Few grand schemes proposed as budget constraints bite

The Saddle Hill and Mosgiel-Taieri Community Boards have urged the Dunedin City Council to...
The Saddle Hill and Mosgiel-Taieri Community Boards have urged the Dunedin City Council to resolve the issue of quarrying on Saddle Hill. Photo from the ODT files.
Dunedin community board wish lists are again dominated by requests for improvements to sports grounds, infrastructure, and maintaining existing services and facilities next year, as boards continue to heed the city council's tight budget situation.

However, there were one or two potentially costly items on some boards' lists, including requests to stop quarrying on Saddle Hill and to build a new pool at Mosgiel.

Chalmers Community Board chairman Steve Walker said his board wanted to see the State Highway 88 shared path to Port Chalmers finished in the next few years.

It also asked for a concerted effort to upgrade sometimes unusable sports fields at Port Chalmers and St Leonards and a commitment to a sycamore control plan for the area.

If the council could see its way to contributing ''about $1000'' towards a simple speed hump outside the Sawyers Bay School, he was sure the community would be relieved.

The need for the council to ensure adequate investment in new and existing infrastructure in the ever-expanding Mosgiel-Taieri Ward had never been more pressing, Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board chairman Bill Feather said.

As to a new pool, the request for which will be considered separately later this week, the council should not miss the larger picture as to why it was needed.

There were capacity issues at other city pools and where there was undercapacity there was a revenue-making opportunity, he said.

The board remained concerned about ongoing issues that ''were not going away'', such as heavy traffic on SH87 through the township and the uncompleted widening of Riccarton Rd.

It was also time for a reticulated sewerage system for Outram, given problems with septic tank overflows in floods, and there needed to be a quick resolution to the Saddle Hill issue.

''We want to see some finality to the issue, however it might fall.''

Otago Peninsula Community Board chairwoman Christine Geary said 2014 was a year of significant progress on some longstanding projects on the peninsula.

The two priorities for 2015 were the accelerated peninsula road widening project and the Te Rauone project.

The board was also keen to see decisions on effective management of freedom camping on the peninsula.

Stopping quarrying on Saddle Hill would continue to be a key priority for the Saddle Hill Community Board, deputy chairwoman Pam Jemmet said, as would further improving the Brighton Domain, and minor infrastructure improvements for the area.

The Strath-Taieri Community board had a small request list because it did not really want the rates to increase, chairman Barry Williams said.

A little extra funding to help maintain the Middlemarch pool would not go amiss, as would early notification of when the council would be working on roads or bridges in the area.

Several boards asked for the council's support to increase the internet speeds in their areas.

Waikouaiti Coast Community Board chairman Gerard Collings will present his board's list of issues to councillors today.

debbie.porteous@odt.co.nz

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