Dunedin resource management consultant Don Anderson was among about 40 people - about half of them Dunedin city councillors or council staff - who gathered at Carisbrook last night to discuss the venue's future.
Mr Anderson, a qualified planner, received an enthusiastic reception as he laid out his vision, which envisaged Carisbrook's Railway and Neville St stands, and part of the terrace, being removed to provide greater access to the playing surface.
The main stand and corporate complex would be retained.
The change would allow Carisbrook to become the centre for outdoor recreation in South Dunedin, he said.
Too much time, effort and money had been spent developing Carisbrook's pitch into a playing surface of international quality for it to go to waste, he believed.
"Don't destroy it. The turf is too valuable to be swept away, in my view, by a bulldozer."
The change would also allow the development of nearby Bathgate Park - home to a collection of community sports fields - to meet the demand for better-quality housing and help revitalise the area, he said.
The 50,000sq m park had space for housing providing 500 beds in an area desperately in need of new housing, he believed.
"Some of those houses should not be habitable.
"They should be pulled down ... but the problem is, where do those people go?" Mr Anderson was among about 10 speakers to address last night's meeting, which was organised by the Dunedin City Council to begin community consultation on the future of Carisbrook.
Dunedin Ratepayers and Householders' Association chairman Lyndon Weggery, addressing the meeting, was concerned the timeline meant a report going to the council's finance and strategy committee in September.
He urged the council to "stop, pause and reflect" before deciding Carisbrook's future.
Mayor Peter Chin said the meeting was a first step, but stressed the importance of making a decision by the time the Otago Rugby Football Union vacated the ground on October 1 next year.
After that date, with no rent coming from tenants, the council would begin to incur holding costs of about $440,000 each year, he said.
A second meeting to discuss Carisbrook's future, also open to the public, will be held on July 8.
Submission forms are available on the council website.
Dunedin resource management consultant Don Anderson was among about 40 people - about half of them Dunedin city councillors or council staff - who gathered at Carisbrook last night to discuss the venue's future.
Mr Anderson, a qualified planner, received an enthusiastic reception as he laid out his vision, which envisaged Carisbrook's Railway and Neville St stands, and part of the terrace, being removed to provide greater access to the playing surface.
The main stand and corporate complex would be retained.
The change would allow Carisbrook to become the centre for outdoor recreation in South Dunedin, he said.
Too much time, effort and money had been spent developing Carisbrook's pitch into a playing surface of international quality for it to go to waste, he believed.
"Don't destroy it. The turf is too valuable to be swept away, in my view, by a bulldozer."
The change would also allow the development of nearby Bathgate Park - home to a collection of community sports fields - to meet the demand for better-quality housing and help revitalise the area, he said.
The 50,000sq m park had space for housing providing 500 beds in an area desperately in need of new housing, he believed.
"Some of those houses should not be habitable.
"They should be pulled down ... but the problem is, where do those people go?" Mr Anderson was among about 10 speakers to address last night's meeting, which was organised by the Dunedin City Council to begin community consultation on the future of Carisbrook.
Suggestions:
• Light industrial park for new businesses and those displaced from the city's harbourside - Engineering Dunedin Inc
• Carisbrook as another urban centre, railway innovation zone or retirement village - University of Otago planning students exercise
• Stadium sold; money in trust and used to fund South Dunedin improvements beginning with new branch library - Anne Turvey
• New film, IT and game development zone - Renee Lee
