A new board will be formed to oversee the development of the proposed $30million indoor sport and event centre in Oamaru.
This week, Waitaki district councillors adopted the draft terms of reference for the board, which will be made up of representatives from the Waitaki District Council, the Waitaki Event Centre Trust and Papatipu Runanga, and will also include one independent member.
Mayor Gary Kircher and deputy mayor Melanie Tavendale will be the council representatives.
The purpose of the board is to act as the decision-making body for the event centre development.
Council recreation manager Erik van der Spek said that until now, the relationship between the council and the Waitaki Event Centre Trust, which was formed to drive fundraising for the project, had been relatively informal, but productive.
"Going forward, there are going to be a number of decisions we are going to have to make, decisions that we would like to make in a relatively agile manner," Mr van der Spek said.
A lot of discussion at Tuesday’s meeting turned to the possible development a new rugby grandstand as part of the event centre project, due to a reference in the project framework that said the grandstand was "considered out of scope at this stage", as funding was focused on the new indoor facility.
The North Otago Rugby Union has highlighted its desire for the ageing grandstand at Centennial Park to be replaced, and pitched the idea of incorporating a new grandstand development as part of the event centre project. It was estimated to cost about $2million to $3million.
The idea received a lot of support in submissions to the council’s long-term plan, but it had not been included in the business case, which was developed earlier.
"I think what you’ve signed up to in terms of the sports and events centre is big enough and complicated enough to deliver as it is," Mr Parmley said.
"Until we’ve sized what it would cost to replace [the grandstand] and how it might be incorporated, adding it in at this stage might jeopardise the whole project."
Cr Kelli Williams said it would be "very short-sighted" to not incorporate a grandstand redevelopment into the planning stage.
"Sure, it might cost more, and it might affect some people supporting us, but there’s also the potential that it won’t cost that much more and we might gain more support from certain people out there in society," Cr Williams said.
Mr van der Spek said councillors had already approved a business case that did not include the grandstand project.
Options were being investigated, but it was important to achieve timelines, he said.
"If the council as majority want us to go back and put the project on hold until we have the further information that we’re trying to source for the grandstand and rewrite the business case, then we can do so."
Cr Hana Halalele also expressed her support for the grandstand development, but not at the cost of extending the timeframe of the sports and events centre.
Cr Williams, with support from Cr Jim Hopkins, successfully argued for the grandstand project to be incorporated into the planning phase, but without a commitment from the council to approve the project as part of the business case at this stage.
Mr Kircher said the event centre was a major project for the district and "we want to make sure we get it right".
"At the end of the day what we’re all after is a quality facility that’s going to deliver for all of the users.
"We’re all very much agreed on that and working very closely together to achieve it."
