Stadium hearing in November

A hearing in Dunedin on a district plan change that would allow development of the Awatea St stadium is expected to begin in early November, with 83 people indicating they want to be heard.

Despite opposition group Stop the Stadium mobilising to provide help for people to make submissions against the plan change, stadium supporters won the numbers battle with 108 submissions.

There were 107 opposed, and two were neutral, according to the Dunedin City Council's summary of submissions lodged.

Two weeks have been set aside for the hearing, DCC planner Debbie Hogan said yesterday.

The Carisbrook Stadium Trust earlier this year requested a district plan change that would turn what is now industrially zoned land at Awatea St into campus and stadium-zoned land.

The council adopted the plan change, meaning it accepted the responsibility and costs of processing it.

The council called for submissions on the plan in June.

Those have been lodged, summarised and are subject to a second round of submissions, in which people can submit on issues raised in the first round.

That process is now under way.

A council administrative error had resulted in the submission period being reopened until Sep-tember 26 after two submissions were left out of a summary, one of which was from pro-stadium organisation Our Stadium.

Our Stadium secretary Tim Calder said yesterday his group and five members had lodged submissions, but had decided not to lobby members to do the same, as it did not want to slow the process down.

The group had decided on "quality, rather than quantity" in its submissions.

Mr Calder said he was pleased at the numbers in support.

They include University of Otago vice-chancellor Prof David Skegg, Monarch Wildlife Cruises, and former All Black coach Laurie Mains.

Opponents include Stop the Stadium, Sustainable Dunedin Inc., and many who have opposed the project at council meetings.

Issues covered included the loss of industrial land in Dunedin, reverse sensitivity and the cost of the development.

After the plan change hearing is held, there will be a period in which people can appeal to the Environment Court, something Stop the Stadium has indicated it would do if the change went ahead.

Stop the Stadium had attracted 1000 financial members, its president Bev Butler said yesterday.

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