David Loughrey

A reasonable figure for the sale of Carisbrook is proving difficult to pin down, but a reported estimate of $4 million from a property valuer has been dismissed as too low.

The days of students freezing through the winter in dingy Dunedin digs could be on the way out, with the development of a new "star rating", system similar to that used by hotels and motels.

Construction of the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin will cost ratepayers at least $261 million, updated figures confirm.

The Dunedin City Council has begun borrowing $109 million to fund the Forsyth Barr Stadium, with $90 million of that figure locked in at an interest rate of 6.4%.

Dunedin City Council communications co-ordinator Rodney Bryant discovered the accuracy of his broadcast warnings about driving in yesterday's treacherous conditions when his car slid off the road and into a kerb yesterday.

A Survey of almost 10,000 Dunedin people has shown support for wheelie bins as a possible replacement for both rubbish bags and the city's blue recycling bins.

Substantial changes to Dunedin's voting method could see its system of wards scrapped in favour of a "super ward", with 11 councillors representing the urban area, and three representing two rural seats.

It may have been an event for the kids, but there were also plenty of excited parents as hundreds flocked to the Wall Street mall in Dunedin yesterday evening to meet the All Blacks.

It was a great way to welcome an Australian to Dunedin: The skies were steely-grey, the hail was pelting down, and a 57-year-old grandfather was hardly breaking a sweat running up Baldwin St as our visitor turned a disturbing shade of red from trying to keep up.

There were boxes of used clipboards, piles of brooms and a small mountain of in- and out-trays, but it was a broken and somewhat tarnished sports trophy that told the human story at an auction at the former Fisher and Paykel Appliances Mosgiel plant on Saturday.

A Queenstown man trying to stop Otago Regional Council funding for the Forsyth Barr stadium in Dunedin came up against a High Court judge who questioned many of his arguments yesterday.

Planned harbour ferry for Dunedin could operate with a much simpler - and cheaper - facility than the $1.3 million jetty planned for Portobello, a potential user says.

Queenstown man Basil Walker's legal challenge to the Otago Regional Council's funding for the Forsyth Barr Stadium began in the High Court in Dunedin this morning.

The thorny question of which group pays what proportion of the Dunedin rates bill has been returned for more consideration, as farmers and lifestyle-block owners raise concerns about the issue.