RWC 2011 Decisions Allow Planning To Be Finalised

Dunedin (April 5): Confirmation that the Otago Stadium will be the venue for Dunedin’s Rugby World Cup 2011 games means planning for the Tournament can now be finalised by the Dunedin City Council and all other agencies and stakeholders involved in the event.

In-depth planning has been underway for over a year, but until last weel’s announcement, work has been divided between planning for Otago Stadium and Carisbrook.

Deputy Mayor, Chris Staynes, who chairs the Dunedin City Council’s group that oversees all planning for Rugby World Cup 2011 in Dunedin, said that Council staff have been working with a wide variety of organisations responsible for RWC 2011 activities, and now that the venue and games had been confirmed, work will pick up pace.

“Now that we have certainty about our games and teams we can pin down our plans. Hosting England and Argentina, as well as Ireland, Italy, Romania and Georgia – and their supporters, presents great opportunities for Dunedin and a whole-of-city approach in planning for the Tournament is required,” Cr Staynes said.

Match management and team hosting have been the focus of Tournament planning until now, although transportation planning, festival and event programming and environmental management and waste minimisation plans are also well underway and these plans will be communicated to affected parties, stakeholders and the wider community over coming weeks. The Dunedin City Council will take advantage of work done at a national level by New Zealand 2011 before it finalises community and business engagement programmes for Dunedin.

“Many Dunedin organisations are involved in RWC2011 planning”, DCC Marketing Communications Agency Manager Debra Simes says. “These include emergency services, the tertiary sector, Chamber of Commerce and Ngai Tahu, as well as Dunedin Venues Ltd, Otago Rugby Football Union and many other groups.

“As we get things confirmed we will release information to those directly affected and to the general public. We will also communicate plans to the many thousands visitors expected to come to Dunedin to take part in the Cup,” Debra says.

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