Dunedin city councillors will consider a staff report early next near before deciding what shape, if any, public consultation on the scenic coastal road will take.
Councillors at yesterday's Dunedin City Council meeting had been expected to discuss the staff report, which spelled out the need for consultation on any permanent change to the road's use.
It followed a vote at last month's community development committee meeting indicating councillors supported the road's permanent closure to vehicles, to improve public safety, albeit by one vote.
However, speaking at yesterday's meeting, committee chairman Cr Paul Hudson said the issue should be considered at the committee's first meeting of 2010, to be held on January 26.
Public consultation, if it proceeded, would begin after the meeting.
That meant the road would remain closed to vehicles during the Christmas holiday period, he said.
Asked about the legality of the continued closure, council chief executive Jim Harland said the road's temporary closure to vehicles was permitted without public consultation under the Reserves Act 1977.
A permanent closure would require public consultation, but that was what the council planned, he said.
The staff report, by council reserves estate officer Judy Milward, said the road was not a legal road, but a way of access forming part of the Ocean Beach Domain.
It was mentioned in the domain's management plan, which also discussed the need for consultation as part of any change to the plan.
The Reserves Act 1977 required compliance with the management plan.
Corrospondence on this matter is closed - Editor
