Tim Loan admits it has been ‘‘quite a busy year’’ since he took office – but that appears to be putting it lightly.
The return of international flights was announced after a more than four-year wait, the Taieri Gorge train service reopened and the more than $1 billion projected sale of the Dunedin City Council’s largest trading company was averted.
And it all unfolded under the watch of the Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL) chairman, over the 12 months since he stepped into the role in March last year.
There was plenty going on in the city and ‘‘an incredible amount of passion in Dunedin’’, Mr Loan said.
‘‘And rightly so, because it’s an amazing city.’’
DCHL is an organisation that oversees the finances and sustainability of eight companies it owns on behalf of the council – including Aurora Energy, City Forests, Delta Utility Services, Dunedin Railways, Dunedin Venues, Dunedin City Treasury and Dunedin Stadium Property along with a 50% shareholding in Dunedin International Airport Ltd.
Governance over the eight council-controlled organisations was a matter of keeping an eye on all the factors, Mr Loan said.
The challenge going forward would be delivering an ongoing sustainable income stream to the city, and he wanted to ensure the companies were making a ‘‘meaningful contribution’’ to the city and their return was improving.
The volatility caused by United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs was a new issue DCHL faced.
Mr Trump announced his ‘‘Liberation Day’’ tariffs on the country’s trading partners earlier this month, which included a baseline 10% tariff on New Zealand among several other nations.
‘‘I think everybody is very interested in what’s happening internationally at the moment and how that will play out’’, Mr Loan said.
‘‘Any exporter faces turbulence from time to time and City Forests won’t be unique from that.
‘‘Their markets, they’re not significantly impacted by the current turmoil. They’re continuing to progress very well and so we’re certainly not feeling overly uneasy about it.
‘‘But, as everybody is, keeping a very watchful eye on it as well.’’
He did not foresee the tariffs as having ‘‘any impact of significance’’ on the likes of entities such as Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Over the next 12 months, Mr Loan said he wanted to see a continual improvement across the portfolio of companies, ensure the first flights from Dunedin to the Gold Coast were a success and get a longer-term strategy for Dunedin Railways in place.
Dunedin Railways was placed into hibernation during the Covid-19 pandemic and only limited services had been provided since.
October last year saw the return of the five-hour Dunedin to Pukerangi train ride through the Taieri Gorge.
Mr Loan said the company was now moving back towards being fully operational, and he was looking forward to seeing that come to fruition over the next year or so.
Last year’s proposed sale of Aurora Energy, the seventh-largest electricity network in the country by customer connections, to the tune of about $1 billion was ultimately quashed by councillors in a 13-2 vote to retain the company.
DCHL had recommended the council sell the lines company, the proposal costing the two a combined total of more than $240,000, and the final verdict was met with applause from members of the public gallery.
A lot of work had gone into the proposal and Mr Loan believed the level of feedback from the public was ‘‘quite high’’ relative to the consultations.
‘‘I think it was great that the public showed that level of interest . . . there was a high degree of interest and I think that’s a positive thing.’’
It stood out as a ‘‘key piece of work’’ for the organisation over the past year, and had demonstrated the amount of passion the people of Dunedin had for their city.
‘‘And that’s pretty awesome.’’
‘‘It’s an amazing small city and it’s got some fantastic assets and I feel very privileged to be part of it.’’
The announcement of Jetstar’s thrice-weekly Dunedin to Gold Coast service, scheduled to launch in June, signalled the long-awaited return of international flights to Dunedin. Dunedin Airport had been working towards securing the service for some time and it was ‘‘fantastic’’ they had got it across the line, Mr Loan said.
‘‘We were delighted to see that happen and hopeful that it’s the start of more to come.’’
The airport was a key part of the city’s infrastructure and a strong contributor to its economic prosperity.
Challenges always came along, such as last month’s introduction of the Airports (Cost Recovery for Processing of International Travellers) Regulations 2025, ‘‘but that’s just part and parcel of any business’’.
‘‘You need to be aware that these things are going to happen and you accommodate that in your plans.
‘‘But as far as the airport is concerned, they’re doing well.’’
The airport also garnered global attention with its three-minute time limit on hugs, which was ‘‘good publicity’’, Mr Loan said.
Bringing more events to Forsyth Barr Stadium was a ‘‘work in progress’’.
The council cut the annual rent for the stadium from $2.6 million to $1m per annum.
This is due to continue in following financial years pending the results of an Ernst & Young review of Dunedin Venues Management Ltd’s (DVML) structure.
In February, council chief executive Sandy Graham said there was a ‘‘piece of work going on that is looking at the operating model for the stadium, and so until that work is complete, we do need to make some allowance for the outcome of that review’’.
Dunedin was ‘‘challenged’’ in providing accommodation when large events arrived — but that did not mean the city could not attract large events, Mr Loan said.
‘‘The reality is, it’s our stadium and we’re keen to make the most from that asset and see that it’s delivering the best for the community.
‘‘We’ll make sure that there is a sustainable funding model in place for the stadium going forward and work through the challenges as they come up.’’
The council heard last year the city missed out on a visit from heavy metal stalwarts Metallica, after offering what DVML chief executive Paul Doorn said was a ‘‘considerable sum’’ as an incentive for Live Nation to bring the band down south.
The band’s sole stop in New Zealand for its 2025 would tour instead went to Auckland’s Eden Park.
More recently, Dunedin Venues announced the Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow-N-Fire event would be making its only South Island stop in Dunedin, this September.
After nearly 20,000 tickets for the show sold within a week, tickets for a second show went on sale.
TEG Sport representative Nathan Brown said last week the company ‘‘aggressively chased’’ them for the show, and ‘‘stole it from under the nose of Christchurch’’.
Securing this event was a good example of ‘‘thinking outside of the box’’, Mr Loan said.
‘‘The whole team there at DVML are keen to take the blinkers off and look for what events would work well for Dunedin.’’
A highlight Mr Loan said he was particularly pleased with was the level of engagement DCHL had established with the council.
The building blocks had been in place but they had worked hard to make sure communication was flowing well both ways, and were running regular sessions to keep them updated on the state of the eight companies.
They operated on a ‘‘no surprises basis’’ to ensure councillors were informed of everything that was happening.
‘‘It’s not a particularly exciting, I suppose, piece, but it’s something that we’ve regularly worked on through the year to improve and have a strong relationship in place with council.
‘‘It’s a reasonably well-oiled machine, but it does depend very much on strong communication.’’
Mr Loan said October would mark his first time bearing witness to the local government elections in Dunedin, which DCHL would need to adapt to and ensure good communication was in place to aid any newly elected councillors.
‘‘It’s likely that we’ll have a new group of councillors, potentially many of the same ones, but there’s undoubtedly going to be some new councillors towards the end of the year.
‘‘It will be about ensuring we’ve got good engagement with the incoming council.’’
