Greater Dunedin councillors Kate Wilson, Dave Cull and Chris Staynes have moved to set time-frames and specify fundraising targets for the Awatea St stadium - an initiative they say will assist a process they have so far opposed.
"If we can't convince our fellow councillors, we've got to work with what we've got," Cr Wilson said yesterday.
"I don't want to be seen as anti-stadium - I want to be seen as for good and prudent management."
Her comments may disappoint anti-stadium activists, as the local government political grouping has provided a voice of dissent against the project since last year's election.
In an opinion piece in the Otago Daily Times in August, the three councillors questioned what the city would get for the $91.4 million that may be spent on the stadium, questioned whether it was affordable, and noted the lost opportunities for spending on other projects.
Asked what the anti-stadium lobby might think of the group working to progress the project, Cr Wilson said yesterday: "We failed to get traction on certain issues. We have to work at the next level."
That meant trying to manage risk, and, for the council, taking more responsibility, and taking the pressure off the Carisbrook Stadium Trust.
The three councillors have written a series of amendments to conditions set down by the council in March, which gave the trust a list of milestones to reach as it continued the project.
The amendments will be discussed at a council meeting on Monday.
They add time-frames to the original conditions, but Cr Wilson said they were "not deadlines, not lines in the sand".
"We don't want them [the trust] to fall on their sword if they don't make it."
The amendments include an October 20 date for the council to confirm the cost of contract between it and the University of Otago to buy land at the stadium site, and to approve an agreement between the trust and the Otago Rugby Football Union, and a late-October date to confirm the district plan change necessary to change land zoning at the site.
They suggest 60% of private sector funding for the stadium, and 90% of the council's non-ratepayer funding be confirmed before the guaranteed maximum price contract is signed, but those percentages were open for debate.
Cr Wilson said she expected the trust to have some input in setting dates, but the intention of setting time-frames and funding goals was to make sure "boxes are ticked" before February, when the Otago Regional Council wanted evidence of a viable construction tender within budget.
"I believe this is driven by the DCC, and I think we should be setting the time-frame. Rather than deadlines for the university and ORFU, the amendments "set expectations" for the organisations.
"It takes the pressure off the Carisbrook Stadium Trust. I hope this helps them. If it does some good, it takes away some of the risk."
