False complaint backfires

What is believed to have been a politically motivated complaint against the National Party’s human hoardings team backfired when it resulted in a story and photo in the ODT.

A complaint to Dunedin police yesterday morning about the potential hazard posed to drivers from these National Party hoarding carriers appeared to be politically motivated, Senior Sergeant Mel Aitken said.

The complainant had been on foot, not driving, she said . . . 

Dunedin North National candidate Michael Woodhouse also suspected the complaint was politically motivated, as the supporters had carried out the promotion responsibly.

He believed Dunedin Labour was concerned by the “visibility” and energy of National’s Dunedin election campaign.

Dunedin is supposed to be a red city.

A dedicated group of National Party members, supporting Michael and Dunedin South candidate Joanne Hayes, are doing their best to turn it blue as this photo of the “Hayes stack” shows:

The human hoardings are part of the strategy and thanks to the false complaint they’ve been seen not just by passers-by but everyone who reads the ODT.

What didn’t happen

Dunedin was buzzing when we got down there late yesterday afternoon and the city’s first rugby World Cup game was a success.

No-one got stuck on trains.

No-one we saw did anything they ought not have done.

None of the RWC volunteers, security people and police was anything but, friendly, polite and helpful.

The Otago Stadium didn’t disappoint the capacity crowd.

There were no long queues at the women’s loos (although the men did have a bit of a wait).

The crowd didn’t have any trouble dispersing when the game ended.

Argentina didn’t win.

I didn’t say bugger (but only because I don’t know how to in Spanish).

In other sports news, the Nude Blacks didn’t win their game agaisnt the Spanish Senoritas (warning nudity).

The Spanish team had won a video competition for the right to challenge the Nude Blacks.

Not enough rooms at the inns

Friends had been planning to spend the night in Dunedin but couldn’t find a bed.

The Crusaders were playing the Highlanders and there might have been another special event attracting visitors to the city but whatever the reason there was no room at any of the inns.

That isn’t unusual in Dunedin. 

Any time there is an event which brings people to Dunedin it’s difficult to find a spare bed.  When something like the Masters games, conferences, capping or  test matches is on it’s not unusual for accommodation providers – hotels, motels, B&Bs, backpackers and camping grounds – as far away as Oamaru and Balclutha to get bookings from those who aren’t able to stay in the city.

The new Forsyth Barr stadium might have been able to hold one of the  Rugby World Cup quarter-finals which were to have been played in Christchurch but lack of accommodation for the crowds the game would attract ruled it out.

The stadium will bring people to Dunedin but a venue isn’t enough by itself.

If the city is to get maximum benefit from the new facility it will need to come up with more beds for the visitors.

Chch loses RWC games

Christchurch will not be hosting any Rugby World Cup Games.

Had it been safe and practical to hold the games at Jade Stadium as scheduled it would have been a symbol that the city was up and running again.

But earthquake damage not only to the stadium building and field, but also the city’s infrastructure and buildings are too great to cope with the tens of thousands of people the games would have attracted.

The quarter finals are going to Auckland but RWC Minister Murray McCully said it is hoped pool games will stay in the South Island.

Dunedin was keen to host a quarter final but doesn’t have enough accommodation. The city was often full for big events, the new stadium will increase demand and also provide an opportunity for those willing and able to increase supply.

Elton John makes stadium popular

Like any big project the Forsyth Barr stadium which is under construction in Dunedin has been controversial.

The refurbishment of the Opera House in Oamaru attracted similar opposition but I supported it from the start. I didn’t want to be part of a generation which let a beautiful historic building crumble. Nor did I see the sense in merely doing enough to preserve it which would have made it a very expensive monument.

It was better to do the job properly and give the community something which would be used and appreciated.

Since it opened last year it has become an asset to the community as a venue for performing artists, conferences, weddings, meetings and other gatherings.

Building a new stadium isn’t the same as preserving and restoring a historic building and I understand ratepayers’ concerns over construction and operating costs. But I agree with the supporters who regard it as an asset for the city and province.

Stadium trust chair, Malcolm Farry, keeps saying the stadium would bring more events, and people, to Dunedin.

The difficulty getting tickets to the first show indicates he is right.

Tickets for the first big event – an Elton John concert – went on sale for stadium seat-holders, Otago ratepayers and Ticketdirect members at nine o’clock this morning.

I logged on as the 9am pips sounded on the radio and I’m still getting a message saying servers are busy.

One popular concert doesn’t make the stadium a success but it’s a very good start.

Dunedin to retain neurosurgery

The expert neurosurgical panel has recommended that Dunedin retains neurosurgery services.

In a further boost for the south, and the Otago Medical School, it also recommends that Dunedin becomes the academic centre for neurosurgery for the whole country.

The acting director-general of health, Andrew Bridgman, has accepted the panel’s report, he announced at a media conference in Wellington held late this morning.

The panel recommended a minimum of three neurosurgeons should be based in Dunedin, and that the South Island wide service should comprise eight neurosurgeons once fully established.

Of Canterbury’s bid for all of the South Island’s neurosurgeons to be based at Christchurch Hospital, the panel said the DHB “grossly underestimated” the number of emergency cases which could strain the hospital’s facilities.

The University of Otago is a key part of the proposed service, establishing an “academic neurosurgical centre of excellence” integrating research and teaching with clinical services at Dunedin Hospital.

The proposed service would allow the development of sub-specialisation, private sector work, the development of spinal neurosurgery and outreach to other hospitals in the South Island.

The panel suggests an independent governance board be established to oversee the South Island neurosurgery service to be chaired by Melbourne’s Professor Andrew Kaye, an internationally recognised neurosurgery expert.

Mr Bridgman says:

 . . .he was satisfied from the Panel’s report that consolidating neurosurgery on Christchurch was not the best solution either clinically or financially. “The Panel is clear that the impact on patient outcomes combined with the developments in neurosurgery and the ageing population, mean consolidating in Christchurch is not the right decision,” he said.

“Nor is the idea of retaining two neurosurgeons in Dunedin – that is not a sustainable service.”

Mr Bridgman said the Panel’s recommendation to establish academic neurosurgery in Dunedin and to work with orthopaedic surgeons in the region to extend the amount of neurosurgeon involvement in spinal surgery, fundamentally changed the nature of the service.

“We can now establish the whole South Island service as a leading and growing service, one which will be attractive to neurosurgeons to work in and which offers training and career opportunities,” he said. “The service can develop sub-specialities and still retain the reach it needs to be accessible for acute patients.

“This is an outstanding solution for South Island people.”

Canterbury people may be less  enthusiastic about this outcome than those of us on the right side of the Waitaki river but this is great news for the whole South Island.

The southern region will get the services it needs without putting pressure on Christchurch Hospital and it gives more security to the medical school.

The south has lost services in the past, for example paediatric oncology, for clinical reasons. But there were sound clinical grounds for retaining neurosurgical services at Dunedin Hospital which the panel has recognised.

The report is here.

Quake makes point in neurosurgery debate

The debate on the future of South Island neurosurgery services has been overshadowed by the Canterbury earthquakes.

But a correspondent to the print edition of the ODT seized the opportunity to make a point:

Another 7.1 reasons why there should be neurosurgeons in both Dunedin and Christchurch. – F Hughes, Dalmore.

Marching in spirit

Nearly 20 years ago I was among more than 13,000 North Otago people who marched through Oamaru to protest against the removal of surgical services from the local hospital.

That was more than half the population of the district and about the total population of the town and we were wrong.

There were very good clinical reasons for closing the hospital’s operating theatre. Increased specialisation and technological advances meant the hospital and its surgeon simply weren’t able to offer the modern, and often less invasive, surgical services available in Dunedin.

That was a local battle lost for clinical reasons. Now the whole of Otago and Southland is fighting a bigger battle with clinical support.

More than 1000 people gathered for a meeting in Dunedin Town Hall last night to support the retention of neurological services in the city’s hospital.  Many more thousands of people are marching as I type for the cause and will form a chain of support around the hospital at lunch time.

I can’t be with there but I’m marching with them in spirit.

The south’s four National MPs, Jacqui Dean, Bill English, Eric Roy and Michael Woodhouse,  sent a message of support to last night’s meeting.

Jacqui pointed out in a media release that recent heavy workloads for the Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust highlighted the need for the people of Otago and Southland to have access to neurosurgery services in Dunedin.

Last month the rescue trust experienced what was the busiest day in its 11-year history, when its’ helicopter conducted six rescue trips, over 1934km, including four to Wanaka, one to Dunstan Hospital and one to Ranfurly.

While none of the emergencies related to head injury, Mrs Dean said the call-outs highlighted how essential it was for there to be access to health services which could meet the ever-increasing needs of the Otago and, particularly, the Central Otago communities.

“When we have an emergency helicopter service that can make six rescue missions in one day, it sends a pretty clear message to me that ours is a region that needs access to health services as close at hand as possible.

“We have people living in these areas which at times can be quite isolated. We need to have health services in place to meet their demands and to do it in a time frame in which lives are saved – not lost.

“The majority of the rescue trust’s missions relate to accidents – that is the nature of the Central Otago region, with its adventure tourism, skifields and challenging roads.

“This, in my opinion, reinforces the need for neurosurgery services to remain in a centrally located position at Dunedin.

“A shift in neurosurgery services to Christchurch is only likely to jeapardise lives and negatively disadvantage the people of this region.”

A widely scattered population can’t expect to get specialist services in local secondary hospitals but providing there’s no clinical evidence to the contrary, the nearly 300,00 people in the south ought to be able to get most of them in our nearest tertiary hospital, Dunedin.

Credo Quia Absurdum Est has a report:

 which shows the agreement to have a single site for neurology for the Southland Island was taken by the Canterbury DHB to mean it would be based in Christchurch.  As such the CDHB has spent considerable time and resources focusing on that and ignoring the single service, two sites approach.

The report is here and in another post CQAE points out :

“That the recommended neurological service for the South Island is one service based in Christchurch, with a comprehensive Outreach programme.”

Hang on a minute.  Dunedin does outreach services, but how does Christchurch perform in that regard at the moment?

“Christchurch’s record on outreach is poor.  Christchurch does not provide outpatient clinics outside Christchurch, while Dunedin’s record is impressive.”

Canterbury DHB would no doubt be happy to have all South Island tertiary services in Christchurch and on purely financial grounds there may be a case for that.

However, patients are almost always better off if they can get the treatment they need closer to home providing it is clincially safe and in this case it is.

Dunedin clinicians are confident the neurological services can be provided safely. This is a turf war with the Canterbury DHB which should back down and take a South Island-wide view.

It is a no brainer

If you had a head injury in Southland or Otago, would it be better to be operated on in Dunedin or Christchurch?

There’s general agreement in the south that closer to home would definitely be better for clinical and other reasons.

The ODT calls it a no-brainer and it’s backed up by doctors who say that lives may be lost if Dunedin Hospital’s two fulltime neurologists are lost and neurology services move to Christchurch.

In a rare front page editorial the ODT says:

The obvious solution to South Island neurosurgery services is to allocate them in a combined form, as has been proposed by the Southern District Health Board, with four surgeons based in Christchurch and two in Dunedin. . .

Our principal argument in favour of retaining a service in the South is based on emergency. While there may be many medical causes of illness where neurosurgical intervention is required, the most obvious cause for most people is from road accident trauma and the like.

The prospect of initial patch-up treatment in Dunedin before transfer to Christchurch for surgery is a fearful one in terms of the possible consequences for the health and recovery of patients from Otago and Southland.

It’s not just the time it would take to get patients from Dunedin to Christchurch, it’s the time it could take to get from wherever illness or accident strikes throughout Otago and Southland to Dunedin as well.

On cost alone, the centralisation of services in Christchurch may not make sense; even with the extraordinary absence of a cost-benefit analysis it appears likely centralisation would add a further burden to Southern health costs, with an inevitable flow-on effect on savings having to be made elsewhere.

We do not doubt, too, that should Dunedin lose neurosurgery – a service established in the city in 1943 – the further downgrading of medical services will be obvious, undermining the hospital’s tertiary level status, the medical school, the university and the city; and creating a precedent for removing other crucial services.

When you live in the country you accept you’ll have to travel for specialist health services. Sometimes there’s not just financial but clinical justification for the centralisation of services, but in this case clinicians are supporting the call to retain Dunedin-based neurologists.

Orthopedic surgeon John Matheson said:

Neurosurgeons worked on the central nervous system and also on the spine and there was a merging of clinical practice between neurosurgeons and his specialty, especially in deformities of the spine.

Traditionally, there had been a close liaison between both departments in Dunedin.

The world-class work being done by the South Island regional spinal service for spinal deformities by Bruce Hodgson and Alan Carstens in Dunedin was complex and involved close clinical liaison between the two specialties on difficult cases.

Often these were children with severe and congenital and acquired defects. . .

“A viable neurosurgical service in Dunedin with two neurosurgeons being able to consult and operate with the orthopaedic surgeons on some occasions is highly desirable.”

Population-based funding has been threatening services in the south for years. In spite of concerted advocacy it is very difficult to get recognition of  the full costs of serving a smaller number of people over a large area.

The Otago and Southland health boards voluntarily merged to save costs and the new Southern board has been working very hard to make savings where it can without compromising  services and clinical standards.

The board and its staff, backed by the ODT and, if letters to the editor are anything to go by, the wider public, are agreed that the loss of neurology services would be going too far.

The ODT has other stories on the issue here and  here.

The issue was discussed on Nine to Noon yesterday.

It’s official – Prentice vs Shadbolt for mayoralty

Suzanne Prentice has confirmed the rumours – she is standing for the Invercargill mayoralty.

In a media statement she said:

 “I want to bring a fresh, energetic and focused approach and to afford the position of mayor the dignity which it deserves,” she said.

“I have thought long and hard about standing and keep finding myself concerned for the future of our city, its residents and its ratepayers.

“I want to take Invercargill forward and to lead an inspired, united, and focused council which strives to build a vibrant and prosperous city.”

Ms Prentice said she had been overwhelmed at the tremendous support and encouragement she had received from many concerned residents in regard to her standing.

“I thank every one of them for putting their trust in me and I want them to know that I will take their views forward as I now officially confirm my intention to stand.”

It was now time to focus on the future of the city, she said.

“We have some very experienced councillors with a great deal to offer. Unfortunately the distractions of the past two to three years have, to a certain degree, detracted from the positive work which they have done.

“Given the right leadership and direction, I believe we can build a cohesive team which puts its energy into what is best for Invercargill.

“I also have enormous respect for the employees of the Invercargill City Council, their work continues to be a credit to them all, sometimes in trying circumstances.”

Ms Prentice said she would be honoured to be the mayor of Invercargill

“I consider myself to be a true Southlander – my heart and my home are in this city and my family have had a long and proud association with Invercargill.”

Her father was born in Invercargill and after the war he and his English bride returned and made it their home.

“This was the place where they raised their three children, just as my husband Stephen and I have done with our children, Blair and Andrea, and as our son Blair continues to do with his wife Vanessa.

“We are a true and loyal Invercargill family,” she said, “and I know that I have their support as I embark on this new and important journey.”

Tim Shadbolt is an experienced and wily campaigner. Until now I would have thought the Invercargill mayoralty was his as long as he wanted it.

But the last term has been difficult and if anyone can beat him it would be Suzanne. She is a born and bred Southlander,  is very well known through her career as a singer and her community work and has served an apprenticeship in local body politics on the Invercargill Licensing Trust.

Busted Blonde who know a lot more about Southland than I do, gives her view on the mayoral race here.

Prentice’s announcement is the first official indication of any challenge to incumbent mayors in the south.

However, that may change.

The stadium has been very controversial in Dunedin and that may persuade someone to challenge sitting mayor Peter Chin. However, a would-be mayor has to do more than stand against something, s/he needs to stand for something too.

Concerns over the Otago Regional Council have been nowhere near as serious as those afflicting Environment Canterbury, but there may be enough dissatisfaction to drive a campaign against the chair and some sitting councillors.

Waitaki mayor Alex Familton has yet to announce his intentions but if I was a betting woman I’d put a little money on him standing again.

The grapevine has mentioned deputy mayor Gary Kircher and sitting councillor Jim Hopkins as possible contenders for the mayoralty, but is less sure about whether they would challenge Alex if he stands again.

Summer solstice

Today’s the summer solstice which gives us our longest day and shortest night.

In Dunedin the sun will be here for a second longer than it was yesterday and 4 seconds longer than it will be up tomorrow.

In Auckland the sun would have risen at 5.58 and it will set at 8.40. 

In Invercargill it rose at 5.50 and will set at 9.40. (If everyone lived down there we wouldn’t need daylight saving).

If memories from school geography serve me correctly the earth heats and cools faster than the sea. That explains why it’s usually warmer after the longest day and why it’s hotter in Central Otago than on the coast.

The sun’s shining as I type – for the third day in a row – but it’s only 10 degrees so there’s a lot of warming to do before we have summer weather.

Sunrise, sunset

The sun rose here at about 6.30 this morning and it will set at about 6.30 this evening.

If you’re in East Cape sunrise and sunset are about half an hour earlier. If you’re in Bluff they’re about quarter of an hour later.

In the normal course of events next week sunrise in Bluff would be at 6.23am  and sunset at 6.52pm. In East Cape sunrise would be 5.45am and sunset 6.08pm. But wherever you are in New Zealand, next Sunday clocks will have gone forward which will make sunrise and sunset an hour later than it ought to be.

The benefits of daylight saving compensate for the disadvantages in the middle of summer when temperatures are warmer and days are longer anyway. But extending daylight saving so it lasts from the last weekend in September until the first Sunday in April is giving us so much of a good thing it becomes a bad thing.

Putting the clock forward this early makes it darker and colder for longer in the morning without giving enough extra heat and light in the evening to make much difference. People, especially those in primary production, who have to start work early are disadvantaged without there being enough gain for those who want to play in the evenings to compensate.

LINZ has sunrise and sunset times for Auckland, Bluff, Dunedin, East Cape, Gisborne and Lyttelton.

The Royal Astronomical Society has sunrise and sunset times for Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Grump warning: this is the first of what may be several annual complaints about the length of the period in which daylight saving time applies.

Tuesday’s answers

Paul Tremewan wins another electronic bunch of spring flowers with four right and two bonus points for wit.

Kismet got three points and a bonus for ingenuity.

I’ll accept Gravedodger’s word he knew three and he can have an extra point for the extended discussion.

Andrei gets 2 points and a bonus for extra information and because PDM earned a sprig of blossom for one right.

Monday’s Questions were:

1. “Read him for the tittle-tattle. But for strategic analysis find yourself a grown-up.” Colin James said it, to whom was he referring?

2. Who wrote All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten?

3. Titi-tea is the Maori name for which mountain?

4. Sheep breeders encourage multiple births, why aren’t cow breeders so keen on twins?

5. Which ship took New Zealand’s first frozen meat exports to Britain?

Tuesday’s answers follow the break.

Student standby to return?

The ODT reports that Air New Zealand plans to offer University of Otago students $39 standby fares to and from Dunedin.

Student Standby operated when I was a student in the mid to late 1970s and was a wonderful way to get cheaper airfares providing you didn’t have to get somewhere at a specific time.

There was no guarantee you would get a seat until just before the flight was due to leave but if there was a spare seat you got it for half price.

The airline got a passenger, albeit a low paying one, on a seat which would otherwise have been empty and the student got a cheaper flight.

June 29 in history

On June 29:

1880 France annexed Tahiti.

1974 Isobel Martinez de Peron was sworn in as the first woman President of Argentina.

1990 Dr Penny Jamieson was appointed Bishop of Dunedin, the first woman to hold that position in the world.

Shortest day longest night

Today’s the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night.

The Carter Observatory says:

The Winter Solstice is on June 21 at 18:46 (6:46pm); this is when the Sun is at its most Northerly point in the sky. At the middle of the day on June 21, it reaches its lowest altitude, from the Northern horizon, for the year.

Brian Carter, Senior Astronomer at the Carter Observatory says, “This means that the longest night is June 21/22 and the shortest day is June 21”.

Jamie McKay discussed this on the Farming Show with Met Service weather ambassador Bob McDavitt on Friday.

He said that in there will be 9 hours 31 minutes of daylight in Auckland and in Dunedin just 8 hours 26 minutes.

The solstice doesn’t mean the coldest weather is over. Just as the warmest weather is usually in January and February after the summer solstice, the coldest days of winter are usually in July, after the winter one.

Memories from school geography tell me the lag in warming and cooling has something to do with being an island nation.

Water heats up and slows down more slowly than land so being surrounded by sea has a tempering affect on temperatures.

But that’s a very rusty memory and affirmations or corrections are welcomed.

We were at the Royal Highland Show in Scotland on June 21 in 1982 when the temperature wasn’t much warmer than we’d have expected in New Zealand.

Four years ago we were in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain, in June. Temperatures were much higher and children celebrated the summer solstice by making Juans and Juanas, which were paraded round the town then, like guys, burnt on a giant fire.

More snowish than snowy

“What’s the weather doing?” my farmer asked as I pulled the curtains and peered out at the pre-dawn gloom.

“A few stars, some high cloud, lawn’s white, must be a hard frost,” I replied.

When he got up a few minutes later he told me to take a closer look, the white wasn’t frost, it was snow.

When it got a bit lighter we found it was more snowish than snowy.

As often happens, Dunedin got a dumping and the storm came up the coast to about Wainakarua then the worst of the weather went out to sea, leaving northern North Otago with a dusting of snow which stayed on the lawn and short-grazed paddocks but has already gone from the longer grass.

Business was the winner

The All Blacks lost but the ODT reports Dunedin businesses won with the influx of rugby fans bringing millions of dollars into the city.

I was down there on Friday and many of the shops had got into the spirit of test weekend by dressing their windows in black and white and/or red, white and blue.

One of the advantages of being a smaller city is that an event like a test makes a big impact. In larger cities major events aren’t so noticeable because its more difficult to motive larger numbers and the influx of visitors is a smaller percentage of the usual population.

Cycleway way to go

The story in yesterday’s ODT on the growing popularity of the Central Otago Rail Trail  wasn’t deliberately timed for the day John Key announced the Budget will include $50 million over the next three years  for the New Zealand Cycleway Project.

But the Rail Trail is a good model for communities wanting to develop bike trails.

Planning is already well advanced for several cycleways in Otago including one around Otago Harbour which would add to Dunedin’s tourist attractions.

The Central Otago experience shows that while building the trail provides an economic boost, the on-going business opportunities feeding, accommodating, entertaining, equipping, servicing bikes and generally looking after the bikers are much more significant.

Tuesday’s answers

Monday’s questions were:

1. Who wrote A Fence Around the Cuckoo?

2. Which are the five largest electorates, by area, in New Zealand?

3. Who said: ” Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be grasped at once”?

4. What was the name of the ship which carried the first shipment of frozen meat from New Zealand to Britian?

5. Who chairs Meat & Wool NZ?

Tuesday’s answers are after the break: