Will you help pay for Christchurch's $683 million stadium?

Crunch time is looming over whether Selwyn ratepayers will be asked to help pay for Christchurch’s 30,000-seat Te Kaha stadium.

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger is set to formally ask the Selwyn and Waimakariri councils for financial support to help pay for the $683 million stadium.

• Mauger’s games bid clears first hurdle
• Big rates increase on the cards

He will be writing to the two councils to start the formal process and “ test the appetite” for a regional funding model.

The request comes as Selwyn ratepayers could face up to a 20 per cent rise in rates, which Mayor Sam Broughton warned of in December.

Christchurch City Council is also under the pump and is looking at a potential 15.8 per cent rates increase later this year.

Up until now, there has been no formal request to Selwyn from the Christchurch City Council to contribute to Te Kaha.

“Since a multi-use arena was first proposed, there have been ongoing informal conversations with central government and neighbouring councils around joint funding for the construction and/or ongoing operation of Te Kaha,” Mauger said.

Mauger said a proposed cost-sharing model between different councils would need to be developed, costed and tested.

“If the councils are willing to receive a proposal, then more detailed information will be brought together, including potential cost impacts, for consideration,” Mauger said.

Te Kaha is the city council’s largest-ever project with an allocated budget of $453 million. The Crown has contributed $220 million from the Christchurch Regeneration Acceleration Fund, as well as $10 million for land decontamination. Any contribution from Selwyn or Waimakariri councils would offset the cost to Christchurch ratepayers.

In August, Mauger said without a contribution from neighbouring councils the city council may need to introduce a ticket levy for out-of-towners to help with ongoing costs.

Broughton said any funding model would have to be consulted on with ratepayers.

“Any contribution from Selwyn would have to be subject to consultation with our community – but this needs to be a Canterbury-wide conversation.”

Apart from Selwyn and Waimakariri, no other councils will be asked to help at this stage.

The construction of the stadium is scheduled to be finished in mid-2026 – with Mauger wanting to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030.

“Recently agreed host states Victoria, Australia (2026) and Alberta, Canada (2030) have subsequently decided against hosting the games (because of costs). This has left the Commonwealth Games Federation without host cities for the next two upcoming games,” Mauger said in his report.

Christchurch city councillors decided on Wednesday to go ahead with a feasibility study to investigate the viability of holding the games.