Submitter
Submission id number: 964744
Submitter name:
Cam Burrow
Organisation
Dunedin Rugby Club & St Clair Surf Lifesaving
Do you want to speak to Councillors at the hearings?
Yes
Supporting information
No associated documents with this submission.
Submission
How are we doing? Is there anything you would like to tell us?
What other ideas should we be thinking about to include in future plans for our city?
Dunedin Rugby Club is the oldest continuous rugby club in New Zealand and during our 153+ years we have held many homes across Dunedin with our current home being Kettle Park.
We have been actively engaged with the DCC through the Coastal Saftey Plan and have enjoyed a strong honest/open relationship with council staff which has outlined realistic timelines on the future of kettle park and some of the current risks of our current home.
Dunedin rugby club is currently the largest Senior Rugby club with over 270 registered senior male and female players alongside 100 plus junior players and then coaches/managers/supporters and hard working volunteers. We also provide a home to the Physed Netball club who are affiliated to Shark park and are proud to call Kettle park their home too.
Recently the club went through renewing our lease with council which again we cant thank staff enough for there practical approach and support through the process. When reviewing the draft lease we noted the following clauses which is standard in DCC leases
"Should the Dunedin City Council or other statutory body require the land and premises for the purposes of coastal protection and management (whether the premises are directly affected by such works or not) or for any other purpose, as determined by the Council, and vacant possession is necessary for those purposes, then the Council may, by written notice to the Lessee, terminate this Lease either immediately (should it be determined at Council’s sole discretion that there is significant threat and/or risk to life or property OR by specifying a date of termination to be effective not less than three (3) months after the date of service of such notice on the Lessee or such sooner date as the parties may agree".
"On service of the termination notice requiring the land and premises for the purposes of coastal protection and management, the Council may require the Lessee to remove all or any of its improvements (including but not limited to irrigation, drains, fencing and buildings) within the notice period by giving the Lessee written notice to do so. If such notice shall be given the Lessee shall remove its improvements making good any damage caused and leaving the Premises in a clean and tidy condition. If the Lessee shall not have removed the improvements from the Premises by the expiry of such notice then all improvements thereon shall revert to the Council without compensation payable to the Lessee or otherwise".
We fully understand the need for these clauses in leases and the understand the future of the current St Clair/St Kilda coastline however we think this prudent for Councillors to give direction to staff to begin looking at how current and existing community organisations can be accommodated when the time comes to implement the next phase of the coastal plan.
Like all governance decisions we are not expecting immediate change or solutions but we strongly recommend councilors look to investigate the potential relocation impacts of community organisations that use the Otago Coast line and how financial support can be provided to support future relocation. As is the case with all community organisations we believe we play a key role in the community and supporting the hauora of not only tamariki but also teenagers, adults and their Whānau. We want to make sure we can continue to administer the community game for another 150 years and invest in facilities that reflect the needs and demands of the community.
Please note whilst this will focus on the Dunedin Rugby Club I will also speak on the impacts of the St Clair Surf Lifesaving Club who hold a similar lease with council and are also impacted by this.