Live brief
Council decisions without the fog.
Meeting items can be turned into short explainers: what is being decided, why it matters, cost pressure, risks, and how residents can respond.
Dunedin City Councillor
Practical council work, made visible.
Updates, decisions, plain-English explainers, and a direct line into the issues that shape Dunedin's roads, pipes, services, businesses, neighbourhoods, and future.
What this site is for
A practical window into council work.
This site is being built as a public workbench for residents who want council information without having to dig through long agendas, jargon, and scattered updates.
The aim is simple: show what is being worked on, explain decisions in plain English, collect useful feedback, and make it easier for people to raise local issues in a way that can actually be followed up.
Current work
What residents should be able to see at a glance.
Show the numbers.
Budget, debt, rates, and project tradeoffs presented visually, with source links instead of slogans.
Make requests trackable.
A resident should know whether their issue is a council service request, a policy question, or something to raise at committee.
Work areas
The things I want easier to follow.
Fix the basics before they become emergencies.
Roads, footpaths, water, drainage, maintenance backlogs, and renewals need clear priorities and public visibility.
Make cost pressure understandable.
Residents should be able to see what drives rates, what tradeoffs are being made, and what outcomes money is meant to buy.
Explain the why, not just the vote.
Good governance means showing the evidence, the constraints, the risks, and the reasoning behind a decision.
Back the people who keep the city moving.
Small business, local events, trades, community groups, and practical city services all shape whether Dunedin feels workable.
How I can help
Simple routes for real-world problems.
Report a local issue
Roads, footpaths, water, parks, rubbish, noise, safety, and council services.
Understand a decision
Plain-English summaries of agendas, votes, projects, and council processes.
Share an idea
Local business, transport, community spaces, technology, events, and better ways of working.
How I work
Listen, check, explain, follow up.
A councillor cannot personally fix every pothole or override every process, but they can help residents find the right pathway, ask better questions, and make sure issues are not lost in the system.
Listen properly
Start with what the resident is seeing on the ground, not just what the paperwork says.
Check the facts
Separate service issues, policy choices, budget constraints, and decisions that need formal council process.
Explain the pathway
Make it clear whether an issue needs a service request, staff response, committee question, submission, or public debate.
Follow up visibly
Where possible, turn recurring questions into plain-English public updates so others can understand the same issue.
Before you contact me
Useful details make follow-up faster.
For a local issue
Include the street or location, when you noticed it, photos if useful, and whether you have already reported it to council.
For a policy question
Tell me what decision, agenda item, consultation, or project you are concerned about and what outcome you want considered.
For a community idea
Describe the practical benefit, who it helps, likely costs or partners, and whether similar ideas are working elsewhere.
Future AI feature
Ask Doug's civic desk.
A public assistant could answer from approved council documents, explain what is confirmed versus opinion, and route residents to the right next step.
Plain English
What I can and cannot do.
I can
- Listen to residents and raise issues through the right channels.
- Ask questions about council work, costs, timing, and tradeoffs.
- Explain public decisions and point people toward formal processes.
- Advocate for practical, evidence-led improvements.
I cannot
- Promise an outcome before evidence, advice, debate, and voting.
- Direct staff to ignore laws, policies, budgets, or safety requirements.
- Replace official service request, consent, compliance, or consultation processes.
- Share confidential information from closed council business.
Resident pulse
What do you think about council amalgamation?
First quick survey: should Dunedin and surrounding councils explore amalgamation into a unitary authority? This is an informal pulse check, not a formal poll.