Otago Daily Times

The arts and Dunedin’s economic developmen­t

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COUNCILLOR Andrew Whiley ( ODT

29.4.24) documents an encouragin­g number of economic strengths of the city; all hopefully contributi­ng to a prosperous, dynamic place to live now and in the future.

I agree that we tend to undersell ourselves on the positives of living in Dunedin. One particular area where we do this is the rich cultural fabric of the arts: the oldest public art gallery in the country offering an ever changing menu of exhibition­s, a wide range of stimulatin­g dealer galleries representi­ng much local talent, a school of art that has employed or educated many of the country’s leading painters, a rich range of contempora­ry and classical music, the Otago Art Society hosting end on end local and national exhibition­s in our railway station, the annual Frances Hodgkins fellowship through the Hocken that hosts leading New Zealand artists.

This is not an exhaustive list but surely is an aspect of this city that warrants inclusion in our marketing and a reason why many of us love living here.

It is one aspect of Dunedin that the economic developmen­t committee should take into account; perhaps even give a nudge to the DCC marketing department?

Ross Currie

Past President, Dunedin Public Art

Gallery Society

Not to be trusted

The tough period Councillor Sophie Barker mentions in her article ( ODT 26.4.24) is alluding to when the DCC took profits from Aurora to help pay for the white elephant that is the stadium. The DCC is always wasting ratepayers’ money buying up property then leaving it vacant.

Forbury raceway had developers with great ideas to develop this area. DCC amazingly found $13 million to buy it despite high debt and multimilli­ondollar projects not yet finished or having funds to do so.

It is also developing cycleways most ratepayers will never use, and which are totally unnecessar­y for the north end of the city. Could we trust councillor­s to manage money from the sale of Aurora? Definitely not.

I worry for my grandchild­ren paying for the mistakes this council is making. Mary Robertson

Ocean View

Venom vile

I WAS appalled at the nastiness and venom directed toward Cr David BensonPope by Cr Bill Acklin at a recent fiery city council meeting ( ODT,

26.4.24). This can be seen merely for what it is — a cheap shot. Mr BensonPope has more acumen and experience and even panache than any other at the council table. This manner of vitriol from Cr Acklin is totally devoid of substance or merit. Perhaps he should reinvent his show biz talents; clearly he is out of his depth as a councillor.

Clive McNeill

North East Valley

Axe pen pushers

The continual wailing over the reduction in public servants is once again highlighti­ng the failure of the media to provide balanced reporting. Since 2017, the number of public servants has grown by 39%, or an extra 18,477 fulltime roles. In just the final six months of Labour's reign it grew by 2582. Those 18,500 jobs did not improve anything for anybody. They were to service the everburgeo­ning red tape and needless controls on everybody. The cost of those jobs was some $2 billion per year. Had that been spent on employing doctors and nurses then we might all have been better off. As with the University of Otago, the real tragedy is that the cuts will likely fall on frontline staff instead of the grossly excessive middle management. In addition, the government needs to focus on getting rid of bureaucrat­ic red tape, removing the need for these pen pushers.

Peter Foster Waikouaiti

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