Sam Henderson reports on Tuesday's Otago Peninsula Community Board meeting.

Bus vibrations in Portobello

During the public forum, Portobello resident Yvonne Sutherland told the board buses coming down Nicholas St were damaging her house at the Portobello Rd corner.

She said buses came down the hill up to 16 times a day from 7.30am to about 11.30pm. Cracks had appeared in the house and a brick wall had needed expensive repairs.

Having first raised the issue in 2024, she asked for fewer hill services or a return to the original route.

“I cannot shift my house, but the buses have a choice to return to the original, sensible route via Portobello Rd, especially since it’s upgraded,” Ms Sutherland said.

Board chairman Paul Pope said her submission had been given to Otago Regional Council chief executive Richard Saunders, who was at the meeting.

Bus timetable changes

Ōtākou resident Dave McPherson said the October 1 bus changes introduced a new operator, timetable and drivers all at once.

The Harington Point morning service used to reach town just after 8am, he said, but now arrived over 30 minutes later.

Buses had been up to 40 minutes late, some drivers were unfamiliar with the route and there were no shelters past Portobello.

He asked for passengers to be involved in a timetable review.

“I can’t take a bus right now. All my shifts start at 8 o’clock,” Mr McPherson said.

Public transport update

Otago Regional Council chief executive Richard Saunders, implementation lead Julian Phillips and Cr Alan Somerville attended to discuss the bus changes.

“The first thing is acknowledging that we haven’t got this process right,” Mr Saunders said.

The aim had been to tidy up timetabling challenges, but he acknowledged there should have been more community conversations first.

“Our governors, our councillors, weren’t aware of the scale of the changes, so we need to give that opportunity for our council to review that as well.”

The council was working to fix significant issues immediately, particularly morning and school services.

“So there are some immediate fixes we can put in place, and there are some, I guess, some broader changes that were made in the timetables that we need to re-review and have a conversation with the community about.”

Climate adaptation

Dunedin City Council climate adaptation and resilience manager Dr Jonathan Rowe and senior adviser Brandy Saxton briefed the board on the council’s citywide climate resilience work.

Dr Rowe said the council had a two-year budget to design a citywide approach. A high-level plan due around June 30 next year would guide detailed community planning.