Dunedin stadium hangs in balance
By DAVID WILLIAMS - The Press
An $188 million stadium proposed for Dunedin is still uncertain as the trust formed to investigate the project rushes to buy land and finalise costs before a new deadline.
Former mayor Richard Walls, the chairman of the Dunedin City Council's finance and strategy committee, and Mayor Peter Chin said yesterday that the Carisbrook Stadium Trust had been given more time to secure agreements for land in Awatea Street, about 1.5km from the Octagon.
Asked if he was confident the project would go ahead, Walls said:"Neither the trust nor the council could say yes or no at this point. It is on the cusp."
Walls' committee considered peer reviews of the trust's budget forecasts and costs, by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Rider Levett Bucknall, which are being kept confidential.
Councillors received an update on land acquisition during a marathon session behind closed doors on Monday.
Walls said it was the first time councillors had seen the "big picture", and the trust had encountered unexpected hurdles.
The trust will make a final report on March 10 that will be considered a week later by the committee.
Walls was firm there would be no further extensions. "It is agreed by the trust and the council that if those matters are not met, the project will come to an end."
Chin described the council's $91.4m contribution to the project as "very much a worst-case scenario" and said an increase in funding had not been considered.
Work was being done, he said, to decrease the burden on ratepayers.
"We need to get all the facts and all the details that we require ahead of actually making that decision as to whether we have a final commitment to go forward or that the project comes to an end," he said.
Trust chairman Malcolm Farry said the council's response was positive. Asked if the project could be completed on budget and on time, he said: "We have always said that this is going to be very, very tight and very, very difficult. Nothing has changed."
Farry said land acquisition was the most critical area and he confirmed three parties were holding out for prices or conditions that the trust found unacceptable.
Walls raised the possibility of the trust not being able to secure the land. If the stadium scheme did not go ahead, there would be an alternative plan for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, he said.
(and time just keeps on ticking away...)
