Dunedin’s councillors have agreed to pour more money into Forsyth Barr Stadium to control its debt, but at least one found this “a bitter pill” to swallow.
Several also wanted to see significantly more use of the stadium to give residents better value for money.
Cr Mickey Treadwell called the $1.25 million of additional funding in 2026-27, to be followed by a $1.25m increase the next year, a bitter pill to swallow, but necessary.
Cr Brent Weatherall said at a meeting yesterday the budget was a “suck-it-up moment”.
If the Dunedin City Council did not move to tackle stadium debt, it would be responsible for its insolvency down the track, he said.
Councillors had earlier been warned keeping equity funding at the status quo risked sending Dunedin Stadium Property Ltd debt from $85m to $194m in 2060.
This was viewed as clearly unsustainable.
The stadium had reached a point in its life cycle where operating and capital expenditure requirements were increasing, a report for councillors said.
Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker said “we have it, we have to look after it — we have no other choice”.
“Welcome to the House of Pain” was how Cr Andrew Simms viewed the situation.
“Where’s Cr Acklin when we need him?” he said in reference to the old Highlanders song and its creator, Bill Acklin.
The city needed to get far more value out of the stadium for the increasing amount of money that was getting tipped in, he said.
“We need to work to get the place buzzing,” Cr Steve Walker said.
The forecast fair value of the stadium land was assumed to be $51m in 2060.
Financial modelling showed the additional funding would bring the level of borrowings well under the value of the land by 2060, which was assumed to be the end of the stadium’s existence.
An alternative option of a smaller funding increase would have made the equation much closer, leaving little room to move if there were unexpected costs.
Cr Christine Garey said it was financially prudent to “pay off the debt in a more aggressive way”.
Deputy mayor Cherry Lucas said the additional funding was needed to avoid setting up the stadium to fail.
Crs Russell Lund and Benedict Ong had their votes recorded against the resolution.
Cr Lee Vandervis was absent from the discussion, as he had walked out of the meeting earlier over a ruling on a point of order.