When you’re in a hole, maybe you should stop digging has a new ‘‘role’’, but it will only a matter of time before people realise the George St ‘‘cone dance’’ is not a game. What’s the vision?
Hilary Calvert
AS Health, Safety and Wellbeing Officer for Dunedin I am proud to report on my achievements in this new and exciting role.
As you will appreciate, much of my best work is done around road cones.
We all know how important getting moving is for our health and wellbeing.
To this end I have arranged a series of cones, holes in the ground and obstacles in central Dunedin.
To be involved you do not need to know any particular moves. The actions required can be performed on foot or in a wheelchair or pushing a pushchair. They can be done smoothly, like a waltz perhaps, or jerkily, especially if you change your mind about which George St establishments you wish to visit mid dance.
The overall goal is to make it from wherever you wish to join the game to reach your destination. And of course retrace your steps afterwards.
To make it more interesting the course changes sometimes hourly, so finding your way through never gets stale or routine.
Think somewhere between a flash mob, and perhaps a dance involving a grapevine manoeuvre with a little snakes and ladders thrown in.
While the changing nature of the course involves a certain amount of mental agility for those who are walking, I have not forgotten those who are trying to access the central city by bus or car. For you I have organised a game of find the bus stop or indeed find a park. This is of course more challenging for those with a car, since they then have to remember where they abandoned the car when they want to go home.
And those on bikes have the added concentration level required to keep out of the way of dazed drivers who are unsure whether the next intersection will be left or right turn, or indeed a dead end requiring the driver to throw a six and start again.
All in all I feel confident that I have arranged the central city to support active movement and good mental stimulation together with practice for your memory.
I am particularly proud of having devised a system to support these elements of health and wellbeing which involve an optout rather than an optin system. Indeed it is difficult to opt out for anyone who needs to use the middle of Dunedin for anything.
I am also confident that I am reaching my goal of increasing walking in the city centre by at least 20% to fit in with central government guidelines.
I hear from a fellow Activation Officer that people live longer if they engage in conversations with various others during the course of their days. My plans have encouraged everyone to engage in conversations with those who are monitoring the cones and routes around the central city. The more upbeat conversations include the likes of asking workers on site whether they have heard of the idea that when you’re in a hole, maybe you should stop digging.
And the icing on the cake is that to support safety during these activities I have required there to be 17 people directing those involved in the game for every one person who is playing the part of an obstacle, often with a piece of noisy machinery. And we all know that having a meaningful job has a huge effect on the wellbeing of not only the person involved but a multiplier effect of 11.3 for everyone directly involved in this useful work.
The only down side is that the carbon footprint for anyone approaching the central city or attempting to drive through has increased tenfold.
The clear benefits outlined above are so significant that my approach is already being rolled out in many of the arterial routes people take to reach the city centre.
Any such benefits are particularly important as the threat of a new but downsized hospital seems more likely to be our reality.
We are already in a position where you need to be particularly healthy to navigate from your transport option to A and E or to the appointment you have, let alone the anxiety issues arising from either having a procedure cancelled on the way to theatre or the wait for medical attention while the chances of good outcomes trickle away.
However, there is some chance that my plans will be changed by the new council, as it is only a matter of time before people realise this is not a game.
It is a serious issue which has been going on for many months and shows the hallmarks of continuing indefinitely.
And the ‘‘prize’’ when the cones are gone?
Businesses who are on the brink thanks to internet shopping and Covid are closing. Shopping survives as a recreational activity, which is unlikely to be enhanced without being able to access the shops or find a park between the ‘‘enhancements’’ and a handy parkguzzling hospital build. The longterm expectation of a vibrant lot of people milling about in George St seems as likely as The Square in Christchurch being fun to be around.
Ask those standing for the Dunedin City Council what their vision is and why they think the game will be worth the candle.