Unless the new council decides to do something different following the public consultation earlier this year, its annual plan indicates that in 2011-12 it intends selling Carisbrook. If the Council
confirms its decision to sell after the ORFU has vacated the site, it will want to obtain the best price it can get.
Disclosure of a current valuation (a three-year-old rating valuation may not be relevant) during the selling process would prejudice the council’s ability to secure the best price. Those who have bought and sold their own homes will understand the principle. Selling the property is a commercial transaction — disclosure of a valuation would undermine the council’s negotiating position, potentially imposing extra costs on ratepayers. In the end, of course, the value will be what the market says it is worth.
valuation of the current and future values across a range of land uses
The Councils preferred option was as you describe during the Annual Plan process, however when tenders were sought we asked contractors to provide options for the enhanced service.Update:
Of the four conforming tenders none were prepared to provide the lidded/stacker bin for a reasonable price for these reasons:
1) lidded stacker bins are not robust enough for mechanical pick up, there seemed to be a problem with the lids hinge and the handles. This was news to the Council. Several were broken when contractors tested them.
2) the industry have far higher standards re health and safety these days and are moving towards using only left hand drive vehicle/single operation, so the driver is the only person in the vehicle, hence mechanical pickup.
3) the wheelie bins have a 12 year guarantee, contract is for 7 years. The lidded stacker bins had a much shorter life, sorry cannot recall length of guarantee.
4) the media were told about the reasons for the change but did not include those reasons in the article.
If individuals are physically unable to wheel bins to the kerbside then arrangements can be made with the contractor by providing a medical certificate for a back door service.
That would make the lift nearly three months behind schedule, when compared with a stadium construction programme presented to the Dunedin City Council by CST staff last October.Mr Farry is still saying that the Stadium can be built on budget and in time for next year's World Cup. It will interesting to see to see what comes out of the woodwork once this year's Council elections are over.
Looking at the “Digital Strategy” documents, it seems to me that it is going to be yet another example of Dunedin City Council empire-building: the expansion of Council responsibility into a new area. It may start off slowly, but I have no doubt that the bill will soon be millions of dollars.The Hearing Panel seems to be saying that not much Council spending will be required. Time will tell.
But Dunedin has developed over the years, and is continuing to develop, a good digital network without any involvement of the DCC. Businesses and households already have many options of Internet services to meet their requirements and their budgets.
As some-one who spends 100% of my work-time connected to computer systems in other parts of New Zealand, and sometimes the world, the existing network is not a limitation on digital business in Dunedin.
City Wifi: No
The City Wifi network should not be extended, and the existing Octagen service should be closed down unless it becomes privately funded. A City service competes with commercial services such as mobile broadband. Accommodation providers and cafes can attract custom by providing Wifi to visitors.
City Help desk: No
Users should purchase computers from local specialist retailers who will provide support in return for custom.
Schools
It is not the responsibility of the Council to provide IT services to schools
Rural broadband
Ratepayers should not subsidise broadband services for rural areas.
Fibre to the Home
There is no business case for Fibre to the Home. People will not pay extra for it.
A new DCC Digital Manager: No!
The last thing this City needs is another manager, there are already too many. It also will be a sign that significant Council money is intended to be spent in this area in coming years.
Encouraging IT Businesses:
The best way that the City Council can encourage IT businesses, and other types of businesses, is to reduce rates and other Council charges and fees.
There is a wider electoral point for National: the very people who exit to Australia are probably mostly get-up-and-go sorts who would vote National if they stayed. The spectre is Dunedin, Labour-voting for decades as Dunedinites drifted north (and now west) for higher pay.Perhaps this is an explanation for lack of entrepreneurs in Dunedin and the lack of appreciation of the benefits of the market.
Many, inevitably, think they operate like those in the business world and that providing hospitality and generous "rewards" is part of the way to grease the wheels of commerce. Usually, though, businesses provide products and services in a competitive market and profit and sales can be a salutary and meaningful constraint on business activity.
Council staff, in contrast, are public servants providing services for or on behalf of their fellow citizens.
Loans
The amount of the loans outstanding is $5million. The rentals from the houses covers about $1m of the $5m. After the ORFU leaves there will be no revenue to cover $4m.
Demolition
Doug Hall advised two years ago that he believed that he could demolish all except the Terrace Hospitality complex for net zero. That is, the costs of demolition would be offset by the sale of demolition material. If markets and costs have changed that may no longer be the case. As one of the leading demolition experts, Mr Hall can be contacted for an up to date view.
someone's head should rollThis comment is ironic considering that Guest is a strong Stadium supporter, and the same thing could be said about that project.
Dunedin city councillor Andrew Noone yesterday said the change to the district plan that turned land at the area from an industrial to a stadium/campus zone had an effect on negotiations, and an impact on the value of land.Duh! The Council rezoned the area to benefit property speculators, and it ends up costing ratepayers millions more dollars?
Using the Public Works Act to require land owners to sell would have been the ideal situation, he said, but the timing of the stadium and realignment meant that had not been possible.This is just bad planning, due to the rush to build the Stadium.
[Councillor Kate Wilson] planned to ask "serious questions" about whether the amount being spent on an expanding bureaucracy was warranted.A suggestion for a place to start:
Over these 15 years, the average rates increase after an election is 7.08%, in election year the average is 3.96%, and the figure for the middle year is 5.08%.This trend is certainly confirmed this year when the "reduction" in the size of this year's proposed increase, is clawed back by increases in the size of rises in future years.
Students (and others) in Dunedin start burning couches and generally rioting after just a couple of hours of drinking. You’d have to be mad to want to host a game which is basically two days of non-stop drinking rugby.
"It was never the responsibility of the trust," [CST chairman, Malcom Farry] said. The trust had been asked to plan and build the stadium, but not to run it once that was done.This is nonsense: the CST was responsible for projections of income and expenditure for the Stadium, which were produced at considerable expense to Dunedin rate-payers. Opponents of the Stadium claimed that costing were being kept unrealistically low to boost the case to go ahead. It is now clear that they were correct.
If rent from tenants is not covering expenses such as rates and cleaning, then Wall Street is losing money, not contributing to the City's finances as was the expectation.Other increases contributing to the council's rising operating costs included a further $1.05 million for the city property department, in part covering operating costs for the council's Wall Street mall.
Mr Stephens said those costs included rates, the building's warrant of fitness, cleaning and other costs not covered by rent from tenants.
Overall revenue from the complex was "more than adequately" covering costs, he said.
The council has long disappointed ratepayers with its history of failing to curb rates increases and rising charges, of heavier drawing down from debt-laden council-owned companies, and of encouraging ballooning liabilities.
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