Youth ambassador update
Last year’s Saddle Hill Community Board youth ambassador Eve Kelleher spoke to the board about her progress in triathlon and cross country. She thanked the board for the $1000 grant towards her sporting development. This helped pay for travel costs to competitions as well as engaging a specialist coach. She detailed her training schedule and reported on successes such as recently winning the Triathlon New Zealand Junior Under-17 Series. She is aiming to represent the country at the World Triathlon Championships set to take place in Spain in September.
Emergency preparedness in focus
Emergency Management Otago adviser for Dunedin Chris Brooker presented an update on hazards and community preparedness in the Saddle Hill area. Mr Brooker pointed to examples of local risks, mentioning previous events such as flooding in Old Brighton Rd and the major Saddle Hill fire in 2016. He also warned of future threats such as landslips and the risk of tsunamis. He advised new tsunami modelling was being produced for the Otago Regional Council’s natural hazards risk plan and a brief on this could be presented to members in the future. Mr Brooker stressed the importance of households having seven days of emergency supplies and noted the strong communication and readiness of the Southern Coastal and Saddle Hill Fairfield community resilience groups.
By-election voting encouraged
Mayor Sophie Barker noted the Dunedin City Council’s draft annual plan was out for public consultation until Wednesday, April 29. There were few changes from last year’s nine-year long-term plan, however she drew attention to proposed changes to Three Waters rating methods and the impact that could have on rates bills. She encouraged people to get involved if they wanted to provide feedback during the submissions period. Ms Barker also urged people to vote in the local by-election for a Dunedin city councillor, noting turnouts for such elections can be as low as 25%. "It would be great to have people voting for this very important role," Ms Barker said. Voting papers began to be mailed out on Friday and polls will close at noon on Tuesday, May 12.
Funds for Anzac Day
The Brighton Club sought support for an Anzac Day community event at the local hall and club. Members discussed the application, which covered the cost of printing pamphlets and providing petrol vouchers for volunteers. The board approved providing $340 towards the commemoration.
Flood issues addressed
During his chairman’s report, Paul Weir outlined an upcoming Southern Coastal Emergency Management Group meeting and the board’s usual participation in the local Anzac Day parade and service. Mr Weir reported drainage work was expected to start on Old Brighton Rd to address flooding issues.
Clean-up and community pantries
Board members provided updates on their respective community roles. Vianney Santagati reported on a Keep Dunedin Beautiful cleanup, while Tracey Boereboom noted community pantries were well stocked. John Moyle said there was a lot of interest in the Wingatui Tunnel and the Dunedin Trails Trust was working to progress the trail, but there were some land issues to resolve.
Community plan
Members discussed the process for updating the community board plan for the 2025/26 year. The board identified the need to consult the public to establish current and new top priorities so they could be represented in discussions on the Dunedin City Council 10-year plan.
Cost of living challenges for council
Ms Barker reported on the annual plan consultation, the by-election and the search for a potential new chief executive. She encouraged attendance at the Wild Dunedin – NZ Festival of Nature and answered questions about water rates and the Smooth Hill landfill project. With cost-of-living pressures, the council was looking at every option it could to make sensible decisions.
"The world has changed a lot, especially with things like fuel costs," Ms Barker said. "The basics that some of these cases were built on may change, because there were different things looked at, the Smooth Hill, transporting it to other places with the cost of fuel, et cetera, so what does that look like? We have got tens of millions of dollars being invested out at Green Island and it is sitting a little bit on hold at the moment while we see where we are at, because the world has changed and the cost of living pressures are huge. Everything is on the table at the moment."
