Two Dunedin city councillors criticised for not attending a debate on Monday to tighten conditions surrounding the Awatea St stadium have responded their presence would not have changed the overall outcome.
Cr Dave Cull said after the meeting he was disappointed Crs Fliss Butcher and Teresa Stevenson had not "done their job" and stayed to vote for amendments introduced to put timeframes on conditions that must be met before the project could go ahead.
Cr Butcher said she would have abstained from voting if she had stayed.
"They've [stadium supporters] got the numbers anyway. It doesn't matter what I do.
"The boys are still going to push it along."
Cr Butcher said she had family responsibilities at the time.
Cr Stevenson said she had left the meeting to attend a health-related appointment, but there had been no indication of support for placing limits on the project during a preceding non-public part of the meeting.
The Greater Dunedin councillors, Dave Cull, Kate Wilson and Chris Staynes, had "never bothered" to contact her before the meeting with their plans.
The council had spent two hours discussing a service-level deed it was putting in place with the Carisbrook Stadium Trust, and Cr Stevenson said while she had suggested changes, there had been no support.
Cr Michael Guest, who is on leave, responded to the meeting's decisions by email late yesterday, saying he was "dismayed" by the resolutions.
"This wonderful stadium will not be derailed on my watch by some rigid adherence to timeframes.
"While timeframes are helpful in most cases, a slavish obedience to a date is just silly."
Cr Guest said if a timeframe was missed, and the council was told just one more week was needed, "are we to reply 'too late, the stadium is ended'?"
Cr Chris Staynes was not at Monday's meeting as published yesterday.
