In response to a report on improving safety in the central city, including the Great King St bus hub, Otago Regional Council chief executive Richard Saunders said Dunedin City Council "leadership" was critical as the issues the bus hub was facing arose in a "public space".
In response to his comments, DCC corporate services general manager Robert West said the city council did have a leadership role in inner city safety, but the regional council was the "lead agency" for the bus hub.
Late yesterday, the two councils issued a joint statement to clear things up.
In the statement, Mr Radich said the two councils were "doing exactly what we said we would" — working together as members of the central city advisory group, alongside police and other stakeholders, to improve behaviour and public safety at the bus hub and across the central city.
"This approach is already delivering results — we’ve rolled out improved CCTV surveillance at the hub and along George St, as well as more regular police and security patrols, which are all contributing to a drop in the number of incidents at the bus hub.
"It’s simply wrong to suggest one council should be taking the lead on such a big and complex issue.
"While each party brings different roles and responsibilities to the table, the best results are achieved when we all work together and share the load, as well as our expertise, and that’s what is happening.
"This collaborative approach is exactly what our community would expect, and I believe it offers a model for tackling other big issues in future as well.
"To suggest we’re simply passing the buck is as wrong as it is disappointing."
A new report, entitled "Strengthening Safety in Dunedin’s Central City", commissioned by the ORC for the advisory group, called for "clear leadership and strong governance" to improve safety.
The report, which analysed what worked in other cities, said precisely because cities worked with "a partnership model" involving a range of different stakeholders taking responsibility for a wide range of actions, "clear leadership" was essential.
The report said a common factor among all the cities reviewed showed "firstly, the requirement to report to a specific council committee".
The responsible committees typically had a community or regulatory focus, it said, listing the regulatory and community safety committee of Auckland Council; the community district development committee of the Rotorua Lakes Council; and the communities, culture and partnership committee of the Lower Hutt Council as examples.
Secondly, it said, a senior leader at each council was given responsibility for "driving the work programme", making them accountable for delivering the work.
"This was seen as essential to making satisfactory progress," the report said.
Lastly, it said, all council teams had "between one and three people" dedicated to city safety.
"It was common for plans to linger in the realm of ‘lots of talking and not much doing’ if this leadership wasn’t present," the report said.
As the report was presented to ORC councillors, Mr Saunders said the issues that troubled the bus hub arose in "public space" which was within scope of responsibility of the city council.
"I think that Dunedin City Council play a critical role here in the fact that the group is focused on inner city safety, not bus hub safety, speaks to the role of DCC in terms of that overall management of that public space through the city.
"They won’t achieve anything on their own, but the leadership, I think, is quite a critical piece.
"And I suspect the reference in here [the report] points more to leadership in the public space than it does within the transport network."
When asked for a response to those comments, Mr West said the city council did have a leadership role in inner city safety, but the regional council was responsible for the bus hub.
"We agree the DCC has a leadership role to play in providing for safe public spaces in our central city, which is why we’ve invested in public safety cameras in the Octagon and along George St," Mr West said.
"It’s also why we focus on delivering good urban design that supports public safety in projects like the George St retail quarter upgrade.
"The Otago Regional Council is the lead agency responsible for the city’s public transport network, including the bus hub, but we work alongside the ORC and other key stakeholders to deliver the infrastructure required to support its operation (for example, bus stops)."
