The Otago University Students’ Association has reasserted its opposition to a proposed delay in upgrading Dunedin’s tertiary precinct.
The Dunedin City Council proposes to start preparations on the project in 2030, but OUSA president Michaela Waite-Harvey said it needed to begin "this end of the decade".
The university and OUSA were not consulted about the proposed delay, she said.
In written submissions on the Dunedin City Council’s 10-year plan, OUSA, the university and Otago Polytechnic strongly opposed the delay.
University chancellor Dr Royden Somerville did not make clear the delay remained a significant concern when he spoke at a hearing this week, but the university later clarified it had not softened its stance.
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This is all rather confusing, then.
If the land belongs to the University and the Polytechnic, then they'd be allowed to upgrade it themselves (the former, in particular, isn't short of a bob or two), without anyone else's permission being required.
Alternatively, if it's public land, the council (with the mandate of local taxpayers) gets to say what goes and when. So which is it?
Given that the DCC's got to be involved, it sounds like their show, which implies they're paying for it, which also means I'll be footing my share of the bill. I'm happy to fo that (within reason) but don't see why OUSA (whose main contribution to the streetscape lately has been to defend the right of their members to litter it with impunity) gets its collective viewpoint blatted across the broadsheets.
You want a say? Step up and pay.