Seven of 11 bus hub cameras now working
BEING legally blind since birth, Steff Green has dealt with rejection her whole life.
‘‘Kids bullying me because I was different. Lecturers and employers locking me out of opportunities because they didn’t want to ‘deal’ with my disability.’’
But along the way, the 36yearold has discovered her disability has actually helped her to become an international awardwinning author.
‘‘I think a lot of sensory disabled people view the world in a slightly different way, and that probably feeds into my creativity a bit.’’
Under her penname Steffanie Holmes, she is the
bestselling author of paranormal, gothic, dark and fantastical books which feature clever, witty heroines, secret societies, creepy old mansions, and ‘‘alpha males who always get what they want’’.
‘‘I could have given up . . . . Instead, I kept writing. And when Amazon introduced their selfpublishing platform, I started putting my work out in the world.
‘‘Surprise! People liked it. So I kept writing and publishing and dreaming and doing.
‘‘I write tales . . . for thousands of readers across the world who never tell me I can’t write because of my eyes.’’
As well as winning a bestselling author award, she received the 2017 Attitude Award for Artistic Achievement and was a finalist for a 2018 Women of Influence award.
Alongside being the creator of Rage Against the Manuscript, a podcast producer, and author, she runs courses to help writers tell their story, find readers, and build a ‘‘badass’’ writing career.
Yesterday, she was at Otago Girls’ High School with magician, hypnotist, storyteller, bookseller and author Gareth
Ward, as part of the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival, to share stories about the fame, fortune and hard work making a career in the literary arts.
The session aimed to inspire young people to pursue a career in writing, which was right up Ms Green’s alley.
‘‘I’m obsessed with helping other writers to find their voice, smash through the gatekeepers, and discover the badassitry of putting their work directly into the hands of readers,’’ she said.
IT is hoped the activation of security cameras will curb the violence and disorder that has plagued Dunedin’s bus hub.
Increasing reports of fighting, drug and alcohol use, and violent assaults at the centre city hub have been made in recent months, both to police and on social media.
In March the Otago Daily
revealed CCTV cameras at the site were not operating, making it difficult for police to follow up on some incidents.
Yesterday regional council transport implementation lead Julian Phillips said seven of the 11 cameras were now working.
A further three were expected to be operating by the end of the week, and one had been sent away for repairs.
Now that the cameras were operational, the next step was to transfer ownership to the Dunedin City Council, he said.
That conversation was ongoing, but the bus hub would be under CCTV surveillance in the meantime.
Dunedin Tramways Union delegate Alan Savell said from a bus driver’s perspective, having the cameras operating was brilliant.
But he was unsure how much of a difference they would make to the issues in the area.
‘‘Most of the issues are young people, or alcohol. They’re not necessarily thinking of consequences when those actions are carried out.’’
However, if someone was caught behaving badly on security footage and it stopped incidents happening again, that could only be positive, he said.
Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said CCTV could be an important tool for both the prevention and investigation of crime.
‘‘Police cannot be everywhere all the time, so we welcome this additional resource in a high traffic area like the bus hub.’’