Dream South D Newsletter

April 2026

Kia ora koutou - welcome to Dream South D’s quarterly newsletter!

Dream South D is a community-led development project in the heart of South Dunedin!  We hope this newsletter finds you well and that everyone had a lovely Easter break and some time to relax, catch up with family, and enjoy some treats!

What we’ve been up to recently…

Dream South D has kicked off the year with two vibrant community events. In January, we celebrated the redevelopment of Navy Park with a community BBQ and fun day, bringing people together to enjoy this space. In March, we supported the South Dunedin Street Festival by hosting a free Community Plant Giveaway from our office, encouraging residents to plant native’s and enhance the neighbourhood.

Navy Park Celebration

Our Navy Park Celebration was a great success with over 300 people attending. Thanks to Plunket for providing a comfortable space for babies and young families, Better Together Aotearoa, who provided free face painting and balloon animals, Volleyball Otago, who ran the BBQ, cooked up over 100 sausages, and supported local whanau to try out the newly installed volleyball net! Taskforce Green, who loaned us beanbags and mats, and helped us to set up and tidy up, and STMS, who supported us with cones and event signage. 

Community Plant Giveaway March

On the 14th March, we attended the South Dunedin Street Festival and hosted the Community Plant Giveaway from our office. We supplied 140 different native plants, 7 different varieties, including:

• Carex trifida - Mutton-bird sedge

• Libertia ixioides - NZ native iris

• Chionochloa rubra - Red Tussock “Rainbow” Grasses

• Kōhūhū - Pittosporum tenuifolium

• Mokomoko - Aristotelia serrata

• Selliera radicans/remuremu - ground cover

• Harakeke - NZ Flax

The free plants were well received, we sourced them from Shetland Street Community Gardens and Tomahawk-Smails Beachcare Trust. Pop along and visit them if you want to pick any up for yourselves.

South Dunedin Skip Day Saturday 16th May 2026

Due to high demand, we are very excited to confirm we will have a repeat of the South D Skip Day - it was a very well-attended event last winter, and this free community skip day will happen on Saturday, 16th May from 11 am-2 pm at Victoria Road Car Park beside the Dunedin Ice Stadium.  We are working with Taskforce Green for extra local support. Save Money Skips are supplying the skips on the day, and Com2Tech will sort old tech for recycling or repurposing.

If you can’t get to us or have difficulty accessing this event, we may be able to provide support to recycle or remove your waste. Feel free to reach out and chat with us.

Bathgate Park:

We’re excited to share that we’ve officially broken ground at Bathgate Park, working with SGC Services to install new amenities similar to those at Navy Park, including a shelter, a wheelchair-accessible picnic table, and an all-access barbecue. A drinking fountain will also be added to the park soon.

There will be no disruption to the playground area, and the work zone has been safely cordoned off by SGC Services while construction is underway.

We’ll be sharing progress updates and letting you know when the new facilities are ready to enjoy - keep an eye on our projects page for the latest news!

Sports Reconnect:

We’re excited to be running another Sports Reconnect event in collaboration with Sport Otago this June!

We’re currently accepting donations of preloved sports gear and clothing to help keep kids active and involved in sport. Every contribution makes a difference!

This will be a fantastic family fun day, featuring a FREE BBQ and plenty of giveaways - so bring the whole whānau along.

The venue is still to be confirmed, so stay tuned and keep an eye on our projects page for updates:
www.dreamsouthd.org.nz/projects

Watch this space

Dream South D has a lot of exciting events later in the year, including the Mid-Winter Glow Up, Halloween on Ice, and another larger project - keep an eye on our website and socials to find out more!

To find out more about any of our projects, to volunteer, or to see how Dream South D might support your kaupapa, you can:

• pop in for a chat between 9am-3.00pm, Monday-Friday at 183 King Edward St

• call 022 507 1122

• email hello@dreamsouthd.org.nz

• or click below to have a look at our Community Plan.