While decisions are still to be made at annual plan deliberations next month, in an opinion piece in the Otago Daily Times yesterday, Mayor Aaron Hawkins said cancelling major projects such as the George St redesign would not make much of a difference to council’s budget because they were debt-funded over a 10-year period.
Meanwhile, Dunedin’s waterfront development might be delayed, he indicated.
Council chief executive Sue Bidrose said the future of the bridge and the waterfront project would be determined by councillors as they looked at all council budgets and spending at the 2020 budget meetings in May.
The council was given $820,000 by the Provincial Growth Fund, spent on a feasibility study which secured $19.9 million of funding for the waterfront development.
Mr Hawkins said implications for any government funding would inform the decision.
Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dougal McGowan said projects such as redesigning George St should not be the focus of council action.
"Things are so different now and I think each and every project needs to be looked at carefully."
George St retail and hospitality had been "hammered" in the wake of Covid-19 and a lockdown, and options other than a redesign should come first, he said.
"We’ve first got to try and get people back in there before we look at a redesign.
"There has been and will continue to be a change in the way people behave."
He hoped if the $19.9 million secured for the waterfront was available, it would be fed back into the community to get people employed.
A 6.5% rates increase would be "a nail in the coffin" for many.
"Some sort of assistance with rates instead of an increase should be looked at."
The council could help affected businesses through schemes like free parking in the centre city and a faster consents processes, Mr McGowan said.
‘‘It’s a good time for businesses and councils to be working together. We are seeing that councils have been receptive to hearing our ideas.’’
George St jeweller Brent Weatherall said he was ‘‘disgusted’’ to hear projects such as the George St redesign might go ahead.
‘‘It’s not business as usual. You can’t make decisions like that while we’re in a lockdown.
"All of these projects require ratepayers’ money, and in such extraordinary times where everything has changed you don’t know whether some people will even be able to pay their rates."
A petition he started last year against a proposal to make George St one-way had more than 5000 signatures.
"We’ll be delivering that to council when we are able."
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Comments
George Street may be redesigned by necessity as footpaths will need to be widened. Our use of cars is being shown up a wasteful... so why not make the most of it.
The widening of footpaths is nothing but ideological opportunism and a waste of resources.
This should never have been considered in the first place, same goes for the harbour, all for a couple of empire building little clowns on the council.
It's the 14th of April, it's already ice cold and raining outside in Dunedin. How would businesses cope during the winter months with a one-way George Street and lack of parking spaces for their customers? On top of shoppers' post-Covid19 reluctance to shop in-store? Our Mayor has no experience or understanding of running a business, nae! he wouldnt stoop so low as to engage in the dirty business of capitalism.
Perhaps the Mayor should be listening to the people whose rates payments clothe and feed him and his family? A radical suggestion, I know......
"Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dougal McGowan said projects such as redesigning George St should not be the focus of council action".
This should never have been thought about in the first place but now we have the 'virus' this project should be squashed and 'council' should be focusing on rates relief and helping out it's citizens. No doubt hawkins and his cohorts (cull, bidrose, bensonpop et al) will attempt to push it through.
Never so convincingly out of his depth, not even the 'wet nurse' 'the bishop' or the 'god father' can direct him out of this one.
The likes of Dougal McGowan are linked to the very people that can kick an economy back to life. Right now, we need business heads and experience. Not puppets and washed up back room advisors.
We need jobs, we need domestic tourism, we now more than ever need the basics of our City catered for. Christchurch looked inward, it poured it efforts into rebuilding the basics, this is no different. In fact, we have an opportunity, a precious oportunity. Aaron would do well to listen to those who know how to weather a storm. Look to the experience of the doers and survivors Mayor Hawkins, they won't put you wrong.
Faster, cheaper, more accommodating consents processes would be a start.
We need systems that facilitate rather than act as roadblocks so a change in compliance inspection attitudes is also required.
This should be an easy fix with the coming drop in demand but totally required to get the ball rolling again.
You raise a very good point, with reduced demand, consenting should infact have a far shorter time frame, which would increase housing, housing affordability, and inspire personal groth and investment. The RMA could well do with a shake up in kind. Redtape expences to the wazoo. Costs and bureaucratic holdups at all levels need to be addressed, they are crippling and counterproductive and only line the pockets of those who hold control, rather than encourage growth and affordability, especially to those that need it most. Covid19 could be an opportunity, a chance for all of us to reconsider our perceived wealth and focus more on the well being of everyone. We could learn from this.
Why is the council not listening to its business leaders? There is a recession coming. Council needs to spend a lot more time reevaluating its priorities and that can only happen through proper consultation with business and ratepayers and their concerns. It is not business as usual anymore.
No reason to believe that DCC CE Sue Bidrose is not apolitical on this issue, as she should be. It’s the elected reps who makes the decisions. The CE then directs her staff to carry them out.
I get the feeling that this is the stadium debacle all over again, but this time for one waying George St instead of a new stadium.
Whatever we do or say, the council/mayor will railroad this into action and then we'll be stuck with it. At least the stadium made sense...
There is now now doubt the Mayor and his closest supporters are in a serious disconnect with citizens. The borrow and hope utterances of the Mayor are simply ideological rubbish and even bigger, and less efficient, local government as a solution to the Dunedin economic challenge is pure fancy. More staff is a crock, less and more efficient staff is the answer. And let us be very very clear about this, if I relied upon local government and this particular Mayor for my well being I would be demonstrably worse off. I have no confidence in the leadership of Council.