Sort the System!

Stop the Stadium’s counsel Len Andersen called yesterday for a contract to build the Forsyth Barr Stadium to be quashed so “proper consultation” could be held, despite being told the horse may have already bolted.

Full article: here

The Dunedin City Council will underwrite Otago Rugby Football Union debt for the next three years as part of a deal which includes the purchase of Carisbrook for $7 million.

Full article: Could make a “bloody” expensive park

Dunedin reaped a $5.3 million benefit from the All Blacks-France test match in June, a new report says, a figure the Dunedin City Council claims has “a whole new meaning” with the Forsyth Barr Stadium under construction.

Full article: Good old Carisbrook

Construction of the Forsyth Barr Stadium could create more jobs in Dunedin than first thought, Carisbrook Stadium Trust officials say.

Full article: perhaps over 600

July 2010 is may be a milestone in construction of the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, as the city’s new venue is negotiated along the road to the Rugby World Cup 2011.

Full article: plan required

Failure to meet construction targets for the Forsyth Barr Stadium project could result in the Dunedin City Council being given just 20 working days to repay the $15 million Government grant for the project.

Full article: hook in govt grant

Rotary Club of Oamaru members received a progress report on the Forsyth Barr Stadium on Monday night.

Full article: no fireworks

A culvert carrying Opoho Stream under the Forsyth Barr Stadium construction site in Dunedin is to be reinforced because of fears it could collapse under the weight of giant machinery at the site.

Full article: Reinforcing required

Work driving piles into the ground at the Forsyth Barr Stadium site is going ahead successfully, but the most difficult stage of the project, lifting about 700 tonnes of steel roof trusses into place 35m above ground, will be the major challenge of the project.

Full article: Half of piles now in place

by Michelle Sutton
D-Scene 5-Aug-2009

CARISBROOK Stadium Trust is threatening Stop The Stadium with legal action weeks before the protest group’s second legal showdown.

The latest action stems from Stop The Stadium’s logo of the “Forsyth Barrstad at University Plaza”, which takes a pot-shot at the new brand of Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza, launched last month.

This week the latest court action action was threatened by Carisbrook Stadium Trust over the STS’s logo on its website. The logo has been removed, but will reappear on its website tomorrow.

Law firm Kensington Swan lawyers, acting for Forsyth Barr Ltd and CST, yesterday wrote to STS president Bev Butler saying the use of some of the trademarks, referred to as infringing marks, was detrimental to the character and reputation in the marks.

There are three areas CST’s lawyers point to where the trademarks are infringed.

“Misuse of the marks is actionable by our clients,” Kensington Swan say.
It asks for STS to stop displaying the infringing marks anywhere. However, Butler says the logo will be displayed on the STS website, from tomorrow.
STS initially put the logo on its website this week, but it was taken down and has been amended after receiving the letter for Kensington Swan, she says. STS has sought legal advice, but Butler declined to comment on that advice.

STS appear before the Court of Appeal in Wellington on August 18, attempting to overhaul a High Court decision in April which allowed Dunedin City Council to enter into a stadium construction contract and for work to start at the Awatea St site.
“Our legal counsel, Len Anderson and Hilary Calvert, have prepared a strong, thorough case and we are hopeful that justice will finally be served,” Butler says.
michelle.sutton(at)dscene.co.nz

The letter from their lawyers (PDF)

The Dunedin City Council may be reeling from a barrage of criticism from an angry public, but Mayor Peter Chin says the decisions it has made to support major multimillion-dollar projects are the right ones.

Full article: big projects only construction activity

Two Otago regional councillors have questioned the appropriateness of chairman Stephen Cairns carrying out both chairmanship and real estate roles, in a process a third councillor later called a “kangaroo court” while another dubbed it “despicable”.

Full article: conflict of interest