Doubt cast over new Dunedin stadium
July 10 2008
With the rugby world's attention focused on Dunedin this weekend for the second Tri-Nations Test between New Zealand and South Africa, the Carisbrook Stadium Trust has admitted that the city's proposed NZ$ 200m indoor stadium may not be ready in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
In a situation similar to the problems recently overcome by South Africa's Green point Stadium being built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, opponents of the new Carisbrook stadium, whose construction is already three months behind schedule, are threatening to use the Environment Court to further delay the building process.
"If someone wants to hi-jack us, if someone wants to abuse the act, then we would be in difficulty. It is just another hurdle for us to get over," Malcolm Farry of the Carisbrook Stadium Trust told TV3 News.
"We believe it is our responsibility to challenge [the stadium's construction] because of the serious consequences it will have for our city we love, Dunedin," says Bev Butler, of Stop the Stadium.
For the first time, 2011 World Cup CEO Martin Snedden has acknowledged that the indoor stadium may not be ready in time for rugby's global showpiece.
Snedden faces a headache in the fact that he will have to consider Dunedin's bid for RWC pool games in October, months before the indoor stadium case even makes it to the Environment Court.
"We've always said this is not being built for six weeks of the Rugby World Cup but it would be a tragedy if we missed exposing it and the southern part of the country to over a billion people," says Snedden.
Otago rugby are now claiming the 100-year-old Carisbrook stadium is up to World Cup standard.
"If the new stadium is not ready we will probably use it. Carisbrook creaks and groans but it is usable for its purpose," says Richard Reid, the Otago Rugby CEO.
Reports in the press have revealed that sources close to the stadium trust believe that project is dangerously close to collapsing.