Cull says 'yes' to funding for stadium

Dave Cull
Dave Cull
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull has given his clearest indication yet he would support the council's helping to finance $4.3 million of additional spending for the Forsyth Barr Stadium.

A debate on stadium funding has been included in a non-public section of a council meeting, but Mr Cull has again fended off claims he has gone back on election promises.

Asked yesterday if he would support the council putting money into further capital expenditure identified recently as necessary for the project, he said: "Yes".

The issue will go before a council finance, strategy and development committee on Monday with a report from council acting chief executive Athol Stephens to be debated with the public excluded.

That appears to run counter to Mr Cull's stance before the election, when he promised to "replace secrecy with transparent processes and provide responsible leadership that listens and is up-front with the community about debt and costs".

But yesterday he said his "default position" was still that debate should take place in public.

There were "commercially sensitive" issues in the report, but once those were dealt with, he planned to bring the debate back into the public arena.

The issue emerged at a full council meeting on February 28, when a report on additional capital expenditure for the stadium, and a list of 12 items costing more than $4 million, sparked a long debate about stadium funding.

The items included a large replay screen, internal directional signs, scoreboards, a catering fit-out and toilets.

Some aspects of the list were still to be resolved, though, as discussions were still proceeding on whether the items would improve service; whether they should be funded by a party other than the council and whether items should have been included in the base build.

At the meeting, it was moved Mr Stephens produce a report on the issue for Monday's meeting.

In a non-public meeting on January 31, Mr Stephens was asked to undertake a peer review on the request for funding for the items from Dunedin Venues Management Ltd, the company set up to run the stadium.

In an agenda for Monday's meeting, the issue is labelled "possible additional capital expenditure for the stadium".

Mr Cull said Mr Stephens had done the peer review, discussed the issue with various parties and investigated the matter, and all that would be included in his report.

Asked why he was considering supporting extra capital for the stadium, he said the issue of possible extra requirements had been "flagged" two years ago.

"There were things taken out of the budget to keep it below the [guaranteed maximum price] budget."

A lot of people had said the items were excluded, Mr Cull said, though some items were expected to be paid for by sponsors, or paid for in another way.

"That hasn't turned out to be the case."

The items were "arguably essential" to finish the stadium, and Mr Cull said yesterday he had said during the election campaign he would consider any spending on the stadium on its merits.

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