Shell New Zealand introduced a note of unintended levity when it called on the Dunedin City Council to provide a health and safety assessment of noise and vehicle emissions from vehicles queuing near its Wickliffe Rd site.
Waitati resident Scott Willis was first to give his evidence to the commissioners and said building a stadium could divert 20 years of staff resources and 20 years of ratepayer funding for something that could be "useless" if the latest scenarios on sea-level rise proved correct.
He said the issues of global recession and peak oil, "all with a backdrop of dangerous climate change", meant the project was too risky.
"This is not something that's going to go away."
Mr Willis said it would be a mistake to build anywhere on low-lying areas.
Told by commissioners that was an "extraordinarily conservative" response and asked if it was justified, he said it would be safer to build it out of harm's way.
Emeritus Prof Jocelyn Harris said there were many more important projects to spend money on than a stadium, when a more than 1m rise in sea level was expected in the next 50 years.
"This is no time for business as usual."
Expanding cycleways, building light rail, assisting with insulation and encouraging home gardens were just a few of the things that could be done with the money that was being spent on the stadium.
"I urge you to give Dunedin a chance and allow it to prepare for the challenges that lie ahead."
Prof Harris was reminded by the commissioners they could not make decisions on what was the best use for the money, though climate change was something that "weighed heavily" on the committee.
New Zealand Transport Agency acting regional planning manager Ian McCabe said the agency supported the notice of requirement for the arterial route in principle.
That did not mean it had a position on funding, but any funding request through the Regional Transport Committee would be prioritised, subject to the availability of funds.
Jennifer Bradshaw, an "ordinary, well-informed member of the public" took on some of the council's evidence from last week.
She questioned much of traffic engineer David Gamble's evidence and said he "disingenuously and incorrectly" stated bus services at the planned stadium area were good, when in fact, she said, "they are quite inadequate".
The issue had been rushed, the implications had not been adequately studied and that was unacceptable.
The arterial route was being driven by the stadium and it should be declined.
Ms Bradshaw said there was a "creeping campus zone" that was a planning nightmare.
Any extension needed to be justified and she believed it had not been.
If the stadium was not built there was no justification for extending the campus zone.
Jennifer McMahon delved into history, noting the initiative and risk taken to build Dunedin, and asked the commissioners to allow the same initiative to take place again, while Dave Witherow said there could not be infinite growth in a finite world and the city already had a stadium.
Jeff Dickie raised a wide range of arguments against the stadium, attacking the council for straying from core infrastructure during "a very dark chapter in the annals of Dunedin history".
Doug Leggett said he was concerned the stadium was a product of an old boys' network.
Shell New Zealand had concerns with aspects of the arterial route, which would affect its Wickliffe Rd site.
Distribution network planning co-ordinator Brent Cooper said he was "very surprised" to see in documentation Shell had not expressed concerns - in fact, it was strongly opposed.
But since discussions with the council there had been changes to the plan, including rotating the gyratory to reduce impact on the terminal, a plan for an access lane and to re-site an entrance.
The company wanted further changes, including monitoring of noise and vehicle emissions from queuing traffic "in terms of health and safety".
