ORC $wimming in it —SHOULD afford more Otago environmental protection

….not a new office palace at Dunedin.

Spending figures on flood protection and river management, particularly on the Leith and Taieri systems, and public transport, are heavily weighted towards Dunedin.

### ODT Online Mon, 9 Jan 2017
‘Dunedin-centric’ ORC gets roasting
By David Williams
Michael Laws’ already poor appraisal of the Otago Regional Council just gets worse. Official council figures provided to the Otago Daily Times detail the council’s $56million in reserves, its plans for spending up to $24million on a new Dunedin headquarters and a breakdown of spending in the Queenstown Lakes, which is affected by lake snow. Mr Laws, who was elected to the council’s Dunstan ward in October, said: “It’s worse than we thought, to a degree. They’ve got a huge amount of money and they spend very little.”
….He accused the council of having a very hands-off policy towards Dunstan issues and particularly Queenstown and the lakes over the past five years. “It’s withdrawn staff from the area, it’s not monitored the lakes which is its basic statutory responsibility, it’s spent very little money dealing with pests, whether flora or fauna, and I think personally that the reason in large part is if you don’t live in an area you don’t properly understand it.”
Read more

****

L A K E ● S N O W

10.6.16
The alga called Cyclotella, or recently renamed by algologists as Lindavia intermedia, is related to the ‘rock snot’ alga didymo. The recent appearance of lake snot is associated with the emergence and dominance in Cyclotella, according to a team of scientists from the University of Otago, Landcare Research and Université Laval (Canada).
–Erica Mather, Sciblogs: Southern NZ lakes congested with algal snot

Lake Snow [stuff.co.nz]

ORC – Lake Snow
In recent years, a slimy substance called ‘lake snow’ has been found in Lake Wanaka, Wakatipu and Hawea. Otago Regional Council (ORC) is working with stakeholders and researchers to find out more about where lake snow comes from, what influences it, and how it could be managed. Read more

█ Lake snow brochure (PDF, 1 MB)

QLDC – Lake Algae
For a number of years the Lake Wanaka water supply has been affected by the presence of algae. The algae is not harmful from a health perspective, but has had an effect water filters, irrigation fittings, new appliances and other equipment. The algae is not noticed at all the properties in Wanaka and no pattern has been found. In mid-2016 QLDC began receiving reports of algae build-ups in a number of water filters around Queenstown that take water from Lake Wakatipu. It has been identified as the same algae that has affected the water system in Wanaka for the past eight years or so.
Identifying and managing lake algae

In 2004 Didymosphenia geminata, a diatom commonly known as didymo or rock snot, was discovered in New Zealand, the first time it was found in the Southern Hemisphere. To restrict its spread, the whole of the South Island of New Zealand was declared a controlled area in December 2005. All items, such as boats, fishing gear, clothing, and vehicles, that have been in a stream, river or lake, must be cleaned before they enter another waterway.
Wikipedia: Didymo in New Zealand

****

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 12:14, Sep 1 2016
Fears lake snow could make Lake Wakatipu ‘unfishable’
By Jo McKenzie-McLean
An experienced fishing guide fears Lake Wakatipu could end up “unfishable” with the invasive spread of the algae bloom, lake snow, and warns Lake Dunstan could be next. Queenstown fishing guide Stu Dever, armed with his rod and reel, voiced his concerns about the presence of lake snow in Lake Wakatipu to Otago Fish and Game committee members at a meeting in Cromwell last month. His rod was clogged with the thick globules of algae after only one day’s fishing on the lake … The mucous-like substance is produced by the algae cyclotella has now been observed in three South Island lakes.
Read more

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 12:49, Nov 4 2016
Lake snow discovered in Hawea as algae spreads through southern lakes
The nuisance algae known as lake snow has been confirmed in Lake Hawea as it continues to spread through the southern lakes. Officially known as Cyclotella bodanica, it has been present in Lake Wanaka for several years and has this year been confirmed in Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown. It has also been found in Lake Coleridge in Canterbury. It does not present a health risk but can block water filters on commercial premises and residential appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines.
Read more 

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 11:13, Dec 19 2016
Laws calls for Otago Regional Council to apologise over Lake Snow ‘inaction’
By Jo McKenzie-McLean
The Otago Regional Council needs to “apologise and atone” for its “grossly inadequate” action over the Lake Snow problem in the alpine lakes, newly-elected Otago regional councillor Michael Laws says. “Lake snow was notified to the Otago Regional Council in 2008. It did nothing until September 2016, and in that time the algae and its effects have taken a firm grip on Lake Wanaka and now spread to other lakes. As with the invasive weed lagorosiphon [oxygen weed], the ORC’s inertia on lake snow stands as an object lesson of what can go wrong when you react, and react late, rather than research. There are some massive lessons for our governance here. We dropped the ball big time and need to accept, apologise and atone.” Cr Laws said there needed to be a significant financial investment in the southern lakes and that any delay would only make the problems less manageable and more expensive. “The Otago Regional Council has no debt, and $56 million in reserves. It wants to spend $25 million on a new HQ in Dunedin. I say those priorities are dead wrong: The lakes and our waterways – along with pest destruction – must be our prime responsibilities.”
Read more

****

Dr Schallenberg and other scientists have been frustrated by rejected funding applications on research into lake snow, and the Otago Regional Council only stepped up monitoring last year, although it has paid for some research on Lake Wanaka’s health.

### ODT Online Sat, 7 Jan 2017
Editorial: The lake snow threat
It is past time to drive action on “lake snow” (“lake snot”). The slime produced by an  algae in Lake Wanaka — it is also in Lake Coleridge and was found last year in Lakes Hawea and Wakatipu — is unsightly and a significant nuisance. More importantly, it could have long-term and unknown ecological impacts.
….It was first noticed in Lake Wanaka about 2004 as those fishing spoke of fouled lines and blocked engine intakes. Washing machine and other filters in Wanaka began to become clogged because the town water supply comes from the lake. […] The same algae had also been found in another relatively unpolluted lake in Seattle in the United States. Just like didymo (“rock snot”), under certain conditions cyclotella secretes large amounts of mucus. This can all join together to form a mat. Just why it appears is still a mystery.
Read more

### ODT Online Sat, 7 Jan 2017
Lake snot costs hit six figures
By Guy Williams
Queenstown hotels are being forced to install expensive filtration systems to prevent lake snot (also called lake snow) damaging or blocking their water systems. Sofitel Queenstown Hotel manager Vincent Macquet said a self-cleaning filter identical to one operating at Dunedin Hospital was installed at the hotel five weeks ago at a cost of “hundreds of thousands” of dollars. Lake snot began clogging its water system last winter, causing hot-water valves to fail and reducing water pressure. […] Macquet said it was a “touchy subject” with hoteliers, with representatives from seven hotels meeting Queenstown Lakes District Council staff about a month ago to express their concerns.
Read more

Didymo, Hawea [landcareresearch.co.nz]

Didymo (aka rock snot) [jrn.com via knownews.com]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

OPINIONS : Otago Southland regional tourism

– Southland regional strategy pumps for another 10,000 residents
– Central Otago looking at healthy linkages – Chinese gold mining trail
– Queenstown Lakes means ‘business’, flourishing! [infrastructure demands]
– Quelle surprise, Dunedin City Council criticised on visitor strategy (what tourism plan ?)….

Broadcast from RNZ’s Dunedin studio
### radionz.co.nz 5 Jan 2017 at 5:12 pm
Outspoken: The Future of the Deep South Link
In this Outspoken, a panel chaired by RNZ’s Otago/Southland reporter, Ian Telfer, looks at the deep south of the country – what is the future for the country’s most southern region and how successful is the push to get more people to shift there?
Audio | Download: Ogg MP3 (27′22″)

● Virginia Nicholls, CEO, Otago Southland Employers Association
● Norcombe Barker, Director of Larnach Castle, tourism leader and board member of Dunedin Host
● Tim Cadogan, Mayor of Central Otago (speaking by phone)

****

Just a tiny amount of what we know, from the Interior, in no geographical order whatsoever…. click on photo for source or go to Comments for credits.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Christmas Lights Displays #Dunedin

[while the power is on, thanks Delta….]
Christmas Lights Displays you can visit at Dunedin
via ODT’s Dave Cannan at The Wash (29.11.16):

68 Campbells Rd, 79 Rudd Rd, 62 Salmond St, 17 Hastings St, 1 Ipswich St, 1 Isadore Rd, 2 Braeside, 6 Forth St, 4 Doon St, 15 William James Cl, 10 Cavan Pl, 26 Gladstone Rd Nth, 21 Shipka St, 503 South Rd, 1 Centennial Rd, 9 Flower St, 6 Alfred Pl, 19 Magdala St, 20 Magdala St, 3 Nelson St, 103 Richardson St, 4 Roy Cres, 8 Viscount Rd.

█ See map published at this page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DunedinXmasLights

—

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.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: NBR excerpt by smartphone (screenshot)

PROFOUND #AvoidMegaStructuresForHappyCities

Link received Tue, 21 Apr 2015 at 6:45 p.m.

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 17:09, April 21 2015
Christchurch Convention Centre location a ‘mistake’
By Lois Cairns
Putting a convention centre in the middle of Christchurch’s city centre is a mistake, Canadian urban experimentalist Charles Montgomery says.
“If your interest is in creating rich, social, connected environments in your core you should be very wary of plans to drop mega structures into that fabric. Convention centres are notorious, because of their architectural requirements, for killing street life around their edges,” Montgomery said.
“We need to be very wary of renderings of mega structures like convention centres that are filled with cartoon people because frequently those cartoon people don’t actually appear after the structures are built.”
Read more

****

[screenshot]

TV1 Q + A 10:36AM Sunday April 12, 2015
The key to a happier life is in the design of our cities.
█ Video: Why sprawling, car dependent cities are making us miserable? Charles Montgomery (10:34)

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

God bless the ditch

The pointed disclaimer mentioned at ODT Online today:

The Australian blogger this week posted details of the man – including his name, former occupations and details of his offending – on his blog with the proviso: “WARNING: It is illegal for this editorial to be accessed by New Zealand readers because of suppression orders in that country”. (ODT)

Go to http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/309904/digital-era-subverts-suppression

What’s with a disclaimer these days. ODT knows. God knows.
Say hello to the blogger who never wastes words.

Rodney Hide at the Herald on Sunday.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Destination Queenstown immediately on the job #RoyalVisitNZ

Dunedin scored a cute hug at the Airport. Don’t know if Dunedin or the Stadium got any new fans, globally — Hello, Dunedin? Are we a tourist destination or a comfy klutz. Where are our statistics? Don’t answer that. If only the industrious Hillside Workshops had still been open for a visit. Perhaps Cunliffe’s right (link).

—

”Web hits are one nice measure, but the bigger impact is the media coverage itself. It’s out there now. They visited us, they had a sensational visit, the weather was beautiful and sunny and they did a couple of iconic Queenstown activities, so now that’s just spreading around the world.” –Graham Budd, DQ

### ODT Online Tue, 15 Apr 2014
Queenstown Hews
Global interest rockets after royal visit
By James Beech
Global interest in Queenstown has rocketed following the visit to Amisfield Winery and Shotover Jet by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on Sunday. The dividends in publicity generated by the media pack of 120 regional, national and international reporters are being counted by Destination Queenstown and Tourism New Zealand this week.
DQ chief executive Graham Budd said the number of visits to Queenstown’s official website gave the only immediate indication of the domestic and worldwide effect being achieved and more was expected.
Read more

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: telegraph.co.uk – Shotover Jet: Royal Whitewater

Eiontown killing it: Plans for upmarket convention centre + NTT hot pools

Another reason to avoid fubar stadium at Dunedin for hosting your little seminar of six people. It’s all over to Queenstown….

Artist’s impression of a $25 million hot pools complex proposal for QLDC’s Lakeview Holiday Park site [image via Mountain Scene]

—

### scene.co.nz Monday 16 Dec 2013
Tribe and Queenstown council in $25m hot pools talks
Maori tribe Ngai Tahu wants to make a bigger splash on Queenstown’s tourism scene with a $25 million hot pools complex. Today’s announcement says Ngai Tahu Tourism is in early discussions with the resort council over leasing 0.75 hectares of prime public land in the Lakeview site on Man Street. The Lakeview site is being pushed by Queenstown Lakes District Council as the preferred home for a $50m convention centre proposal, possibly linked to a casino-hotel complex to be built by SkyCity Entertainment Group. Ngai Tahu’s proposed development would include about 12 large public hot pools, four smaller private hot pools, changing facilities, a health spa, reception and retail building, and a café-restaurant. Annual patronage is projected at 300,000 to 350,000 customers. Ngai Tahu is already a major property and tourism player in the resort.
Read more

ODT: $25m hotpool plan for resort

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Architecture + Women Southern

[click to enlarge]

Website: Architecture + Women

Related Post:
21.4.13 Architecture + Women • New Zealand

—

Snapshot 500: Architecture + Women New Zealand
Edited by Julia Gatley, Sara Lee et al – $29.95
Published by Balasoglou Books, September 2013, paperback, 210x150mm, 98pages, 9780987659552

This small book belies its importance. There has never been anything like it published before – celebrating women in New Zealand architecture. It doubles as the catalogue for a series of events throughout the country. We believe it is a must for anyone interested in architecture and women’s place in it.

Women architects and designers have made a huge contribution to architecture and the built environment in New Zealand for many years. Many of these women are still not household names but they are nevertheless admired and respected in the profession.

This book presents close to 500 women, all involved in New Zealand architecture in some way, shape or form, from lead designer, company director and project manager through to graduate, student and team member. It shows that women have been leaders in every aspect of architectural design and production in this country, and that women architecture graduates are widely dispersed, both geographically and in their creative modes and outlets. The book was initiated through a newly formed society, Architecture + Women • New Zealand, and coincides with substantial exhibitions in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown. It will appeal to anyone with an interest in contemporary New Zealand architecture and design.

It includes two introductory texts, the first by the four A+W NZ co-founders (Megan Rule, Lynda Simmons, Sarah Treadwell and Julie Wilson) and the second by Julia Gatley. This is followed by images illustrating the work of almost 400 women involved with architecture in New Zealand, and mention of the names of many more, such as those involved with the A+WNZ incorporated society and the exhibitions in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown.

Enquiries: www.aaltobooks.co.nz

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Stadium: Accountability, paper trail leads unavoidably to NEWS

Stadium under construction [photo via espnscrum.com]

—

Comments received.

Bev Butler
Submitted on 2013/07/30 at 2:25 pm

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8981153/Phone-records-given-to-inquiry
Parliament’s speaker, David Carter:
“I view any actions that may put at risk journalists’ ability to report very seriously.”

Both Sir Eion Edgar and Sir Julian Smith have some explaining to do as to their “actions” in preventing the reporting of the information contained in the press release below which one of the ODT reporters contacted me about on 3 July 2013, asked me questions, then nothing being published in the ODT.

PRESS RELEASE
“Philanthropist” reneges on promised $1m donation
Full independent enquiry sought

The deceptions surrounding the Forsyth Barr Stadium continue to be revealed by official documents released on 11 June 2013.

The public, on many occasions raised doubts that the promises of private funding for construction of the stadium, had been met, but were assured by Mr Malcolm Farry, Chair of the Carisbrook Stadium Trust as reported in NBR and ODT 2007 that in fact several substantial donations had been promised. Indeed he went so far to tell the public that he had promises of three individual donations of $1 million each to be put to the costs of construction. Sir Eion Edgar also confirmed in DScene in 2009 that he would be making a donation of $1m.

That, as has now been revealed officially, was untrue.

It was also untrue as Mr Farry claimed when leading the project, that advance ticket or product sales revenue could be counted as construction capital. This was nothing other, as many ratepayers pointed out, simply advance operational revenue which could not be charged in the future. While Mr Farry denied this, the PricewaterhouseCoopers investigation found that there was little or no capital raised from ‘private funding’ for construction.

The relevance of this should not be lost when the evidence supplied to the High Court in Christchurch by the Carisbrook Stadium Trust through the DCC also stated that substantial private donations had been made for construction. At the time of the Stop The Stadium court case in April 2009, Mr Farry had stated publicly that more than $30m of the required $45m had already been contracted in private funding for construction of the stadium. It appears that evidence in the High Court case was also not truthful.

The role played by Forsyth Barr and its Chair, Sir Eion Edgar also come directly under a brighter spotlight from the release of the documentation. Sir Eion Edgar promised a substantial donation of $1m as reported in DScene 2009, but again this has proven not to be true. But this lack of philanthropy also extended to an obscuring of the facts surrounding the naming rights of the stadium. Despite Sir Eion Edgar claiming in the National Business Review (29/01/09) that a “substantial cheque” had been written for these rights, and The Marketing Bureau commissioned by the CST reporting to council the naming rights were worth $10m, the fact was that instead the stadium was named after his company for a period of two and a half years before any revenue was received. It has already been reported in the media that the naming rights were no more than $5m. An upfront substantial sum in advance reported in PwC peer reviews was somehow altered to a much lesser sum in monthly arrears payments which didn’t begin until late 2011.

Sir Edgar also had a significant role as President in his connections with the Otago Rugby Football Union when a fundraising function for the ORFU in August 2011 at the new Forsyth Barr Stadium defaulted in its payments to the Dunedin City Council leaving ratepayers to pick up the tab for booze, food, hireage and cleaning while the ORFU pocketed the gross income less a substantial organisational fee paid to the wife of the Deputy Chair of the ORFU, Laurie Mains.

While the PwC investigation was not intended to be a forensic audit of all financial matters surrounding the stadium, sufficient grounds now exist for such a full independent investigation to be carried out, and it is difficult to see just why this should be resisted unless some have got matters to try and continue to conceal. Doubts have also been expressed over the laxity of the billing and payment processes whereby blanket monthly CST accounts with no detail were passed for payment by the then CEO of the Dunedin City Council, Jim Harland, and there remains uncertainty over the validity of many of the expenses and other monies claimed for and paid by the ratepayers of the City.

[Response 1]

Elizabeth
Submitted on 2013/07/30 at 2:46 pm

Bev, quite apart from the content of the Press Release, are you saying the ODT journalist who contacted you about the release was lined up to do a story based on the content of the press release? Or that the editorial team did not support the reporter and canned the story as filed? Or for the newspaper’s own reasons there was never a story?! In other words, something of a spying mission took place?

Media can choose whether or not to cite the content of press releases in whole or in part.

Should a newspaper decline to reference a press release in its general news coverage, surely that leaves the writers of the release free to pay for an advertising statement. This is exactly what has been required with The Press in Christchurch over the fight to restore the Christ Church Cathedral – paid advertising by Cathedral advocates tied to education of the Press editor underlining the editorial bias which has run to the benefit of the Bishop and the CPT. We consider The Press’s stance deliberate to force use of paid advertising. The Press has softened since being SPOKEN TO.

****

[Response 2]

Russell Garbutt
Submitted on 2013/07/30 at 8:25 pm

Bev’s post needs as wide a circulation as possible and I would urge any readers to pass on the URL of this post to as many of their friends as possible, but it is as sure as God made little green apples, that the ODT will neither investigate nor publish anything that is detrimental to the interests of those that have certain influence and connections. I wonder if Sir Julian would be willing to show his phone records? Particularly those from the Central Otago region?

All of the material that Bev mentions regarding the naming rights is backed up by documentation – in fact so much of what Bev is talking about is now being played out in National politics with the Henry inquiry and Vance’s phone records. The story has to be dragged out before it is grudgingly admitted that a great wrong was done. And even then the perpetrators can’t get their story straight.

This is what I mean by accountability in many ways. Many have claimed that deceit, lies and obfuscation were just part of the normal business around the CST, DCC, ORFU and associated parties and it has also been suggested that this culture of deceit and lies extended to the High Court. Who am I to argue that this was not the case? But the same people’s names turn up time and time again. Reported are Farry, who continues to harangue from the side-lines, Edgar promising much and apparently confused between what is a donation and what is part of a payment for a sweetheart deal with the organisation of which he was part, or Harland, in the middle authorising payments on behalf of the ratepayers to the CST – a private Trust that remains a closed window.

And who is going to push for exposure of all the facts? We should be forever grateful for Bev’s assiduous work in prying out the necessary documentation and proof of what many have alleged for years. I can only hope that Bev Butler is, within the near future, able to ensure that any serious wrong-doing by those connected with the greatest waste of ratepayer funds, is put forward in a high profile way.

And if it can be shown in a separate jurisdiction that the allegations are well-founded – and I’m sure it can by the documentation that exists in private and on public record, then hopefully these people will be made accountable. But I’m not holding my breath.

****

[Response 3]

Bev Butler
Submitted on 2013/07/30 at 10:11 pm

Elizabeth, to now answer your questions – just briefly for now.
“The Edgar Story” was first published on Stuff News on Wednesday 3 July 2013. About an hour later the story was “pulled”.
Rarely does a story get “pulled” – it is generally due to major factual errors or a threat of defamation. As I know the information was correct then I assumed the latter.
I wrote to Fairfax management then emailed Forsyth Barr/Edgar’s lawyers. Two days later the story was published in The Mirror – a Central Otago Fairfax publication.
Interestingly, also on Wednesday 3 July an ODT reporter contacted me, questioning me about the Stuff News item. The reporter wanted to know who else I had sent the press release to. At the time I thought this was unusual – what did that have to do with reporting the news? I suspected that someone was wanting to do damage control behind the scenes. A week later I then heard from a good source that this was the case.
What really concerns me, apart from the serious issues in the press release, is the behind-the-scenes manipulation of ‘freedom of the press’. Dunedin citizens are no longer able to rely on the local media for local news. The damage done by this behind-the-scenes manipulation is dangerous. How this can be allowed to happen in a democratic society should be a concern for all in Dunedin. I don’t blame the reporter as he/she would have been instructed to question me.

[ends]

—

Related Posts and Comments:
18.7.13 ODT won’t touch Fairfax story
3.7.13 [Pulled!] Call for Dunedin stadium cash
24.12.12 A Christmas Tale
7.6.12 Stadium: Forsyth Barr naming rights
6.7.09 Eion Edgar on ‘stadium haters’

ODT Online:
11.5.12 $100m hotel for Dunedin waterfront [Edgar support]
11.5.12 Harbour hotel proposed for Dunedin

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ODT won’t touch Fairfax story

Supposing Sir E rang Sir J. What did they talk about. Parties?

#bookmark page 1
#bookmark page 2

—

### DScene 13 May 2009
The Insider: Big questions answered
Mr Generous isn’t slowing down
Winter Games NZ chairman Eion Edgar | Interviewed by Ryan Keen
COMMUNITY-MINDED Queenstown-based businessman Eion Edgar, who retired as New Zealand Olympic Committee president last week and left a $1 million donation, on his support for knighthoods, backing Blis and why he’s not slowing down. #bookmark page 9

—

Related Posts and Comments:
10.7.13 Stadium: Edgar will honour $1M personal pledge to project
3.7.13 [Pulled!] Call for Dunedin stadium cash
24.12.12 A Christmas Tale
7.6.12 Stadium: Forsyth Barr naming rights
6.7.09 Eion Edgar on ‘stadium haters’

ODT Online:
11.5.12 $100m hotel for Dunedin waterfront [Edgar support]
11.5.12 Harbour hotel proposed for Dunedin

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Employment matters —the BAD stuff

For anyone needing help, advice or mediation on employment and work-related matters anywhere in New Zealand . . .

Contact the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MoBIE) – formerly the Department of Labour.
█ http://www.dol.govt.nz/er/solvingproblems/resolving/mediation.asp

More information on mediation and how to access the service is available at http://www.dol.govt.nz/er/services/mediators/index.asp
or contact the centre on Freephone 0800 20 90 20

You can also contact your union representative, a lawyer or your local Community Law Centre for advice.

█ Don’t hesitate to call Police on 111 if you feel threatened.

—

We note the following news items with some distress and revulsion.

### ODT Online Wed, 1 May 2013
Queenstown driver paid $63,000 after sexual harrassment
By Abby Gillies
A female truck driver working in Queenstown has been awarded more than $63,000 for being sexually harassed, discriminated against because of her gender and unjustifiably dismissed from her job. A decision by the Employment Relations Authority has ordered Rachael Harrington receive $25,000 in compensation and $38,200 from her former employer Cromwell-based Thunderbird One, over her treatment.
The truck driver started work with the company in Queenstown, which operates a Mainfreight franchise, in September 2008. However, “her employment was both short and fraught”, and she resigned and filed a personal grievance three months later, said the ERA finding. Her claims of being unjustifiably disadvantaged, discriminated against and sexually harassed were unchallenged by the company, it said.
Read more

—

### ODT Online Thu, 2 May 2013
Sexually harrassed Queenstown driver miscarried
By James Beech
The former Queenstown female truck driver awarded more than $63,000 for being sexually harassed, discriminated against because of her gender and unjustifiably dismissed from her job suspects she miscarried as a result of being told to “manhandle” an 800kg load at work. The Employment Relations Authority ordered that Rachael Lee Harrington receive $38,243 as recompense for wages lost as a result of the dismissal and $25,000 as compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to feelings from her former employer, Cromwell-based Thunderbird One Ltd. Ms Harrington was “severely bleeding and miscarrying after lifting all the heavy pallets, so it was really super traumatic for her,” counsel Angeline Boniface, of Christchurch, told the Otago Daily Times yesterday. “The worst thing about this entire situation is that here she is bleeding profusely, her father asked for an ambulance to come on site and Mr [Justin] Marshall said, “If you get an ambulance, you’ll be up for disciplinary action,” Mrs Boniface said. “Meanwhile she’s bleeding, she wants to get into the building and other staff members have locked her out and [are] laughing at her. This is awful, just shocking.”
Read more

● Justin Marshall, managing director of Thunderbird One Ltd and Picture Vehicles Ltd, is not the former All Black and broadcaster Justin Marshall.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Hotel: Grahame Sydney on tenants for 164 apartments

ODT Graphic – The Wash, 17.4.13 (page 2)

—

Anonymous commented here (18.3.13) on the likelihood of the proposed tower apartments being pitched to students from China.

In short, proposed apartments intended as ‘university college’ atop a cheapish 5-star hotel.

Artist Grahame Sydney comes to the same conclusion. An (unpublished) opinion piece he sends to DScene leads reporter Wilma McCorkindale to engage Betterways owner, (note) Steve Rodgers.

We’d like Sydney to publish his full article ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ at What if? – since DScene and Southland Times only reference the item, fleetingly. Too hot to handle? So Grahame, if you’re reading this . . .
[happily, we got it, read the unabridged version here]

—

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 14:46 17/04/2013
Hotel a ‘hostel for privileged’
By Southland Times + DScene
Apartments in the proposed hotel for Dunedin’s waterfront could end up being occupied by Chinese students – or anybody else who wants them – project spokesman solicitor Steve Rodgers says.
Rodgers fronts for Betterways Advisory, a company owned by Chinese woman Jing Song*, which is proposing to build the 28-storey, five-star Dunedin Hotel on an industrial site a stone’s throw from the city’s inner harbour. This week he defended scathing commentary about the project, levelled by Otago artist Grahame Sydney.
In an article called Heartbreak Hotel sent to DScene, Sydney voiced several concerns, many already played out during a recent consent hearing – including the hotel’s ability to achieve economically viable occupancy rates. Sydney believed Betterways was targeting the lucrative international student market, specifically Chinese students, by including 164 apartments in the project.
Sydney also complained that a promotional video illustrating the hotel concept deliberately excluded surrounding heritage buildings in its visuals. The impact on heritage values in the city was one of the major concerns raised in submissions.
Read more

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*What if? notes the New Zealand Companies Office register entry for Betterways Advisory Ltd (3142026) lists Stephen Rodgers as the sole director, with LMW Trust Limited (3141813) as the shareholder. Jing Song isn’t mentioned in connection with either entity.

Related Posts and Comments:
15.4.13 University buys LivingSpace Dunedin
15.4.13 Shane McGrath —Gelber LuftBallon (Dunedin Research Project)
14.4.13 Ballooning! —playing off Betterways
16.3.13 Hotel: COC jollies and sweet cherry pie
23.1.13 Proposed hotel: Council and submitters await detailed information

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Hotel: COC jollies and sweet cherry pie

LUC 2012-212 Betterways Advisory Limited
41 Wharf Street, Dunedin

507 submissions were received following notification of the application, 457 in opposition, 43 in support, and seven were neutral in their stance.

How high is 96.300 metres. How rank is the design.
How sunk is public access to full assessment of environmental effects (AEE).

Christchurch is building low.

The Dunedin stadium (named for the company the Commerce Commission recently described as misleading and deceptive in their marketing) has not been tested by a large earthquake or swarm. It stands on land prone to liquefaction.

The proposed hotel and apartment complex (28 storeys) – a tall building – will stand on land prone to liquefaction.

Is there sense or cents driving this. Offshore bling.

The Minister for Tourism, Pokies and Convention Centres is John Key PM.
Tourism lives in the second tier economy, mostly, brashly, at Queenstown Lakes.

Dark suits of Chamber want some o’ that sweet cherry pie.
How will it come.

Related Posts and Comments:
23.1.13 Proposed hotel: Council and submitters await detailed information
28.12.12 ‘Low-rises are great for the community and the residents’
24.12.12 A Christmas Tale
21.12.12 Proposed hotel – ODT graphic indicates building height
19.12.12 Hearing for proposed hotel – competencies, conflicts of interest?
16.12.12 Proposed Dunedin Hotel #height
10.12.12 Proposed hotel, 41 Wharf St – “LEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS”
7.12.12 Proposed hotel – Truescape shenanigans
6.12.12 Dunedin Hotel – revised design
2.12.12 Roy Rogers and Trigger photographed recently at Dunedin
26.11.12 Proposed hotel, 41 Wharf Street – indicative landscape effects
20.11.12 City planner’s report recommends against consent for hotel
10.11.12 Dunedin Hotel, 41 Wharf Street (LUC 2012-212)
4.10.12 DUNEDIN: We’re short(!) but here is some UK nous…
8.9.12 Waterfront Hotel #Dunedin (Applicant names?)
7.9.12 Waterfront hotel: DCC to notify resource consent application
23.6.12 Mis(t)apprehension: website visits, not bookings?
16.5.12 Dunedin Hotel

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Images: Cherry Pie, WiseGeek (top). ‘Cherry Pie service’ (redraw), from Cherry Pie (Remastered), last.fm

When in China… #Architecture @Dunedin

Dunedin usually makes headlines for its couch- burning university antics, but in fact it’s one of the smartest cities in the country… Some two percent of the city has a PhD, which is about five times the national average.

### idealog.co.nz January 14, 2013 @ 9:37 am
Architecture Van Brandenburg’s ambitious Marisfrolg project
By Vincent Heeringa
From subterranean offices in Dunedin, Architecture Van Brandenburg is designing the headquarters of a Chinese fashion house. The result: a spectacular sculpture that people can work in.
On a side street in Dunedin in a quiet underground office, a couple of young men sit at their desks, fussing with their keyboards. The conspiratorial atmosphere belies the office’s real purpose. It’s the Dunedin branch of Architecture Van Brandenburg, a Queenstown firm that’s responsible for some of New Zealand’s heartland icons: Huka Lodge, Millbrook Resort and Wairarapa’s Wharekauhau. It’s also the design centre for Van Brandenburg’s latest work, a four-year explosion of imagination for international fashion house Marisfrolg (pronounced ‘masifer’), in Shenzen, China.
Consider the scale. The project consists of five buildings on a 90,000m2 site. That’s roughly 22 acres, the size of nine rugby fields or three Te Papas. It’s bigger than New Zealand’s largest building, Auckland Hospital, and possibly the largest commission ever for a New Zealand architect.

And consider the design. Van Brandenburg’s earlier work was more akin to Middle Earth and English hunting parties. This project is fit for a Ridley Scott movie. From the air the construction emulates a flying bird, representing the movement in the Marisfrolg garments and the emergence of this important Chinese brand. Seen from the ground, the buildings grow out of a man-made pond and are clad in a brilliant, glittering, white surface of broken tiles. The roofs are draped in gigantic, gravity-defying leaves.
Read more

Originally published in Idealog #41, page 50

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Proposed hotel, 41 Wharf St – “LEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS”

with apologies to Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour

BUT TRUESCAPE SAID IT WOULD BE SHORT~!!! *WAILS

[how to wrestle the casino venue licence off your competitor]

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Related Posts:
7.12.12 Proposed hotel – Truescape shenanigans
6.12.12 Dunedin Hotel – revised design
2.12.12 Roy Rogers and Trigger photographed recently at Dunedin
26.11.12 Proposed hotel, 41 Wharf Street – indicative landscape effects
20.11.12 City planner’s report recommends against consent for hotel
10.11.12 Dunedin Hotel, 41 Wharf Street (LUC 2012-212)
4.10.12 DUNEDIN: We’re short(!) but here is some UK nous…
8.9.12 Waterfront Hotel #Dunedin (Applicant names?)
7.9.12 Waterfront hotel: DCC to notify resource consent application
16.5.12 Dunedin Hotel

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Waterfront Hotel #Dunedin (Applicant names?)

UPDATED POST 26.9.12
How do I make a submission on the resource consent application?
Go to DCC webpage.

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Tweet (Sat 08 Sep 20:59):

@whatifdunedin Waterfront Hotel #Dunedin – who’s behind it ? bit.ly/QaNO92 bit.ly/QaNRBN Jing Song of #Queenstown and “wifey”… #BrashCash

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[Thanks to Phil for the jigsaw piece – http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/5600153/Couple-hold-lavish-wedding]

Related Posts and Comments:
7.9.12 Waterfront hotel: DCC to notify resource consent application
23.6.12 Mis(t)apprehension: website visits, not bookings?
16.5.12 Dunedin Hotel

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Mention in NZ Herald dispatches: TTCF and friends ORFU

“People have not been shy about what is going on. It is the trusts that are doing the dicey stuff.” -Te Ururoa Flavell

### nzherald.co.nz 5:30 AM Tuesday Jul 24, 2012
MP keeps heat on pokie trusts
By David Fisher
Pokie trusts are lining up to return greater cash payments to the community as proposed new gaming legislation puts the entire industry under threat. Cuts are anticipated to the trustee payments with the amount spent on administration also expected to drop. The trusts have to return a minimum 37.12 per cent of their income to the community, with a handful providing as much as 63 per cent. But Department of Internal Affairs figures show many fail to rise much above the legal minimum return.

Select committee hearings are expected this year on proposed legislation put forward by Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell. His proposed bill would dismantle gaming trusts, put councils in charge of distributing grants and require 80 per cent of money to go back to the community.

Mr Flavell said the publicity around the proposed bill had led to a great deal of information about their operation being sent to him. He said there were trusts distributing pokie proceeds which observed the rules but others “would hang themselves on how they operate”.
Read more

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Media Link:
(this one should be hurting DIA and Martin Quivooy)
14.7.12 NZ Herald – Watchdog: Pokie checks not up to mark

Related Post:
15.7.12 Martin Legge responds to media stories on Murray Acklin, TTCF and DIA

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Martin Legge responds to media stories on Murray Acklin, TTCF and DIA

● The Trusts Charitable Foundation (TTCF Inc) ● The Trusts Community Foundation Ltd (TTCF Ltd) ● Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU) ● Professional Rugby ● Centre of Excellence for Amateur Sport ● Harness Racing ● Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) ● Gambling Commission ● Pokies ● Rorts ● Organised Crime ● Serious Fraud ● Political Interference

Updated post July 16, 2012 · 3:14 pm

ODT reporter Hamish McNeilly had a story published on Saturday (14 July), ‘$425,000 fee not recovered’. He said: “The Department of Internal Affairs was “unable” to recover more than $400,000 paid to a Queenstown-based pokies’ trustee. In his role as “executive trustee with special responsibilities” Murray Acklin was paid $425,254 by The Trusts Charitable Foundation (TTCF), between April 2006 and March 2009. He later resigned from the position, on the advice of the department, but remains a trustee. Following an investigation the department suspended the trust’s licence for two days as its expenditure, including that paid to Mr Acklin, was “considered to be excessive and not reasonable or necessary to the gambling operation”. That suspension was increased to five days after the trust took an appeal to the Gambling Commission.” Read more

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Martin Legge
Submitted on 2012/07/15 at 12:01 pm

Re ODT article about Murray Acklin reported above re $425k

You’d be forgiven for thinking Acklin was responsible for raising $6.9 million for the community. Acklin did not raise one cent for the community but simply enticed the transfer of existing pokie bars over to TTCF so he and his fellow trustees could give most of it to racing and ORFU, that is what he was paid for.

Senior DIA Management held a meeting with TTCF Chairman, Malcolm McElrea of Balclutha in late 2009 following the results of a number of serious investigations into TTCF which included the unlawful payment of $1.2 million to a company associated with the Portage and Waitakere Licensing Trusts, the $425k payment to Mr Acklin and the promise of pokie grants and TAB upgrades to secure pubs. At that meeting DIA expressed a strong desire that Acklin resign his position as Trustee.

So here is the question for Mr Quivooy and DIA. Why, in June 2010, only weeks after the Gambling Commission decision and 8 months after the above meeting and without even attempting to recover any of the $425k or $1.2 million, was DIA able to “sufficiently satisfy” itself (in accordance with its statutory obligations – yes, that is the wording of the legislation – “satisfy”), that they should grant a new gaming operators licence to TTCF Ltd allowing the same trustees (including Mr Acklin) to all become Directors effectively permitting them to continue to grant millions to racing and ORFU???

Gaming industry whistleblower Martin Legge is a former detective and police prosecutor, TTCF contractor, and DIA senior inspector gaming compliance. He continues to expose the system and the players.

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NZ Herald reporter David Fisher has his story published the same day, ‘Watchdog: Pokie checks not up to mark’, lobbing attack at the Department of Internal Affairs for incomplete sloppy work, seemingly carried out to avoid prosecutions. He says: “The public servant charged with regulating the gambling industry has described his department’s capacity and capability as not being fully up to the mark. In an email to an informant, Maarten Quivooy of the Department of Internal Affairs also wrote that “our practice isn’t always as sharp as we would want it to be”. The comments were made in letters to former Otago Sport chairman Russell Garbutt, who spent years raising concerns about grants from a gaming trust which took money from pokie machines in the North Island and paid it out in the South Island. The complaints appeared to go nowhere until eight weeks ago when the department said it shared his concerns but had run out of time to do anything about it.” Read more

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Martin Legge
Submitted on 2012/07/14 at 7:06 pm

Maarten Quivooy says DIA don’t have the capacity to regulate the gaming industry and blames it on the legislation. How can he blame the legislation when his department rarely tests it? How does he have the gall to say that they can’t do anything because the statute of limitations prevents action – when it is DIA’s own inaction that allows these crooked trusts to get off because DIA do absolutely nothing within the 2-year prosecutorial limit but not only that, they continue to re-licence them year in, year out. From my evidence from the last 5 years at least, the DIA senior management and past and present Internal Affairs Ministers have not only turned a blind eye to offences, but have interfered on behalf of pokie trusts who have lobbied them. Coal face inspectors (the ones who don’t kow-tow to their bosses) leave the DIA in frustration after doing thorough and enforceable investigations that get quashed. The silence of politicians other than the Greens and Flavell over the appalling state of the gaming sector is deafening. What Quivooy told Russell Garbutt is at odds with my own response from Quivooy that stated DIA “had conducted a robust and thorough enquiry” into my numerous complaints, many of which they now state publicly that they are “continuing to investigate, re-investigate, audit, re-audit” and I still haven’t been contacted! Thank goodness for the media. If Quivooy was a senior Police Officer and made that kind of admission to a member of the public or in the media, a national enquiry would be called for and the Police Complaints Authority would be all over him.

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Media Links:
25.6.12 http://itsabigfatlie.blogspot.co.nz/2012/06/richard-boock-sunday-star-times-24612.html
2.6.12 http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/211666/determined-clean-sector
2.6.12 http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/211669/internal-affairs-investigate-orfu-pokies
2.6.12 http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/211671/mps-query-sees-all-hell-break-loose
29.5.12 http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/211018/rugby-financial-troubleshooter-warns-job-not-over
23.5.12 http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/210293/grants-meant-amateur-rugby-used-pay-orfu-creditors
3.5.12 http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/7038067/Stadium-plans-met-with-scorn
3.5.12 http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/207787/dinner-profits-went-day-day-costs
2.5.12 http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/207653/orfu-unpaid-bill-obscene
1.5.12 http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/207473/small-creditors-get-their-money-back-orfu
23.4.12 http://thestandard.org.nz/gaming-industry-whistleblower/
22.4.12 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6785852/The-inside-man

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Events could shift south #eqnz

UPDATE – 16 March 2011
(3.28pm, via NZHerald) Rugby World Cup decision made with “great regret”: nzh.tw/10712838 #RWC2011 #eqnz
(3.17pm, via TVNZNews)Christchurch loses RWC games http://bit.ly/gjc4Yx #TVNZNews
(3.13pm, via NZStuff) Christchurch loses Rugby World Cup games
http://dlvr.it/KP3gY
(3.13pm, via TVNZNews) Pool matches to be reallocated to other RWC 2011 venues #rwc #eqnz
(3.11pm, via NZHerald) Quarterfinal games will be moved to Auckland; others will be distributed around the South Island #rwc2011
(3.10pm, via NZStuff) Quarter final #RWC games to be hosted in Auckland. Other games hope to stay in South Island #eqnz

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### ODT Online Thu, 10 Mar 2011
Christchurch event managers eye Dunedin
By Chris Morris
Christchurch event organisers with plans shattered by last month’s earthquake are turning to Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium for help, and Rugby World Cup matches could yet follow.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said his organisation had fielded calls from “several” international and domestic conference organisers in recent days.
Read more

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### ODT Online Thu, 10 Mar 2011
Virtual stadium tours with new 3D model
By Chris Morris
Internet giant Google has joined forces with Dunedin Venues Management Ltd to produce a 3D model of the Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Read more

Link to 3D Google Model

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

[lightbulb] Winter Masters Games

### ODT Online Mon, 21 Jun 2010
Winter Masters Games plans span province
By Chris Morris
Otago could soon play host to a second international celebration of winter sports, with plans being drawn up for a Winter Masters Games, at venues across Dunedin and Central Otago. New Zealand Masters Games director John Bezett, also a Dunedin city councillor and chairman of the Dunedin Masters Games, yesterday confirmed discussions on staging the event were under way.

The Winter Masters Games would start slowly, featuring “four or five” events spread between Queenstown and Wanaka, including cross-country and downhill skiing, ice hockey and “something like rugby or netball”, Mr Bezett said.

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin is rugby’s short stop…

### ODT Online Wed, 24 Mar 2010
Rugby: Touring sides spending little time in Dunedin
By Steve Hepburn
The Highlanders are not winning games in Dunedin and it seems visiting teams have no real love for the city either. The Lions, the South African team from Johannesburg, are due to take on the Highlanders at Carisbrook on Friday night but do not arrive in Dunedin until late today.

Highlanders chief executive Richard Reid said he could understand the reasons test teams did not arrive at the city until late but it was not helpful in promoting the games.

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

DVML wants Sevens for stadium

### ODT Online Fri, 8 Jan 2010
Plan to bid for Sevens
By Chris Morris
A plot to poach the Wellington Sevens rugby tournament for Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium is being hatched in the deep South. The annual NZI Sevens event – which attracts 16 teams, 50,000 visitors and millions of dollars of spending – was on a list of events to be targeted by Dunedin Venues Management Ltd for the city’s new stadium.
Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

RWC 2011 team hosting

### ODT Online Fri, 18 Dec 2009
Dunedin, Queenstown to host six RWC teams
Dunedin and Queenstown will host six teams, including northern hemisphere heavyweights England and Ireland and their thousands of supporters, during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Under hosting arrangements announced today, Scotland, England, Ireland, Italy, a European qualifier and a play-off winner will stay in Dunedin for three pool matches to be played on September 14 and 24 and on October 2. NZPA
Read more

### rugbyworldcup.com Thursday 17 December 2009
23 centres to host RWC 2011 teams
Communities, big and small, across New Zealand have been given a chance to share in the excitement of Rugby World Cup 2011 following the decision to allocate hosting rights to 23 centres. The announcement was made by Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd (RNZ 2011) CEO Martin Snedden at a function in Auckland on Friday morning.

“We as a nation are passionate about Rugby so it’s fantastic that we can bring RWC 2011 to the backyards of so much of New Zealand,” said Snedden.

Twenty-three centres – 16 in the North Island and seven in the South Island – will host at least one of the 20 participating teams.
Read more

Background document
Full Team Hosting Announcement presentation

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Lonely Planet. Dunedin rave.

Tourism Dunedin chief executive Hamish Saxton has to be very happy!

Lonely Planet issues a Best in Travel book each year with Trends, Destinations, Journeys and Experiences tipped as being the best for the twelve months ahead.

Dunedin came out on top of other New Zealand destinations for 2010…

Top 10 super cycling routes – Otago Peninsula is considered NUMBER 1 in the world! One of the best rides for its mixture of “scenery and sweat”. (page 156)

Top 10 places to walk your dog – Dunedin makes the cut for its “network of dog-friendly trails” around the city, behind Los Angeles, Paris and Tokyo. References DCC website. (pages 186-187)

Top 10 for twitchers (bird watching) – Otago Peninsula singled out as one of New Zealand’s hot attractions because of the region’s birdlife, behind Papua New Guinea, Kruger National Park and Rift Valley Kenya. (pages 193-194)

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### TVNZ News 6:21PM Tues 3 Nov 2009
Otago cycle route amongst best in world
Source: ONE News
Otago’s peninsula has been named one of the best bird watching, dog walking and cycling routes in the world.
Video (1:45)

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### NZ Herald 02 Nov 2009
New Zealand in Lonely Planet Top 10
New Zealand has made the cut to be named in Lonely Planet’s prestigious Best in Travel publication for 2010. New Zealand was picked by Lonely Planet authors, staff and travellers as one of the Top 10 Countries to visit in 2010. Also featured on the list are El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Portugal, Suriname and the USA.

Lonely Planet pokes fun at itself for recommending New Zealand as “too obvious, right?”

“But there’s wisdom in the old saying, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, and last time we checked the land of Māori and hobbits it certainly didn’t need repairing,” the guide says. NZPA
Read more

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Writer of the New Zealand section, Nigel Wallis moved to soothe the concerns of long-distance travellers worried about their carbon footprint. He said New Zealand was spearheading the eco-travel revolution and winning international accolades for its ethos towards responsible travel. This included minimising visitor impact and involving locals in sustainable tourism practices. “When you’re gawping at the spine-tingling vistas, it’s good to know they’ll still be there for future generations.”
–Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel (2010)

Oh yeah, Queenstown gets special mention…

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr