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Otago Daily Times
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Festival suggested after Sheeran snub
Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich says he has a solution to attract top acts after the disappointment of the city missing out on Ed Sheeran. Mr Radich believed the answer was creating a new event called "Dunedin Sounds" — which he first suggested after the death of Dunedin musician Martin Phillipps. Bands from Dunedin and around the world could perform at the event which could not be taken away from Dunedin given its name. "Maybe we could send it to Dunedin, Florida, play some shows there, and we can send it to Edinburgh because Dunedin is, after all, the Gaelic name for Edinburgh so there is a lot of synergy there. "Just as Edinburgh has sent its Tattoo to New Zealand, we could send Dunedin Sounds to Edinburgh," he said. He suggested Dunedin Sounds could be an event Ed Sheeran might one day headline along with other international artists including Taylor Swift. He felt the likelihood of Dunedin Sounds coming to fruition was strong. There had been times when there was an influx of acts to the city. "It's either a feast or a famine." Mr Radich said transport was not an insurmountable issue, despite telling the Otago Daily Times on Tuesday the city missed out on Ed Sheeran because the airport was too small. He said the problem was not many artists were touring post-Covid and it was more difficult to attract acts to smaller cities. Dunedin Venues chief executive Paul Doorn said he and his team were continuing to work aggressively to attract international acts. Mr Doorn said the organisation's challenge was making Forsyth Barr Stadium and the city more attractive to the artists. There was a steady stream of acts playing at the Dunedin Town Hall which had a capacity of about 2200 seats. The stadium had a capacity of about 38,000 and international artists were necessary to fill it. He said in the current climate it was a good sign that artists were coming to New Zealand at all, let alone the South Island. Benefits of coming to Dunedin included the covered stadium which was like an "indoor arena on steroids" and being close to scenic locations in Central Otago and Southland. He did not subscribe to the theory the new Christchurch stadium would take acts away from Dunedin. While Christchurch had a bigger population, Dunedin had diversity with the student cohort and people from Central Otago and Southland. The city had history and culture surrounding live music. "There's a passion for live entertainment here which is really good. "We've just got to be able to group that all together with a really good economic proposition to get them to come further south." Dunedin Venues was working through transport challenges and trying to find clever ways to get around accommodation-related issues. "We're working with big transport logistic-type companies to try to find and unlock more cost-effective ways to bring shipping containers down via rail or trucks." He stressed Dunedin's airport size had not stopped big acts coming to the city in the past. The $1.645m the Dunedin City Council put aside for events attraction funding for Dunedin Venues in its nine-year-plan made a big difference in attracting artists, he said. He assumed Sheeran's logistics for making it to the next leg of his tour in Australia was part of the reason why there was not going to be a Dunedin show. Dunedin Airport chief executive Daniel De Bono said while the airport was not approached by Sheeran's promoters, it maintained the full capability for narrow body jet operations. When Pink came to Dunedin, the airport facilitated two Qantas charter flights carrying crew and equipment.
Otago Daily Times
12 hours ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
First properties in affordable housing initiative hit market
Houses with a $100,000 incentive for first-home buyers have arrived on the market as a Dunedin businessman's philanthropic endeavour starts bearing fruit. Last year, Roger Fewtrell announced plans to develop affordable homes across Dunedin and sell them to first-home buyers. Yesterday, he told the Otago Daily Times about 170 sites had been secured for the project — he estimated about 40 properties would be built in the next year. "We've bought properties and some of them have got existing houses," Mr Fewtrell said. "We've subdivided the land off that we'll build other houses on." Those existing houses were to be redeveloped and two completed examples — 50 and 80 Panmure Ave, Calton Hill — went to market last week. "We've got a new roof and new windows in one of them, and the other one's all been tidied up," he said. "They've both got a new carpet and all that sort of stuff, new paint — they're looking pretty nice and tidy and liveable." The newly subdivided back sections would be developed for housing alongside an adjacent 16 acre block of land. "Eventually we'll build 68 houses in that 16-acre block." Three more redeveloped houses were expected to go on sale in the coming weeks, he said. The master plan was to build 250 houses and "probably lose $25 million ... about $100,000 a house if you do the maths," Mr Fewtrell said. "We're well under way with it." Houses had to be sold at or above cost as required by Inland Revenue Te Tari Taake, he said. "The way we get around it is, I personally chip in $100,000 towards the deposit, which means [buyers] get a decent deposit and a smaller mortgage so they can afford to make the payments." Mr Fewtrell said some of the redeveloped houses might be too expensive for first-home buyers even if he chipped in. "We look for first-home buyers for those ones, but if we can't find [them], we'll just sell them on the open market and put that money back into building more." It would be between 6 and 12 months before the first new builds were complete, he said. Work on a subdivision consented for 18 lots above Ross Home in North East Valley had begun and was expected to be one of the first finished, along with developments in Kaikorai Valley and Green Island. "We're not selling off the plan. "We want to complete the build so that people can actually walk through the house and have a good look at it, see if they can afford it and if they like it." Mr Fewtrell said prospective owners were required to have a 10% deposit — "otherwise I don't want to talk to them". "They've got to be able to service their own mortgage and then I'm happy to chip in the $100,000 to help them get into their own house. Mr Fewtrell co-founded Southern Hospitality in 1989 — a hospitality and food service industry supplier that grew to 12 showrooms nationwide. It was bought by Australian firm Reward Supply Co in 2023.
Otago Daily Times
12 hours ago
- Climate
- Otago Daily Times
Work stalls on ORC's new air plan
Smoke from overnight fires hangs heavy in the frigid air above North East Valley in 2022. PHOTO: GERARD O'BRIEN Work has stopped on new rules for home heating to manage and improve air quality in the region, the Otago Regional Council has confirmed. Chief executive Richard Saunders confirmed at a council meeting in Oamaru yesterday work on the council's new air plan had stopped as a result of Resource Management Act (RMA) Reform Minister Chris Bishop's direction last week that council planning should stop until the new RMA legislation takes effect. On the day Mr Bishop broke the news to councillors and mayors attending the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) conference in Christchurch, Mr Saunders said the council welcomed the announcement from the minister "and the clarity it brings in light of upcoming resource management reforms". However, he said staff were still working through the implications on the council's work programme. Yesterday, regional planning and transport general manager Anita Dawe said no other work programmes at the council would be stopped after Mr Bishop's announcement. "Given the recent clear direction from Minister Bishop, staff have stopped work on the formal air plan process," Ms Dawe said. "Work on the air strategy is expected to continue subject to further direction from councillors. "The final and detailed direction [of the plan] was still to be finalised. However, the broad direction was to put in place rules that improved air quality, in particular around domestic home heating." She said the plan was no longer due to be notified next year. Three policy staff, one science staff member, and additional staff who had been working on the air plan would be redeployed to other projects, she said. Mr Bishop's office told the Otago Daily Times last week proposed plans that had a hearing date scheduled within five days of the enactment of the government's plan-stop legislation, expected next month, should continue.
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Letters to the Editor: dolphins, mining and Gaza
Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including moving fishers away from dolphins, Michael Laws' comments on the Bendigo mine, and apathy about Gaza. Hoping against hope that this is good news We might hope that a "New technique helping save Māui — Hector's dolphins" reported in the Otago Daily Times (14.7.25) is as good as it sounds. Unfortunately clever research continually overpromises and underdelivers. Whether it's drone dolphin spotters, satellite tags stuck to dolphins, or now, DNA sequencing, accompanied by hopeful headlines suggesting that technology can save dolphins, what we still need is action. What is overdue, is industry and government leadership that supports a transition for fishers out of Māui and Hector's habitat. No dolphin should be drowned in a fishing net. Yet at least 12 Hector's dolphins were killed by bottom trawling in the last fishing year. Set nets killed another three. More research is no substitute for leaders in local, regional and central government, and the industry itself, who will actively support trawl and set net-free seas, required for Māui and Hector's dolphins to survive. Founder and chairwoman, Māui and Hector's Dolphin Defenders NZ Gone potty Today Big Brother had me over a barrel or maybe a potters wheel? Five days ago I was elected on to our local pottery group committee. Today I was informed I had to join Kiwibank and stay with the bank as long as I remained a committee member. Why? Because of the money laundering laws in our country. I am not a signatory on the club's bank account but still perceived as a risk. Today I sadly resigned from our committee. I refuse to be under surveillance and forced to join a bank if I want to offer my services to our humble club. We are further down the slide of madness than I thought. Powerful words Otago regional councillor Michael Laws' own words are a powerful reason not to re-elect him. The ODT reports that Laws emailed ENGO Sustainable Tarras stating, "I am intrigued as to how [Ms Keith], a Wellington-based environmental activist, became the chair of an anti-mining lobby in my constituency" (15.7.25). The elephant in the room is Santana Minerals' proposed giant gold mine at Bendigo, which Mr Laws obviously supports and Ms Keith opposes. While Kiwis love Antarctica, not all of us get to live there either. Nevertheless, we would be appalled to learn an open-cast mine was being planned for, say, McMurdo Sound. Now, my suspicion is that Ms Keith has probably visited Central Otago at least once. Does it make her some sort of inauthentic flake for having the pluck to step up when elected representatives don't? Vote him out. The neighbours My family's property is 900m from the Santana testing facility. We have never been contacted or informed about any activities occurring there (which appear to be in breach of the district plan). The company does its absolute best to avoid contact and does not share any information. It is extremely difficult to uncover what applications they have lodged, what they plan in the future, how and when these will be implemented. There is a secrecy that surrounds the company and its activities. ORC councillor Michael Laws' statement about contact from locals is inappropriate. He has been contacted, other ORC and Central Otago District Council councillors have been contacted, and given the process is national policy the issue has been taken to a national level. Is it apathy or hopelessness re Gaza inaction? Sadly it would appear there is widespread apathy amongst most New Zealanders about the plight of the Palestinians. One hopes that this is due to a feeling of hopelessness rather than a lack of concern. I have had a belief that New Zealand stood for fairness and for what is right. Perhaps it was my wishful thinking and is a fallacy. This government seems comfortable with toeing the line with most other Western countries and remains practically silent. It is appalling what is happening. Surely, surely, surely our government can no longer sit on the fence. Why has the Israeli ambassador not been sent back home? All trade with Israel should be banned and can we really condone allowing Israelis to visit New Zealand on holiday, giving some of them presumably a break from bombing the Palestinians? I for one would like to be on the right side of history but is lame to say it when there is daily carnage. It is embarrassing and appalling that this country is doing little to nothing. Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Cat monitoring details shown
Rats, cats, possums, kiwi, tītī and white tail deer star in the first round of camera monitoring on Stewart Island. Details of the monitoring which took place during two weeks in May can be found on the Department of Conservation's Conservation blog website. About 300 trail cameras have been set up across 2300 hectares to record the presence of feral cats, rats and possums before, during and after the aerial 1080 poison operation. Last year the Department of Conservation announced a two-phase operation to drop 1080 bait to reduce the feral cat population endangering the Pukunui/Southern NZ dotterel. Phase one in about 6000 hectares of the island was completed earlier this month. The cameras are set up from sea level at Doughboy Bay to up and over the tops of the Tin Range where one of the last pukunui breeding grounds is. There are also cameras set up outside of the 1080 drop area to serve as a comparison. A lure, often containing rabbit meat, is set up in front of the trail cameras which are programmed to take bursts of photographs when they sense movement. On the blog it states the photographs show there are "lots of cats". The Otago Daily Times asked if Doc knew how many cats were in the area and could it be the cats were featuring in more than one camera and being counted twice or more. Doc Rakiura operations manager Jennifer Ross said the purpose of the monitoring was not count the number of pests. "Our aim is to measure the relative abundance of feral cats, rats and possums in the operational area before, during and after predator control. "This will help us to measure the results of the predator control operation." The results of the monitoring were what was expected and are similar to the non-drop area at Ruggedy Range, she said. Kiore, (Pacific rats) , Norway and ships rats feature in the photographs. Rakiura Tītī Islands administering body member Tāne Davis said kiore were smaller and less common than ship or Norway rats but they still had major impact on insects, land snails, lizards, bats and smaller land and seabirds. It is thought kiore arrived in New Zealand with the first Polynesians about 100 years ago, he said. While Ngāi Tahu acknowledged the cultural importance of kiore rats to some groups its position as kaitiaki or guardians was to eradicate them, he said. ZIP operations director Duncan Kay said Norway rats were a formidable predator. "They can grow much larger than kiore and ship rats — up to 25 cm, including the tail." They were also better swimmers and could easily swim 2km. "While they're not such good climbers as ship rats, they can still reach birds' nests above the ground."
