McKenzie Drive
Local developers Heather and Jeff McKenzie were seeking to gain the board’s support for their application to Dunedin City Council to name a road in their private rural subdivision McKenzie Drive. A second option for the road was Blueskin Ridge, in reference to stone quarried at Blackhead.
After later discussion, the board agreed to support the request to name the road McKenzie Drive.
Brighton Pump Track
Brighton resident Shane Turner and Greater Green Island Community Network (GGICN) manager Ben McKenzie spoke about progress to date on the Brighton Pump Track community project.
Mr Turner and the steering committee had been working on the project for more than a year, and had made good progress on design and planning.
South Roads was preparing a concept drawing and a potential site for the track had been pegged out, he said.
The pump track project steering committee had been supported by the GGICN and there were discussions about the network becoming a stakeholder, Mr Turner said.
In response to questions from the board, Mr Turner said the project budget would be about $200,000, the track would most likely be constructed using asphalt, and that it was hoped it would eventually become a council asset.
Green Island
GGICN manager Ben McKenzie then gave the board an update on the network’s work this year.
He began with the positive news that a stage and barbecue for community events had now been installed at Green Island Memorial Gardens.
"A lot of changes have been made in that area, and it is nice to see it being used," he said.
The network had accessed Otago Community Trust funding and was working with local schools on providing a service for children.
It had also continued to support the business association, had done some work with the beautification team, and was excited to be doing preliminary work around a public toilet.
The network was also planning to hold another community get-together next year at Dunedin City Baptist Church, Mr McKenzie said.
Friendship Dr flooding
Waldronville resident Ian Arthur shared his concerns about the maintenance of a channel at Friendship Dr, runoff from new subdivisions, and the capacity of drains and pumping station, after his property was flooded during the heavy rain event.
"At one stage, I had a metre of water in my garage," he said.
He blamed too-narrow pipes for at least part of the problem.
After discussion, DCC chief executive Sandy Graham, who was in attendance at the meeting, undertook to ask contractors to look into the problem.
General business
Moving on to general business, the board discussed its meeting schedule for 2025, which would start with a meeting on February 13.
Board updates included a report on Keep Dunedin Beautiful activities, a proposed Civil Defence Day, Brighton Toy Box, the board’s Youth Ambassador Awards application criteria, and a request for an update on the proposed landfill at Smooth Hill.
Ms Graham also gave the board a brief update on the recent flooding event, thanking board members for their work to keep the community safe.
Her personal opinion was that the rain event had been well-signalled, allowing council and community to prepare, communication had been generally good, and although there had been problems in some areas, overall "we did as well as we could for the volume of rain".
A review of the event response by council staff was pending, she said.
