D Scene: Otago Stadium speed, please
D Scene 14 November 2008 page 7
by Wilma McCorkindale
Dunedin City Council is pushing for early Environment Court slots for expected appeals blocking the Otago Stadium proposal.
A document obtained by D Scene shows council lawyers seeking early dates for any hearings.
The court’s document dated October 10, 2008, and signed by Judge J R Jackson, outlines a request from DCC lawyer Stephen Christensen “to find two weeks of hearing time in Dunedin in April or May 2009 for a likely fixture for an Otago Stadium.”
Judge Jackson advises the best way to accommodate the request is “to work around the dates” (of other hearings) and “to assume that priority will be given to any Otago Stadium appeal”.
The revelation comes as independent commissioners conduct hearings into zone changes that would give a green light to the stadium.
Dunedin’s Ratepayers and Householders Association chairman Syd Adie says lawyers “jumping the queue” in this way is “unheard of””.
“I find it strange that they’re looking for a date when the (current) hearings aren’t even finished yet.”
And Carisbrook Stadium Trust chief Ewan Soper agrees “it would be inappropriate to do so until the results of the current process are available.” The Trust has not sought an appeal date, he says.
“We understand that as a courtesy, the lawyers acting for the council advised the Environment Court Registrar of the potential for appeals to be lodged given statements being made by parties opposed to the Stadium, so that the Registrar would be aware of that possibility when considering the court’s forward scheduling.”
D Scene reported in July that delays to a stadium completion, like Environment Court appeals, could kill the new venue’s chances of hosting Rugby Cup 2011 pool games being allotted next March.
“Clearly, that would be an enormous opportunity for us to miss out on,” Soper says.
