The funding, to be taken from the reserves contribution fund for the Vincent ward, was approved during a Vincent Community Board meeting yesterday.
Rory McLellan, speaking on behalf of the trust spearheading the project to develop the site in lower Tarbert St, told members of the community board the funding boost was needed to "get the job done".
"The whole purpose of the project is to bring the town centre to the river and ... try and get some real economic benefit from the hard work that we’ve done so far."
Central Otago District Council parks and recreation manager Gordon Bailey said stage two would see construction of a ramp from the edge of the riverbank down to a floating jetty that would be "a main feature" of the overall design.
He said the design of the ramp itself had been "challenging", with poles planned that would "need to be precisely placed then driven into the ground to anchor the ramp".
Community board deputy chairman Roger Browne said while speaking in support of the funding prior to the vote "it’s better to do the job properly the first time, rather than potentially facing a rebuild in five or 10 years’ time after a flood has come through".
Stage one — the construction of a plaza due for completion in the coming weeks — had sucked up the $650,000 allocated for the project in the district council’s last long-term plan, leaving the ramp unfunded.
Council business support manager Saskia Righarts said reports that were now more than six years old had informed that long-term plan, with the end funding figure being "the best guess at the time".
While questions were asked by some around the decision-making table about why the funding shortfall should not have been allocated for in the council’s current long-term plan, the agreement was reached to move forward and allocate money from funds within the community board’s immediate direct control.
The riverside park project had secured close to $725,000 from third-party funders, including Otago Community Trust, Central Lakes Trust and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Board chairman Jayden Cromb removed himself from yesterday’s vote due to his involvement with the project.
