DCC ‘party poopers' nix fireworks
The 2017 new year was celebrated with a fireworks display in the Octagon in Dunedin. Photo Peter McIntosh
Calls to reinstate a fireworks display for Dunedin's New Year's Eve celebrations have been snuffed out.
Dunedin has not had a council-run pyrotechnics display at the annual event since welcoming in 2021 and this will not change for bringing in 2026.
The Dunedin City Council voted 9-6 yesterday against reinstating fireworks.
After mixed reviews for laser and light shows, a plan was pitched for a large fireworks display from Robin Hood Park in the Dunedin Town Belt.
It would have been visible from the Octagon, and much of the city, but did not win enough endorsement from councillors.
The council is instead poised to "reimagine" the event, such as by incorporating local themes or taking inspiration from Edinburgh's Hogmanay festival.
Cr Steve Walker said reinstating fireworks would be backward-looking.
"In my view, fireworks need to be consigned to where they belong and they belong in history."
They should be replaced by contemporary, less-antisocial alternatives, he said.
Cr Walker was worried about potential harm to wildlife from a fireworks display and that it might "defile, ravage and contaminate our Town Belt".
Some people liked to be critical of "nice-to-haves", but were happy for the council to "explode their rates money and watch that money go up in six minutes of smoke", he said.
The cost of a fireworks show was quoted at $45,000, while the existing alternative of projection mapping in the Octagon had cost $40,000, a report for councillors said.
Cr Bill Acklin said he would have liked to see fireworks synched with music.
"Fireworks, to the multitudes, are very, very popular," he said.
"The time is right to do it again."
Cr Brent Weatherall lamented the council had decided to be "party poopers".
The fireworks proposal had come to the council because of public feedback, he said.
After listening to arguments against fireworks, Cr Jim O'Malley was exasperated.
"I think it's fun. Levity, bringing in the new year, a spirit of happiness — seriously, folks."
Mayor Jules Radich said he was in the Octagon for the start of this year and bringing back fireworks was the most common subject raised with him.
The last time the council ran a pyrotechnics display for a New Year's Eve event was to bring in 2021.
New Year's Eve festivities in the Octagon to bring in 2022 were cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic and light and laser shows have been run the past three years as an alternative to fireworks.
Cr Sophie Barker had doubts about the value of mapping projections.
"I think we need to reimagine New Year's Eve," she said.
"I don't believe we need to copy other cities and centres with me-too fireworks.
"I think we need to create something uniquely ourselves."
Deputy mayor Cherry Lucas said the city celebrations should have a point of difference.
Reinstating fireworks
How they voted.—
For (6): Mayor Jules Radich, Crs Bill Acklin, David Benson-Pope, Carmen Houlahan, Jim O'Malley, Brent Weatherall.
Against (9): Crs Cherry Lucas, Sophie Barker, Christine Garey, Kevin Gilbert, Marie Laufiso, Mandy Mayhem, Lee Vandervis, Steve Walker, Andrew Whiley.
grant.miller@odt.co.nz
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsroom
11 hours ago
- Newsroom
The secret memoir of .. Jacinda Ardern
THE PRESCHOOL YEARS My childhood was happy, but I became aware that others were not so well-off. At daycare I campaigned for longer nap times. Nothing came of it. THE PRIMARY SCHOOL YEARS I was a sensitive child. The sight of a rainbow always made me cry. The colours were so lovely but they faded so fast. In some ways the rainbow was a metaphor for death, and confirmed that life is a vale of tears, but change is only possible if we believe in a better tomorrow and I threw myself into conducting a science project on the best ways to catch a rainbow. Nothing came of it. THE CABBAGE YEARS I got an afterschool job at the Golden Kiwi takeaways in Morrinsville. My mum taught me how to wrap a cabbage in training for wrapping up fish and chips. I got very good at wrapping that cabbage. I wrapped it in newspapers, and for variety I would sometimes wrap it in pillowslips, sheets, and blankets. I got to know that cabbage well, and we bonded. It was no ordinary cabbage. I felt it was destined for great things and I suppose I saw myself in that cabbage. I took it with me when I entered politics and for a while it took pride of place on my desk when I became Prime Minister. I would consult it for major political decisions. It was a sounding board. But it had greater significance. I thought of it as New Zealand, which I wanted to wrap in layers of kindness. Until one day it disappeared. The cabbage was never found. I cannot bring myself to this day to name the person who I think took it and did goodness knows what to it. But the publisher has insisted. A pox on David Cunliffe. THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF SOCIALIST YOUTH YEARS The publisher has insisted that I don't remember much about it. THE KIWIBUILD YEARS Housing minister Phil Twyford said to me one day, 'I have a dream.' 'Tell me your dream,' I said to him. 'I have a dream of building 100,000 new homes,' he said. 'That's wonderful.' 'In my dream the houses are warm and well-built,' he said. 'Do they have flowers on the windowsill in your dream?' 'Yes, I think so,' he said. I reminded him about our conversation a few months later but he said he was busy, and legged it. I never saw him again. THE COVID YEARS It's not something I like to dwell on but a virus got loose and infected many, many people in the community. It was a dark time. It divided families. It was a sad sight. They tore up lawns. They tore up concrete. They set trees on fire. But there was no vaccine on Earth to cure the Stupid-19 virus which caused them to go mad. Since then the virus has only deepened, and further deranged its feral victims. I miss New Zealand and long to go home but I don't know whether that will ever be possible. THE AMERICAN YEARS Everyone in America has been so nice and so welcoming. They are very open to new ideas. I have no opinion on socialism, Trump, or Gaza, but I have headed up a very important and far-reaching humanities programme at Harvard. The students are enthusiastic and Oprah has given it her blessing. Neve has enrolled, too. I call the programme, Catch Your Rainbow.
Otago Daily Times
20 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Music proposed as way to calm bus hub conduct
Music could be used to soothe savage behaviour at Dunedin's city centre bus hub, a regional councillor has suggested. Cr Kate Wilson said she was not suggesting following the lead of former speaker Trevor Mallard, who blasted music in an attempt to deter protesters camped outside Parliament to protest government control during the Covid-19 pandemic. But she questioned the absence of music as one of the "actionable insights" contained in Collective Strategy principal consultant Angela Davis' 29-page report on developing and refining the approach to safety in the central city. "Sound can be very calming," Cr Wilson said. "We often build 'traffic calming' areas into design, but we don't do 'people calming'." She said she was "intrigued" the report had not canvassed the concept, which she understood was used in hospitals. Council regional planning and transport general manager Anita Dawe said it appeared not to be one of the strategies used elsewhere, which Ms Davis examined in the report. "I do know it's successful in supermarkets — it changes shopping behaviour," Ms Dawe said. The Otago Regional Council's public and active transport committee yesterday received the report, commissioned by the council for the central city advisory group — the multi-agency group created in the wake of the fatal stabbing last year of 16-year-old Enere McLaren-Taana. Cr Alexa Forbes, who chaired yesterday's committee meeting, said the report appeared focused on "preventing crime through inclusion and visibility". "It doesn't actually rule out sound, or music." Council chairwoman Gretchen Robertson said there were benefits to working on safety issues with other agencies in a collaborative way. It was a "privilege" for the regional council to run public transport, and the council wanted public transport to be "welcoming and [a] preferred mode of travel", she said. The council had taken a close look at what it could do in the short term to improve safety and had taken "well reported" steps to improve safety at the bus hub. But the report also contained statistical analysis showing the bus hub was not the only problematic area in Dunedin's city centre. The report revealed most documented "victimisation" in the city centre occurred very early on Sunday morning. " I don't think that's a youth issue," Cr Robertson said. "This is a whole-of-community issue. "I think it requires collaboration," Cr Robertson said. "It requires looking at the hub. "It requires looking broader than that as well to the central city." Council chief executive Richard Saunders suggested there was more of a leadership role for the Dunedin City Council in safety issues than the regional council. "The issues largely arise in public space, which are the responsibility of the territorial authorities," Mr Saunders said. "So they have a critical role to play in the management of that public space and any bylaws that may seek to change behaviours in that space. "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 points more to leadership in the public space than it does within the transport network." The city council has been approached for comment.
Otago Daily Times
20 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
The secret diary of . . . Jacinda Ardern
THE PRESCHOOL YEARS My childhood was happy, but I became aware that others were not so well-off. At daycare I campaigned for longer nap times. Nothing came of it. THE PRIMARY SCHOOL YEARS I was a sensitive child. The sight of a rainbow always made me cry. The colours were so lovely but they faded so fast. In some ways the rainbow was a metaphor for death, and confirmed that life is a vale of tears, but change is only possible if we believe in a better tomorrow and I threw myself into conducting a science project on the best ways to catch a rainbow. Nothing came of it. THE CABBAGE YEARS I got an afterschool job at the Golden Kiwi takeaways in Morrinsville. My mum taught me how to wrap a cabbage in training for wrapping up fish and chips. I got very good at wrapping that cabbage. I wrapped it in newspapers, and for variety I would sometimes wrap it in pillowslips, sheets, and blankets. I got to know that cabbage well, and we bonded. It was no ordinary cabbage. I felt it was destined for great things and I suppose I saw myself in that cabbage. I took it with me when I entered politics and for a while it took pride of place on my desk when I became prime minister. I would consult it for major political decisions. It was a sounding board. But it had greater significance. I thought of it as New Zealand, which I wanted to wrap in layers of kindness. Until one day it disappeared. The cabbage was never found. I cannot bring myself to this day to name the person who I think took it and did goodness knows what to it. But the publisher has insisted. A pox on David Cunliffe. THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST YOUTH CONFERENCE YEARS The publisher has insisted that I don't remember much about it. THE KIWIBUILD YEARS Housing minister Phil Twyford said to me one day, "I have a dream." "Tell me your dream," I said to him. "I have a dream of building 100,000 new homes," he said. "That's wonderful." "In my dream the houses are warm and well-built," he said. "Do they have flowers on the windowsill in your dream?" "Yes, I think so," he said. I reminded him about our conversation a few months later but he said he was busy, and legged it. I never saw him again. THE COVID YEARS It's not something I like to dwell on but a virus got loose and infected many, many people in the community. It was a dark time. It divided families. It was a sad sight. They tore up lawns. They tore up concrete. They set trees on fire. But there was no vaccine on Earth to cure the Stupid-19 virus which caused them to go mad. Since then the virus has only deepened, and further deranged its feral victims. I miss New Zealand and long to go home but I don't know whether that will ever be possible. THE AMERICAN YEARS Everyone in America has been so nice and so welcoming. They are very open to new ideas. I have no opinion on socialism, Trump, or Gaza, but I have headed up a very important and far-reaching humanities programme at Harvard. The students are enthusiastic and Oprah has given it her blessing. Neve has enrolled, too. I call the programme, Catch Your Rainbow. By Steve Braunias
