Stadium has to be built says mayor

Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel says she just wants to get on and build the central Christchurch stadium that is facing another budget blowout.

It is understood the project is now at least $50 million over its $533m budget, thanks to increased material prices and supply chain volatilities in the post-Covid world.

The council has promised transparency on the costs when they are known and says Christchurch residents will be consulted if the project needs additional funds.

Dalziel said she believed the council had an obligation to build the city’s last post-earthquake anchor project.

‘‘People have made investment decisions based on the fact that it would be delivered, and I believe we have an obligation to deliver it. I just think that we have to get on and build it, that’s my view.’’

Still, she said she was mindful that under the Local Government Act she had to approach decisions with an open mind and with all the necessary information in front of her, which she did not presently have.

Asked if she would increase the stadium’s budget or decrease the scope, so work could continue, Dalziel said she could not see any reason to downsize it, given the council decided just last year to upsize it.

Last August the council decided the stadium would have 30,000 seats, reversing an earlier call to build it with just 25,000.

Dalziel said it was ‘‘very clearly signalled’’ during that decision-making that there was still a ‘‘high-level risk’’ with the budget.

‘‘Actually if you look at the amounts, they were quite significant, and if that’s the ballpark of where we’re at, then I think we’re up for it, we have to be.’’

Asked then if the city should just spend the extra money and get on with the stadium, Dalziel replied: ‘‘We do, yeah.’’

These comments are Dalziel’s first on the stadium’s newest blowout.

The true extent of the budget problems revealed last week are still not known, though more clarity is expected soon.

The lead contractor, Besix Watpac, will make its final bid for the project contract by May 27. This will outline the final price tag for the project.

Council staff have said they will analyse this final bid and then write a public report to be presented to councillors.

Council staff told councillors last August that the project would not have cost certainty until design work was finished and the final contract bid was made.

Sport and business leaders and some councillors have already stated they just want to get the stadium built.