‘Keep your promise': children to council
Forty pupils from Macandrew Bay School have submitted to the Dunedin City Council regarding the unsafe footpath outside Portobello School. Holding their submissions are (from left) Gracin Stuart, 8, Zaxen McInally, 10, Nina Bransgrove, 8, and Willa-Mae Stuart (10). Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
Dunedin school children are dipping a toe in the turbulent waters of local government, asking the city council to "keep your promise" on Otago Peninsula's shared pathway.
Almost 50 pupils from Portobello and Macandrew Bay Schools made submissions, some complete with drawings, on the Dunedin City Council's nine-year plan (2025-34), urging progress on Te Awa Ōtākou.
Also known as the Peninsula Connection, the project aimed to improve road safety and formed part of a shared path around Otago Harbour, but three sections on the peninsula remain incomplete.
Some of the drawings which accompanied Macandrew Bay School pupils' submissions on the long-term plan. Drawing: supplied
In their submissions, Portobello School pupils told the council about crashes and near-misses they had seen near their school.
"All there is, is a tiny piece of off-cut along the side of the road," one pupil who was involved in a crash said.
"If a car was coming along there at a high speed, which they usually do, it could easily collide into a pedestrian or biker."
Drawing: supplied
"Some of my classmates call it the 'death hole'," another said.
Others told the council their parents did not let them walk in the area and some shared concerns about the impact on local tourism.
The council was considering funding $18.5 million through the nine-year plan to complete the project. Support from government agencies was unlikely, it said.
Drawing: supplied
Macandrew Bay School pupils were pleased with the completed section outside their school and hoped the council could finish the job.
"Can you please finish the path you promised, but I love your work so far," one submission said.
Another was concerned about fellow pupils: "How terrible for Portobello School to not to have a pathway! There might be an accident."
Drawing: supplied
"Keep your promise to Portobello School."
Portobello School teacher and Otago Peninsula Community Board member Cheryl Neill made a submission on behalf of the school saying it was "essential" the council complete Te Awa Ōtākou.
"In these three areas there are no walkways and no room for error. It is dangerous for our tamariki," she said.
Drawing: supplied
Macandrew Bay School principal Nic Brown said her pupils were lucky to be able access Te Awa Ōtākou so easily and they felt strongly the pathway needed to be complete. The submissions were a great way to practise persuasive writing and the "dying art" of letter writing, Ms Brown said.
"It's really important for our children to see that their voice can actually make a real difference to things like this."
A week-long hearing on the plan begins on Monday.
ruby.shaw@odt.co.nz
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Dunedin Gasworks Museum to reopen after repairs
The chimney at the Dunedin Gasworks Museum, with machinery nearby. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton New Zealand's only gasworks museum will reopen after repairs to its 25-metre high chimney. The Dunedin Gasworks Museum was closed in April after cracks were discovered in the chimney stack due to possible earthquake damage. The category-one historic place, owned by the Dunedin City Council, was last month found to be in a worse condition than first thought . The damaged chimney stack at the Dunedin Gasworks Museum. Photo: SUPPLIED / DUNEDIN CITY COUNCIL The council's property services group manager Anna Nilsen said contractors spent three weeks removing about 4000 bricks from the top of the chimney, lowering its height by about four metres. "The expert advice we've received is that the chimney is no longer an imminent risk to the safety of those around it, so the dangerous building notice issued last month has now been lifted and the exclusion zone around the chimney has been removed," she said. The museum could return to almost normal operations without the use of the chimney for now, she said. An affected building notice issued to the neighbouring Woolworths supermarket had also been lifted. The total cost of the repairs had not been confirmed. The council had requested a full condition assessment of the chimney and that would determine what further work would be needed and whether it could be used safely. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Felling of protected tree opposed
Belleknowes property owners Adam and Anna O'Byrne have applied for resource consent from the Dunedin City Council to remove a protected silver beech tree. PHOTO: GERARD O'BRIEN The felling of a protected Dunedin tree in "undisputed" good health has been opposed by a council planner. Belleknowes couple Adam and Anna O'Byrne have applied to the Dunedin City Council for resource consent to remove a 17m-tall silver beech tree from their Preston Cres property. The tree is protected by the council's Second Generation District Plan and 16 of 21 submissions were against removal — one submitter called the tree a taoka (treasure). Its fate will be considered at a committee hearing later this week and council graduate planner Finn Campbell recommended the application be declined. However, he said there was a "pathway available to the committee to consider granting consent". In their application, Mr and Mrs O'Byrne said their tenants living in a consented garage and studio unit below the tree felt unsafe, particularly in high winds when they saw branches dropping. During the October floods last year, the tree's root system prevented water draining and contributed to flooding of the unit and "a large insurance bill". Their plumber suggested a surface sump, the couple's preferred option, or a sump and pump to manage drainage. In his section 42a report, Mr Campbell said it was "undisputed" the tree was in good health and posed no immediate threat to people or the unit below it. Submissions opposing the application consistently mentioned the tree's visual amenity and removing the tree would have a "moderate" negative effect on local amenity values. The proposed drainage works would compromise the health and integrity of the tree and while Mr Campbell agreed a drainage solution was needed, he said the options had not been exhausted. More investigation was needed before consent to remove the tree was granted. The hearing will be held on Friday in front of a panel made up of commissioner Kirstyn Royce and councillors Sophie Barker and Steve Walker.
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Dog Rescue gives Alfie new leash of life
Back in the day, Alfie's goose would nearly be cooked by now. The black Labrador-cross was found wandering around Dunedin recently, looking a little worse for wear and without a chip or a tag. Most dogs found wandering around the community get picked up by the Dunedin City Council, and under the Dog Control Act, they are kept for seven days, so their owners can retrieve them. DCC animal services team leader Cazna Savell said council officers also make attempts to find the dog's owner by scanning for a microchip or looking for dog tags. "And if the dog is registered and a first-time wanderer, our officers will first try and return it home. "But if the dog is not registered, or for some reason the microchip isn't scanning properly, and we're unable to find out where the dog has come from, or if it's a regular wanderer, then it will be taken out to our pound while we try and find where the owners have come from." Before 2011, if the officers could not find the owners after seven days, most dogs like Alfie were put down, she said. But since 2011, the DCC and Dog Rescue Dunedin have been working together to find new homes for dogs that are impounded and not claimed. So far, they have been able to re-home about 550 dogs, and Alfie was one of the most recent to have been adopted. Ms Savell said Dog Rescue Dunedin had been "absolutely fantastic". "If we don't have an adoption request directly through to DCC, Dog Rescue Dunedin come and assess the dogs, and they then adopt them and usually find fosterers, so the dogs get to go to homes. "And Dog Rescue Dunedin have just hit the 550 mark, so that's something to really celebrate. "Euthanasia is now a last resort, used only when a dog is assessed as unsafe or unsuitable for re-homing." Dog Rescue Dunedin volunteer Cait Stewart said Alfie was fostered for a while with a young couple that were also fostering a bunch of kittens for Cat Rescue Dunedin. "He fit right in with their crowd and he never left. They adopted him straight from fostering, which is really great." While it was difficult to pinpoint what breed Alfie was, she said he was a "very typical" puppy that you would find at probably any family home. "As for his breed, honestly, your guess is as good as mine. "We think maybe a bit of Lab, maybe greyhound. "At the pound, we call dogs like Alfie a 'pound special' because we can't identify him. "But what we can say is, he's boisterous, he loves to play, he loves his food — and he's a very, very friendly dog."
