A trial closure of the lower Octagon has been tentatively scheduled for February, although plenty of difficulties appear to stand in the way of the idea.
A sometimes tortuous debate at the Dunedin City Council yesterday heard from the promoters of the idea, Octagon bar owners and Lower Octagon Forum spokesmen John MacDonald and Grant Ellis, that it was not for business owners, but for the city as a whole.
While councillors had been debating the merits of closing the area during the evening, Mr Ellis said towards the end of the meeting the primary idea was to close it during the day, to make the Octagon more attractive to families.
"If the council closed it [just] in the daytime, we would be happy with that."
That came as something of a surprise to councillors, who understood the idea to be to make the Octagon more attractive at night for those visiting bars and food outlets.
Afterwards, Mr Ellis said the idea was to allow events in the Octagon, and use it in a better way, and he was happy with the outcome of the meeting.
At annual plan hearings in May, Mr MacDonald presented the council with a proposal asking for the area to be vehicle-free from 6pm on Friday to 6pm on Sunday during daylight-saving months.
But a report to yesterday's planning and environment committee by council urban design special projects manager Emma Burford said the proposal was considered deficient, as there was a lack of consultation with all owners and occupiers of buildings, and a lack of information.
Several councillors raised what they saw as problems with the idea.
Cr Paul Hudson said while he did not oppose it, organisations like the Regent Theatre and Age Concern were not included in a list of supporters, and might not agree with it.
He questioned who would police bar-goers in the evening, and who would pay for the closure, when bus companies paid hundreds of dollars when the central carriageway at the Octagon was closed.
Cr John Bezett said the council would have to consult on the matter, or businesses may complain they were losing money, as had happened when the parking strategy had been implemented.
Committee chairman Cr Michael Guest raised concerns about the council's liquor ban, which was in place in the Octagon, and how the proposal would affect the dynamic of the Octagon.
Council chief executive Jim Harland reminded the committee the council was dealing with how buses traversed the city, and anything done to one part of the Octagon affected another.
Cr Kate Wilson complained the issue was being dealt with in an "ad hoc, on the hoof" way.
Not all businesses agreed with the plan, Cr Fliss Butcher said.
She had been lobbied by one business in lower Stuart St, an area that would be affected by the closure, that was concerned about its effect on the drinking culture in Dunedin, and another bar in Edinburgh Way, concerned all the council's focus was on the Octagon, to the detriment of businesses in other areas.
But Cr Neil Collins said the council closed streets regularly, with few problems, and there was no reason it could not be done for a trial.
The meeting voted the council neither approve or disapprove of the idea, but subject to information from the forum, investigations by staff and a favourable report, a short-term trial be tentatively scheduled for February.
That would allow wider consultation, with more informed comment, following the trial.
