Hurried council meeting over CBD development

A hurried extraordinary Invercargill City Council meeting has been called with the CBD block project the discussion point.

Councillors held a closed workshop meeting on Monday where the CBD block development was discussed. Councillors were then asked to attend an extraordinary meeting at 5pm the next day.

The only item in the meeting agenda was a ‘‘negotiation update in City Block’’.

No further details were given and the public was excluded moments after the meeting started.

The council has committed to investing up to $30 million into stage one of HWCP Management Ltd’s planned CBD development.

HWCP Management Ltd plans to demolish an almost entire block, which is enclosed by Tay, Kelvin, Esk, and Dee streets.

Stage one of the development will include a car park, retail outlets, and food precinct.

In October Geoff Cotton, HWCP Management Ltd’s project director for the CBD block, told Stuff he was hopeful demolition could start that month.

It’s understood the project’s key private investors are frustrated that they have not been able to start demolition and construction.

However, seven weeks on and the project remains on hold as the developers await building consent.

It’s understood the project’s key private investors, Scott O’Donnell and Geoff Thomson, have become frustrated that they have not been able to get on with starting the demolition and build.

HWCP Management Ltd was issued resource consent in June but there were conditions, which included getting demolition and traffic management plans signed off.

Last month council chief executive Clare Hadley said they ‘‘were working together to get them going as quickly as possible, but we need some management plans [processed].’’