Free New Zealand Topo Maps

The new series of New Zealand topographical maps can now be downloaded from:
http://www.linz.govt.nz/topography/index.aspx
Maps for the whole country are available and are free for download. After download, an area can be selected and a map printed out. Note that the files are large (about 50 Mb).
This should save dollars for outdoor types such as trampers and mountain-bikers.

Daffodils At Lawrence

Yesterday we paid a visit to the Daffodil display at Weatherstone's, near Lawrence. A million daffodils were planted about 1895 on 25 acres around Hart's Black Horse Brewery. In recent years, the daffodils have come to life as the land has be tidied up.

Public Hearing Required For Lawyer's Head Fence

Golfers are concerned that the proposed fence at Lawyer's Head will ruin the iconic views from the area (see ODT here). Such a fence would have a significant effect on people's enjoyment of an important public area. A public hearing is should be held before a resource consent is granted. Public input may help in siting the fence where it has minimum impact on the views, from the golf course and from the turning circle. As the recent parking bungles have shown, the wisdom of the City does not exclusively reside in the Town Hall.

Calvin's Letter In DScene

Calvin Oaten has a fine letter in DScene about DCC Company, Delta's, property speculation in Central Otago.
It is good to see that Dscene is now available online. It is free, unlike other Fairfax papers, but does require a logon for full access.

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DScene
16 Sep 2009

Recycling Submission

This is my submission to the Dunedin City Council on the proposed changes to Recycling:

I support the preferred Option C Proposal if:
1. Householders have a choice of recycling bins : i.e they can chose to use an alternative to the new 140-litre wheelie bin if they believe that it is more convenient for them.
2. That the cost is not more than the estimated $70. There is a serious risk that this proposal could be approved by the Council but the actual cost could turn out to be significantly higher. Any
approval should be conditional on a guarantee of the maximum cost.
Otherwise the current recycling system should be retained.
For non-recyclable rubbish, I support the current black rubbish-bag and private-contractor system because user-pays encourages waste minimization.

It is interesting that the Council now seems to be offering households a choice of recycling bins, despite voting against Councillor Walls' proposal for choice (see my previous post).
City Talk says:

For example,larger households will be able to get 240 litre bins for their recycling needs, and people with low recycling needs or access issues will be able to use small 40 litre stacking bins.

And the DCC website says:

Note: a choice of container size will be available for co-mingled recycling specific to individual requirement. Refer to pamphlet in the Consultation documents.

The ODT also has an article on Recycling. In the sidebar (but not online): the Council aims to increase recycling per year per household from 114 kg to 150 kg by 2016. We will see: there will be some increase from more types of plastics being recycled, but I am not convinced that people are not recyling material because their current bin is not big enough.
Another solution is not to create the rubbish to begin with. Our household has recently had a considerable reduction in the volume of recycling, by putting up a "No Junk Mail" sign!

$50,000 For Sustainability Bureaucracy

The Dunedin City Council has decided to spend$50,000 on a it's "sustainability" project. I predict that there will be much more money to follow. Michael Guest was the only councillor to disaprove. He said parts of a report on sustainability were "from the loony left", and urged the council not to treat the idea as a religion. The ODT report is here.
That being said, much of sustainability is just a return to old-fashioned values of "waste not, want not" and frugal living. I will treat any proposals from the Sustainability Working Party on their merits, but I feel there will be hare-brained schemes to analyze.
The full Council report can be downloaded from here(pdf).

Michael Deaker On Buses

Michael Deaker, chairman of the ORC policy and resource planning committee, has written an
opinion piece in the ODT on Buses. It is much more positive than the recent "hospital pass" comment by ORC chief executive, Graeme Martin (my blog post about that here).
Michael talks of "gradual, prudent and practical improvements to buses". I do not consider an increase in bus costs from $2,154,129 to 4,823,951 in two years as "gradual" or "prudent".
He also says:

The The ORC's policy is to split the cost of contracted services over and above the government subsidy, 50-50 between bus users and transport rates.

I believe that this is incorrect. The policy is to split the cost of contracted services 50-50 between bus users and transport rates, and that this is a requirement of to receive the Government subsidy (which currently 25% of costs). The interpretation of this policy will have a significant effect on whether bus fares need to be raised further. I am sure that this will be clarified in the future.
I agree that it will be rising fuel prices which eventually triggers a significant increase in bus use.

Recycling Consultation Questions

On Friday morning, I sent an email to the Dunedin City Council with some questions on the proposed changes in Recycling. I will post the answers when, and if, I receive them.

• What % increase in recycling volumes are you expecting with Option C?
• How much of this increase do you expect will come from having bigger bins?
• You estimate $20 extra for Option C. Does this take into account improved returns from separation of recycling material? If so, how much?
• How much slower do you expect recycling rounds to be with wheeled bins?
• What percentage of households do you expect to be approved to use alternatives to the new standard 140 litre bin?

My previous post on Misleading Recycling Consultation is here.

Extra Bureaucrats For DCC

Most Dunedin people are tightening their belts, but the Dunedin City Council bureaucracy is expanding: three new urban designers and a heritage policy planner have recently been employed. Details can be found in this post on "What if?".
It is hard to disagree with the editorial in the ODT:

Nevertheless, one of the disturbing features of what is happening is the commitment of council resources to its own bureaucracy and overheads.
Supposedly, with the stadium, the wastewater processing and other ongoing commitments, the city cannot cut costs, and hefty rate rises have to continue.
Somehow, though, a budget is found for the three new urban designers and a heritage policy planner to boost the city's design expertise.

I have no doubt that the consequence of these extra staff will be more expensive projects for ratepayers to fund, and more rules and regulations telling Dunedin residents what they can and cannot do on their own properties.

Botanic Gardens Delight

The Upper Gardens are wonderful just now with the Magnolia's in full bloom and the Rhododendrons beginning to bloom, and the settled Spring weather allowing them to show their best.

ORC Drops Ball On Buses

Otago Regional Council chief executive, Graeme Martin, says that Dunedin bus services were a hospital pass but it is more accurate to say that the ORC has dropped the ball. Expenses have been allowed to increase so much that fares now only cover 35% of costs, much less than the 50% required as a condition of Government subsidies. Cuts in bus services and more fare increases will be difficult to avoid.
There has been some increase in patronage , but most of this is due to older people traveling free with their Super-Gold cards (The Government pays their fares).
The Regional Council has not explained why costs have increased so much. Only a small part can be attributed to an increase in services. The main reason is probably new requirements for high-tech buses: "raising standards". But the end consequence may be to lose passengers because of the resulting higher fares.
The full Regional Council document can be found here

	Contract	Subsidy per	Patronage	Fare
	Costs ($)	passenger		revenue ($)
2001/02	932,533	$0.68	1,376,755	1,737,205
2002/03	866,492	$0.63	1,381,760	1,781,244
2003/04	901,937	$0.64	1,403,758	1,890,465
2004/05	1,055,725	$0.88	1,195,783	1,659,990
2005/06	1,931,483	$1.49	1,292,458	1,802,223
2006/07	2,154,129	$1.65	1,305,121	2,005,873
2007/08	3,113,891	$2.17	1,437,341	2,093,360
2008/09	4,823,951	$2.92	1,651,878	2,581,122

Auckland Events Lose Millions

The Dunedin City Council has appointed directors for Dunedin Venues Management Limited, the company which will manage the Stadium. The board will be chaired by Sir John Hansen, a former Judge, who has little business experience and seems to have been appointed to give a respectable facade. Many of the finance companies which have failed in recent times, have had this type of appointment on their board.
The deputy-chairman of DVML will be Peter Stubbs, who is chairman of The Edge, which manages the venues of the Auckland City Council. He certainly knows about the risks of event management: The Edge lost $1.9 million promoting My Fair Lady in August. This is even more than the $1.8 million Auckland Regional Council lost on David Beckham.
The other DVML directors are Stewart Barnett, Bill Baylis, Peter Brown, Malcolm Farry, Peter Hutchison, Jennifer Rolfe and Kereyn Smith. There can be little complaint about the calibre of those chosen.
But event promotion is a risky business, particularly in cities with a low population base such as Dunedin. I think that there should be a public debate on whether DVML should take the risk of event promotion, or it should just hire the venue. I seem to recall Euan Soper, of the Carisbrook Stadium Trust, saying it would just be venue hire.
The ODT story is here.

No Sunday Drive On John Wilson

The Dunedin City Council has changed it's mind again and decided John Wilson Drive will only be open to vehicles on weekdays (story in the ODT here). This is described as a "compromise" between those who want it reopened and those who want it open to walkers only. But it hard to disagree with Councillor John Bezett who said, "This to me is trying to please everybody. We are going to end up pleasing no-one".
This decision puts an end to the long tradition of taking elderly and infirm relatives on a Sunday Drive to John Wilson. And those who work for a living will largely miss out.
The Council has lost the plot yet again. I am sure that this decision will be revisited before long.