Stop the Stadium

Proposed Plan Change 8: Stadium (PC-2007-4) and Harbour Arterial:
Notice of Requirement (DIS-2008-3)

THE HEARING

Panel of Commissioners
Roger Tasker (Chairperson), John Lumsden and John Matthews

Days 1 and 2

Ms Lauren Semple of Anderson Lloyd, appearing as Counsel for the Dunedin City Council ["the Applicant"], will call evidence from the following witnesses on Monday and Tuesday, 10-11 November:

• Mr Bill Baylis - Mr Baylis is a well regarded Chartered Accountant and Professional Director who has served the Dunedin community for more than 40 years. He is a founding member of the Carisbrook Stadium Trust, the body responsible for lodging the initial private plan change request which was later adopted by Council and notified as Plan Change 8. Mr Baylis will give evidence related to the role of the Trust and the ultimate vision for the site.

• Mr David Gamble - Mr Gamble is a Consultant Traffic Engineer with Traffic Plan Limited. Mr Gamble will outline the traffic assessment work which has been undertaken and will identify the implications of Plan Change 8 for traffic matters.

• Mr Jeremy Trevathan - Mr Trevathan is an Acoustic Engineer with Acoustic Engineering Services, a Christchurch based consultancy. Mr Trevathan has assessed the noise effects of the zoning and recommended noise related planning provisions which have been included in Plan Change 8.

• Mr David Hamilton - Mr Hamilton is a Consulting Engineer with specialist qualifications in engineering hydrology who has assessed the suitability of the site from a flooding hazard perspective. His work has taken into account the location of the land in proximity to the Harbour and the Water of Leith and has resulted in specific recommendations to ensure such matters are appropriately managed on the site. He has also assessed the implications of the rezoning on stormwater management for the site.

• Mr Rod McLeod - Mr McLeod is a Geotechnical Engineer who has reviewed the site assessment work which has been undertaken to ensure that the site is not inherently unsuitable for the rezoning contemplated by Plan Change 8.

• Mr Rex Alexander - Mr Alexander is an expert in the assessment and management of hazardous facilities. He has consulted widely with owners of such facilities in the adjacent Industrial 1 Zone and will give evidence on the interface between these existing activities and the activities sought to be enabled under the new zonings.

• Mr Paul Freeland - Mr Paul Freeland is the Acting Planning Policy Manager with the Council. Mr Freeland has undertaken a review of the new zonings sought and will provide expert planning evidence.

Dunedin City District Plan Change 8 – Stadium
Call for further submissions 

The Dunedin City Council placed a public notice on Saturday 2 August 2008 calling for Further Submissions on Plan Change 8 - Stadium.

Anyone may make a further submission in support of, or in opposition to, the submissions made on the proposed changes to the Dunedin City District Plan.

The due date for further submissions had been notified as 15 September 2008.

Please note that on Saturday 30 August the following was reported in the Otago Daily Times:

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

The hearings for Plan Change 8 are expected to begin in early November.

Making a further submission:

For more information visit the Dunedin City Council website at:

http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/services/planning/district-plan/changes-to-the-plan/plan-change-8

At that web address, go to the section ‘Further Submissions’ to download the following pdf files:

• Public Notice for Further Submissions (2 August)
• Summary of Decisions Requested (August 2008)
• Submission Form 6. This is the revised form with the new closing date for further submissions, 5pm on Friday 26 September 2008.

View a printed copy of the Summary of Decisions Requested at DCC Customer Services, service centres and public libraries.

To request a printed copy of the original submissions, phone Dunedin City Council on (03) 477 4000 or visit Planning Enquiries, First Floor, Civic Centre, 50 The Octagon, Dunedin.

For further information on the proposed plan change, phone Paul Freeland on 477 4000.

Stop the Stadium Inc - Guideline to Further Submission

We encourage the people of Dunedin and Otago to make their views heard and we look forward to reading your submissions.

If you oppose proposed Plan Change 8 - Stadium, the following is intended as an outline to the process of making a further submission. It makes no attempt to suggest which submissions by others you should oppose or support, if any.

You will need to read the Summary of Decisions Requested prepared by the Dunedin City Council; and it is advisable to read all the original submissions received before you make a further submission.

To make your further submission, use Submission Form 6, which the Council provides; we recommend that you clearly indicate the following:

• I do wish to be heard in support of my further submission at the hearing.
   
• If others make a similar submission, I will consider presenting a joint case with them at a hearing.
   
• I support/oppose the submission of: (Please include the name and address of the original submitter, and submission number of original submission.)
   
• The particular parts of the submission that I support/oppose are:
  (You should clearly indicate which parts of the original submission you support or oppose, together with any relevant provisions of the proposed Plan Change.)

• The reasons for my support/opposition are:
  (Please give reasons.)

• I seek the following decision from the Dunedin City Council:
  That the Council abandons the plan change in its entirety.

•  Signature of submitter
   
•  Date

Note to person making further submission: A copy of your further submission must be served on the original submitter within 5 working days after making the further submission to the Dunedin City Council.

» Download this page as a PDF  (PDF, 92KB)

» Download this page as a Word document  (Word, 40KB)

A report from Price Waterhouse Cooper, UK, dated 11 July 2008.

Discusses the British and European stadia scene. Asserts that “the public sector is core to stadium developments in Continental Europe.” The report concludes:

The most successful projects are those where the funding, delivery and operating route is tailored to the business plan of the stadium, appropriate to the location, ownership and operating structure, drawing on public and private sector partners and stakeholders. In summary, there are proven advantages in developing stadia but the risks are likely to stay, and funding will only be achieved if the business model is sustainable and sound (p. 15).

This begs the question: Is the business model used for the proposed Awatea St stadium sustainable and sound? Of this, we have yet to be convinced as no data presented to date contain completed, independent peer reviews.

» Download the report here (PDF, 1.4MB)

From the website of the Department of Marketing, University of Otago:

Two lecturers (John Williams and Ben Wooliscroft) at the Department of Marketing are investigating public opinion regarding the proposed Awatea Street Stadium in Dunedin. The stadium has been, and remains, the topic of much debate in the community. In an effort to contribute to gauging public opinion, Ben and John are trying to involve parties from all positions in the spectrum of support (pro, anti and disinterested) for the proposal in the planning of a survey of public opinion.

By involving parties on both (or all?) sides of the debate, we hope to produce results that are as unbiased as possible, given the inherent limitations of survey research. On this page we will show the planning of the survey as it progresses. When the results are in, the raw data will also be available. When we have completed our analysis, the report and the relevant technical data will also be made available for interested parties to reproduce or perhaps extend upon our analysis.

(Ed: Note the first draft of the questionnaire is available for comment on the web page.)

» Visit website to read more…

How this figure is arrived at 

Working

DCC ratable properties = 52,000

ORC ratable properties = 106,000

Most favourable table mortgage = sum doubles (at least) in 20 years

1. Cost on average to Dunedin ratable properties where $91m borrowed: (2×91m) ./. 52,000] ./. 20 (years)

   182 million divided by 52,000 (ratable properties) = average liability of $3,500  

   $3,500 divided by 20 years = $175 per year 
   

2. Cost on average to Dunedin ratable properties when Regional Council portion of $18.5m is included: {[2 (91m + 18.5m)] ./. 52,000 } ./. 20 (years) =

   219. 5m divided by 52,000 (ratable properties) = average liability of $4,221 

   Divided by 20 years = $211 per year. 

    

3. Cost on average to Dunedin ratable properties if must carry additional $30m cost for failure of Private Subscriptions:{[2x(91m + 18.5 m + 30m] ./. 52,000} ./. 29 (years)

   139. 75m divided by 52,000 (ratable properties) = average liability of $5,375.

   Divided by 20 years = $268.75 per year.  

    

4. If the average household banked the total DCC and ORC levies, being $211 per year, at current rates, and those deposits are compounded annually (giving a reduced figure), their savings plus interest earned would be $9,656 over 20 years.

Stop the Stadium media release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday 8 August 2008

Stop the Stadium says that Otago Regional Councillors did not receive vital information about the proposed Awatea Street Stadium before voting $37.5 million of public money towards the project.

Stop the Stadium President Bev Butler says Otago Regional Councillors did not receive or directly consider the peer reviews which contained vital information about the stadium project.

The peer reviews, originally prepared for the Dunedin City Council, are independent, professional reports on the new stadium proposal, and the only means available to the public to have confidence that current costings are accurate.

Consultants Davis Langdon, one of the main peer reviewers, noted that much of the requested documentation from the Carisbrook Stadium Trust had not been received, and expressed concern at the “magnitude of the exclusions” in the CST cost estimates.

Ms Butler says after repeated attempts to get information from the Otago Regional Council, she approached the Omsbudsmen’s Office, whose investigations confirmed that no information on peer reviews was given to ORC councillors.

Ms Butler says when making a major decision to spend enormous amounts of public money, it is essential decision makers receive crucial information, and Stop the Stadium were very concerned that this had not happened in this case.

Stop the Stadium is a Dunedin-based campaign group to stop the proposed public funding of the Awatea Street Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand

ENDS

For more information, or to receive copies of documentation, contact Stop the Stadium President Bev Butler on (03) 4776861 or email president@stopthestadium.org.nz

A Stop the Stadium member has passed on this snippet of information:

 Did you hear the details of the proposal today [ 4.7.08] approved by the Hastings District Council for a new multi-purpose sports facility including an indoor velodrome. Cost $54 million with a contribution from ratepayers of $22 million. This facility would serve the adjacent communities of Napier and Hastings whose combined population (136,200) is well ahead of Dunedin’s at this time (118,700). Yet ratepayers have to contribute something like $135 million in the case of Dunedin’s edifice, or SIX TIMES per capita that being asked in the Hawke’s Bay.

A busy first week for Stop the Stadium which is now registered as an incorporated society. Membership is rising rapidly - join us today! Together we can make a difference.

What are the objects of Stop the Stadium? Read here.