OUSA may pay $1 million towards new Unipol

Edwin Darlow
Edwin Darlow
Otago University Students Association president Edwin Darlow is calling for comments on whether the organisation should reduce its shareholding in the Unipol gymnasium and contribute $1 million towards a new facility.

The University of Otago and OUSA each own 40% of the Anzac Ave gymnasium, and the Otago Polytechnic Students Association owns the other 20%.

There are plans to build a new Unipol at the Forsyth Barr Stadium site near Logan Park, and private discussions have been taking place for months on what the financial input from the student groups might be.

The Otago Daily Times revealed last month a discussion paper suggested OPSA reduce its shareholding and the amount it contributed to the rebuild.

At the time, Mr Darlow would not say if OUSA might also reduce its shareholding.

But in his regular column in this week's OUSA magazine, Critic, he said "the best deal on the table" would result in OUSA's shareholding being reduced to 16-20% and it contributing $1 million over three years towards the estimated rebuilding bill of $20 million.

OUSA would retain a 40% governance role.

If OUSA decided not to contribute, the university had "categorically stated" it would rebuild Unipol anyway, Mr Darlow said.

That meant university students would still have access to a gymnasium.

Whether or not OUSA contributed, students would still be paying for the facility, he said, either through OUSA funds or through an increased university recreation and services levy.

From a purely financial perspective, investing further money into Unipol "makes no sense for OUSA".

"The situation, however, is about more than purely money, because OUSA's decision now affects the overall student control of Unipol in the future . . ."

Mr Darlow said this week he had nothing to add to what was in his column.

There was no deadline for comments but he hoped students would send them as soon as possible.

In his column, he said the proposal would result in OPSA's ownership being reduced to 8-10%, although it would retain its 20% governance role.

OPSA acting president Meegan Cloughley confirmed those figures.

She would not say how much OPSA was being asked to contribute to a rebuild, saying that still had to be discussed by her executive.

allison.rudd@odt.co.nz

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