### D Scene March 25, 2009 (page 4)
Town Hall project showdown
The proposed stadium will come under scrutiny from six Dunedin identities and councillors at a last-minute town hall meeting this Sunday. The meeting is organised by Stop The Stadium.
WHAT: Stadium meeting – what you should have been told!
WHERE: Dunedin Town Hall
WHEN: this Sunday, 7pm
MC: Dougal Stevenson
ADMISSION: free
D Scene gets a preview from each of the six speakers.
Michael Stedman
Natural History New Zealand managing director
FOCUSING ON: Where the funding is coming from and how that has been presented to the public.
HE SAYS: “The big issue for me is that this is the biggest expenditure in Dunedin’s history. There are a lot of issues that remain something of a mystery and that can’t be answered because of commercial sensitivity. The funding is a mystery.”
Gerry Eckhoff
Otago Regional Councillor
FOCUSING ON: How the process has been carried out by council.
HE SAYS: “I have been very uneasy about a number of things for a while. I guess I’m concerned about the local government process and how things should have been done.”
Alistair Broad
Dunedin businessman
FOCUSING ON: Guaranteed maximum price construction contract and funding from ratepayers.
HE SAYS: “The thrust of where I’m coming from is that we are heading towards building something we don’t want or isn’t necessary. I’m seriously concerned about whether we have a genuine maximum price contract. How can you have a genuine fixed prince contract when you have variables like building on an area that’s not a solid foundation?”
Sukhi Turner
Former Dunedin mayor
FOCUSING ON: Council engaging with citizens when decision making.
SHE SAYS: “The meeting is about stopping the stadium. lf you want to see what I think come along to the meeting.”
Dave Cull
Dunedin City Councillor
FOCUSING ON: The consequence for ratepayers, how the city has got to this point, the guaranteed maximum price construction contract.
HE SAYS: “The things that I will focus on are the real financial implications for the ratepayers and also the process.”
Robert Hamlin
Otago University senior lecturer
Hamlin failed to respond to D Scene queries by deadline. However, previously, the lecturer – who also teaches a feasibility analysis paper – has predicted the cost of the stadium could blow out to $400 million and if it does, because of high city debt, that Dunedin will face a type of local body armageddon which might involve central Government stepping in.
****
### D Scene March 25, 2009 (page 4; abridged)
I wouldn’t go anyway: Farry
By Ryan Keen
Carisbrook Stadium Trust chairman Malcolm Farry won’t be attending a high-level Town Hall meeting being held to voice concerns about the project.
{story continues}
****
Pick up today’s copy of D Scene. Other headlines:
D-Day looms for city (page 5) – There are still six Dunedin city councillors who remain undecided on the stadium project.
Trust’s private funding deals not audited (page 5) – CST’s private sector funding arrangements haven’t been audited, as previously claimed by its chairman Malcolm Farry.
No room for Bledisloe (page 5) – Otago’s megabucks stadium can never hold a Bledisloe. [seating capacity issues]
High rate rises, anyone (page 10) – Crs Dave Cull and Chris Staynes on why proceeding with the stadium breaches the trust of the community.
Issues as we see them (page 10) – Affordability, Keeping faith with the community, and Community support.
What if? Dunedin... 