Podcasts about yani johanson

Christchurch City Councillor Yani Johanson thinks we should all pay a special levy when we buy tickets for all events at Christchurch's new One New Zealand Stadium. And he won't be getting any argument from me. Yani can't believe the news today that a levy is only going to be charged on tickets for concerts by international artists. He says it is “inconceivable” the levy won't be charged for all events, including rugby matches and everything else that happens there, because he reckons it's only fair that all people who use the stadium help pay for its upkeep. No international acts have been announced yet but, apparently, there are going to be some announcements in the next few weeks. And when the tickets go on sale, the council's events company - Venues Ōtautahi - which is going to be running the stadium, is going to add a $5 levy to the ticket price. The money from the levy is going to be used to pay for the extra toilets and extra food and drink facilities that are going to be needed when they have these big concerts. So it sounds as if we might be queuing up for portaloos even though it's a new flash harry facility. The point Councillor Yani Johanson is making, is that anyone who wants to go to any event at the stadium should make the same contribution towards the running of the place. He says: “A lot of these people buy expensive tickets to these events and are subsidised by the ratepayers in Linwood, Bromley and Aranui. I don't think that is fair.” But the head of Venues Ōtautahi, Caroline Harvie-Teare, says it wouldn't be fair or right to charge a levy for all events. Her thinking is that if you or I are buying tickets to see the likes of Bruce Springsteen or Pink or the Rolling Stones, we're not going to give two-hoots about a $5 levy on top of the ticket price. But she says it would be a different story for some of the smaller-scale, community-type events that are also going to be held at the stadium. She says a levy on those types of events could put some people off and so they would be less viable. But what I would say to that, is that the stadium is not a charity and if events can't pay their way, then maybe they need to be held somewhere else. What's more, do you really think a $5 levy would put people off buying tickets to see the All Blacks or the Crusaders? Of course not. Do you think a $5 levy would put people off buying tickets to see the rugby league world cup double-header in October? Or the Black Ferns when they play here? So, of course, this levy should be added to the ticket prices for every event. Yani Johanson is spot on. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Talk about déjà vu. The smell from the burnt-out wastewater treatment plant at Bromley has been a shocker this week and people have had a gutsful. City councillor Yani Johanson says making people wait for another three years is totally unacceptable and the council needs to get it sorted sooner. I think it's ridiculous that it has taken over four years for the problem to still exist. I agree that it should be fixed sooner. But I don't have any hope of that happening. Because the council has cocked this up from the outset and seems incapable of doing it any faster. Which tells me that it has learnt next to nothing. Remember it did the big mea culpa and admitted that, at the very least, it could have communicated better with people living in the area? And how it was going to do a better job blah blah blah. Right from the start, the council had this “we know best” attitude and was very dismissive of people's concerns. And it's still at it. It's doing a very good job of explaining why it's so bad this week - that the recent heavy rain seems to be behind it. Which is all very well. But, as I've said many times, people don't care what you know - until they know that you care. And I don't see the council showing too much care. Did you see the council guy on the news last night go all sheep-ish when he was asked about compo or support for people living with the stench? But it's not just Bromley that's affected. I was in Mairehau yesterday and the smell was really bad. But I'm not living with it all the time. Unlike Gaylene Ratima. She lives in Bromley and she woke up at 4 o'clock the other morning thinking the dog had done something on the carpet. She soon realised that the rotten egg smell had nothing to do with the dog and that it was coming from outside the house. It was the stench from the wastewater treatment plant seeping-in through the windows and doors - which were all closed. Imagine what that must be like. In fact, she reckons the smell this week is worse than it was after the treatment plant fire back in November 2021. Which is why councillor Yani Johanson is saying today that making people wait for another three years for the smell problem to be fixed is totally unacceptable and the council needs to get it sorted sooner. As he points out - the way things are going, it's going to take longer than it took to build the new One New Zealand stadium. The fire was in November 2021 - over four years ago - and the council's going to take another three years to fix it. Totally unacceptable.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“There are dropkicks everywhere”. That's what someone said to me when we were talking about this situation around Eastgate Mall. This person I was talking to goes to Eastgate all the time and they were saying that they feel more nervous going to Riccarton Mall. And I agreed with them. Sometimes the atmosphere outside Riccarton Mall can be pretty threatening. Which is why I think there is a strong argument for police to have a permanent presence not just around Eastgate - but all the big malls. Riccarton's one of them where I think there is a definite need. That might be because, of all the malls, that would be the one I go to most often. So why Eastgate is in the news today, is that the owner of five shops in the area around the mall has had a gutsful after having to call the police 70 times during the last three months. He's called them for all sorts of things - assaults, drug use, attempted break-ins, vandalism and loitering - but they haven't always turned up. And that's got local community leaders saying the police need to be stationed in the area permanently. Which they used to be. But it seems they've been diverted to the foot patrols in the central city. Which are great - and very noticeable. Just the other day, I was in the centre of town and a couple of cops walked past me. I turned the corner and there were two more walking towards me. So that's brilliant. But it seems that it may have come at the expense of places like around Eastgate Mall - going by what this landlord is saying today and what the local community board leader and local city councillor are saying. City councillor Yani Johanson and the head of the local community board, Paul McMahon, both reckon that the strife around Eastgate could have something to do with officers being reassigned to the CBD. “We need the community policing team back”. That's what McMahon is saying. He's saying: “There was a Phillipstown policing team, which included Eastgate, and the community constables were a regular presence.” He goes on to say: “But the new government re-prioritised police to beat policing, and that means more police in the central city and fewer police for places like Eastgate.” City councillor Yani Johanson is singing from the same song sheet. He says he goes to Eastgate often and he's aware and concerned about the anti-social behaviour going on there. He says more needs to be done and having more of a police presence is something people would welcome. I bet it would. But, like I say, if you're going to have more cops at Eastgate - you need to do it elsewhere too. Problem is, though, police resourcing. As Inspector Glenda Barnaby puts it - she's the metro area prevention manager - she's saying today that police can't be everywhere, all the time. Which is a fair point. She's also saying today that what she calls “vigilant reporting” from the public is key to the police being able to respond and do something about bad behaviour. But tell that to the guy in the news today who has called them 70 times in the last three months The thing is - whether we like it or not - malls have become central meeting points in communities. Back in the day, people would congregate in places like your old town squares. These days, people go to malls to congregate as much as anything. And wherever people congregate in large numbers - you're going to get all sorts, aren't you? Which is why I agree with these two council guys who want a heavier police presence at Eastgate. But I'm saying don't stop there and do the same around all the big malls in Christchurch.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the processing plants producing stench in the Christchurch suburb of Bromley will be shut down and moved to an enclosed facility. The Bromley organics plant will move to an industrial area in South Hornby and is expected to produce eighty percent fewer emissions than the current Bromley plant. However, the nearby Wastewater Treatment Plant which been the major source of foul smells in the suburb since a fire in 2021 will remain. Local councillor Yani Johanson spoke to Corin Dann.

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger has reached out to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. In a letter written to the President of the global network Mayors For Peace, Mauger said he recognises a state's obligation to defend itself from aggression, but condemned the massacre of innocents. Christchurch City Councillor Yani Johanson says the Mayors For Peace has an extensive global reach and could work together to address the ongoing conflict. "All of us are seeing what is very a disturbing and horrific humanitarian situation in Gaza, and we've also seen the extraordinary loss of innocent civilian lives- I think it's important to do what we can." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Something quite extraordinary happened yesterday.With 10 Christchurch City councillors writing to the head of Environment Canterbury regional council, asking her to get the mayors of Christchurch, Selwyn, Waimakariri, Ashburton and Hurunui into a room to talk about putting money on the table for the new Christchurch stadium, Te Kaha.By the way: are we still calling it the ‘new' stadium - or is it time we started calling it the ‘beleaguered' stadium. We can't be far off calling it that, can we?We've been talking about it for 11 years but there's nothing to show for all the talk - other than a big piece of empty land in the centre of town.And today there's more talking, with city councillors meeting to decide the next steps in this whole torturous process - which is consulting the public on whether it should put another $150 million of ratepayer money into the stadium after last week's budget blowout announcement; or scale back the design to keep it in budget; or put the whole thing on hold for a bit.But what was extraordinary about yesterday, was that - even before today's meeting - we had ten councillors taking it on themselves to get negotiations underway with the other local councils about having some skin in the game.This is something the mayor and deputy mayor should have done months, if not years, ago. But obviously these ten councillors are so frustrated that they've gone to ECan themselves and asked it to get all the councils in a room together.And they've done it without involving the mayor and the deputy mayor.If you want to know who these councillors are: they are Sam MacDonald (who we'll be talking to shortly), Jake McLellan, James Gough, Phil Mauger, Aaron Keown, Pauline Cotter, Yani Johanson, Tim Scandrett, Jimmy Chen and Catherine Chu.And let's not kid ourselves that these councillors are doing this solely for the benefit of the community. All but two of them are seeking re-election later this year, so we could easily make gags about them “grandstanding” and playing “political football” with the stadium issue.And I see that some of the councillors who didn't put their name to the letter are saying that their colleagues are jumping the gun because Lianne Dalziel has a meeting lined up with ECan next week. But these ten want all the councils brought into the tent.As they absolutely should be. There is no way Selwyn, Waimakariri, Hurunui and Ashburton should get away with putting nothing into the stadium.The other thing these ten councillors want ECan to do - as well as bringing the councils together to talk turkey - is to introduce a regional rate or regional tax to cover some of the costs of building the stadium.So that would mean any property owner living within ECan's area of jurisdiction - which is north of the Waitaki River up to the Clarence River, just up from Kaikoura and inland to the boundary with the West Coast.Anyone who owns a property within that ECan boundary would pay a compulsory regional tax to help pay for the stadium.This sort of thing was done to help pay for Forsyth Barr stadium in Dunedin and the Caketin in Wellington - so it's not unheard of, and I think it's a brilliant idea.Because, let's face it, Waimakariri, Selwyn, Hurunui and Ashburton aren't going to commit money overnight, are they? We've already had one of the mayors in the news this week saying “ooh, we'd have to talk to our ratepayers before we made any sort of commitment”.Which has election year written all over it, doesn't it?If ECan just went ahead and introduced a regional tax for the stadium, we'd be on much firmer ground financially, and the Christchurch City Council could box on and get things underway.You may have seen in the news too that even if it decided to scale-back the design to keep it within budget, the extra design work that would have to be done would cost an extra $30 million anyway. This is in a report that's been done by council staff for councillors.So it's looking more and more,...

Frustrated residents of the Christchurch suburb of Bromley say they're dismayed by the prospect of another six years living with the stench of a local composting plant. Christchurch City Councillors will consider a report recommending moving the city's organics processing plant at a meeting tomorrow. Stuff is reporting that could take up to six years. Residents of Bromley have been pleading with the council for years to do something about the smell from the plant, which turns green waste into compost. Meanwhile a waste water plant damaged by fire last November in Bromley has been causing a smell described as rotten, pungent and very unpleasant. Kathryn speaks with Yani Johanson, a councillor for Linwood Ward.

Christchurch is getting a stripped-back version of its planned indoor stadium. But the budget-friendly pick could cost the city in the long run. The initial plan was for the indoor stadium to have 30,000 seats, but councillors voted to reduce it to 25,000 seats to keep a lid on costs. It was estimated the original design could run $88 million over budget. Some Cantabrians think scaling back could be short-sighted. Christchurch councillor Yani Johanson told Checkpoint he voted against the reduced stadium as he believes there is huge risk with the project.

A Christchurch charitable trust which helped raise money for the Mosque Attacks is coming under the spotlight for heavy spending.An independent review ordered by the City Council of the Christchurch Foundation has found similar foundations in Wellington and Auckland spend much less.Councillor Yani Johanson told Chris Lynch the report by Deloittes raises a few concerns.He says the council gave the foundation $3.4 million to operate and only got $2.5 million of value.Johanson says tomorrow's council meeting is an opportunity to seek answers from the report's questions.LISTEN ABOVE

The number of complaints about the bad smell coming from a Christchurch composting plant and dump, are continuing to increase. In May a study identified the Living Earth and EcoDrop sites in Bromley as being the source of the smell. The Christchurch City Council has now come up with solutions including changing the sort of waste it accepts and increasing the amount of water it sprays on the compost. As ward councillor, Yani Johanson, tells Conan Young, the smell is only getting worse. He says the number of written warnings has doubled from three in May, to six so far this month.  

Christchurch could have its very own bog of eternal stench.​​An odour over parts of Linwood and neighbouring areas has been described as smelling like fish, rubbish bins and excrement​.​City councillor Yani Johanson is among hundreds who have made complaints to Environment Canterbury over the pong. ​​He told Chris Lynch on a scale of one to five the smell might be a two or three, but it's everyday and especially bad in summer. ​The smell has been around for a decade and most likely coming from the organics plant.​

Christchurch City Councillor for the Linwood Ward Yani Johanson spoke to Chris Lynch about the incredible outpouring of love and support from the Linwood community follow the devastating terrorist attack on Friday. 

 Christchurch City Councillor Yani Johanson says the removal of more on street car parks along Kilmore Street makes no sense.He says, further more, he can't believe council voted in favour to introduce a cycle lane on Kilmore Street outside the Townhall, which will already be a congested area once it's up and running.Mr Johanson told Chris Lynch the council is going to create areas that's are fundamentally dangerous trying to mix too many modes of transport on one street.He says there's plenty of broken infrastructure with roads in the suburbs that aren't going to be renewed, but the council seems to hell-bent on spending a lot of money on changing the central city. 

The Christchurch City Council has voted to spend $2 million “upgrading” Worcester Boulevard making it more “pedestrian and cycle friendly”, spend $4 million upgrading Hereford Street from Manchester Street to the river, spend $3 million on 30k speed limit changes, including new signs and the Council has also voted to upgrade Park Terrace.Councillors Yani Johanson and Deon Swiggs voted against this. Chris Lynch spoke to Yani Johanson, who is asking the question why are we gold plating the city when there are other areas that actually need work.

The Christchurch City Council has voted to spend $2 million “upgrading” Worcester Boulevard making it more “pedestrian and cycle friendly”, spend $4 million upgrading Hereford Street from Manchester Street to the river, spend $3 million on 30k speed limit changes, including new signs and the Council has also voted to upgrade Park Terrace.Councillors Yani Johanson and Deon Swiggs voted against this. Chris Lynch spoke to Yani Johanson, who is asking the question why are we gold plating the city when there are other areas that actually need work.

It was all very last minute but we managed to get hold of CCC councillor Yani Johanson on the old dog ‘n bone for a discussion about Dave Henderson being made bankrupt. Looks like Dave won’t be offered the oppoortunity to buy back his properties that the Council bought off him, mainly due to the quite significant fact that he is now bankrupt, so what to do, what to do… The CCC has a lot to answer for really, $17 million down the gurgler.