The final submission at a Dunedin future development strategy hearing was from mana whenua yesterday.
Many of the arguments from Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou and Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki representatives have been accepted by Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council officials, but this does not yet mean certainty on such matters and a few outstanding issues were discussed in more depth yesterday.
A key one was Three Waters infrastructure for what was described as the outer peninsula.
Upgrades should be brought forward, Aukaha consultancy senior planner Michael Bathgate said.
Native reserves were historically set aside for settlement but never properly enabled on an equitable basis, he said.
Ōtākou head Edward Ellison said a road-widening, safety and cycleway project on the peninsula remained incomplete and a change in the project sequence had so far been unhelpful for his community.
"Somehow we’ve dropped off and we live on the most dangerous part of the road", he said.
"It’s totally inequitable for that part of the road not to be completed."
The final part of the project has not yet succeeded in securing government money, and Otago and Southland have struggled to get substantial funding from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.
The hearing was told the latest cost estimates for the unfunded portion was about $23 million.
Another issue raised at the hearing yesterday was the suitability of the Waikouaiti and Warrington wastewater treatment plant locations.
Hearing commissioner Cr Jim O’Malley said they were getting near the end of their lifespan and mana whenua called for the operations to be run in more appropriate locations.
Runaka representative Brendan Flack laid out in written evidence why the existing sites were considered inappropriate.
Reasons included the plants being so near the sea and having negative effects on the environment.
The future development strategy started on Wednesday last week and the commissioners will begin deliberations this morning.
Prominent themes have included whether an area at Mosgiel should be identified as a possible location for a freight logistics hub and whether more greenfields housing development should be allowed for, to better facilitate housing choice.
Emma Peters was one consultant who argued Dunedin planning documents ought to be more visionary.
The development strategy should clearly set out where the city was going to grow, she said.
