Legal advice clouds Lovelock Ave U-turn

Changing its mind about realigning Lovelock Ave may not be a simple matter, the Dunedin City Council has been advised.

The council is meeting today to discuss whether to proceed with the realignment, which would allow for rhododendron dell expansion, infrastructure upgrades and construction of new facilities at the Dunedin Botanic Garden.

The council was about to sign a $1.2 million tender with Downer New Zealand, but staff were told by Mayor Dave Cull last month to hold off pending the results of further discussion.

A legal opinion from Anderson Lloyd Lawyers sought by the council for today's meeting was released at the weekend.

It said the council would have to consider its legal obligations under the Local Government Act before deciding whether to pull out of the project.

The money for the project was already included in the long-term council community plan (LTCCP) and annual plan, documents which were decided after a "special consultative process" as defined in the Act.

Special consultative processes involve preparing a proposal, distributing it as widely as possible, calling for submissions, holding a hearing and making a decision.

If the council decided to remove funding from the documents, that would also require a special consultative process, the legal opinion said.

Alternatively, the council could keep the LTCCP and annual plan as they were, but would still need to consult the public in some way before making a decision, it said.

Exactly what consultation was legally required would depend on whether the council believed the project to be significant or insignificant as defined by the Act.

 

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