For many years now, popular New Zealand band Six60 have been returning to Castle Street where the band was first formed.
Each year the gig has been kept secret and been announced in an impromptu fashion, leading to many students living on and around Castle Street flocking to the event in large numbers. However, the issue is that student flats in the area don’t necessarily have the infrastructure or the resources to hold such events, which was clearly evident on Friday night.
It goes without saying that nobody wants to see anything like this happen again and it would seem that Friday’s events have been a bit of a eye-opener for those organising such events.
This single event has brought a lot of national exposure to the issue of flat parties in Dunedin and has many calling for this sort of partying to come to an end, including the Mayor of Dunedin, Mr David Cull.
But perhaps some middle ground must be met.
Otago University has undoubtedly the greatest student culture in New Zealand. Its something that students here are proud of and it’s the envy of many other campuses around the country. It’s a huge draw card for many prospective students and it’s not something we want to loose.
Student living conditions in Dunedin aren’t necessarily the best. For the most part, flats are cold and damp, and the climate down south really needs no explaining. But for some strange reason students keep flocking to Dunedin and in my opinion that is due largely to the culture here at Otago.
Events such as Six60 playing on Castle Street are unique to Dunedin and the student culture but should be dealt with in a different way. Perhaps being held on a cordoned off street as opposed to a confined backyard is a better start. Why not charge students for attending and use the money to staff the event, pouring more resources into security and safety?
In recent years following an incident on Hyde Street the Student Association stepped in and made the party a lot safer. Why not do the same for this sort of unique event?
Best of luck for the week,
Hugh Baird
Critic Editor