Replacing a pedestrian canopy damaged in a truck crash in Dunedin’s Octagon in 2024 cost $325,000, the city council has disclosed. Of the total, $195,000 was covered by the Dunedin City Council and $130,000 by “the other party’s insurer”. “The costs reflect the complexity of the work in a central city environment, as well as the rising cost of construction and materials,” a council spokesman said. On April 20, 2024, a truck careened past the landmark Robbie Burns statue and crashed into a covered walkway in the heart of the central city. OTAGO DAILY TIMES / OTAGO IMAGESA truck crashed into a covered walkway in the Octagon, Dunedin, in 2024. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery It was a Saturday morning and the Pioneer Energy truck was carrying a load of woodchips. The driver was taken to hospital, but discharged later that day. Police said no faults were found with the vehicle and no charges were laid. Once the area was cleared and the site stabilised, there was a gap in the covered walkway. In September 2025, the council began what it described as repairs to the canopy over the footpath. The council also carried out extra maintenance on the other canopies there, it said at the time. Replacing the canopy was mentioned in an agenda for last week’s council meeting, as there had been a settlement to recover some costs. Cr Lee Vandervis described the incident as a fairly major crash and he said there had been quite a rebuild of the canopies. He asked at the meeting why ratepayers had to cover 60% of the cost. Council chief executive Sandy Graham said this was the nature of the insurance settlement. She understood it related to the finding of fault or otherwise, “or the lack of finding of fault”, she said. grant.miller@odt.co.nz
