City councillors last week opted to proceed with a 25,000-seat arena, in line with the investment case, to keep the project within budget.
However, councillors Sam MacDonald and James Gough have now put forward an amendment to keep the number of seats at 30,000 and seek additional funding from neighbouring councils and central government.
Crs Phil Mauger, Aaron Keown and Catherine Chu voted in favour of the amendment.
If there is enough support for a bigger stadium, the council may be forced to change its earlier vote.
Meanwhile, Barry Bragg has been appointed as the interim chair of the Canterbury Multi-Use Arena (CMUA) Project Delivery board, which oversees the delivery of the arena.
Bragg takes the position as interim chair while the council reviews the governance structure of the Canterbury Multi-Use Arena project.
He has extensive property development and governance experience. He chaired the Ngāi Tahu Property board from 2012 to 2019, and is the current chair of Ngāi Tahu Farming. In 2016 Mr Bragg joined the CDHB as the Crown appointee, and, as a fellow chartered accountant, chairs the Finance and Risk Committee that oversees the refurbishment and new build of health facilities.’
“I’m proud of my Ngāi Tahu whakapapa and was honoured to be nominated to the board representing Ngāi Tūāhuriri, with the Canterbury Multi-Use Arena located in our rohe,” Mr Bragg says.
“The board is committed to designing and building a multi-use arena that provides the expected benefits and experiences for the community, within the available funding.”
Mr Bragg has been a CMUA board director since March 2021. Property developer Richard Peebles and construction expert Steven Reindler are also on the board.
Mr Bragg is also the Chair of Paenga Kupenga, and the deputy Chair of Stevenson Group and Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust, where he has been a trustee for 19 years.
