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Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
‘Brand new' event coming next year
Despite having to justify the Easter influx of 65,000 visitors, Wheels at Wānaka general manager Allan Dippie intends to bring to town another event in 2026. In April, Wheels at Wānaka brought in its biggest crowd and Wānaka's biggest crowd in one day to an event, with 50,000 visitors on the Saturday of the long weekend. The flood of people to town meant roads were blocked and some inconvenienced locals took to Facebook pages airing their concerns about traffic lines. While some locals complained about being held up, the event brought in millions to the local economy and businesses across town reeled in record sales. Still, post-event, the Queenstown Lakes District Council approached Mr Dippie to explain why the event exceeded the predicted numbers and why nothing was done about limiting those coming to the event. The event caused extreme traffic congestion on Wānaka roads during the long weekend, which upset some locals, despite the event being announced two years in advance. Mr Dippie and his events team had predicted about 45,000, going by previous years. "There has been a bit of a discussion about Wheels at Wānaka from the council. "Since the event, council sent us a 'please explain' email and started getting a bit toey about things and threatening possible enforcement action. I think one of the local councillors might have been the driving force behind the email." This is in reference to Wānaka councillor and deputy mayor Quentin Smith, who has been vocal about traffic congestion around the show. Mr Dippie wrote back to the council, explaining that the wet weather forecast over Easter had meant much of the crowd showed up to the Saturday event, and so crowds were not evenly spread. The event did not account for the huge number of children with their parents, he said. "They wanted to know how we were planning on stopping so many coming, which is kind of not possible with a family event of this nature. "We had over 50,000 people in one day, which has never been seen in Wānaka before and probably not likely to be seen again for a long time. "People were being rarked up on Facebook by one of the local councillors," he said. While Mr Dippie has taken an apologetic approach to the traffic issues, he is also very pleased with how the event turned out and has labelled it a huge success. "I think council might be out of step with people at times but in general events are great things and the community welcomes them." He said most of the businesses he spoke to in town had broken record sales over the Easter weekend. The council accepted Mr Dippie's explanation and will not be taking matters any further with any sort of prosecution or investigation. A spokesperson said the event was a welcome boost to local hospitality and retail businesses. "Wheels at Wānaka in particular attracted many people to town. We're certainly aware of the heavy traffic which caused disruption in the township and roads leading into it at peak times. Wheels at Wānaka's organisers confirmed beforehand that this would be their last event. "In general, council considers the requirements of all events regarding their demand for services and potential impact on local infrastructure such as roading as part of each resource consent application." The council added that Warbirds Over Wānaka, which is held every second Easter, was likely to attract the same number of people next year, but its location at the Wānaka airport would mean less inconvenience in town. "Events of all sizes continue to be important economic drivers for the Upper Clutha and our district as a whole." The Wheels at Wānaka event is run by the Wheels at Wānaka Charitable Trust and donates its surplus back into the community each year, across several community focused groups. The trust would be announcing the recipients later this month and at this stage things were looking very positive for record community donations, Mr Dippie said. "You can imagine the trust getting fined by the QLDC and incurring legal costs would have would not have gone down so well, so I'm glad common sense has prevailed." Mr Dippie confirmed he was in the early planning stages of a 2026 event for the town but was tight-lipped about what that would be. "We are not easily put off and I do encourage council to not put others off and actually encourage events. You don't want to be the council that makes it hard for events. "We will be announcing a future event but a different type of event. The community should be standing by for something brand new, next year, another event, 2026. "We always said we would try to do new and different things."
Otago Daily Times
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Letters to the Editor: DCC, the uni and genocide
Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including a reminder for our city councillors, reprioritising the university, and how genocide degrades humanity. Reminder issued of behaviour requirements We, the Dunedin Area Citizens Assn Inc, wish to convey our disappointment at the actions of some councillors during the recent nine-year plan hearings. There were three councillors who walked out when a specific speaker went up to speak and reappeared after his speech. We believe this was a stance against the perceived racism of the speaker. The councillors in question were protesting happenings that do not immediately concern their positions on council. There were reports of laughing and muttering throughout a presentation. When one person spoke up about being "eye rolled" at she was immediately shut down. May we remind the councillors, they are operating under a code of conduct. Within that code it is designed for councillors to deal with the behaviour of members towards the public and others. We would have to assume this to mean they treat people with respect and caring without put-downs or degradation. Elected members will maintain a clear separation between their personal interests and their duties as elected members. This is not shown in the respect of three councillors showing their preference for one particular group over others in a war-torn zone. This is their, personal interest and to us shows their intolerance of other groups. This should not be in the council chamber. Councillors should not need to be reminded of the obligations to the people (all of them) within their governance boundaries. Secretary, Dunedin Area Citizens Assn Inc [Abridged: length. Editor.] No need to apologise I do not know why Allan Dippie thought he had to apologise for speaking the truth. Most councillors are out of their depth and have no idea how to manage the Dunedin City Council's income. Just spend, spend, spend. I would be really impressed if people like Mr Dippie, with proper business and financial skills, were our councillors, instead of most of the present lot. Councillor Steve Walker is proud to be woke. A while ago in the ODT , before our new three-bin recycling system, he said he only put out one partly filled black bag a month. There is a very good reason for this. The rest of his rubbish comes out his mouth. Balance and respect Cr Steve Walker's defence of displaying a kuffiyeh in council chambers ( ODT 6.5.25) overlooks a key point: while the kuffiyeh has cultural roots, it is also a political symbol associated with Palestinian nationalism and violent resistance. Public officials should be mindful of how such symbols are perceived in diverse communities. Cr Walker condemns Hamas's October 7 attacks, yet his broader message appears one-sided, omitting sustained empathy for Israeli victims. True moral clarity requires "consistent and principled" compassion for all civilians, not selective outrage. Accusing critics of ignorance or bigotry diminishes legitimate concern. Citizens are entitled to question whether councillors should use civic platforms to advance political positions — especially ones as fraught as this. Council chambers are not personal soapboxes. Leadership demands not just compassion, but also balance and respect for the neutrality expected in public governance. Uni should rethink how arts fellowships paid for Would it be possible for the University of Otago to undergo some reprioritisation in order to address the problem of paying for the now suspended art and music fellowships? We don't know how much money is given each year to the Highlanders, which is, of course, a business in its own right, because the sum is commercially (and possibly morally) sensitive. Now that the university is a place of many firsts, it could achieve yet another one by allowing us all to see why rugby is more important, apparently, than art and music and by how much? Humanity at stake Palestinians throughout the world and in Aotearoa New Zealand are grieving and suffering with their loved ones, family and kindred in Gaza and on the West Bank. Wherever they are in the world, they are torn by this reality, they are not free. Are we free? No, we are not free. When and wherever genocide is happening we cannot live with it. Genocide demands our recognition of this evil that is happening to our sisters and brothers, our fellow humans. Genocide degrades not only the humanity of the Israelis and others who commit it, but the meaning and essential reality of all humanity. This is not a political question or even just a religious question, but a moral question, asking us what is humanity? We cannot turn aside; we must accept the discomfort and the pain of not turning aside from what is happening. We must act in whatever way we can to help end this evil. If not us, who? If not now, when? I could speak as a Christian or a Quaker, but I must speak as a human being whose humanity is at stake. Paying for dairy and paying again Whilst understanding the principle of global dairy prices, there a lot of irony for New Zealanders in that in producing dairy product is we pay again (against the cost of our land use and hard graft), in the prices of these products on our shelves. I suggest there is an argument for a specific New Zealand domestic market price structure for dairy products sold in this country. Our domestic usage is small on a wider world scale and such a system would not make a ripple in our trading economy nor the "dairy giant" profits. "New Zealand Made" is a strong loyalty here. Reasonable dairy prices are a win for dairy farmers and consumers. Let's support our own country. Where there is a will there is a way. Imagine the scene In response to Darryl Sycamore's letter (5.5.25), a national park lake drowned for hydro storage is certainly not "part of the existing environment". Lake Monowai evolved its natural shoreline over thousands of years since the ice age. Suggesting it is on its way to recovery after just 100 years seems like green spin — do an internet search on "uplifted by a lake". The Monowai power station is outside of Fiordland National Park and far from Lake Monowai. It could still operate in run-of-river mode after removing the small dam presently flooding the lake. That would mean some reduced income for Pioneer Energy, but is it really necessary to be always extracting the last hydro dollar? Imagine the initial restoration scene. There would be a blessing by Ngāi Tahu as they planted the first shoreline tree, while Pioneer would unveil a commemorative plaque at the former dam site. Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@
