by Metiria Turei
The Dunedin City Council remains committed to squandering a couple of hundred million dollars of ratepayer money on the white elephant Awatea Stadium while allowing a major tertiary investment to go down the tubes.
Otago Polytech and the University were working together to develop a design institute that they would share. They were promised a $12.5 million suspensory loan from the government but that is apparently now under review.
The Tertiary Education Commission announced last month the process for allocating capital funding for tertiary education institutions was on hold while the new Government’s tertiary education priorities were determined. Until then, all Capital Fund applications were on hold.
The Tertiary Education Union reported on it last week as well, saying that apparently assessments by Dunedin City Council estimate that every million dollars invested into the OID generates five million dollars worth of economic activity for the region.
So this is where the Council needs to step in and assure the Dunedin people that these kinds of community focused, economically viable projects will take priority over funneling money into a stadium that provides no guarantee of return, let alone staying within budget. We dont need massive projects like the stadium in Dunedin, we need investment in retrofitting the dismal housing, investing in public transport, protecting our marine resources and coast from sewage and providing certainty for smaller scale projects that the council knows will make a return for city. The Think Big ideology is a failure. Investing in the local community infrastructure is the only rational response to the recesession.
Published in Environment & Resource Management by Metiria Turei on Mon, March 23rd, 2009
Tags: Awatea Stadium, Dunedin City Council, housing, Otago Polytechnic, transport, University of Otago
More posts by Metiria Turei | more about Metiria Turei
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
The track record is not good.
A reasonably balanced essay here:
http://www.newgeography.com/content/00253-sports-complexes-economic-prosperity-or-pompousness
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I am somewhat surprised to see a plea for financial and economic return as a criteria for investment from the Green Party; however, it is a welcome perspective. To demonstrate an equal commitment to balance, let me offer the following.
The most important duty of local government is, in my view, to provide resources and facilities that benefit significant numbers of residents, that would not be available on any other basis. IN general, these things do not generate profits or direct returns, but do provide societal value. A Design Institute, as part of the Tertiary Education Resources within Dunedin, is probably a good idea and appropriate for the nature of the city’s education focus. However, it is to be a joint venture of two organisations that are expected, through direct fees and government subsidies, to achieve financial break-even after making provision for depreciation of capital assets. If they fail to do this, as most Polytechs, Universities and Institutes of Technology appear to do, then they must cut their cloth according to their purse and transform their spending to meet their revenue.
Despite a Tertiary Education Strategy that was supposed to focus institutions on their local communities, there are still so many outposts of the regions in Auckland (for example) as to cost the tax-payer many millions of dollars in travel and communications between the centres and outposts. Were this to be stopped, and the institutions rewound to their individual regions, with the Auckland outposts merged into a single polytechnic (there is none in Auckland since the ‘creation’ of Auckland University of Technology,) the money to fund projects like the Otago Design Centre may rapidly become available.
With regard to the Dunedin Stadium, this, to my mind, is exactly the type of resource that local government SHOULD be creating for it’s area. However, it is important that such resources are given maximum possible use, and not held as ‘too precious’ for anything less than top events. Assets such as Wellington’s Cake-Tin are not used for things such as school track and field athletics, because they are too expensive to hire and the playing surface has to be protected against harsh use! These attitudes (pricing and use restriction) result in one of the best assets in Wellington Region being grossly underutilised.
Dunedin should start on the road of replacement of the House of Pain with a modern facility and thereby ensure the Otago community continue to enjoy world-class sporting events. However, it should enter the road with a clear commitment to maximisation of the use of the facility by the local community, so that it is an asset from all, and not the white elephant many suggest it will become.
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Well Metiria, there’s one simple way to turn NZ into a zillionaire’s Paradise – legalize Pot!
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Ah, well, we all know that sports fans stay in the country, paying gst on beer and rugby tickets, while University Graduates just flee overseas for good jobs and to avoid paying off their student loans, so why invest in creating more of the b*stards, eh?
Dunedin City Council seems to be afflicted with the same property developers disease that Wellington has – project the benefit (ie: lie), then say that the real outcomes posted by a competing project are not profitable enough, and whitewash over any criticism.
Then when the budget forecasts prove to be wrong, explain it away by blaming ‘unforseen market outcomes’, not poor analysis of the global financial climate or unseemly keenness to award contracts to one’ s mates.
The short-term local economy boost from hiring carpenters, electricians, and so on is hardly going to pay off after the economy continues to flatten and ordinary folk stop having the funds to pay $40 or so for a night at the Stadium.
Beer & Circuses might seem an attractive way to keep the proles from rioting, but even Caesar found that it didn’t work in the long run.
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Katie
you seem to miss my point. A LOCAL stadium is an appropriate topic for a LOCAL government to debate and make a decision on. Tertiary education, in New Zealand, is a national government issue. The Dunedin City Council has no role in deciding what investment should be made where in the tertiary education network, in exactly the same way as the national government has no role in deciding what parks, gardens and other recreational facilities the city of Dunedin should have.
You are presenting this as an ‘either or’ decision for local government in Dunedin, when it is NOTHING OF THE SORT!
“Obfuscation is the final refuge of the fanatic”. W. Churchill, 1952
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Strings Says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
> Katie
> you seem to miss my point. A LOCAL stadium is an appropriate topic for a LOCAL government to debate and make a decision on. Tertiary education, in New Zealand, is a national government issue. The Dunedin City Council has no role in deciding what investment should be made where in the tertiary education network,
it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a local authority has invested in the development and part-ownership of a tertiary education facility.
> You are presenting this as an ‘either or’ decision for local government in Dunedin, when it is NOTHING OF THE SORT!
well, actually it is, because the design school development is an example of the sort of thing the DCC could invest in if it doesn’t pay for the stadium, but won’t be able to afford if it does.
Of course you could insist as a matter of principle that city councils should stop pouring money into developments associated with tertiary education facilities, but that would actually mean less freedom to direct this money to the use that would have the greater benefit.
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Strings was seen to say:
Then you have not paid much attention to GP policy!
peace
W
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Fishing no good – even the yellow carp ain’t biting.
oooh I know; Prohibit Alcohol – except for tourists of course.
The benefit being P Labs will turn to alcohol production, leading to a greater spread of wealth – I mean our Breweries have had a hundred years of criminally high profits – I don’t care what colour the brewer’s collar is – long as the quality is there.
Then there will also be a huge trade in foreign Passports…..
Home Grown Cottage industries everywhere – I’m liking this one!
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Hey oop,
There has been no guarantees that the stadium will attract more high profile sports games than Carisbrook already gets and a number of band promoters have said they still wouldnt bring thier bands down to Dunedin. The facility is not the big issue here, the population is. Dunedin has a population of about 115,000. In order to attract a viable number of bums on seats the net has to be cast almost to Christchurch and the whole of Southland. This is not like Auckland, where the population isn comparatively close. There just arent enough people to make the use of the facility for any purpose viable.
Upgrading the Brook makes sense: it costs less, creating a smaller debt burden for the community, it will continue to attract the games, it creates and retains jobs in the area. Building the stadium on the weak promise that it will be used for grandiose purposes, pouring $200million into it – without being realistic that stadium costs overseas tend to double from the original price -and creating a major debt burden for the community does not.
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Yep – upgradee good; Corporate Spaceship silly….want to see all them future Lawyers standing in the freezing rain still…. (ooopppss)
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PS: Speaking of bums on seats Metiria – keep an eye on those shifty pirates across the floor will you?
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I can see where you are coming from making the compare and contrast between investment in education infrastructure and the investment in entertainment infrastructure and given supposed competing interests.
Investing in education infrastructure has clear long run economic benefit to everyone and is absolutely an appropriate spend on money. Otago University and Poly have a long history of returning benefit to the nation.
However I also do see the argument that an investment in a new stadium affords the people of Dunedin/Gore/Invercargill/Otago the opportunity to host International Sports Events and world class bands etc in a clean modern stadium. An economic argument can be made for infrastructure projects like this and a long run economic benefit can be achieved.
I suspect the majority of the residents of Dunedin want to
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I can see where you are coming from making the compare and contrast between investment in education infrastructure and the investment in entertainment infrastructure and given supposed competing interests.
Investing in education infrastructure has clear long run economic benefit to everyone and is absolutely an appropriate spend on money. Otago University and Poly have a long history of returning benefit to the nation.
However I also do see the argument that an investment in a new stadium affords the people of Dunedin/Gore/Invercargill/Otago the opportunity to host International Sports Events and world class bands etc in a clean modern stadium. An economic argument can be made for infrastructure projects like this and a long run economic benefit can be achieved.
I suspect the majority of the residents of Dunedin want to see the All Blacks int their new stadium and maybe even Coldplay one day.
We need to push harder on the Central Government to provide more funds for education and healthcare, so the citizens of Dunedin can enjoy their city and reap the benefit of a world class university system.
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GregR Says:
March 25th, 2009 at 1:51 am
> I suspect the majority of the residents of Dunedin want to see the All Blacks int their new stadium and maybe even Coldplay one day.
the Dunedin people I know don’t seem to consider that a realistic possibility. Most big international bands judge it to only be economically viable to play one or two concerts in New Zealand, and making the case for one of the two to be in Dunedin is quite difficult.
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If “the majority of the residents of Dunedin” have been reading their daily newspaper, they would know that the likelihood of the All Blacks playing in the SECOND stadium is nil, zilch, zip as it will not be rated for international fixtures (being too small). The only place the All Blacks will ever play in Dunedin is Carisbrook, which, incidentally, is also the agreed venue for the 2011 RWC matches. As the Council has agreed to buy Carisbrook off the ORFU, looks like we ratepayers will have to pay for the upgrade of that stadium as well as the $200M plus interest for Farry’s Folly!
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Dunined in short is one of the most untidest citys in New Zealand, there is litter all over the street and none of the locals care, The Stadium will be build and is going up rather fast, its looking good too. The other thing the locals of this town called Dunedin cant see is that this city is falling behind all the others, there isnt much future for this city and the DCC is trying to save it from a ghost town.
I bike past the house of pain daily and oh man it is very very over used, the tin used on the outside wall is rusty, the paint is falling off, there is glass littered on the outside of the street cause the DCC fail to clean the streets weekly and do it ever 3 months. The stadium needs to be shut down. There is no Future for the house of pain its more like the house of shame. A new stadium will bring so much that you jokers (as jim hicky calls you people) dont even think. Ever though that a stadium will be used more then just rugby, ever heard of a confrence, cricket, soccer, a big band playing, a place for big markets to come like the rug expo etc.
But it blows me away how small minded these people are from Dunedin. When the Stadiums finished it will look out place compared to the small building that this town has, thats the only issue i have as it looking out of place. But what can you STS do nothing you tryed you fail, you tried again you fail, what next you pay a high court cost, what more can you do
There is nothing you can do to stop it, I gess the next local elections will truly show who is for the stadium and who is against it then we will see the true colours of this dreadful city!
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