An insider said DVML paid $350,000 to get Rod Stewart here.
No doubt it was more.
The stadium is costing ratepayers +$20M pa to stay open.
ODT mentions FLOOD, in a SEA OF COUNCIL DEBT.
The rising value of New Zealand’s dollar against the Australian had closed the profit gap for promoters considering whether to cross the Tasman or add another Sydney show.
Australasia’s biggest promoters are promising more big acts as Dunedin’s concert drought threatens to become a flood. Michael Gudinski once vowed never to return to Dunedin. But, more than three years after the accomplished Australian music promoter slammed the “completely unprofessional” managers at Forsyth Barr Stadium, he is back. Mr Gudinski is the man behind Frontier Touring, the company bringing Rod Stewart to Dunedin for tonight’s stadium concert.
Promoters for some of the world’s top musical performers say Dunedin is now firmly on the radar as a destination for a steady stream of headline acts. The glowing endorsement comes as Forsyth Barr Stadium prepares to host 25,000 fans at tonight’s Rod Stewart show. The concert, being brought to Dunedin by Frontier Touring, has also attracted three of Australasia’s top music promoters to Dunedin, eager to evaluate the event and the venue.
*ODT understands Stewart is staying at the Scenic Hotel Southern Cross in High St, and that he arrived on Thursday night.
20.3.15 Stadium costs +$20M per annum, against one Fleetwood Mac concert….
For more, enter the terms *dvml*, *terry davies*, *orfu*, *nzru*, *stadium* or *flood* in the search box at right.
In which DVML’s Terry Davies buys a house in Dunedin, moves his family here and lives happily ever after.
Dunedin City Council released the following report through the LGOIMA process, in reply to Bev Butler who lodged an information request.
The report by independent auditors Crowe Horwath investigates the work expenses of DVML’s ex Commercial Manager, then part-time contractor Guy Hedderwick.
NOTE: The report is not the result of a forensic audit, which should now take place to provide clarification for Mr Hedderwick and his manager.
QUESTION: Why is Dunedin City Council not seeking requirement for a forensic audit?
Dunedin City Council has released a report recently completed by independent auditors Crowe Horwath, into the work expenses of DVML’s ex Commercial Manager then part-time contractor Guy Hedderwick. ODT reporter Chris Morris is covering the story.
Readers of this site will recall the efforts that campaigner Bev Butler went through to track down the expenditure incurred by Guy Hedderwick while he was the Commercial Manager for Dunedin Venues Management Ltd (DVML).
After much effort through the LGOIMA process Ms Butler was told that Mr Hedderwick had run up bills of nearly $80,000 during 51 work-related trips since 2010.
Readers will also recall the reaction by Neville Frost, DVML’s Finance Manager (ODT 22.3.14), who labelled Ms Butler’s claims of this expenditure as “completely inaccurate and ill-informed” while accusing her of “disgraceful” conduct and that she was “lacking in personal integrity”.
Readers should now be fully informed that the figure of nearly $80,000 was indeed incorrect. The figure arrived at in the report compiled by Crowe Horwath is $144,879 – the amount released by Mr Frost in response to Ms Butler’s LGOIMA request has nearly doubled.
Readers should also be informed that the report found there was almost $4,000 spent by Mr Hedderwick with no evidence of what it was spent on; and a total of over $34,000 with no evidence of any approval.
City ratepayers now need real answers to some basic questions.
1. Why, when Neville Frost was required to provide accurate information under an LGOIMA request on Guy Hedderwick’s expenditure, did he provide information that was inaccurate and misleading? Readers should not need to be reminded that when Steve Prescott, Manager of Aquatic Facilities at the DCC, did just this recently he resigned.
2. Now that the full extent of Guy Hedderwick’s spending has been revealed by the Crowe Horwath report, can DVML still maintain as Neville Frost did in his press release, that it was “frugal”?
3. What is DVML doing to obtain refunds from Guy Hedderwick on those sums incurred where there was no approval, or where there was no evidence of what the expenditure was for? For expenditure where there was no approval, is Neville Frost or Darren Burden at fault for lack of oversight and lack of management, and if so, should they be also responsible for repayment?
4. What benefit to DVML and the ratepayers occurred from this $144,879 expenditure? Guy Hedderwick seems to have had carte blanche to travel at his own whim and it appears that DVML can’t point to any general or particular benefit from any of it.
5. What accountability will be enforced by DCC, on behalf of the ratepayers, on the actions of Guy Hedderwick, for Neville Frost’s failure to both financially control this expenditure and to mislead and misinform both Bev Butler as the LGOIMA requestee and the general public by the content of his press release, and on the Board for its failures to contain costs?
6. A full, comprehensive and public apology must be obtained from Neville Frost for his disgraceful and inaccurate statements made in his press release of March 22, 2014.
Note: Thanks to Bev Butler and Russell Garbutt for these statements.
Leonard Cohen has announced a full New Zealand tour in December, taking in the country’s three major cities. Cohen – who last played here in October, 2010 to packed venues – will perform in Christchurch on December 14, Wellington on December 17, and Auckland on December 21. Cohen will be performing with his nine-piece band that includes Sharon Robinson, the Webb Sisters and musical director Roscoe Beck.
The Rolling Stones will not tour to mark their 50th anniversary this year, Rolling Stone has learned after separate interviews with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. “Basically, we’re just not ready,” says Richards. Instead, 2013 is the new goal. “I have a feeling that’s more realistic,” he adds.
This story is from the March 29th, 2012 issue of Rolling Stone.
A Dunedin promoter is hoping to entice the Rolling Stones to Forsyth Barr Stadium for a concert next year. Rob Fitzpatrick hopes sentiment will convince the group to agree to a Dunedin benefit concert, and says a percentage of the proceeds would go to the chair of neurosurgery campaign.