Students have spent the day cleaning up some of North Dunedin’s most notorious party streets in the shadow of this year’s chaotic St Patrick’s day celebrations.
Festivities on March 17 were marred when two young men were taken to hospital in a serious condition after a couch was set alight at an early morning Castle St party.
Emergency services also attended two early-morning couch fires in North Dunedin this morning, but by midday more than 100 students were hitting the area to take part in a clean-up organised in memory of Sophia Crestani who died in a stairwell stampede at a Dundas St flat-party in 2019.
The Sophia Charter, which was put in place after Ms Crestani’s death in 2019, was a good foundation for making the student experience a safer one.
There was still progress to be made, but the charter showed that people were committed to doing better for each other.
The majority of students had done their part during a tough few years with Covid-19 and OUSA was looking forward to getting more events and services going later in the year.
University of Otago deputy vice-chancellor professor Helen Nicholson said the timing of the street clean-up was particularly relevant as it would have been Sophia’s birthday on Wednesday.
The annual event was important for promoting safety and wellbeing of students and connecting them to the wider community through the stakeholders of the Sophia Charter, which included the university, OUSA, the Dunedin City Council (DCC), Otago Property Investors Association and Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz).
Ongoing conversations had been taking place with the DCC about limiting the sale of alcohol in glass containers and the Hyde St party had shown a glass ban would be effective at reducing harm, she said.
Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins said the day had shown there was a real capacity in the student community for getting together and swinging in behind positive events in the community.
Campus cop Senior Constable John Woodhouse said the turnout for the event was spectacular and it was good to see students taking a break from their studies to get involved in their community for a good cause.
It would lead to students taking pride in their environment for the rest of the year, he hoped.
Students Ruby Riley and Isabella Pennington said Ms Crestani had gone to the same school as them, Queen Margaret College in Wellington.
Ms Crestani had been seen as a leader who was looked up to and taking part in the clean-up was one way they could pay respects to her, they said.
A Fenz Spokesman said it was called to a couch fire at a Castle St address at 3.35am and another at in Leith St 3.55am.
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said police were making inquiries about the two couch fires, which were likely related.
Over a hundred students joined the event and removed large amounts of rubbish and broken glass from the street.
Several could be seen working with police to remove the charred carcasses of several burnt couches in Castle St.
