Swell restaurant sold in $1m deal

Home » News » Business

By Simon Hartley on Tue, 18 Oct 2011

News: Business

Swell Cafe and Bar at St Clair has been sold as part of the receivership process of three companies of local developer Stephen Chittock. Photo: Linda Robertson.

Swell Cafe and Bar in the Esplanade block at St Clair - constructed by local developer Stephen Chittock whose three companies are in receivership - has been sold in a deal worth more than $1 million.

The purchaser is understood to be Thai restaurant chain operator Murray Macarthy, but he did not return calls yesterday.

A decade ago, Mr Macarthy bought and demolished the nearby St Clair dairy, sandwiched between the Metropole and Hydro buildings within the Esplanade block, but the section has since lain bare.

When spoken to in March, Mr Macarthy was operating 12 Thai restaurants and had no plans to sell the vacant St Clair section.

After being bought out in March of his share of the construction of the new St Clair Beach Resort boutique hotel in the Esplanade block, Mr Chittock next put his remaining property assets in the block up for sale in June.

In early August, Mr Chittock placed his companies in voluntary administration, as part of an attempt to attract new equity investors, but nothing transpired.

However, amid reports his liabilities stood at $5 million against assets of $5 million, Mr Chittock's refinancing options began to unravel.

South Canterbury Finance's receivers were identified as the largest creditor, owed $1.5 million, and the receivers exercised their right to place his companies - White Island Investments, White Island Properties and St Clair Village Hotels - in receivership. The voluntary administrators withdrew from proceedings last week.

Mr Chittock's properties for sale have a combined value of $4.4 million and cover a total 2739sq m footprint, made up of the seven-unit Esplanade Motels and Apartments complex, Swell restaurant and three private residences. One of the houses sold for about $400,000 recently.

Mr Chittock had previously driven an Esplanade rezoning change to allow small scale commercial outlets. He was understood to have paid about $1.3 million for the Swell house, which cost a further $400,000 to redevelop into the restaurant.

Insolvency Management Ltd of Dunedin is overseeing receivership of the three companies.

When contacted yesterday, about where the proceeds of the more than $1 million Swell sale and $400,000 house would go, Iain Nellies said the money would be distributed to secured creditors, such as the mortgage holder and secured business creditors. The receivers' first report is not due to be released until next month.

Colliers International has been marketing Mr Chittock's Esplanade property assets.

Contacted yesterday, Stephen Cairns, of Colliers in Dunedin, said there were separate offers on the residential house beside Swell and also another in Bedford St, while the real estate company was "in talks with several parties" over a possible sale of the motel block.

From the early 2000s, companies of Mr Chittock's purchased or held interests in up to nine of 16 properties (five commercial and 11 residential) within the Esplanade block.

After redeveloping the 12-apartment Majestic Mansions block in Bedford St, he sold the complex in March 2009 for an undisclosed sum.

simon.hartley@odt.co.nz

Aramoana Paddle Out - October 16th at 12 noon

16th October at 12 noon 85 surfers paddled out at The Spit beach Aramoana to form a circle of celebration for the Aramoana/Spit wave.

The event was held at the mole end of the beach away from the actual surf break for safety reasons. The actual surfbreak is in the background under the cliffs.

The planners in front of the Aramoana Wave mural before the paddle out.

The circle of celebration for the Wave

Sponsors of the event, Surfbreak Protection Society and AirBanners.com

Tony Denley co-organiser with an incoming container ship at the end of the Mole

In the water

Ted Whitaker c0-orgainser of the paddle out

Nic Reeves co-organiser with her painted mural of the Aramoana Wave

Participants after the paddle out.
A video is being produced, published this week sometime.

Check out mondays ODT for an article and photo.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the event and participated.

Aramoana Paddle Out - October 16th at 12 noon

This 'Surfer Paddle Out' on the 16th of October 2011 at Dunedins' Aramoana, Whareakeake and Karitane surf breaks. This is also a national event, organised by Surfbreak Protection Society. where there will also be simultaneous paddle outs being held that day at many of the other 26 protected surf breaks the length and breadth of New Zealand, as well as popular surf breaks in city areas.

This Paddle Out event demonstrates the national groundswell of concerned surf break users, and our desires to have these natural coastal features protected from developments and activities that continue to threaten their existence, despite legal protection policies. Once they are destroyed they are gone forever, and in this era of declining natural resources and threats to our pristine landscapes and seascapes, these surf breaks face equivalent pressures for their futures.

Surf breaks are rare and delicate coastal features which are often close to coastal developments that threaten their very existence. Just last year 26 surf breaks of national significance were protected by law under Policy 16 of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010. Of these protected, only 5 are in the South Island, three of which are within Dunedin City boundaries, being Karitane, Whareakeake and Aramoana.

Aramoana, also known as 'The Spit' is a world class beach break of exceptional quality due to its clean offset peaks and barreling pits held in a variety of swell sizes and directions. It is also one of the only offshore breaks in the prevailing southerly winds around Dunedin.

Dumping of spoil in the swell corridor of the Aramoana/Spit surf break from harbour dredging by Port of Otago has been affecting the delicate bathymetric conditions that contribute to the high class surfbale wave since 1985. Surfers and bodyboarders have noted a gradual deterioration of wave quality over the years, especially of late, and fear that continued dumping of dredged spoil may cause irreversible adverse effects on the wave quality.

A recent resource consent application by Port of Otago has been lodged to continue dumping spoil at the Aramoana/Spit, Heywards Point and Shelley beach dumpsites, with the intention of much greater volumes than have been placed there in the last 10 years.
It is felt that not enough accurate science has been presented by the Port in the applications for consent renewal, and we are asking that independent specialist 'surf science' monitoring be conducted immediately prior to any further dumping.

Please show your support by participating in the paddle out on your surfboard, bodyboard, paddle surfer etc.

There will be a charter bus leaving the Esplanade at St Clair picking up in the Octagon, and then the University bound for Aramoana in time for the paddle out, cost will be $5 per head.

You can also donate to the cause via www.surfbreak.org.nz 'join us'.

An Aramoana Appreciation Beach Festival & Concert is being organised for late November, so please keep an eye out for this unique and positive event.

Public to have say on erosion plans

Home » News » Dunedin

By Chris Morris on Thu, 8 Sep 2011

News: Dunedin | DCC

The public will be asked to have their say as the Dunedin City Council considers plans to combat erosion at Middle Beach that could lead to a "managed retreat" from the area.

Councillors at yesterday's council community development committee agreed to consult the public on a draft Ocean Beach management plan prepared by consultant Tonkin and Taylor.

The draft plan covered an area stretching 4km from St Clair to Lawyers Head and includes Middle Beach, where serious erosion occurred following severe storms in 2007.

The report recommended continuing the council's holding pattern of monitoring and sand replenishment work - put in place following the 2007 storms - in the meantime.

However, the report also canvassed 13 longer-term options and recommended a managed retreat from Middle Beach and Kettle Park, or construction of an inland buried backstop wall to protect the area, over the next 10 to 50 years.

Initial estimates showed the work could cost between $8 million and $19 million, including a clean-up of the old landfill underneath Kettle Park at risk of being further exposed by continued erosion.

Council community and recreation services manager Mick Reece said he hoped consultation could be completed by the end of this year, with recommendations that followed considered as part of next year's long-term plan hearings.

Detailed information gathered by the council's Ocean Beach project team would also be made public through the council's website to aid the consultation process, he said.

chris.morris@odt.co.nz

Last Post

Over and Out

This blog is on hold for winter, I will be back on board in the spring.

I am still running the 'Save Aramoana' campaign this year. (Please join the facebook group for updates).

So please subscribe to my posts by RSS posts feed (top of blog on left), so when I do get back on board, fingers crossed, you will be notified of any new posts. But for now I have to let the blog idle.

namaste Nic Reeves

Surf Breaks Workshop - Auckland

A workshop has been organised to discuss the inclusion of surf breaks into legislative planning frameworks.

Surf Breaks Workshop (side event)

When: Tuesday 31 May, 7.30pm - 9.30pm
Where: The University of Auckland, The Design Theatre, Conference Centre, Building 423, 22 Symonds Street

Seventeen regional surf breaks were recently declared as nationally significant under Policy 16 of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement (NZCPS) 2010.

A workshop has been organised to discuss the inclusion of surf breaks into legislative planning frameworks. Topics to be covered include:

(a) What are surf breaks?

(b) What impact might Policy 16 have on planning and resource consent decisions?

(c) How might surf breaks be provided for through marine spatial planning and planning documents?

The group of experts who appeared before the NZCPS Board of Inquiry Hearing on Policy 16 will guide a round table workshop on these topics. These experts will include Hamish Rennie (Senior Lecturer Environmental Management and Planning, Lincoln University), Robert Makgill (Director, North South Environmental Law), Matt Skellern (Planner, University of Auckland- Surfbreak Protection Society) and Dr Shaw Mead (Technical Director, ASR Ltd).

This promises to be an interesting and informative forum. Entry is free and all are welcome

Please contact James Frazerhurst at ASR Ltd for more information j.frazerhurst@asrltd.co.nz

This is where the “The University of Auckland, The Design Theatre, Conference Centre, Building 423, 22 Symonds Street” is …

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Raglan,+Waikato&ll=-36.853645,174.769065&spn=0.00152,0.003433&t=h&z=19

Raw Session from Saturday

Session on Saturday, first time in about 3 weeks that I managed to get down to the beach to take photos. A few comments on my blog, and emails about the lack of content on my blog. I'm not going to apologise for being absent, I just hope that soon I can get fixed so I can get back to my life I once knew. Two top are Andy Sutherland having a good day and Jayin on his new single fin. Below are screen shots of the whole session with Andy, Jimi, Matt & Lamby

Dune contamination tests done

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/141606/dune-contamination-tests-done

Developer sells share in hotel

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/154066/developer-sells-share-hotel

St Clair site still vacant 10 years on

There are no immediate development plans for the only vacant commercial section in the Esplanade block at St Clair - after almost 10 years of remaining derelict.

31st March 2011 ODT article - St Clair site still vacant 10 years on

St Clair Seawall Fencing Issues

The St Clair Esplanade is undergoing $177,736 of repair work just seven years after its upgrade.

27th April 2011 - Esplanade repair bill tops $170,000 ODT article here

30th April 2011 - DCC acknowledges St Clair railing error ODT article here

Mr de Vries questioned the council's use of mild steel, rather than stainless steel, for the fence. He also raised concerns about rust appearing on recently repaired parts of the fence.

Media comments on Next Generation hearing submissions April 2011

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/156972/surf-break-threat-feared

not much mentioned really, and the other article

South Coast Board Riders Association counsel Brett Gray said the association believed the impact of the disposal of soil at sea or at three current disposal sites would have a serious impact on the city's protected surf breaks.

Its main area of concern was the application to dispose of soil at the Aramoana "spit" disposal mound and Heyward Point, which could adversely affect the quality of the wave produced there.

"This wave is recognised nationally and internationally as one of the best beach-breaks in the world. In good conditions, over 100 to 200 people can be surfing at that break."

Surfers had been aware of the adverse changes to the quality of waves directly affected by the disruption to the swell corridor since the port had been disposing of dredge spoil at Aramoana, he said.

The true effects of the additional disposal were unknown and although wave monitoring had been promised, it would not give an accurate picture of the effects.

The association and Surfbreak Protection Society spokeswoman Nicola Reeves said they did not oppose the dredging of the Otago harbour basin but hoped the port company would look at alternative ways to dispose of the spoil and called for independent analysis of the effects on the wave quality, installation of a camera above the existing dump site and robust monitoring of the spoil mound and effect on the Aramoana surf break four times a year."

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/156971/grant-port-otago-consents-orc

"The Otago Regional Council has upheld its recommendation that Port Otago's dredging and disposal consents be granted but it has suggested amendments and added conditions to ensure its effects are more tightly controlled,"

there needed to be a good level of certainty for specific activities or monitoring to provide a degree of confidence that potential effects would be adequately monitored. Monitoring of the dredge spoil activities was a crucial aspect of consent for the activity, she said

"It is clear . . . there will be effects as a result of the deposition [of spoil]. What is in contention is the nature and scale of the effects and whether the scientific research will be found to be an accurate representation of the actual effects."

Bathymetric surveys should be taken during and immediately following the major capital dredging and disposal activities at a minimum of every three months and continue annually for three yeas after the capital dredging had ended, she said.

New Video Submission to Port Hearing Panel

Presented to the hearing panel Tuesday at 10.30am .

Click here for the written submission

Dredging Deception

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Surfers Unite to Save Aromoana Surfbreak | Promote your Page too

Below is a letter I wrote to the Otago Daily Times, they probably won't go near it, so posting here will give it some air

Dear Simon and Rebecca,

This is a private email to comment on your recent articles:

Economy v environment issue again

Harbour plans dredge up opposition

My name is Nicola Reeves, I am the South Island rep for Surfbreak Protection Society which is a charitable organisation dedicated to protecting surf breaks around New Zealand from inappropriate development, water quality issues and low impact access for all.

I have been meeting with Port Otago for 3 years in the Next Generation Projects' consultative phase. I submitted to the applications in August 2010. I was scheduled to speak to the submission on Thursday morning, but illness will not allow me to do so, Jayin Hutchings will be speaking on Surfbreaks behalf.

The campaigning of Surfbreak Protection Society (SPS) resulted in protecting 19 nationally significant Surf Breaks around New Zealand under Policy 16 of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement (NZCPS) 2010.

'The Spit' surf break at Aramoana is one of these surf breaks now protected, along with two other local breaks in direct line of sediment disturbance from the Next Generation Project - at Murderers and Karitane.

The Spit surf break has been directly affected since dumping began there in 1985, prior to then a world class wave still existed due to swell and wave refraction over the ebb delta at the mouth of the harbour. Detectable improvements in the peel angle of the wave due to the spoil mound has been recorded along with the potential for the destruction of the wave by continued dumping to an already full spoil mound.

Surfbreak Protection Society is very concerned about the actual and potential adverse effects that will or are likely to arise if this consent is granted for the proposed activity. This could result in significant adverse affects on the ‘wave environment’ and ‘amenity value of surfing’. The Council is required under policy 16 and 13 of the NZCPS to protect the Spit surf break.

Your articles indicate via wording and the graphic by Hayden Smith that the revised plan stage one dredged spoil from the capitol dredging 'Next Generation Project" of 500,000m3 per year, then 400,000m3 would be dumped at sea 6.5 K's out at the proposed new dump site 'A0'. This is not entirely correct.
The current inshore sites at Shelley Beach, The Spit and Heywards Point are the first and preferred disposal sites for stage one as stated in the recommendations report (march 2011), with the balance of spoil over 450,000m3 to be disposed at the A0 site. The currently owned dredges are not equipped to travel that far out to sea unless it is calm, as well as the prohibitive cost.

There is potential for 600,000m3 to be dumped at Aramoana over the next 3 years which will adversely affect the surfbreak.
The current statistics for spoil deposited at the Spit site over the last 5 years averages 32,000m3 per year. Reports published in 1998 and 2005 state that the dump site at The Spit is full, with a 43% retention of spoil per annum, and any further dumping would have a direct affect on the wave environment.

Experts in bathymetry and inshore wave science including information from reports commissioned by Port Otago have also indicated that the spoil site at The Spit, Aramoana is full, and further dumping has the potential to adversely affect the surfable breaking wave. A wave of this quality is a rare asset and has a great recreational and social and economic value.

The AEE report (May 2010) supplied with the resource consent applications state that there will be NO effect on the surfable wave at Aramoana and surfing in general.
This conclusion is ONLY based on the modelling for the A0 site 6.5 k's out to sea, NOT the CUMULATIVE effect of dumping at the current inshore sites. Where very obviously there will be a major effect.

PHOTO - The mechanism conducive to forming the surfable wave at The Spit Aramoana is created by a 'wave crest snap' as the swell rounds the ebb delta at the mouth of the harbour, the swell then moves over the dump site.
The spoil mound modifies the swell adjusting the peel angle improving the wave to a point, although energy is dissipated from the wave as it passes over the mound. A total absence of the spoil mound still gives a high class surfable wave with a slower peel rate and angle.

Unfortunately the presence of the ebb delta and offshore bathymetry creating the initial wave crest snap is artificially created by the construction of the fixed harbour mouth and mole built in the early 1900's and continual dredging of the harbour.

When is the BIG ONE?

The only earthquake to cause significant damage in Dunedin occurred on April 9, 1974. I remember it clearly actually, even though I was only 4 years old. I was standing in the living room looking out window, the floor was rolling and I was really scared.

The quake was estimated to be 12km deep and centred 10km south of the city. (see ODT articl)

So a major faultline runs pretty much right underneath our house in Waldronville.

Taieri fault lines need research

Otago Daily Times By Eileen Goodwin on Tue, 7 Sep 2010
Research was ongoing, but it was now speculated Dunedin's 1974 earthquake was caused by the Green Island fault, rather than the Akatore fault, whichhad not been active for 1000 years, and 2000 before then. read more here

Quaking in our boots: How prepared is Dunedin?

Otago Daily Times By ohno and Kim Dungey on Sat, 18 Sep 2010

If earthquakes were as regular as clockwork, then a "big one" of magnitude 8 affecting Otago is 43 years overdue. "There is a 50% chance over the next 50 years that there will be a magnitude 8 earthquake on the alpine fault. read more here
Some facts that we should all be aware of. (source)

• The New Zealand Alpine Fault is one of the world’s most prominent and active fault lines
• The East Coast of the South Island is part of one of the earth’s tectonic plates
• The West Coast of the South Island is part of another plate
• The Southern Alps have grown 20,000 metres over the last 25 million years, but have eroded most of this growth away
• Much of the erosion of the high country ends up on the beaches of our coasts
• The Alpine Fault is due to move in a major way
• All of the above will impact upon us, or our children, and how will we continue to live in the “shaky isles”.

"The New Zealand Alpine fault which stretches 650km from Fiordland to North Westland, is known to have been the host of five events of about Force 8 magnitude where the effects have either been observed or can be measured geologically. The dates that can be provided for past events are circa 1350, 1475, 1615, 1725 and 1826. Using these dates, published in the recent “Hostile Shores” by Dr Bruce McFadgen, the interval between major movements coming forward in time, has been 125 years, 140 years, 110 years, and 101 years. The average gap between major movements over these 660 years has been 119 years. Using this average, another major Alpine Fault movement could have been anticipated in 1945. In other words, we are overdue by some 65 years, although if the longest gap of 140 years is used, we are overdue by only 44 years."

It is generally agreed between geologists from all round New Zealand that a Force 8 event would result in an 8 metre horizontal displacement and a 4 metre vertical displacement along the fault.

So with all this earthquake talk, I came across an interesting video on youtube on the "Expanding Earth" theory. Kind of blows the whole tectonic plate theory out the window.