Blaikie finally said it
9.11.11 DCC has PR problem

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images (tweaked by whatifdunedin): sunlive.co.nz – Cat (called Harlene); natlib.govt.nz – Bottom of cliff [original by Christopher Slane 2.2.08]