Town Hall U-turn stuns users

The decision by the Dunedin City Council (DCC) to delay the Dunedin Town Hall redevelopment by a year has once again caught regular users by surprise, with the City of Dunedin Choir calling it a "staggering" move.

In October last year, when the DCC suddenly announced it would close the town hall for a full year from May 2010, many organisations were caught on the hop and had to scramble to reschedule or cancel concerts, shows and events.

Monday's vote by councillors to delay the $45 million redevelopment project by a year to 2011-2012, in order to reduce this year's rates increase, has delighted some users and frustrated others.

Council staff, who had spent many hours liaising with groups and some of whom had been redeployed from the Dunedin Centre, must now readjust.

A meeting of senior staff and project managers was scheduled for late yesterday to work through the implications of the decision.

Dunedin Centre manager Svend Tolson said the dates for the redevelopment work had yet to be finalised but staff would be "trying our best" to secure some of the bookings that were lost after October's announcement.

"Some organisations have already expressed an interest in returning to us; this is good news for these people."

With the Municipal Chambers project going ahead as scheduled, the redevelopment could now be regarded as a "staged" project, Mr Tolson said.

A frustrated Southern Sinfonia manager Philippa Harris said this was the third plan the orchestra had had to deal with.

"We have already had to change everything and set a new course for this year, including cancelling a concert and changing venues and repertoire for others.

"We had to spend a lot of time rejigging plans in a hurry, which has cost staff overtime and lost sponsorship opportunities, never mind damaged relationships with conductors, soloists and other orchestras," Ms Harris said.

Planning had already begun for 2012 but would have to go on hold until more details were known, Ms Harris said.

City of Dunedin Choir chairwoman Deborah Dons said the council's abrupt about-face was "staggering".

"The council have had to make the tough decision to delay the redevelopment but should this not have been forecast before the snap decision [in October] to close the centre for much of this year?"

The choir had struggled to find alternative venues and had called the Dunedin Centre this week to inquire about re-booking, Mrs Dons said.

Chamber Music New Zealand (CMNZ) chief executive Euan Murdoch was upbeat about the redevelopment delay, saying it would be "helpful" for CMNZ's 60th anniversary concert season in 2010.

"We were very disappointed last October and welcome the council's change of heart," Mr Murdoch said.

"We were on the phone, as soon as we heard, to re-book the Glenroy Auditorium for our first concert - the Borodin String Quartet - on March 9.

"We know the job still has to be done and certainly approve of the redevelopment plans, so long as we have time to plan around it."

CMNZ staff had researched other Dunedin venues and should be in good shape for 2012, Mr Murdoch said.