West Harbour Recreation Trail —Devastation caused to Rotary project

The three-year $200,000 West Harbour Recreation Trail project by the Rotary Club of Dunedin aims to beautify the edges of a 3km section of the cycleway-walkway, from the Otago Boat Harbour to Maia.

On May 26, a Friday afternoon, two Rotarians turned up at the boat harbour end of the Trail to set out the location of new exercise equipment for public use (in preparation for a June 10 working bee) – the next phase of the harbourside project. The men were astounded to find a council contractor, ostensibly there to repair the harbour wall, running heavy machinery across the mown green strip, seriously damaging the designated public amenity area.

While Rotary’s West Harbour Recreation Trail is a council approved project, and the extended site receives maintenance from Taskforce Green, the DCC had completely failed to advise and coordinate with Rotary before earthworks commenced for repair of the seawall. How does this happen ??!

Not such a bad job until you look westward, other side of the orange safety nets:

DCC Webmap – West Harbour Recreation Trail (damaged section)

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Apparently, DCC has assured Rotary that the damage will be put right by the contractor. However, because of no drying for some time Rotary’s scheduled work at this site is on hold (at least a five month delay).

Rotarians had raised funds from the public to carry out the project.

One of the Rotarians said he was ‘incandescent with rage’ over it – and did not often get incandescent!!

On Tuesday (May 30) I visited the area to take photographs.

This is yet another example of council ineptitude where the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand’s doing. The council’s lack of oversight and the resulting damage may necessitate deeper foundations for the exercise equipment than Rotary had anticipated and budgeted. Their working bee planned for June 10 will be reduced in scale, with only installation of exercise equipment at Ravensbourne Footbridge taking place. The working bees for July and August have been cancelled as the site won’t be in a fit state to work on. Timing of the provision of barbeque facilities as part of the landscaping project is also affected.

There is the Huge Irony that Rotary have only just been awarded 1st Place by Keep Dunedin Beautiful, for their work on the recreation trail. The award came with a $100 cash prize.

Thankfully, say Rotarians, the damage wasn’t done until after the Trees for Babies planting was done on Mother’s Day (14 May).

The Keep Dunedin Beautiful Awards “celebrate and honour the people of Dunedin who are committed to beautifying their city and caring for their environment through volunteer action”.

“Each Autumn, in partnership with Rotary Dunedin, Keep Dunedin Beautiful organises tree plantings for babies and other family members in city reserves. Trees for Babies is a long-term native tree-planting project where family members can celebrate the birth of a child or any significant family milestone. It also contributes to a native re-vegetation project in a city reserve.”

Related Post and Comment:
7.8.15 Dunedin Rotary Club | West Harbour Recreation Trail

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

DVML, ‘Money for jam…..fig jam’

Why does no-one want to discuss invoices created by DVML commercial manager Guy Hedderwick on his extensive travels, except for Dunedin campaigner Bev Butler? Who signed them off? Neville Frost (DVML finance manager) and Darren Burden (ex DVML chief executive). Why is Hedderwick at Adelaide working part-time for DVML when there’s an empty, brand new multimillion-dollar stadium sinking into the mire at Dunedin? Doesn’t Hedderwick also work for the Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU)? What’s really happening?

This morning we have seen media reaction to Bev Butler’s investigation into Guy Hedderwick’s expenses using the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) to obtain invoices —we have also seen Otago Daily Times reporting various replies it has sought from the local burghers about this.

Some invoices show stays in five-star hotel rooms costing up to US$300 per night. There is a swathe of rib-eye steaks and expensive bottles of wine attending Hedderwick’s travel across the world and domestic.

█ What did Butler say in her Media Release to upset DVML finance manager Neville Frost (ex ORFU)? Find out below.

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### ODT Online Sat, 22 Mar 2014
DVML head slams Butler’s allegations
By Chris Morris
Allegations of inappropriate spending by a former manager at Forsyth Barr Stadium have prompted an angry retort from the company running the venue. The claims came from former Stop the Stadium president Bev Butler in response to invoices and other documents released to her by Dunedin Venues Management Ltd, which runs the stadium. The material showed DVML’s former commercial manager, Guy Hedderwick, had accrued nearly $80,000 in travel costs and expenses while taking 51 work-related trips since 2010.
Read more

### ODT Online Sat, 22 Mar 2014
Company threatening to charge for OIA answers
By Chris Morris
The company running Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium is threatening to charge for future responses to official information requests after being inundated with questions from stadium critic Bev Butler. The move by Dunedin Venues Management Ltd was immediately slammed by Ms Butler yesterday, who said it was ”an attempt to keep me off their trail”.
Read more

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█ MEDIA RELEASE Sunday 23 March 2014
By Bev Butler

MONEY FOR JAM…..FIG JAM

Ratepayers of Dunedin will once again be amazed with the news that they have paid over $80,000 for the activities of the “departed” commercial manager of DVML, Guy Hedderwick, to travel the world leading the life of Riley with little noticeable benefit.

Readers of some newspapers will have learned recently that Dunedin Venues Management Ltd (DVML), the Dunedin City Council owned company that runs the stadium, paid out over $54,000 in entitlements to former chief executive David Davies when he returned to Wales, and just on $30,000 when CEO Darren Burden left to run the Christchurch stadium after a year’s work with DVML. The amounts and details of any “entitlements” paid to DVML’s commercial manager were refused on the basis of Mr Hedderwick’s privacy after the DVML board chairman, Canterbury resident, Sir John Hansen was advised by DVML staff that Mr Hedderwick’s privacy outweighed public interest.

While these details remain hidden, what has surfaced is just what it has cost Dunedin ratepayers to keep Mr Hedderwick in the manner to which he clearly has become accustomed.

Mr Hedderwick left Dunedin around August of 2013 to pursue a role with DVML in Adelaide similar to the one he had in Dunedin; with arrangements in place that see DVML continuing to employ Mr Hedderwick and meet his expenses while he pursues his role of attracting acts and sponsors to the stadium. His efforts have been almost totally in vain. The only act to appear at the stadium since Mr Hedderwick has been living in Adelaide has been an Australian based franchised Abba look-alike band, Bjorn Again, who in their previous visit to Dunedin appeared at the Regent Theatre. The act attracted 3500 people to the stadium. It was reported at the time that while a similar event the year before had attracted twice this number, DVML were “pleased” at this response. The rationale for this pleasure is hard to fathom.

But the cost of Mr Hedderwick’s “work” has been, in contrast to his work achievements, simply staggering. The facts behind Mr Hedderwick’s spending have been revealed after constant requests for information by Bev Butler to Neville Frost, financial manager of DVML. The information has had to be teased out over a significant period of time, but now is starting to be revealed in some sunlight.

Mr Hedderwick’s travel, in his quest for acts and sponsors for the stadium, has taken him to:

● Italy
● Singapore
● USA
● Brisbane
● Gold Coast
● Sydney
● Melbourne
● Adelaide
● Auckland
● Wellington
● Christchurch
● Napier
● New Plymouth
● Rotorua
● Hamilton

The vast number of these visits has been listed as “seeking potential sponsors”. Sufficient to say that few new sponsors for the stadium have been notified by DVML or DCC. Mr Hedderwick also seems keen on attending “conferences” around the world. There is no indication or record of any significant contributions that Mr Hedderwick has made to such conferences, nor of any benefit whatsoever to DVML for such attendances.

But it is in Mr Hedderwick’s spending that some light shines upon what appears to be a lavish lifestyle endorsed and approved by Mr Neville Frost and Mr Darren Burden. It is neither reasonable nor justifiable for expenditure down to chewing gum and shaving gear at one end of the spending paradigm, to the luxury of five-star hotels and pursuit of fine wines – an interest of Mr Hedderwick according to his Facebook page* – that really takes the cake.

Mr Hedderwick has visited many of the above destinations on several occasions. The list supplied by Mr Frost for Mr Hedderwick’s travel outside Dunedin numbers 55 trips. However, there appear to be numerous invoices missing from the almost 300 invoices already supplied. Some invoices are for trips not actually listed; and some invoices are for five-star hotel bills (including The Hilton, The Sheraton, and Radisson Resort Gold Coast for as much as $US300 per night in some instances) and rental cars, but no flights to get to the destination. Yet other invoices include expensive meals, blocks of chocolate, boy’s t-shirts, hat and gloves.

With the recent Dunedin City Council announcement of a review of the governance and management of DVML, it would well be advised, in the interests of Dunedin ratepayers, for the council to include a full investigation of all the DVML finances especially the excessive personal expenditure of the DVML management.

Contact for further information:
Bev Butler
Ph (03) 477 6861

[ends]

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*The Facebook page is in dispute, only because Neville Frost went to the wrong page. We refer our readers to Hedderwick’s recent writing (February 2014) for International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM):

### venuenet.iavm.org Mon, Feb 10, 2014 07:15 PM
I am number 9344728427550
By Guy Hedderwick, AEVP
I am number 9344728427550 or at least that is what my loyalty rewards card at my local food store says I am. I presume that large scale food stores issue customers with loyalty cards so they can reward them for their loyalty. I also imagine that it is a great way to collect buying habit information of individual customers so they can target them with relevant advertising, know exactly what products customers buy, when they buy them, monitor their buying patterns and treat them as individuals. […] We live in a small village outside Adelaide […] I am a Million dollar customer […] I wonder how I would be treated as a million dollar customer if I walked into your business.
Venues, along with their teams and ticket providers, have huge amounts of personal data and should understand the emotional reasons guest [sic] attend their events. I don’t really expect my local food store to know me by name, but I do expect to be treated with the dignity “my spend” should demand. There is a huge discussion about big data and the use thereof. How understanding buying patterns and buyer behaviour can be used to sell tickets, merchandise, seat upgrade and improve the customer experience. […] People no longer buy products or services, they buy experiences. We sell the live experience but we need to understand people’s motivations for coming, their behaviours and touch points in order to make the experience truly personal. Then I will happily part with my hard earned dollars. At the end of the day, entertainment and sport (along with good wine) is what makes life worth living.
I am not number 9344728427550, I am Guy Hedderwick and I want to feel like a million dollar customer.
Read full article

● Guy Hedderwick at LinkdIn
● Guy Hedderwick at Twitter @GuyHedd
● Guy Hedderwick (GuyHedd) at Facebook

█ Guy Hedderwick is now General Manager of Arena Stadium Management Pty Ltd (ASM). He took up the appointment at the privately owned Adelaide Arena in 2013. ASM is Adelaide Arena’s new management company formed by joint owners Scouts Stadium Incorporated and Savethearena Pty Ltd. (Link)

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Related Post and Comments:
5.3.14 Stadium: Mayor Cull stuck in his rut, ‘going forward’
4.3.14 Bev Butler: Guy Hedderwick’s departure package (LGOIMA)
24.1.14 Stadium: It came to pass… [stadium review]
30.11.13 DVML in disarray
14.11.11 DVML, Guy, wth ?
26.9.11 Donations – the quest for clarification
26.9.11 Private sector funding (donations) to stadium construction
12.9.11 Stadium: Private sector funding
9.2.11 DCC and DCHL, was there ever any doubt?
5.11.10 International connections
16.2.10 Owing $45.5 million in private sector funding
5.2.10 Commercial manager Guy Hedderwick on stadium sponsorship

For more, enter *dvml*, *hedderwick*, *burden*, *davies*, or *stadium* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC: Councillors delegated street furniture decisions to staff

Peter Entwisle says “some principles need teasing out: CONTEXT, AUTHENTICITY, FLEXIBILITY and TRUE EXCEPTIONALITY”

[transpressnz.blogspot.com]

### ODT Online Mon, 11 Nov 2013
Opinion
Rearranging the street furniture
By Peter Entwisle
Dunedin is adopting a new generation of street furniture. It’s happened before with varying results and we should try to do better this time.
Read more

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Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Free Parking – for Cycles
This item was published on 19 Jun 2012.
The rollout of 56 new cycle stands around the city is almost complete. The sites are high demand and high profile areas that were identified in consultation with community boards and cycling groups.
There are two types of stand – 46 basic U-shaped stainless steel stands, and two sets of five stands that, when installed, spell ‘cycle’. The stands were designed in-house and manufactured by local business Identimark with some parts of the manufacturing process undertaken in Auckland.
Read more

16.7.11 ODT More cyclists than a year ago: survey
Dunedin will spend $20,000 on 70 cycle stands for central city sites over the next two years.

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Bicycle Management
Dunedin City Council: Cycle stands, hitching rails and facilities
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/services/cycling/cycle-stands

University of Otago, Property Services: Cycling & Cycle Racks
http://www.propserv.otago.ac.nz/services/parkingcyclerack.html

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Related Posts and Comments:
8.11.13 Dunedin Separated Cycle Lane Proposal
5.11.13 DCC, NZTA: Cycle lanes controversy
19.10.13 Cycle lobby games and media tilts
24.9.13 Mediocrity and lack of critical awareness at DCC [council reports]
8.7.13 Bloody $tupid cycleways and Cull’s electioneering . . . [route maps]
28.3.13 DCC DAP 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements
26.2.13 DCC binge spending alert: Proposed South Dunedin cycle network
22.2.13 DCC: Council meeting agenda and reports for 25 February 2013
31.1.13 Who? 2010 electioneering
21.11.12 Safe cycling -Cr Fliss Butcher

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DScene: What’s a nice wee loan between friends

Councillors spoken to by D Scene were unaware of the loan.

### DScene 15-6-11
Butler questioning $1.4m loan for stadium seating (page 3)
Former Stop the Stadium head Bev Butler is questioning a $1.4m commercial loan for temporary seating at the [Otago] Stadium. Dunedin City Council (DCC) council-controlled management company Dunedin Venues Management Ltd (DVML) borrowed money for east stand temporary seating. Butler questioned whether DVML had the authority to borrow the money, as the venues company’s Statement of Intent noted spending of more than a million dollars by DVML needed DCC approval.
{continues} #bookmark

Register to read DScene online at
http://fairfaxmedia.newspaperdirect.com/

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Skycouch and the space case . . .

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 09:42 23/12/2010
Air NZ takes possession of ‘cuddle class’ plane
By Rebecca Stevenson – BusinessDay.co.nz
Air New Zealand’s “game changing” new Boeing airliner was officially handed over to the Kiwi national carrier in Seattle yesterday – complete with the so-called “cuddle class” economy couches. The 777-300ER is the first plane equipped with the New Zealand-designed skycouch and spaceseat which the airline says will revolutionise economy travel. Air New Zealand has been working on this interior redesign since 2006.
Read more

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Air NZ unveils the ‘cuddle class’ Skycouch
“Economy passengers have not been treated well, and we’re trying to change that,” says Air NZ spokesman Andrew Sims. 3news Link + Video

Kiwis’ Cuddle Class concept catches on
Officials are still referring to the extra features as the Skycouch but the phrase Cuddle Class is catching on – making the New York Times “new words of year” list. TVNZ Link + Video

Dos and Donts for Cuddle Class | Kiwiblog

### nbr.co.nz Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Air NZ investors not buying cuddle class hype
By Chris Keall
“Honey, I told you, keep still, or I’m going to knee you in the thigh again…”
The glam pictures of Air New Zealand’s skycouch seats, populated by snuggling models, were on every news site you looked at yesterday. So were the airline’s predictions of a boom in premium economy revenue, and a “lucrative” sideline licensing its design to Boeing. But Air New Zealand didn’t attach any numbers to its rosy predictions, and investors seemed unconvinced.
Read more

airnewzealand | 21 December 2010
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us here at Air New Zealand!

(this video Christmas card was created entirely by Air New Zealand staff)

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Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Stadium: private sector funding

### ODT Online Thu, 2 Dec 2010
$2.7m donated to stadium
By Stu Oldham
Four anonymous benefactors have donated $2.7 million to Dunedin’s new stadium, pitching total fundraising close to $38 million. Two of the donations are in the very high hundreds of thousands of dollars, and two more are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Carisbrook Stadium Trust, and by extension DVML, was tasked to raise $45.5 million toward the stadium project.

Read more

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On changes to the stadium layout, options for the Academy of Sport moving to the back of the North Stand, and relocatable seating…

### ODT Online Thu, 2 Dec 2010
New plans for media box
By Stu Oldham
Sports journalists may get a different home in the Forsyth Barr Stadium, as its developers look for new ways to maximise its income. The Carisbrook Stadium Trust is considering moving the media box from the south to the north stand in a move it hopes will ultimately be cost-neutral.

[It] would mean the venue had more seats and corporate packages to sell, and more chance to develop a solid stream of new operational income.

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

RWC 2011 – DVML and the maximum seating rule

### ODT Online Wed, 10 Nov 2010
Temporary seats must stay for cup
By David Loughrey
Rugby World Cup rules mean temporary seating at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin will have to be in place for each game of the tournament, whether it is needed or not. That rule will mean an extra cost for Dunedin Venues Management Ltd (DVML), which runs the stadium, as some of the seating will be hired, and high demand for temporary seating during the world cup means prices will be at a premium.

Carisbrook Stadium Trust chairman Malcolm Farry said using seats from the Carisbrook stadium had been considered, but they were not new and had been subject to “wear and tear”.

Read more

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### ODT Online Wed, 10 Nov 2010
Seating supplier to stadium confirmed
By David Loughrey
Seating at Dunedin’s new stadium will be coloured a “speckled” grey, black and white, Dunedin Venues Management Ltd chief executive David Davies said yesterday.
Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Stadium funding + “open book” for Carisbrook

### ODT Online Tue, 27 Apr 2010
Private funding may top total
By David Loughrey
Private sector funding for the Forsyth Barr Stadium, being raised by the sale of seating products, could reach $10 million more than required by the Carisbrook Stadium Trust, but the future of any extra funding, if secured, is unclear.

Council chief executive Jim Harland said if all the seating products sold, it would give DVML a stronger cash flow. If that “very happy event” occurred, there could be discussion about whether the money could be used to pay off debt more quickly.

The council will begin public consultation on the future of Carisbrook with “a completely open book”, Mayor Peter Chin said yesterday.

Read more

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### ODT Online Tue, 27 Apr 2010
Countdown to kickoff
Key stakeholders brave the rain at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin yesterday, marking today’s milestone of 500 days until the Rugby World Cup 2011 tournament begins in New Zealand.
Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr