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Category Archives: Economics
by Elizabeth | August 9, 2017 · 1:24 am
THUS we gather that the owners/editorial team of the Otago Daily Times have deemed Anthony Tosswill's proposal for a tall fat Moray Place apartment building (commercial residential) is worthy of being built. Ra Ra ODT.
If you (ODT) want to print half the story, presume away…. to Not be the independent courier of what is public information contrary to the arguments of the greying Mr Page, Counsel for Mr Tosswill's NZ Horizons Hospitality Group Ltd (widely suspected as a vehicle for Asian finance, yet to bring even one of "12 hotels" on his South Island wish list out of the ground – funny that).
For your attention :
The legal submissions of Ms Semple, Counsel for Millennium and Copthorne Hotels New Zealand Ltd (owner of the 3 star Kingsgate), an affected party.
Ms Semple maintains that the application cannot be lawfully unbundled.
█ Legal Submissions on behalf of the Millennium and Copthorne Hotels
█ Casebook for the Millennium and Copthorne Hotels
The legal submissions of Mr Hardie, Counsel for Misbeary Holdings Ltd are not yet available online at the DCC website.
LOLOL
If the independent commissioners agree with Mr Page then it's "See you in Court, Buster".
Filed under Architecture, Business, Construction, DCC, Democracy, Design, District Plan, Dunedin, Economics, Finance, Heritage, Housing, Infrastructure, Media, Name, People, Pet projects, Politics, Project management, Property, Proposed 2GP, Public interest, Resource management, Site, Tourism, Town planning, Transportation, Travesty, Urban design, What stadium
Tagged as 143-193 Moray Place, 5 star hotel rooms, Adverse effects, Apartment building, Central Activity Zone, Commercial residential, DCC, Dunedin, Dunedin City Council, Dunedin City District Plan, Independent commissioners, Millennium and Copthorne Hotels New Zealand Ltd, Misbeary Holdings Ltd, Non-complying activity, North Princes Street/Moray Place/Exchange Townscape Precinct (TH03), NZ Horizons Hospitality Group Ltd, Second generation district plan (2GP), The Kingsgate
Proposed ORC Bus Hub, Great King St – concept image [supplied]
CALL FOR PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
DIS-2017-1 – Central City Bus Hub
Open for submissions. Closes 5pm 18 August 2017
Public notice of requirement for a designation
Sections 168 and 169 of the Resource Management Act 1991
The Dunedin City Council has received notice of a requirement for a new designation from the Otago Regional Council.
Notice of Requirement No: DIS-2017-1
The requirement is for: A Central City Bus Hub for Dunedin's transport network, and includes all buildings, structures and associated facilities and activities for the carrying out of the public transport system by the Otago Regional Council. With the exception of no public parking, the designation will not prevent the use of Great King Street, between Moray Place and St Andrew Street, being used as a public road.
The designation is to provide for the establishment, operation, maintenance and upgrading of the Central City Bus Hub for Dunedin public transport service purposes and will provide public transport services described in the Otago Regional Council's Public Transport Plan, and to provide for any site works, buildings or structures, integral and ancillary to the Dunedin public transport system, including but not limited to: Bus shelters and seating; timetable and information displays; bus stops; public amenities, including toilets; landscaping including structures; pedestrian footpaths and accessways; drainage; technology; lighting; security; vehicle priority; signage; passenger comfort initiatives and facilities; passenger information facilities; and all other structures and facilities associated with, or incidental to, a comprehensive facility for the performances of functions of the Central City Bus Hub and support of the Dunedin Public Transport Network for the Otago Regional Council.
The nature of the functions is that these activities will initially occur from approximately 05:30am to 12:30am, 7 days a week, year-round.
The sites to which the requirement applies are as follows:
● Great King Street Road Reserve, between Moray Place and St Andrew Street, Dunedin;
● Moray Place Road Reserve (part of);
● 12.4m² (approx.) within 157 St Andrew Street, legally described as Lot 1 DP 486801;
● Two areas within the Countdown car park adjoining Great King Street – one comprising 58.8m² and the second comprising 50.4m² (approx.) legally described as Lots 2 and 3, DP 6552 and Section 29, Town of Dunedin.
● 19.5m² (approx.) within the Countdown car park adjoining Moray Place, legally described as part Sections 27 and 28, Block XVI, Town Survey District;
● 63m² (approx.) within the Community House car park at 301 Moray Place, legally described as part Town Section 26, Block XVI, Town of Dunedin; and
● 60.8m² (approx.) within the Wilsons car park at 30-36 Great King Street, legally described as Lot 2 DP 338932.
The Notice of Requirement, plans showing the extent of the requirement, and the assessment of environmental effects may be inspected at the following locations:
● City Planning Enquiries, Customer Services Centre, Ground Floor, Civic Centre, 50 The Octagon, Dunedin
● The Dunedin Central Public Library
● The Mosgiel Service Centre
Please contact Paul Freeland on 477 4000 if you have any questions about the Notice of Requirement.
█ Go to this DCC webpage for all the information pertaining to the Notice of Requirement (NoR):
Closing date for submissions: Friday 18 August 2017 at 5pm.
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/your-council/district-plan/district-plan-changes/dis-2017-1-central-city-bus-hub
█ Supplementary Reading
From the 'RMA Quality Planning Resource' (NZ):
Notices of requirement and requiring authorities
To begin the process of designating land, a requiring authority must serve a notice of requirement on the relevant territorial authority (s168 of the RMA) or lodge it with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) (s145(3)). A notice of requirement is a proposal for a designation.
The notice of requirement has an interim effect, in that it protects the land for the designated purpose until the designation is confirmed and included in an operative district plan (s178). If the designation is confirmed it overrides the provisions of the district plan so the project or the works may be implemented by the requiring authority in accordance with that designation and any conditions attached to it. However, the underlying plan provisions continue to apply if the land is used for a purpose other than the designated purpose.
When processing a notice of requirement Part 8 of the RMA requires the territorial authority to consider the requirement and any submissions received (if the requirement was notified), and then make a recommendation to the requiring authority. The territorial authority is only able to make a recommendation to the requiring authority and the requiring authority has the final decision on the matter. Refer to the flowchart for steps in the new designation process.
An alternative process is available under Part 6AA of the RMA for notices of requirement that are for proposals of national significance. Sections 198A – 198M of the RMA also provide for the direct referral of notices of requirement to the Environment Court for a decision. The direct referral provisions under the RMA allow for requiring authorities to request that notified notices of requirement be directly referred to the Environment Court for a decision, instead of a recommendation by a territorial authority and a decision by a requiring authority.
The designation provides for the long-term 'approval' of the work. Because details of the work may not be known at the time of lodging the notice of requirement, s176A provides for further detail or subsequent changes and updates to the work through an outline plan. An outline plan is required to be submitted to the territorial authority, showing details of the work or project to be constructed on the designated land.
As for the notice of requirement process, the territorial authority only has a recommendation role for outline plans. The territorial authority is only able to request changes of the requiring authority and cannot turn down an outline plan.
A notice of requirement and an outline plan describing the works proposed can be served/submitted at the same time. This approach can be helpful to allow the territorial authority to understand the designation, and can speed up the overall process allowing works to begin sooner. Alternatively, the requirement for an outline plan can be waived by the territorial authority if sufficient information was submitted with the notice of requirement.
Read more: http://www.qualityplanning.org.nz/index.php/plan-development-components/designations/overview/notices-of-requirements
All we want is …. [possibly?]
No highly coloured tarseal or paving materials not in keeping with Dunedin's built environment.
NO Bus Hub in Great King St.
And….
smaller more frequent shuttle buses, suburban areas properly serviced with well-spaced bus stops and shelters, easy transfer cards, on-board EFTPOS card top-ups ($5 minimum), digital readouts for next bus at all stops, wifi buses, direct pick-up drop-off in George and Princes streets, well serviced peak hours and school runs, bus inspectors, highly trained drivers, mechanically well serviced buses, plenty of mobility access for all comers.
Or to just call an affordable version of Uber or Lyft.
Filed under Business, Construction, DCC, Democracy, Design, District Plan, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Finance, Health & Safety, Heritage, Infrastructure, LTP/AP, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, ORC, People, Pet projects, Politics, Project management, Property, Proposed 2GP, Public interest, Resource management, Site, Tourism, Town planning, Transportation, Travesty, Urban design, What stadium
Tagged as Apps, BAD transport design, Black car service, BRIGHT COLOURS, Bus hub, Buses, Central City Plan, DCC, Dunedin City Council, Dunedin City District Plan, Electric vehicles, Fewer bus stops (en route), Great King St, Hail apps, Heritage City, Hybrid vehicles, Intersections, Lack of convenience, Lack of fit, Notice of Requirement, ORC Bus Hub, Otago Regional Council, Passengers, Pooling, Public transport, Regulation, Requirement for a desigation, Ride hailing apps, Rides, Second generation district plan (2GP), Self-drive vehicles, Smartphones, Technology, Traffic congestion, Transfer system, Transport operators, Transportation, Travel, Turning issues
by Elizabeth | August 5, 2017 · 10:31 pm
Should Dunedin ratepayers and residents be worried about lack of performance at home.
Message received.
Sat, 5 Aug 2017 at 8:04 p.m.
Ratepayers of Dunedin must have mixed feelings now that their Mayor has been elected to the position of President of Local Government New Zealand. Mixed, as some estimates of the time necessary to undertake this onerous role seem to indicate about 3 days a week. Representing more than 70 local authorities certainly would seem to take that time at least, and much of that time will be out of Dunedin in lobbying central government. Some of the ratepayers may think that it might not be a bad thing to have the Mayor paying attention to matters out of Dunedin, but some may be thinking that he should be in Dunedin as much as possible to undertake what has been, and should be, a full-time role. It's not that there aren't pressing matters to deal with. The crumbled Aurora network and the resultant huge borrowing by the DCC company to bring the network up to an acceptable standard, the sad state of much of the infrastructure which now includes the Taieri Plain, the problems of not having dividend payments from DCHL, the prospect of another ratepayer funded swimming pool at Mosgiel when the private funding dissipates, the issue of the hospital – the list goes on and on and on.
Many mayors of much smaller local governments view their role as a full-time one and some may even wonder if the previous President of Local Government, Lawrence Yule, had been paying a bit more attention to local matters then the horrific situation whereby his local ratepayers were supplied with dangerous drinking water could have been avoided. Who knows, but we do know that Mr Yule not only had the Presidency of Local Government in his mind, but he was also eyeing up ending up in central government as the local National Party member.
All those things aside some practical questions arise.
If the Mayor is now also working as a President of LGNZ for say, 3 days a week, does his remuneration as Mayor of the DCC get reduced on a pro-rata basis? Does the position of President of LGNZ also attract an honorarium? If so, should a pro rata proportion of that be paid to the DCC to offset the lack of availability of the Mayor to attend to his DCC duties? Or does the Mayor simply add any honorarium of the LGNZ role to his income as Mayor? And what of the role of the Deputy Mayor of the DCC? Does increased responsibilities to this role because of the absence of the Mayor lead to an increased honorarium?
I do note that the Mayor intends embarking on a national road show/tour to introduce himself to the 70+ local government authorities that he now heads up. Let us hope that this showcasing of the Mayor's profile is done at a time when it is convenient and appropriate to those that are paying his wages. And I wonder what advice and guidance he will be giving to Mayor Dalziel now that the pro-rugby lobby is winding up to provide a covered stadium in Christchurch? What interesting times we live in.
The Dunedin City Council Annual Plan 2017/18 indicates the Council will borrow an extra $100M during the next LTP period; this debt borrowing is fully separate to the Aurora Energy debt borrowing – and is not at all explained to the Ratepayers.
It was Cr Lee Vandervis who highlighted this massive extra borrowing at the full council meeting on 27 June 2017, when the council signed off (item 20) the 2017/18 Annual Plan. This query received No credible response from the mayor and councillors; or examination by the ODT reporter present.
Filed under DCC, Democracy, Dunedin, Economics, Geography, Hot air, LGNZ, Name, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, Politics, Public interest, Travesty, What stadium
Tagged as 3-day working weeks, DCC, DCC debt CRISIS, Double dipping, Duedin City Council, Junkets, LGNZ, Local Government New Zealand, Mayor of Dunedin, No fixes for Dunedin, Stipends
by Elizabeth | July 30, 2017 · 12:14 am
Fri, 28 Jul 2017 at 11:44 p.m.
Readers, I can hear the rumblings already – is your correspondent so bereft of new information that he has to tailgate the exploding Turei benefit scandal to catch some attention ? Is this the equivalent of Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66, who started well but could only survive by making instrumental covers of Beatles' hits? (I admit, Day Tripper is a particular favourite…)
Get in behind, readers. Have yourselves a draught of Bells, and let me untangle the web that starts with the inexplicable antics of Ms Turei.
Any sentient citizen must be, by now, aware that Ms Turei attempted to make political capital out of her long term benefit fraud last week to assist in marketing the Green Party's new welfare policy. Sadly for Ms Turei, a thing called the internet means that her previous fictions about the circumstances around her early solo parent years are all easily discoverable, and the Whale Oil blog has done a telling summary of Ms Turei's various mendacities. (Thanks Cameron).
Overwhelmingly, the Kiwiblog and other commentariat have excoriated Ms Turei's inexplicable move, but again, Whale Oil offered the most penetrating analysis (and no, I am not a Whale Oil subscriber, or have ever been in contact with Cameron Slater…). Mr Slater made the interesting points, repeated by Barry Soper and others, that not only was Ms Turei guilty of benefit fraud, but also received a study grant as well. Ms Turei refused to name the father of her baby to WINZ, who has now been subsequently revealed as Paul Hartley, son of Ann Hartley, former Mayor of North Shore. Consequently, no child support has ever been received from Mr Hartley. Ms Turei confirmed that "Grandma" (Ms Hartley) provided support – very likely including financial support, which undoubtedly has not been declared.
One of the unfortunate unintended effects of the whole affair is that this will be red meat to many right wing types of a particular gender and particular demographic to start a predictable chorus of "Welfare Queens" abusing the system. Middle aged guys, this was old (and not true) even when Ronald Reagan used it to get elected in 1980. As noted in the comments below, the amount of white collar fraud that goes unprosecuted is about 30 times the estimated amount of benefit fraud, so to the white collar industries of accounting and law that seek to advise on the fine line between tax "minimisation" and tax "avoidance" : let those without sin cast the first stone.
While all this is very interesting and will lead to the certain demise of Metiria Turei after the election, if not before as the Green's poll numbers continue to stagnate or decline, the commentariat has missed the bigger issue which is "What Did The Law Society Know and What Did They Do About It ?".
Ms Turei initially declined to say if the fraud was disclosed to the Law Society in her 1999 interview to determine if she was "a fit and proper person" to be admitted to the bar, but then decided immediately afterward that refusing to comment would put her on a par with Jonathan Coleman and Todd McLay, so confirmed on July 26 that she had been "upfront" to the Law Society, and there had been a "long conversation" about it.
What is fascinating about this, and an extreme concern for anyone who has had to rely on or transact with lawyers, is that the Law Society, the body tasked with determining who is a fit and proper person to become a lawyer – to uphold the law – then on Ms Turei's version of events confirmed to Ms Turei that this dishonesty did not matter.
Readers, I too spilt Bells all over the sofa when I read that the Law Society had known about this for nearly 20 years and been complicit in Ms Turei's dishonesty. How could it be that the profession dedicated to upholding the law could decide that some didn't apply to them ? Following on from this if the Law Society did not think it was relevant or significant that a prospective lawyer had engaged in several years' worth of benefit fraud, then what is the situation regarding her first employer, Simpson Grierson (one of the largest law firms in the country). Either they were lied to about the fraud, or they also had a relaxed attitude towards employing law graduates indulging in benefit fraud.
As we have often remarked in the Delta Epic Fraud series, truth is indeed stranger than fiction, and the facts of the matter are that the Law Society have previously allowed struck-off lawyers with convictions resulting from dishonesty to be reinstated to the bar.
One such lawyer is one Chris Gilbert, upon whom the fortunes of the Christchurch City Council (and indirectly, the DCC), rest in terms of the liability for the Yaldhurst Noble subdivision debacle, in the latest litigation. In reinstating Mr Gilbert to the bar, the Law Society ignored the opposition of three lawyers and two branches of the Law Society, including the Otago branch, who said the gravity of the offending made him unsuitable for reinstatement. Mr Gilbert "misappropriated" $44,000 of client funds in 1987 and 1988. Compounding this, a few years later, Mr Gilbert appeared to think that the Society's rules were all overrated anyway and proceeded to sign legal documents on the fiction that he was still in fact a lawyer ! Brandishing a wet bus ticket, the Law Society warned Mr Gilbert "there would be no third chances !".
Readers, like you I regard law firms as a bunch of parasitic sharks, and yes there are plenty of law firms with lawyers you would cross the street to avoid. But Mr Gilbert is not one of those. Mr Gilbert….is the legal services manager at the Christchurch City Council and was offered a job by the CCC with full knowledge of his dishonesty. NZ Herald (2004)
Readers, two hands on the cup : The Christchurch City Council actually said that Mr Gilbert "was the best candidate for the job". This was rather against the advice of the Waikato Law Society, where Mr Gilbert committed his first fraud: they said in an affidavit Mr Gilbert was not a "fit and proper person" to be a lawyer.
Now place the cup down – you won't cope with this : The Law Society gave Mr Gilbert his "third chance" on the basis that he could only work for the CCC. In other words, he wasn't allowed to act for private individuals who had the choice to take or leave his services and make complaints if warranted. Instead he could be responsible for issues involving huge amounts of ratepayer funds, because the Law Society appeared to think that position required a much lower standard of integrity.
Readers, why would the Christchurch City Council employ Mr Gilbert ? Readers, feel free to draw your own conclusions. The most incredible fact of this rather incredible tale is that Mr Gilbert was no short-term stopgap to tide the CCC over a tight staffing spot. Mr Gilbert has been the team leader of legal services at CCC for 13 years. He seems to be part of the institutional furniture, and appears to be indispensable.
Your correspondent is advised that in relation to the Noble Yaldhurst litigation, Mr Gilbert is not surprising the plaintiffs with bursts of even-handedness.
This perhaps is one reason why the pace of the Christchurch rebuild is glacial – Minister Brownlee and the Government would be fully justified in having serious reservations about the competence of the Christchurch City Council, and not just in the building control division.
Readers, tonight's conclusion is surprising – we as Dunedin ratepayers can look with relief at Mr Gilbert and know that within the DCC itself (although NOT Delta and Aurora) this would never occur under the present management.
Welfare fraud targeted more than tax evasion
White collar criminals get a better deal than welfare fraudsters because the system is biased before they even get to the courts, a lawyer says. Research by Victoria University shows 10 times more welfare fraudsters were prosecuted than tax evaders even though tax evasion costs the economy 33 times more. The research shows tax evasion amounts to at least $1 billion a year compared with $30 million for welfare fraud, but the courts are much harsher in their treatment of welfare fraudsters. RNZ News (2016)
Disclaimer: The site owner is not responsible for the currency or accuracy of content of contributed comments; and the inclusion of the information provided does not imply endorsement by the site owner.
Filed under Aurora Energy, Business, Commerce Commission, Construction, DCHL, Delta, Democracy, Economics, Finance, Hot air, Housing, Infrastructure, Media, Name, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Perversion, Politics, Project management, Property, Public interest, Resource management, SFO, Town planning, Transportation, Travesty
Tagged as Caveators, CCC, Christchurch, Christchurch City Council, Constructive fraud, Delta Utility Services Ltd, Green Party, Just society, Kiwiblog, Legal representation, Metiria Turei, New Zealand Herald, New Zealand Law Society, Noble subdivision (Yaldhurst), Noble Yaldhurst subdivision, Property dispute, Residents, RNZ News, Whale Oil, Yaldhurst subdivision
The camping control bylaw consultation process was publicly notified on Saturday, 22 July 2017, in the Otago Daily Times.
We have been following the nightmare tale of freedom campers at Warrington Domain —the council did not enforce its existing Bylaw 23 last summer. Local residents were no longer able to use the messed up, vehicle covered village green for pleasure and recreation. Instead, DCC had allowed the whole domain to be turned into a muddy rutted car park. Over summer 1000s of freeloading campers were subsidised by Dunedin ratepayers at roughly $10.00 per head per night. Disgraceful. An appalling and gutless lack of care and management shown by the council.
AFTER ALL THIS . . . .
It is a pleasure to note (finally, yes!) that DCC's preferred option for bylaw adoption is sensible and workable. Please support this option.
There are 3 options to choose from.
█ The best option is DCC's preferred option : a ban on people sleeping in cars and restricting freedom camping to self-contained campervans only.
This is the only responsible option – it will reduce camping issues at domain grounds, such as Warrington and Ocean View.
The other 2 options are messy, they require more work and will not be easy to enforce or manage.
█ Please fill in the form at the link below and select:
– Option 1. "Limit freedom camping to certified self contained vehicles only".
Warrington stakeholders, in particular, see no reason to comment on the "criteria to apply to sites" questions. Just leave them blank.
They recommend you note the following in the Comments section:
– Area at Warrington for certified campers to be limited in area to accommodate maximum 10 vehicles per night.
– No non-self-contained vehicles.
– No freedom camping anywhere else in Warrington other than a small designated area in the domain.
█ Link to the online submission form:
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/council-online/online-forms/proposed-camping-control-bylaw-2017
Please complete the form and share this information with friends and colleagues.
At last DCC has done something right by preferring Option 1.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Proposed Camping Control Bylaw 2017
Closes: 09/08/2017
DCC is asking the community for feedback on a proposed change to freedom camping in the Dunedin area. They would like your views on whether DCC should continue to provide freedom camping for both certified self-contained vehicles and non-certified self-contained vehicles.
The Statement of Proposal outlines changing the current bylaw to provide camping areas for certified self-contained vehicles only.
Two other options have also been considered and these are:
– to continue to provide for both certified self-contained vehicles and non-certified self-contained vehicles
– to provide extra areas for non-certified self-contained vehicles based on a set of criteria.
The proposed change is in response to the impacts of overcrowding at the two existing unrestricted camping areas at Warrington and Ocean View, and because of changes to the current standard for certified self-contained vehicles.
Freedom camping throughout Dunedin is very popular, especially between November and May. The focus of this bylaw review is to make the bylaw more robust and workable, based on two seasons' worth of feedback and observation.
Following community feedback and hearings, the Council will consider the submissions and decide on any changes. DCC hopes to have the new bylaw in place in October/November.
█ Feedback closes 5pm 9 August 2017
Consultation documents:
Proposed Camping Control Bylaw – Public Notice (PDF, 123.4 KB)
This document is a pdf copy of the Public Notice for the Proposed Camping Control Bylaw 2017 consultation
Proposed Camping Control Bylaw – Statement of proposal (PDF, 216.0 KB)
This is a pdf copy of the Proposed Camping Control Bylaw 2017 Statement of Proposal
Part 23 Dunedin City – Proposed Camping Control Bylaw (PDF, 1.4 MB)
This is a pdf copy of the Proposed Camping Control Bylaw
23. Camping Control Bylaw
This is a pdf copy of the current Camping Control Bylaw 2015
Proposed Camping Control Bylaw Feedback form (PDF, 394.9 KB)
This pdf can be downloaded and completed to provide feedback to the Proposed Camping Control Bylaw consultation
Consultation details:
Contact person: Ashley Reid
█ Public feedback: Online submission form
Email to – camping.bylaw@dcc.govt.nz
Post to – Dunedin City Council, PO Box 5045, Moray Place, Dunedin 9058. Attention: Proposed Camping Control Bylaw
Hand deliver to – Dunedin City Council Customer Service Centre, 50 The Octagon, Dunedin. Attention: Proposed Camping Control Bylaw
Filed under DCC, DCC Bylaws, Democracy, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Freedom camping, Health & Safety, Heritage, Infrastructure, New Zealand, People, Project management, Property, Public interest, Resource management, Site, Tourism, Town planning, Urban design
Tagged as Angry home owners, Certified self-contained vehicles ONLY, DCC, Dunedin City Council, Freedom camping, HAVE YOUR SAY, Ocean View, Proposed Camping Control Bylaw 2017, Public consultation, Upset communities, Warrington
Rainy Day reading —The Spinoff : Ministry of Transport fraud case
The ever-deepening storm centred on the Joanne Harrison fraud case just became a hurricane. Yesterday's State Services Commission investigation report is likely to trigger a new chain of events that could extend well beyond embattled Auditor General Martin Matthews, writes Peter Newport
### thespinoff.co.nz July 21, 2017
The Ministry of Transport fraud case: Why the rot goes deeper than Joanne Harrison
By Peter Newport | Contributing writer
The State Services Commission investigation, published yesterday, makes one thing very clear: Joanne Harrison influenced the exit of four fellow Ministry of Transport employees who tried to tell their bosses that she was a fraudster. She managed to hire friends and steal over $700,000 from the ministry despite numerous staff attempting to call attention to her actions. This all happened while she was reporting directly to then-chief executive Martin Matthews, who is now our auditor general – albeit on temporary leave. The Commission has now apologised and is offering compensation to those former staff members. Its report also highlights many other issues at the Ministry, arguing that the 17-year-old legislation that covers whistleblowers needs to be changed and improved.
A second investigation, into whether Martin Matthews is a suitable person to continue as auditor general, is due from Sir Maarten Wevers in the coming days. Matthews is currently constructing his response to the unpublished, but complete, Wevers investigation. He has been given until the end of this week to complete it.
The Harrison case has some similar dynamics to the Todd Barclay drama. It's become less about the initial problem than how it was handled. Who told the truth and who tried to obscure or even bury the truth. The difference with the Harrison situation is that she is now in jail and the truth is coming out – fast.
The Spinoff has been looking at exactly who did what, and when. That job has been made easier by a new, recent MOT whistle-blower who has produced and provided to us a detailed timeline noting all the evidence, which we publish here, utilising material released by the Ministry of Transport and available to view here. The same whistle-blower has shared a bizarre insight into Martin Matthews' statements during his time at the Ministry of Transport.
But first, a quick tour of the jigsaw puzzle of documents that reveal a picture of Martin Matthews being given not clues, or hints, but what appear to be multiple solid facts that highlighted Joanne Harrison as a Grade A con artist and thief.
Founded in 2014, The Spinoff is New Zealand's fastest growing media startup, amassing a monthly New Zealand audience of over 500,000 in less than three years.
We've assembled a team of agenda-setting journalists and critics, working across text, audio and video to create a true 21st century media brand. In just two years, The Spinoff has been nominated for 24 Canon awards, winning six. Our growth has been driven by a creative editorial style and innovative business model, emphasising long-term relationships with like-minded brands and a close connection with a young, educated and urban audience. Duncan Greive won both NZ Marketing Magazine's Editor of the Year as well as the People's Choice title for Editor and Media Visionary in their media issue, July 2017. The Spinoff also claimed the title for Digital Media Brand of the Year as well as the People's Choice title for the same award.
Comment received from russandbev
The recent revelations about what happened to the whistleblowers in the Ministry of Transport have, I'd suggest, application in Dunedin. Think of the parallels. In the MoT case a manipulative person with a barely-hidden track record of fraud and vindictiveness as well as a well developed sense of entitlement goes about systematically defrauding a government department of close on 3/4 million dollars. Not through some incredibly complex fraud, but one of simply creating business that didn't exist and creating invoices from them for services that were never provided. Not exactly something that would take a lot to investigate.
Whistleblowers blow the alarm whistles to their managers and nothing happens and the further up the chain the questions were asked, the more dismissive the denials became. Meantime the fraudster moves against the whistleblowers. The Head of the Ministry moves on to even more wondrous things as Auditor General (is that ironic or is that ironic?) and the Minister dismisses all suggestions of wrong-doing. Even the Speaker of the House who employs the Auditor General doesn't want to get involved.
Now found that the whistleblowers were entirely vindicated by their concerns and they get private and public apologies and a confidential settlement to, in part, recompense them for their treatment by both a fraudster and by management and governance failures. The Protected Disclosures Act [2000] is supposed to protect whistleblowers in BOTH public and private sectors.
Now, I don't think anyone is suggesting fraud in the case of Aurora/Delta and that should be made plain. However look at the track record of these companies. A fearful record of stupid property speculation costing many many millions which is still going on thanks to Yaldhurst. A willingness to go along with borrowing to supply dividends to the DCHL and the DCC. Decades of ignoring maintenance on the Aurora network closely linked to the governance requirements to minimise costs, maximise profits and supply dividends to build vanity projects by the owners and now the spendup of northwards of 3/4 billion dollars on urgent maintenance bought about these years of neglect.
And then think of the years and layers of denials that these things happened over. When Richard Healey found he could no longer keep working in the company because of all that was being hidden, he gets vilified by EVERYONE that should have listened. EVERYONE is in denial including his past Managers who continued to receive their grossly inflated salaries and those in governance – many of whom refused to even sit down with him and discuss his concerns.
Am I the only one to see the parallels in how a Ministry or a City company deals with whistleblowers? I wonder if we will ever see similar end results in the case of Richard Healey?
{Link added. -Eds}
Reply from Elizabeth
Not involving Aurora:
Charges of Constructive Fraud have been brought, by joinder, against Delta Utility Services Ltd in the Christchurch High Court by the caveators (original property owners of the Noble Subdivision) at Yaldhurst. The case proceeds.
[decisionmaker.co.nz] formatted by whatifdunedin
█ Transparency International New Zealand
http://www.transparency.org.nz/
19.7.17 Southern Police : Nothing changed since Tom Lewis wrote Coverups & Copouts
18.7.17 Delta | Infinity | CCC staff collude to defeat Yaldhurst residents (again)
23.5.17 Topical debates on Corruption in New Zealand
22.2.17 Some Councils/CCOs get cleanup from FRAUD and CORRUPTION #NotAll
9.12.16 Auckland corruption charges proved —ring any bells? #South
28.1.16 New Zealand local government T-shirt #haze #corruption
20.9.15 Corruption serious threat to New Zealand #CAANZ
14.9.15 Screening tonight: Paradigm Episode 2! Local Government Corruption in NZ #Sky #YouTube
23.7.15 Publicise: laudafinem.org
13.5.14 Stuff: Colin Espiner usefully defines Corruption
Filed under Aurora Energy, Business, Commerce Commission, Construction, Corruption, Crime, Delta, Democracy, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Finance, Hot air, Housing, Infrastructure, Media, Name, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Perversion, Police, Politics, Project management, Property, Public interest, SFO, Transportation, Travesty, What stadium
Tagged as Anti-democracy, Auditor-General, Corruption, Deception, Delta Utility Services Ltd, Democracy under attack, Fraud, Free expression, Getting honest, Government, Inquiries, Joanne Harrison, Lack of accountability, Lack of fiscal prudence, Lack of investigation, Lack of prosecutions, Lack of transparency, Ministry of Transport (MOT), Naked power, New Zealand, OAG, Obfuscation, Office of the Auditor-General, Politics, Protected Disclosures Act 2000, Public Debate, Red flags, Release of public information, State Services Commission, Th Spinoff (blog), Transparency International NZ, Whistleblowing, Yaldhurst Village
Fletcher Building subject to investigation by NZX
### tvnz.co.nz 11:54am
Source: NZN
Fletcher Building to be investigated by NZX as company announces much-reduced earnings
The New Zealand stock exchange says it will be investigating Fletcher Building's additional profit warning for the year ended June 30 and the departure of chief executive and managing director Mark Adamson.
"NZX will be making inquiries into today's disclosures, given FBU's continuous disclosure obligations under the listing rules," the NZX Head of Market Supervision Joost van Amelsfort said in a release.
Separately – in accordance with NZX's routine surveillance processes – trading ahead of today's announcement would be assessed in detail, it said.
That would be on top of NZX's ongoing investigation into the disclosure of FBU's previous earnings downgrade in March 2017," it said.
### interest.co.nz
Posted in Property July 20, 2017 – 09:13am
Fletcher Building has announced the immediate departure of chief executive Mark Adamson and says operating earings this year will be around $100 million less than previously indicated
By David Hargreaves
Construction giant Fletcher Building says chief executive Mark Adamson is leaving immediately, while the company's now forecasting operating earnings of around $100 million less than its last forecast.
Additionally, the company says it's writing down the value of two business units by about $220 million. This will not be a 'cash' loss per se, but will carve about 3% off the value of the company's assets.
The share price fell – down about 8.5% to $7.40.
….The $220 million write-down relates to the Iplex Australia and Tradelink subsidiaries.
Fletcher indicated that most of the reduced earnings forecast would come through two major projects: "A major project subject to previous write-downs, which has required an increase in project resourcing and therefore cost as it nears completion," and "a second major project where construction timelines and the likely completion date have been extended".
This is the third major profit warning the company has issued this year. After the last one in March it was speculated – and never denied by the company – that the two projects causing the biggest problems were Government projects; namely the new Sky City International Convention Centre in Auckland and the new Justice and Emergency precinct in Christchurch.
Sky City International Convention Centre
Remember the National government waffle:
### ODT Online Wed, 28 Oct 2015
Fletcher signs with SkyCity
SkyCity's $700 million convention centre and hotel project in central Auckland has contracted Fletcher Building for $477 million of the work, expected to begin by December. […] Despite controversy over the project, there was negligible political response to yesterday's announcement, other than Minister of Economic Development Steven Joyce talking up the importance of the "national facility".
STATEMENT FROM FLETCHER (via interest.co.nz)
– Fletcher Building announces expected earnings for the financial year ended 30 June 2017
– Operating earnings expected to be approximately $525 million, down from previous guidance of $610-$650 million
– Likely impairment up to $220 million relating to Iplex Australia and Tradelink business units
– Departure of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director Mark Adamson
– Appointment of Francisco Irazusta as interim CEO, effective Monday 24 July 2017
Fletcher Building has today announced it expects operating earnings before interest, tax and significant items ('EBIT') to be approximately $525 million for the year ended 30 June 2017.
Trading in the Building Products, International, Distribution and Residential and Land Development divisions, as well as three of the four business units in the Construction division (Infrastructure, Higgins and South Pacific), are in line with the Company's expectations, previously provided at the time of the interim results on 22 February 2017.
However, as work on major projects in the Building + Interiors ('B+I') business unit has progressed, it has become apparent that losses in B+I will exceed those previously estimated. The deterioration is due to:
– A major project subject to previous write-downs, which has required an increase in project resourcing and therefore cost as it nears completion;
– A second major project where construction timelines and the likely completion date have been extended;
– Reduced profit expectations on a number of smaller projects in the remainder of the B+I portfolio.
Fletcher Building Chairman Sir Ralph Norris said: "It is very disappointing to see further losses being reported in our B+I business, particularly when the vast majority of the remaining Fletcher Building business units have performed so well during the year. I know our people in B+I are working incredibly hard to deliver a number of projects for our clients and I would like to acknowledge their efforts."
In addition, consistent with standard practice at the end of each financial period, Fletcher Building has undertaken a review of the Balance Sheet carrying values of its business units. This review has indicated that the value of two business units, Iplex Australia and Tradelink, are likely to be subject to an impairment charge of approximately $220 million, when the company finalises its financial statements in August. An impairment of this nature would be reported below the EBIT line and have no impact on cash earnings.
An impairment charge of $220 million would represent approximately 3% of the group's total assets as at 30 June 2017. The amount of asset impairment is indicative at this stage and is subject to finalisation of the year-end audit.
"With regards to the impairment of Iplex Australia and Tradelink, while we do see progress in these business units the Board felt it was prudent to recognise that the near to medium term estimates of profitability in each business are not aligned with current carrying values," continued Sir Ralph.
The Board also announced the departure of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director, Mark Adamson.
Sir Ralph Norris said: "The Board believes it is the right time for Mark to leave the Company, to allow a new CEO to lead Fletcher Building through this period and into the next phase of its strategy. The Board would like to thank Mark for his work and we wish him the best in his future endeavours."
Mark Adamson said: "I am disappointed to finish my tenure on the back of a challenging result in the Construction Division, however I am proud of what has been achieved over the last five years – most notably the turnaround of Formica, double-digit earnings growth in Distribution, our acquisition of Higgins and the significant progress in our residential development division."
The Board has appointed Francisco Irazusta interim CEO effective Monday 24 July 2017.
"Francisco joined Fletcher Building in March 2015 and is currently Chief Executive of the International Division. Prior to joining the Company he held senior leadership positions with a number of building products companies in North America and Europe and will provide stable leadership for the business during this transition, with the support of myself and the Board," finished Sir Ralph.
The Board will now commence a process to appoint a new CEO.
█ Fletcher Building http://www.fletcherbuilding.com/
Christchurch Justice and Emergency Services Precinct
● NZH: Fletcher CEO sorry for inflammatory internal email: Chairman
● Stuff: SkyCity confirms delay to international convention centre as Fletchers feels 'pain'
● NZH: CEO departs amid Fletcher's $415m fortune turnaround, stock drops to 16-month low
Filed under Architecture, Business, Construction, Design, Economics, Finance, Geography, Media, Name, New Zealand, Politics, Project management, Property, Public interest, Urban design
Tagged as B + I business unit, Building + Interiors business unit, Construction, Fletcher Building, Investigation, Iplex Australia, Justice and Emergency precinct (Christchurch), New Zealand, NZX, Profit warnings, Sky City International Convention Centre (Auckland), Tradelink, Write-downs
If you meet bleak people not from here, on a Monday, reach for The Economist
Received from Lee Vandervis
Friday(!) at 9:37 a.m.
"What if?": The joy of hypotheticals
Today The Economist launches the 2017 edition of The World If, our annual collection of scenarios. Some of last year's predictions proved to be uncannily close to what actually transpired, so readers may be tempted to search our latest batch for future surprises. Yet the point of asking "what if" questions is not to make predictions. It is to stretch thinking. Some of our speculation is deadly serious, but escaping reality can also be fun.
Note, The Economist [signs as]:
PS. Today Monday I find Dunedin is warmer than brittle Jafas in bad spirits, who left their manners other side of Cook Strait.
Filed under Baloney, Economics, Fun, Hot air, People, What stadium
"Fat" gawky Hotel and Apartment building : Questionable design even with 4 floors lopped off
What environmental considerations, Mr Page?
More than minor.
[Everyone will remember the learned Mr Page from the Betterways hotel and apartment building application for 41 Wharf St at the waterfront, not so long ago.]
Mr Bryce (independent planner): …a "key concern" for submitters…the building would block sun from reaching the Regent Theatre and surrounds from 3pm at winter solstice. "At this time of year, the proposal will effectively remove all remaining access to sunlight received over [the] southern end of the western side of the Octagon." (ODT)
Mr Page (the developer's 'Brief'): The "potential shading effect" was acknowledged, but Mr Page was confident the hotel's benefits "will far outweigh" those concerns. (ODT)
Mr Page, again : The hotel's "tall, slender built form" minimised the impact on those living closest to the hotel project site… (ODT)
Good heavens.
Source: Application documents
### ODT Online Tue, 11 July 2017
Hotel developer still confident
Dunedin's latest five-star hotel bid will "not be viable" if the developer is forced to reduce the building's height, it has been claimed. But the man behind the project, Tekapo businessman Anthony Tosswill, remains confident the hearings panel set to decide the project's fate can yet be swayed by the hotel's benefits. The comments came from Phil Page, the lawyer acting for Mr Tosswill, days after the public release of an independent planner's report running the ruler over the hotel proposal.
The report by Nigel Bryce concluded consent be declined unless Mr Tosswill agreed to a "substantial reduction" in the building's height, by four storeys, to bring it down from 60m to 45.5m.
Resource Consent Application LUC 2017-48 and SUB 2017-26, 143 – 193 Moray Place, Dunedin (Proposed Hotel)
The hearing will be held on Mon 31 Jul, Tue 1 Aug, Wed 2 Aug, Thu 3 Aug and Fri 4 Aug 2017 in the Edinburgh Room, Municipal Chambers (off the Octagon). The hearing will commence at 9.30 am each day.
█ Consultant Planner's Section 42a Report (PDF, 4.3 MB)
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATION
[5] For the reasons set out in paragraphs 72 to 334 below, I consider that the Proposal in its current form, will not promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources in accordance with Part 2 of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA or the Act).
[6] The Development promotes a contemporary design, which is considered acceptable within this setting and articulates sufficient design interest and modulation through the facades and its pinwheel like form expressed in the tower component of the building. The building's design incorporates a base building or podium, which allows the structure to have an active street frontage to Moray Place and Filleul Street, which is considered a positive design response.
[7] The Development will be 'juxtaposed' against a backdrop of the heritage buildings located to the east of Moray Place, including the Town Hall and St Paul's Cathedral when viewed from the west and St Paul's Cathedral and the Municipal Chambers when viewed from the south (including from the Octagon).
[8] The building's overall height is considered to generate an over-dominance on properties to the north and west of the Site, and will have more than minor adverse effects on the amenity values of residential properties to the west of the Site. This is largely due to the significant change in scale introduced by the Development and the lower scale built environment that currently exists to the west and north of the development site, comprising predominantly two to three storeys in height.
[9] The Development will adversely impact upon the townscape values of the TH02 Octagon townscape precinct under the Operative Dunedin City District Plan (Operative Plan), including loss of sunlight penetration into the Octagon during the Winter Solstice and will adversely impact upon the setting and pre-eminence of existing heritage buildings such as the St Paul's Cathedral and the Municipal Chambers building when viewed from the Octagon.
[10] The Development is considered to result in more than minor visual amenity and shading effects on Kingsgate Hotel to the south of the Site. The Kingsgate Hotel will experience prolonged and more sustained loss of light over a wider part of the property and associated buildings over the critical morning period during the Equinox and Winter Solstice periods (or collectively over ¾ of the year). This conclusion has been reached having regard to the potential for the Site to be developed up to a maximum height of 11 metres with a building erected against all boundaries (the 'controlled activity building outline').
[11] For the scale of the building to be mitigated to an acceptable level, and to maintain and enhance the amenity values of the City Centre and wider environs, Council's urban design consultant, Mr [Garth] Falconer recommends reducing the proposed building height by four levels to bring the total height down to nine storeys (Level 13, +157,500 (datum level) on Drawing Section AA). This reduction would provide for a maximum height of 45.6 metres from existing ground level, or a maximum height breach of 34.4 metres (including the lift shaft). This mitigation response would not remove any of the 210 visitor accommodation rooms (hotel rooms), and would maintain supporting facilities including licensed premises, retail, conference, meeting facilities and on-site amenities, parking, and servicing areas. I note, for completeness, that the Applicant is not currently proposing to reduce the height of the Development.
[12] In its current form, it is my recommendation that the proposal should be declined.
More about Garth Falconer, DCC's consulting urban designer:
LinkedIn profile: https://nz.linkedin.com/in/garth-falconer-a0699bb3
Owner and Director, Reset Urban Design Ltd: http://reseturban.co.nz/
Take a glimpse of the 'urban form' at Takapuna, North Shore Auckland (his home turf), to know Mr Falconer is likely missing any handle on building height for a heritage city like Dunedin.
Agenda and all documents including Submissions at:
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/council-online/notified-resource-consents/notified-applications-pending/luc-2017-48-and-sub-2017-26
At Facebook [see comments]:
### ODT Online Sat, 8 Jul 2017
Reject hotel bid: planner
A planner has recommended rejecting Dunedin's latest five-star hotel bid, unless the developer agrees to a "substantial reduction" in the building's height. The recommendation to decline consent came in a report by independent consultant Nigel Bryce, made public yesterday, ahead of the public hearing beginning on July 31. In his report to the panel of independent commissioners, Mr Bryce said the hotel development would "visually dominate" its surroundings, including the town hall, St Paul's Cathedral and the Municipal Chambers. It would be the tallest building in the central city and would cast a shadow over the Octagon, as well as the nearby Kingsgate Hotel, during winter. Together with other impacts, the development was considered to be "non-complying" under the city's district plan rules. It would only be acceptable if the building was reduced by four storeys, lowering its overall height from 60m to 45.6m, which was still well above the existing 11m height limit for the site, his report said.
[initial coverage]
7.7.17 ODT: Decline hotel consent: report
### ODT Online Wed, 28 Jun 2017
Two from North Island on hotel hearings panel
The panel to decide the fate of Dunedin's latest five-star hotel bid features one familiar face and two from the North Island. Tekapo businessman Anthony Tosswill's bid to build a 17-storey hotel and apartment tower in Dunedin would be considered over five days, beginning on July 31, it was confirmed yesterday. […] The panel of three would be headed by chairman Andrew Noone, now an Otago regional councillor, acting in his role as an independent commissioner. […] Alongside him will be fellow independent commissioners Stephen Daysh, of Napier, and Gavin Lister, of Auckland.
Filed under Architecture, Business, Construction, DCC, Democracy, Design, District Plan, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Enterprise Dunedin, Finance, Geography, Heritage, Hot air, Hotel, Infrastructure, LTP/AP, Media, Name, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, Otago Polytechnic, People, Perversion, Pet projects, Politics, Pools, Project management, Property, Proposed 2GP, Public interest, Resource management, Site, Structural engineering, Technology, Tourism, Town planning, Transportation, Travesty, University of Otago, Urban design, What stadium
Tagged as 1980s Chase, 5-star hotels, Agents, Anthony Tosswill (Tekapo), Anti-contextual design, Apartments, Appeals, Applicant rebuttals, Asian finance, Built environment, Central Business District, City parking, City Property transaction, Commissioners, Conflicts of interest, Connections, Contextual fit, DCC, Dunedin City Council, Environment Court, Evidence, Fairytale futures, Filleul Street, Footprint, GOBs, Height planes, Heritage context, Hot money, Hotels, INAPPROPRIATE DESIGN, Independent planner, Middle men, Moray Place, NOT VIABLE, Notified applications, NZ Horizon Hospitality Group Ltd, Property sale, Protest, Ratepayer-owned site, Ratepayers' equity, Reports, Resource Consent application, SAME OLD BOYS, Secret deals, Sense of Place, Shading, Shoeboxes, Student Accommodation, Submissions, Thom Craig - architect (Christchurch), Views, Visitor accommodation
Aurora Energy struggles to proofread #FastTrackPoleProgramme
The 'free' publication didn't arrive in letter boxes at lower Pitt St, Dunedin – some householders receive official mail through post slots in their front doors. Don't tell me the mail distributors for Aurora – god, like Allied Press – refuse to deliver to door slots off the street (in clear safe public view) due to [their] perceived Health and Safety risks…. greater than dangerous poles ? [Unlike NZ Post, DX Mail and other Couriers who provide efficient direct service.]
[Old stats, who would guess Aurora's in such a financial and corporate mess?]
Aurora Energy is an electricity distribution company in Otago, New Zealand. Aurora Energy is owned by Dunedin City Holdings Limited on behalf on the Dunedin City Council. Aurora Energy is New Zealand's sixth largest electricity distributor. Wikipedia
Formerly called: Dunedin Electricity Limited (1990-2003)
Industry: Energy
Predecessor: Waipori Falls Hydroelectric Company Ltd
Founded: June 26, 1990 in Dunedin, New Zealand
Headquarters: Dunedin, New Zealand
Key people:
– Grady Cameron (CEO)
– Stephen Thompson (Chairman) [previously, Ian Parton]
Revenue: $99.5 Million USD (2015)
Net income: $8.1 Million USD (2015)
Total assets: $413.9 Million USD
Total equity: $182.55 Million USD (2015)
Owner: Dunedin City Council
Parent organisation: Dunedin City Holdings Limited
Website: http://www.auroraenergy.co.nz/
Fast Track: http://www.auroraenergy.co.nz/about/major-projects/current-projects/fasttrack/
Helterskelter Delta, solidly joined at Aurora' hip, writes an open letter at page 3 of today's ODT:
Filed under Aurora Energy, Business, Central Otago, Commerce Commission, DCC, DCHL, DCTL, Delta, Democracy, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Electricity, Finance, Geography, Health & Safety, Infrastructure, Name, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Politics, Project management, Public interest, Queenstown Lakes, Resource management, SFO, Technology, Travesty, What stadium
Tagged as Aurora Energy Ltd, Deliveries, Dunedin, Fast Track Pole Pogramme, Householders, Publications
How To See and Be Seen : 1. sit on the floor 2. do not lie #SDHB
The Dunedin Hospital eye department's throughput is commendable despite the lack of chairs and wait space provided by the fat cat, high fee-earning Team of Commissioners led by lawyer Kathy Grant….
As a user of the department's services, there's been no impediment to my eye treatment and monitoring at any time. I have never had to sit on the floor, nor would I even contemplate doing so —silly Sheep!
The staff were exactly right to complain to their union.
### ODT Online Wed, 5 Jul 2017
Elderly patients forced to sit on floor
Older patients were forced to sit on the floor while waiting for an appointment in the crisis-hit eye department at Dunedin Hospital, prompting a complaint from staff to their union. Public Service Association organiser Julie Morton said the lack of adequate waiting space was a health and safety issue. "There are frequently not enough seats in the waiting room to accommodate those waiting, and they have to sit on the floor," Mrs Morton wrote to the Southern District Health Board last month. Some of the patients who had to sit on the floor were older people.
D'oh, Ms Kathy Grant doesn't believe in the value of Democracy in the Southern Region. Does the Southern community want the non-egalitarian, fryable Ms Grant to serve out her term to 2019.
Need for elected health board role downplayed
The "truly unique" arrangements at Southern District Health Board will not adversely affect the Dunedin Hospital rebuild, commissioner Kathy Grant says. The Government is planning a hospital redevelopment potentially worth more than $1billion, and there are no elected representatives to influence the project because the board was sacked. Mrs Grant said the SDHB's relationship with the Ministry of Health was no different than if an elected board was in place. "I'm not sure what additional dimension the existence of a traditional board would necessarily bring to that relationship." […] The Otago Daily Times has been told by a contact, who would not be named, that the Cabinet would consider three options outlined [for the proposed new hospital] in an indicative business case, the most expensive of which costs more than $1 billion. After that decision, the rebuild governance group and the ministry would look at where to build and whether land needed to be acquired.
*Image: dailymail.co.uk – article: Why are my blinking eyes so sore and watery?
Filed under Business, Democracy, Dunedin, Economics, Finance, Health, Health & Safety, Hospital, Infrastructure, Media, Name, New Zealand, People, Politics, Project management, Public interest, SDHB, Travesty
Tagged as Commissioners, Dunedin, Dunedin Hospital, Eye department, Eye health, New hospital, Opthalmology, Patients, SDHB, Southern District Health Board, Southern Region, Waiting rooms
Aurora/Delta new directors
New directors appointed for Aurora and Delta boards
This item was published on 03 Jul 2017
Dunedin City Holdings Limited (DCHL) has appointed three new directors within its group as part of changes to the Aurora Energy and Delta Utility Services companies which take effect from today, Monday, 3 July. DCHL Board chair Graham Crombie says that Margaret Devlin and Brenden Hall have been appointed to the Aurora Board, while Steven Grave has been appointed to the Delta Board.
"There was strong interest in these vacancies, with a total of 80 applications received from throughout New Zealand and overseas. I'm delighted that we've been able to appoint three talented and experienced people to these roles."
Mr Crombie says the board appointments have been made as a result of DCHL implementing one of the key recommendations from a Deloitte review of the companies' network maintenance processes late last year. Deloitte recommended that Aurora and Delta should have different board members with no commonality of directors. As previously announced, current board members Steve Thompson and Dave Frow remain on the Aurora board only, with Mr Thompson as chair. Brian Wood and Trevor Kempton will remain on the Delta board only, with Mr Wood as transition chair. "The changes will see the companies fully separate with Aurora being the asset owning and management company, while Delta will revert to a contracting company. The skills required in each company from a governance perspective are different," he says. "However, it is important that some continuity is maintained within the governance structures. The decision was therefore made early on to have two of the current directors move to each new board." DCHL expects to make an appointment to fill the one remaining director vacancy on the Delta Board, within the coming weeks.
Director fees totalling $220,500 for Aurora and $204,000 for Delta, as recommended by an independent review by the Institute of Directors were approved by DCHL and endorsed by the Council. These fees compare to the current total fees for the combined companies of $258,250.
Contact DCHL Chair on 034774000 | Mobile: 0274363882
█ Media release – New directors appointed for Aurora and Delta boards
(PDF, 54.1 KB)
The A/D directors forever joined at the hip think they can tough it out by collecting fees.
Both the non-retiring and the newbies appear grey around the gills, deadhead controlling and incapable of clean governance.
Larks, it appears Mr Crombie is staying on at DCHL. Not enough lawn mowing at Clyde to wobble his wattles.
Filed under Aurora Energy, Business, Commerce Commission, DCC, DCHL, Delta, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Electricity, Finance, Geography, Health & Safety, Hot air, Infrastructure, LTP/AP, Name, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Politics, Project management, Public interest, Queenstown Lakes, Technology, Tourism, Town planning, Travesty, Urban design, What stadium
Tagged as Aurora Energy Ltd, Boards of Directors, Delta Utility Services Ltd, Directors, Directors fees, Dunedin City Holdings Ltd, Group Companies (DCHL), Otago power network, Useless
LGNZ, don't wish 'his lordship' on New Zealand #VoteRachelReese
Local Government New Zealand chief executive Malcolm Alexander said there was no job description for the role of president. "It's a governance role, chief representative and chief media spokesperson for the organisation."
What has Mr Mayor achieved for South Dunedin following DCC's mudtank/pump station fiasco – see 3 June 2015 FLOOD and his holus-bolus media pronouncements upon the Community of South Dunedin, their property assets and livelihoods. A brand new ratepayer-owned 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe was written off in a mysteriously "unreported" serious injury crash in the 2016/17 holiday period. His council is costing Dunedin ratepayers $20M+ pa to make the underutilised loss-making rugby stadium "work" (capital debt repayments and operational subsidies, see Intergenerational Debt). Continues major DCC spending spree on 'nice to haves' before addressing serious underspend on basic infrastructure (water and waste, roading). Without public explanation or consultation, presides over $100M being added to council group debt, as signaled in DCC's LTP/Annual Plan 2017/18 projections. No prosecutions taken for the loss of 152+ DCC owned vehicles: Citifleet! Refuses to address council owned Aurora Energy's programmed neglect of Otago's power network, under the concerned regulatory eye of NZ Commerce Commission. Cr Vandervis was called a liar in public on three media-recorded occasions. Claims (media outburst) he is responsible for Jim O'Malley's campaign to save the Dunedin Cadbury Factory. On it goes. —Meet bob the builder.
Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese said in a letter to councils around the country she was nominated by Wellington Mayor Justin Lester and Matamata-Piako Mayor Jan Barnes.
Cull seeks LGNZ president role
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull is in the running to become the next president of Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ). Mr Cull's only competitor for the role is Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese. The news of his bid came in a letter to the Otago Regional Council in which he asked for support. A letter from Ms Reese also appears in the council's agenda, laying out her ambitions for the role. ORC chairman Stephen Woodhead said this week he expected the council would give its vote to Mr Cull. LGNZ represents the national interests of councils in New Zealand. The organisation provides its members with advocacy and policy services, business support, advice and training. An LGNZ spokesman said an election would be held at the LGNZ general meeting on July 25, after an annual conference in Auckland, where the two mayors could present their cases.
Source: ORC Agenda 20 Jun 2017 [screenshots – click to enlarge]
A pre-trial hearing for the defamation case brought by Cr Lee Vandervis against Mayor Dave Cull was held in June. This involved setting of indemnity costs (a not insignificant sum) before the case may proceed to a judge-alone trial. Not a jury trial.
In a trial by judge-alone, the judge takes on the role of "fact-finder" (determining admissibility of evidence pre-trial). All the evidence is presented to the sitting judge and he or she is responsible for determining the facts and delivering the verdict. In a judge-alone trial the court is required to give reasons for its decision.
In a jury trial, the jury is the fact-finder – that is, the jury is responsible for determining the relevant facts of the case and applying the law to reach a verdict of guilty or not guilty. The jury may be discharged from giving a verdict if it cannot agree. The role of the judge is to oversee and control the conduct of the trial in a general way. A jury is not required to and does not give reasons for its verdict.
Indemnity costs, at the discretion of the Court, are a complete reimbursement of all legal costs incurred. In general civil proceedings, indemnity costs are reserved for cases where a party has acted frivolously or improperly in the conduct of the proceedings….a very high threshold only satisfied in truly exceptional cases. [Sometimes the contract between the litigating parties over which they are arguing, will itself provide for indemnity costs.]
In hushed local terms, the 'costs' has meant some unrest between backers and their 'party'.
Filed under Aurora Energy, Business, Commerce Commission, DCC, Delta, Democracy, Dunedin, Economics, Electricity, Finance, Geography, Hot air, LGNZ, LTP/AP, Media, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Pet projects, Politics, Public interest, South Dunedin, Travesty, What stadium
Tagged as Campaigns, Governance, LGNZ, Local Government New Zealand
New Zealand violence #notproud
### ODT Online Thu, 29 Jun 2017
Editorial: Prevention and protection
OPINION For all our supposedly progressive actions and attitudes, modern New Zealand retains many of the hallmarks of a frontier society. This is perhaps most apparent when it comes to violence, which is prolific, despite decades of initiatives to combat this stain on our national character. Violence against (predominantly) women and children in the home is an everyday occurrence for far too many, random violence features far too frequently in male nights out. News headlines attest to the scale of the problem, significant police and legal resources are dedicated to its prevention and aftermath, and the repercussions for victims can be lifelong. Our macho mentality and heavy drinking culture contribute, as do inequity, injustice and alienation. Our easy-going Kiwi brand has an angry, aggressive, uncivilised underbelly. Desperation and despair make it hard to care about others. Violence becomes intergenerational and entrenched, a part of the nation's psyche.
Overseas, randomly….
Video: Shane and Maggie | Sara Lewkowicz 4 years ago
A preliminary cut of a piece I am working on about domestic violence in one home. View at https://vimeo.com/58257854
Video still –Sara Naomi Lewkowicz
Drawing by child who stayed in the Hubbard House shelter.
In 1976 Hubbard House opened its doors as the first shelter for victims and their children in Florida. In the past 34 years, Hubbard House has evolved into a nationally recognised full-service, certified domestic violence centre providing programmes and services to more than 5,000 women, children, and men annually in Duval and Baker counties. Hubbard House objectives are (1) safety for the victims and their children, (2) empowerment for victims, and (3) social change through education and advocacy. Hubbard House, Inc. does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, status as a veteran, pregnancy, genetic information, disability or any other legally defined characteristic protected by law.
█ http://www.hubbardhouse.org
1.4.17 Ihaka Stokes case #Christchurch #NZ
28.3.17 New Zealand child abuse
20.12.15 NZ Police family violence campaign #WalkAway
3.11.15 Dunedin: University students into excess alcohol, party drugs, sexual abuse, vandalism #CRIME
19.7.14 God bless the ditch
Child's drawing of Hubbard House.
Filed under Democracy, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Finance
Dunedin's winter power bills —ODT calls for comment at Facebook
Read the many public comments received at the ODT Facebook page.
Are the higher bills because of the crisp weather ? Low levels of the hydro lakes ?
Or something more 'sinister' ?
What is the industry regulator, the Commerce Commission, saying.
Personal Aside:
I don't heat my apartment – chosen because it's constructed in brick, elevated, insulated, sunny and warm. Before you ask, I pay high market rent to live centrally. I'm a registered low user of power, receive 20% earlybird discounts, and enjoy guaranteed fixed rates on power charges for 12 months by agreement with my electricity supplier. Typically, my power use is constant across the seasons and the years (long-term renter at this address, 2003 to present). I can keep my power use low only because I have good health, lots of warm clothing and furnishings, and I stay active. I'm expecting huge price increases as Dunedin City Council owned Aurora Energy's programmed neglect of the Otago power network really kicks in.
Filed under Aurora Energy, Business, Commerce Commission, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Electricity, Geography, Health, Health & Safety, Housing, Infrastructure, Media, People, Property, Public interest, Technology
Tagged as Aurora Energy Ltd, Consumer demand, Dangerous network, DCC-owned companies, Dunedin, Electricity, Hydroelectric dams, Informal survey, Lines companies, Low lakes, Otago power network, Power charges, Power generation, Power suppliers, Rising costs, Winter 2017
Recycle your Soft Plastic bags #Dunedin
[stuff.co.nz]
"The objective is for 70% of New Zealanders to have access to a drop-off facility for soft plastics within 20km of their home." –Scott Simpson
### ODT Online Fri, 23 Jun 2017
Recycling for plastic packaging arrives
All those plastic bags floating around after shopping expeditions can now be recycled under a joint initiative between the retail sector, the packaging industry and the Government. The Love New Zealand Soft Plastics Recycling programme was launched in Dunedin yesterday, and will enable soft plastics and soft packaging such as shopping bags, bread bags, frozen food bags and food wrap to be recycled at the 14 New World, Countdown, FreshChoice, Pak'n Save and The Warehouse stores in Dunedin and Mosgiel. Associate Environment Minister Scott Simpson said the programme was already running in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Canterbury. […] The $700,000 contribution from the Government's waste minimisation fund was being matched by contributions from retailers and some suppliers, bringing the total project funding to more than $1.6million. […] Cargill Enterprises would collect the recycled plastics from the shops.
Last year I convivially swapped emails with the manager of Centre City New World enquiring about how soon the store would adopt the national soft plastics recycling programme. He kindly immediately contacted FoodStuffs to find out ….well the day has come! Happy customer!
Try this simple test to help identify recyclable plastic material…
"The test is if you can pull it and stays stringy in consistency, it's fine. But if you can tear it cleanly it is not recyclable." Stuff
Soft Plastics Recycling
The Love NZ Soft Plastics Programme is about informing New Zealanders about how to keep plastic bags and packaging out of landfill. Collect all the soft plastics which you use at home, make sure the bags are empty and dry and drop them into the Love NZ Soft Plastics Recycling bins at participating stores.
The project is supported by major brands including Asaleo Care, Ceres Organics, Coca Cola Amatil, Cottonsoft, Fonterra, Frucor, George Weston Foods, Goodman Fielder, Griffins, Hubbards, Kathmandu, Kelloggs, Kimberly-Clark, Lululemon, Mars, Mother Earth, Mondelez (Cadbury), Nestle, New Zealand Post, Pams, Pure Delish, Simplot (Birds Eye), Spicers, SunRice and Wrigleys; Amcor Flexibles, Astron, Coveris, Snell Packaging & Safety with many others committed to joining the programme. Soft plastic bags are not currently collected for recycling by councils because they can contaminate the recycling process. New Zealanders use over 1.6 billion plastic bags in the home every year. The project takes all soft plastic bags including bread bags, frozen food bags, toilet paper packaging, confectionery and biscuit wrap, chip bags, pasta and rice bags, courier envelopes, shopping bags, sanitary hygiene packaging – basically anything made of plastic which can be scrunched into a ball. Customers can bring their used soft plastics back to store and put them in the recycling bin.
█ Website: http://www.recycling.kiwi.nz/soft-plastics
Filed under Business, Democracy, Design, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Geography, Health & Safety, Innovation, Inspiration, Media, Name, New Zealand, People, Pet projects, Public interest, Resource management, Technology, Urban design
Tagged as Bulk barn shopping, Countdown, Dunedin, FreshChoice, Love NZ Soft Plastics Programme, New World, New Zealand, Pak'n Save, Plastics, Recycling, Supermarkets, The Warehouse
#freedomcamping not enforced at Warrington, summer 2016/17
Reply to letter to editor (snippet):
█ For more, enter the terms *warrington* and *freedom camping* in the search box at right.
Filed under DCC, DCC Bylaws, Democracy, District Plan, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Freedom camping, Geography, Health & Safety, Hot air, Infrastructure, Media, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Pet projects, Politics, Project management, Property, Proposed 2GP, Public interest, Resource management, Site, Tourism, Town planning, Transportation, Travesty
Tagged as Bollocks, Bylaw 23, Community amenity destroyed, DCC, Disbelief, Dunedin City Council, Freedom camping, Lack of enforcement, Parks and Reserves, Public Protest, Warrington Domain


Product description:Near the sea is a watercolor painting inspired by the sea. I painted this artwork on quality watercolor paper. I would use this painting to think of the ocean.
Artwork Description: Near the sea is a watercolor painting inspired by the sea. I painted this artwork on quality watercolor paper. I would use this painting to think of the ocean.


"A life spent entirely in public, in the presence of others, becomes, as we would say, shallow," Hannah Arendt, a German-born American philosopher and political theorist, once wrote. Her words emphasize the meaninglessness of a life lived in the public eye. Elsewhere in her work, she stresses the unique ability of the private realm to nurture the human soul. But what happens when we lose our privacy? What is happening to the private realm?
The significance of the issue of privacy in our time cannot be understated. More and more frequently, Americans are bombarded with computer-screen advertisements professing to sell us a product we may have absentmindedly Googled or mentioned in previous emails. Edward Snowden's controversial exposés of the National Security Agency's (NSA's) extensive data collection activity in June 2013 continues to inform our usage of online media.
The question of privacy is not only an issue of incredible political moment. In fact, it seems strange that privacy has been politicized at all in recent years, because the issue of privacy evidently deals with what goes on behind locked doors, both physical and mental. In the first speech of the conference, Leon Botstein described the view of privacy espoused by the conference's namesake, Hannah Arendt. Botstein is the president of Bard College. Arendt believed that the highest possibilities of human experience could only flourish in the private realm. In our society, Botstein said, we don't think seriously about the arts. Care for privacy would indicate and nurture a more global respect for the importance of thinking independently, originally, without clichés. The private realm is responsible for encouraging the growth of creativity and individuality.
Roger Berkowitz, whose speech followed Botstein's, is a professor of political studies and human rights at Bard. Berkowitz critically outlined the political implications of Botstein's artistic interpretations of Arendt. Citing legions of modern technologies that allow us to to accomplish tasks more easily, but less privately, Berkowitz stirred doubts in the minds of many audience members. Berkowitz's four talking points were four problematic objections to the idea of a private space: "Privacy is Inconvenient," "Privacy is Dangerous," "Privacy is for Paedos [Pedophiles]" (here, he expounded upon the common adage that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to lose), and "Privacy is Anti-Democratic." He explored the additional pains we must take to preserve our privacy, the occasionally classist and racist arguments made for the preservation of privacy, and the largely negative reception Arendt's justifications of privacy received when she published them.
Speakers and panel members that followed Berkowitz included David Brin, an emphatic, energetic, even arrogant science fiction writer who sprinkled his speech with obscure academic jargon; Rochelle Gurstein, a historian whose lecture was difficult to follow because she "read from the paper the whole time," a student remarked; Anita L. Allen, a professor of law and philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School; Jerry Kohn, an Arendt scholar; Hans Teerds, an architect, and Ashkan Soltani, a researcher for the Federal Trade Commission. The speaker guaranteed to turn the most heads was Snowden, the NSA whistle-blower himself, who appeared via satellite stream from Russia on Friday, October 16. As quoted by Roger Berkowitz, Snowden remarked that today's children "will never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves—an unrecorded, unanalyzed thought." Unfortunately, BHSEC did not see the live streaming of Snowden's speech at Bard College. Interested students attended a streaming of Snowden's talk at BHSEC on Friday.
BHSEC Y2 students attended a morning of classes and ate lunch in the college cafeteria. In the afternoon, some students toured the campus, while some attended more conferences. Reham Mahgoub, a Y2, said that the first session of lectures was more concrete than the second. The buses resurfaced in Union Square nearly 12 hours after they had left for the day. Students returned home full of political and academic discourse and a heightened sense of BHSEC's place in Bard's larger academic network. "I thought it was really eye-opening," Mahgoub remarked.


text:
Messines Bookshop
Blog post on Wordpress
The Battle of Blenheim
The Battle of Blenheim 1704 is a tactical level two player game covering one of the pivotal battles during the War of Spanish Succession. One player takes the role of Marlborough, commanding the British and Allied forces, and the other of Tallard, leading the Franco-Bavarians. At Blenheim Marlborough found himself confronted by a superior Franco-Bavarian force in a strong defensive position. Like Hannibal's great victory at Cannae, Blenheim was won by the successful implementation of a bold and imaginative plan. The flanks of the Franco-Bavarian forces were pinned by furious attacks at unfavorable odds which denuded their centre of troops re-deployed to buttress the hard-pressed wings. Then Marlborough released his cavalry to smash what was left of Franco-Bavarian centre and cleave Tallard's army into two. The threat that Louis XIV's France would come to dominate Europe was over.
ISBN : WG0002
Publisher : Legion
P.O. Box 36 - 76 Fox Street, Featherston 5710, New Zealand
email: info@messinesbooks.com

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Name me some 2x3 CP (dustbowl) customs.
Discussion in 'Team Fortress 2 Talk' started by A Boojum Snark, Oct 29, 2008.
Since I'm working on one I want to give as many as I can a play, to get feel for what does and doesn't work (going off one map is... not great). Trying to search for them is impossible, with so many different setups getting the CP prefix.
4) Castle - Gameplay-wise its not a bad map, a few too many lock down sentry locations and long corridors. Its not in tf2 style, do not take any detailing idea from it.
Boulder is nice but we don't like the third stage. It's not currently on our main server.
I don't know if there are some 3*2 CP maps, btw. With 2 rounds of 3 CP.
cp_beamvalley, a recent map seen on FPSB. I haven't tested it myself, from the screens it looks well-detailed, but from user comments it sounds like some locations are badly designed in terms of gameplay.
It's in fact a GravelPit-style map.
It's a 2x2 CP, actually. I personnally love its visual feeling, but I can understand why some people wouldn't.
In terms of gameplay, the first three points are fairly good, but the last one is a huge sentry nest that often sees 15 minutes of defensive deadlock. The teleporters are somewhat too much of a gimmick (the swift water is a gimmick too, but that one's well done in my opinion).
- cp_corporation (currently b3). That one is well known and, in my opinion, has too many gameplay flaws to be taken as a good example. It does have potential, but it's been around for so long that I doubt there will ever be a b4.
- cp_dogblu. Duh. Extreme butchery with 0 spawntime. Unplayable without a sniper restriction to 1. Good to empty your brains and increase your frag counter.
Just a warning, there is a reason there are not many customs of this type. It takes a very long time to do. Make sure you are very dedicated to it before you start it. If you are unsure about the time you have, err on the side of not doing it.
I'm interested in the bad gameplay maps just as much, if nor more, than the good. It's better to know what doesn't work If I can manage to locate all these playing I should be set.
I don't see why this type of map would take any longer to make than any other asymmetrical map. At any rate, I don't have a time limit for it and am quite interested in getting it built.
I get bad fps in Egypt myself, it's not bad everywhere, mind you. I originally thought it was just lag until I did a solo run with "sv_lan 1". I typically average around 60~100 in the Valve maps, but with Egypt, certain sections dropped my fps down to 15~30 making it near unplayable on a server with a 90+ ping. Gameplay wise, I liked the layout, but I really haven't played it that much due to the fps issues so I can't give an honest evaluation. I don't think I've played the more recent v2, so I don't know if Heyo fixed it up some or not.
The only multi-stage attack defend I can think of that hasn't already been listed is jailbreak. It's not a good example though, mostly dodge the sniper bullet; looooong corridors, huuuge open spaces, no cover.
I liked bloodstained and boulder. The first 2 stages of corporation are ok as well, but the third is a guaranteed fail for attackers due to the layout around the 2nd point. Stage 3 tends to empty a server as players get bored waiting for the time to run out.
I don't see why this type of map would take any longer to make than any other asymmetrical map.
I think the key factor in this type of map is balance. It really doesn't take longer to build this type of map, but getting the right feedback to make the map balanced is where the real work happens.


Failure and rejection are inevitable regarding life, whether you lose a golf game on the weekend or get laid off from job on Monday morning. But how you handle those failures, big and small, can be a measure of the resiliency, high quality of that determines how it's now possible to bounce and also move attached to. And that quality is the answer on happiness and success, said experts interviewed by the Huffington Post.
Celebrate a wedding anniversary or a milestone. Has your business reached its 10th, 25th or 50th anniversary? Just sold your 10,000th car? Let the media know. It is a great time for marketing.
Well, experience many different choices but a single that Thought about recommend is behavioural treatment plans. You may want seek advice from a psychologist bearing idea that could involve cost that you a bit an individual may in order to search the world wide web for trustworthy health regarding how to train your brain in order to eliminate your anxiety.
Each individual aside among the overweight issue will get their own purpose they let the condition to carry on. Some folk feel incapable. Some abstain from eating as they find it them cope with different emotions, i.e. anger, shame and self-loathing. Anorexics are a class act in hiding their eating disorder; nevertheless it will come to light when the bones begin rattling associated with the baggy cardigan and pants.
The Diaper-Free Baby by Christine Gross-Loh. Although elimination communication (or EC), or diaper-free babies, is not technically one of the practices of attached parenting, it needs to be. There are few possible ways to pay attention to your baby's signals and understand their communication before they become verbal when compared with practicing EC. The gentle method of noticing a baby's elimination cues and learning the timing of when they need to go helps parents pay attention and listen up to their child's needs in technique that few other practices perform. I am so glad I found this before my daughter was born; I wish everyone would practice the application.
Anxiety is actually definitely an extreme respond to a situation you regard as suspicious. It is not invariably bad. Earn money is following you in the dark alley with an iron pipe in their hand, it's normal to feel tense and edgy. It may keep life. May the 'fight or flight' syndrome for doing things.
A marriage and family therapist is a mechanic for your problems in your marriage. Somewhere in the framework for this marriage hopes problem. Hence, there can be a need to fix that trouble with repair work. You do not want an amateur doing them.
If you want to find help or looking to assist someone you'll find our planet's below helpful. With your own determination and patience and support their own http://kcpsych.com.au store closest a person will get the road to recovery one with no bends.


text:
package com.haulmont.cuba.desktop.gui.data;

import com.haulmont.cuba.core.entity.Entity;
import com.haulmont.cuba.desktop.sys.vcl.JXTreeTableExt;
import com.haulmont.cuba.gui.components.CaptionMode;
import com.haulmont.cuba.gui.components.Table;
import com.haulmont.cuba.gui.data.CollectionDatasource;
import com.haulmont.cuba.gui.data.HierarchicalDatasource;
import com.haulmont.cuba.gui.data.impl.WeakCollectionChangeListener;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.JXTreeTable;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.treetable.AbstractTreeTableModel;

import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.TableModelListener;
import javax.swing.tree.TreePath;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

public class TreeTableModelAdapter extends AbstractTreeTableModel implements AnyTableModelAdapter {

    protected JXTreeTable treeTable;
    protected TreeModelAdapter treeDelegate;
    protected TableModelAdapter tableDelegate;

    protected List<DataChangeListener> changeListeners = new ArrayList<>();

    protected CollectionDatasource.CollectionChangeListener collectionChangeListener;

    public TreeTableModelAdapter(JXTreeTable treeTable, HierarchicalDatasource datasource, List<Table.Column> columns,
                                 boolean autoRefresh) {

        this.treeTable = treeTable;
        this.treeDelegate = createTreeModelAdapter(datasource, autoRefresh);
        this.tableDelegate = new TableModelAdapter(datasource, columns, autoRefresh);

        collectionChangeListener = e -> {
            Object root1 = getRoot();
            // Fixes #1160
            JXTreeTableExt impl = (JXTreeTableExt) TreeTableModelAdapter.this.treeTable;
            impl.setAutoCreateColumnsFromModel(false);
            impl.backupExpandedNodes();

            for (DataChangeListener changeListener : changeListeners) {
                changeListener.beforeChange(true);
            }

            modelSupport.fireTreeStructureChanged(root1 == null ? null : new TreePath(root1));
        };
        //noinspection unchecked
        datasource.addCollectionChangeListener(new WeakCollectionChangeListener(datasource, collectionChangeListener));
    }

    protected TreeModelAdapter createTreeModelAdapter(HierarchicalDatasource datasource, boolean autoRefresh) {
        return new TreeModelAdapter(datasource, CaptionMode.ITEM, null, autoRefresh);
    }

    @Override
    public int getColumnCount() {
        return tableDelegate.getColumnCount();
    }

    @Override
    public String getColumnName(int column) {
        return tableDelegate.getColumnName(column);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isCellEditable(Object node, int column) {
        return tableDelegate.isCellEditable(0, column);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isCellEditable(int rowIndex, int columnIndex) {
        return tableDelegate.isCellEditable(rowIndex, columnIndex);
    }

    @Override
    public Object getValueAt(int rowIndex, int columnIndex) {
        return tableDelegate.getValueAt(rowIndex, columnIndex);
    }

    @Override
    public void setValueAt(Object aValue, int rowIndex, int columnIndex) {
        tableDelegate.setValueAt(aValue, rowIndex, columnIndex);
    }

    @Override
    public void addTableModelListener(TableModelListener l) {
        tableDelegate.addTableModelListener(l);
    }

    @Override
    public void removeTableModelListener(TableModelListener l) {
        tableDelegate.removeTableModelListener(l);
    }

    @Override
    public void sort(List<? extends RowSorter.SortKey> sortKeys) {
        tableDelegate.sort(sortKeys);
    }

    @Override
    public int getRowCount() {
        return tableDelegate.getRowCount();
    }

    @Override
    public Entity getItem(int rowIndex) {
        TreePath treePath = treeTable.getPathForRow(rowIndex);
        return treeDelegate.getEntity(treePath.getLastPathComponent());
    }

    @Override
    public int getRowIndex(Entity entity) {
        TreePath treePath = getTreePath(entity);
        return treeTable.getRowForPath(treePath);
    }

    @Override
    public void addGeneratedColumn(Table.Column column) {
        tableDelegate.addGeneratedColumn(column);
    }

    @Override
    public void removeGeneratedColumn(Table.Column column) {
        tableDelegate.removeGeneratedColumn(column);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isGeneratedColumn(Table.Column column) {
        return tableDelegate.isGeneratedColumn(column);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean hasGeneratedColumns() {
        return tableDelegate.hasGeneratedColumns();
    }

    @Override
    public void addColumn(Table.Column column) {
    }

    @Override
    public void removeColumn(Table.Column column) {
    }

    @Override
    public Table.Column getColumn(int index) {
        return tableDelegate.getColumn(index);
    }

    @Override
    public void addChangeListener(DataChangeListener changeListener) {
        changeListeners.add(changeListener);
    }

    @Override
    public void removeChangeListener(DataChangeListener changeListener) {
        changeListeners.remove(changeListener);
    }

    @Override
    public Object getValueAt(Object node, int column) {
        Entity entity = treeDelegate.getEntity(node);
        if (entity == null) {
            return column == 0 ? node : null;
        }
        return tableDelegate.getValueAt(entity, column);
    }

    @Override
    public Object getRoot() {
        return treeDelegate.getRoot();
    }

    @Override
    public Object getChild(Object parent, int index) {
        return treeDelegate.getChild(parent, index);
    }

    @Override
    public int getChildCount(Object parent) {
        return treeDelegate.getChildCount(parent);
    }

    @Override
    public int getIndexOfChild(Object parent, Object child) {
        return treeDelegate.getIndexOfChild(parent, child);
    }

    public TreePath getTreePath(Object object) {
        return treeDelegate.getTreePath(object);
    }

    public Entity getEntity(Object object) {
        return treeDelegate.getEntity(object);
    }

    @Override
    public Class<?> getColumnClass(int column) {
        return tableDelegate.getColumnClass(column);
    }

    public void beforeDelayedStructureChange() {
    }

    public void afterDelayedStructureChange() {
        JXTreeTableExt impl = (JXTreeTableExt) TreeTableModelAdapter.this.treeTable;
        impl.restoreExpandedNodes();

        for (DataChangeListener changeListener : changeListeners) {
            changeListener.afterChange(true);
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
The U.S., Mexico and Canada will collaborate on climate adaptation
The U.S., Canada and northern Mexico seen at night from a satellite. The three countries are collaborating to reduce energy consumption and adapt to climate change.
Image: NASA
Bobby Magill for Climate Central 2015-05-28 08:49:06 UTC
Follow @@ClimateCentral
Upgrading power grids, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change are on the agenda for a new international working group composed of the three national energy ministers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Greg Rickford, and Mexico Secretary of Energy Pedro Joaquín-Coldwell will collaborate on six different climate adaptation and energy issues. Those include building low-carbon electric power grids and other energy technology, developing new ways to capture carbon and store it, creating climate change resiliency, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector.
The announcement comes weeks after all three countries formally set their 2030 greenhouse gas emissions targets in the runup to international climate negotiations set to begin this December in Paris.
Over the next 15 years, Canada is aiming to slash its emissions by 30% below 2005 levels, while Mexico plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 22% below current levels. The U.S. is targeting a 28% emission cut compared to 2005 levels.
The collaboration will be critical to deploying new renewable energy technology, modernizing the power grid and increasing energy efficiency to combat climate change, and reaching greenhouse gas emissions targets, Moniz said in a statement.
"North America has deeply integrated economies, abundant reserves, shared critical infrastructure and common values that underpin our long, productive history of collaboration," Rickford said. "By cooperating with our North American partners, we are enhancing energy security and the environment while strengthening jobs and the economy."
The working group is a step in the right direction, but it's not a big leap toward North America doing its part to keep global warming below 2°C, or 3.6°F, Andrew Finn, an associate in the Canada Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a nonpartisan global policy think tank, said. International negotiators have said that a rise beyond that level will mark the point at which climate change may become unacceptably dangerous.
"A lot of it is going to be a focus on new technology and grid efficiency," Finn said, adding that sharing technology and best practices can be helpful in advancing clean energy and energy efficiency.
"Having these conversations is good and might set the groundwork for something more ambitious down the road," he said.
This article originally published at Climate Central here
Topics: Canada, Climate, climate adaptation, climate central, mexico, U.S., World