Changing its mind about realigning Lovelock Ave may not be a
simple matter, the Dunedin City Council has been advised.
The council is meeting today to discuss whether to proceed
with the realignment, which would allow for rhododendron dell
expansion, infrastructure upgrades and construction of new
facilities at the Dunedin Botanic Garden.
The council was about to sign a $1.2 million tender with
Downer New Zealand, but staff were told by Mayor Dave Cull
last month to hold off pending the results of further
discussion.
A legal opinion from Anderson Lloyd Lawyers sought by the
council for today's meeting was released at the weekend.
It said the council would have to consider its legal
obligations under the Local Government Act before deciding
whether to pull out of the project.
The money for the project was already included in the
long-term council community plan (LTCCP) and annual plan,
documents which were decided after a "special consultative
process" as defined in the Act.
Special consultative processes involve preparing a proposal,
distributing it as widely as possible, calling for
submissions, holding a hearing and making a decision.
If the council decided to remove funding from the documents,
that would also require a special consultative process, the
legal opinion said.
Alternatively, the council could keep the LTCCP and annual
plan as they were, but would still need to consult the public
in some way before making a decision, it said.
Exactly what consultation was legally required would depend
on whether the council believed the project to be significant
or insignificant as defined by the Act.
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