The arts and Dunedin’s economic development
Councillor Andrew Whiley (ODT 29.4.24) documents an encouraging number of economic strengths of the city; all hopefully contributing to a prosperous, dynamic place to live now and in the future.
I agree that we tend to undersell ourselves on the positives of living in Dunedin. One particular area where we do this is the rich cultural fabric of the arts: the oldest public art gallery in the country offering an ever changing menu of exhibitions, a wide range of stimulating dealer galleries representing much local talent, a school of art that has employed or educated many of the country’s leading painters, a rich range of contemporary and classical music, the Otago Art Society hosting end on end local and national exhibitions in our railway station, the annual Frances Hodgkins fellowship through the Hocken that hosts leading New Zealand artists.
This is not an exhaustive list but surely is an aspect of this city that warrants inclusion in our marketing and a reason why many of us love living here.
It is one aspect of Dunedin that the economic development committee should take into account; perhaps even give a nudge to the DCC marketing department?
Not to be trusted
The tough period Councillor Sophie Barker mentions in her article (ODT 26.4.24) is alluding to when the DCC took profits from Aurora to help pay for the white elephant that is the stadium.
The DCC is always wasting ratepayers’ money buying up property then leaving it vacant.
Forbury raceway had developers with great ideas to develop this area. DCC amazingly found $13 million to buy it despite high debt and multimillion-dollar projects not yet finished or having funds to do so.
It is also developing cycleways most ratepayers will never use, and which are totally unnecessary for the north end of the city. Could we trust councillors to manage money from the sale of Aurora? Definitely not.
I worry for my grandchildren paying for the mistakes this council is making.
Venom vile
I was appalled at the nastiness and venom directed toward Cr David Benson-Pope by Cr Bill Acklin at a recent fiery city council meeting (ODT, 26.4.24). This can be seen merely for what it is — a cheap shot. Mr Benson-Pope has more acumen and experience and even panache than any other at the council table. This manner of vitriol from Cr Acklin is totally devoid of substance or merit. Perhaps he should reinvent his show biz talents; clearly he is out of his depth as a councillor.
Axe pen pushers
The continual wailing over the reduction in public servants is once again highlighting the failure of the media to provide balanced reporting.
Since 2017, the number of public servants has grown by 39%, or an extra 18,477 fulltime roles. In just the final six months of Labour's reign it grew by 2582. Those 18,500 jobs did not improve anything for anybody. They were to service the ever-burgeoning red tape and needless controls on everybody. The cost of those jobs was some $2 billion per year. Had that been spent on employing doctors and nurses then we might all have been better off.
As with the University of Otago, the real tragedy is that the cuts will likely fall on frontline staff instead of the grossly excessive middle management. In addition, the government needs to focus on getting rid of bureaucratic red tape, removing the need for these pen pushers.
Recall raises questions for satisfied customer
I have two of the Serene Type S 2068 heaters installed and they have been perfectly satisfactory for five years.
They are now totally banned from use and sale in New Zealand, where they have been available since at least 2018. There must be many thousands of these units in use, and I must ask the following questions.
Were these inspected for a type approval before being placed on the market? If so, presumably they were passed as being acceptable and met the appropriate new standards for sale?
If they weren’t inspected, why not? If they were, how has a fault that is now so horrendous as to result in total prohibition developed by itself?
It also begs the question, who covers the cost of replacement?
Woken up
According to regular ODT articles, Ingrid Leary is an extremely busy MP offering an opinion and/or solution for every project or idea suggested by anyone. During the Parliament recess, she even managed to fit in a trip to Taiwan. However, even after much thought, I don’t seem to be able to remember her offering many worthwhile suggestions or solutions during the past three years. It appears that being in opposition may have woken her up.
Cross party support
Mayor Radich says (ODT 29.4.24) everyone is looking for "cross-party support" to develop long-term climate change adaptation infrastructure in South Dunedin.
This already has Labour’s buy-in along with other opposition parties. Will the governing parties come to the party?
Drivers praised by cycling commuter
Following on from the Hellers’ praise of the bus drivers in Dunedin (ODT 29.4.24), I’d like to add that, as a cyclist, they have been brilliant in my experience.
They are patient, courteous and exceedingly safe around me whenever I’m on my bike commuting around town. When I make eye contact they are usually smiling and sometimes even wave as I bike down Easther Cres to work. Part of me feels that perhaps it’s because of a shared connection that cyclists, bus passengers and bus drivers all have in reducing our dependence on cars and reducing Dunedin’s CO2 emissions.
I hope that the Dunedin city councillors fully realise the role that bus drivers are helping play in this, and contribute themselves by both continuing to promote sustainable transport and turning away from continued cheerleading of far less sustainable transport such as cruise ships.
Cycle lane bemuses
Like Tony Williams (ODT, 27.4.24) I, a cycling commuter, am also bemused by the need for a cycle lane along Albany St and agree that a few "shared roadway" signs would suffice.
But also, what is its intended purpose and where is it supposed to lead? How does it connect with the West Harbour cycleway? Or is it another disconnection, of which there are many on the supposed Dunedin cycle lane "network" (being defined as "a group or system of interconnected people or things") if you can call it that? Is there a "network" plan?
If the DCC thinks there is a need, wouldn’t it be better along Frederick St? Shouldn’t parking be limited and reduced along this designated east-west thoroughfare to facilitate traffic flow?
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