I recently submitted to Council on the multi-use arena budget consultation.
I’m a member of the Waipapa/Papanui-Innes Community Board (and am standing for re-election this year) but made this submission on my own behalf. The Community Board has no role in decision-making on the area.
In the interests of transparency my submission follows:
Q: Should the Council: invest an additional up to $150 million to enable the project to continue as planned; stop the project altogether; or pause and re-evaluate the project?
A: Pause and re-evaluate the project
Q: What would you like to see us re-evaluate?
A: The scope, the funding model, the operating model, the business case, the climate impact.
Q: Do you have any further comments regarding the funding of Te Kaha – Multi-Use Arena?
A: General comment:
I am not against arenas. What I am against is spending more than what is needed on them. Just because the Government has given us money towards the cost of an arena, we shouldn’t waste money on an over-the-top design. After all, we as taxpayers are contributing to the Government’s portion of this project, as well as our ratepayer portion. As inflation bites on these projects, we have to be more frugal to make our hard-earned money go further. $500,000 a week for the next thirty years to finance the build? And then it’ll run at a loss of millions of dollars a year? And despite our climate & ecological emergency there’s been no consideration in the budget or business case of the climate impact of building and operating the venue?
Simon Britten 