Responding to Christchurch City Council’s dilemma on what to do about their $34.2m stadium streets project, given that the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) have not confirmed whether they will provide $13m in funding for the project, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman Alexander Murphy said:

“This stadium has already burdened Christchurch ratepayers enough, with its ridiculous delays and enormous budget blowouts. These extra nice-to-haves are clearly unaffordable, and represent nothing more than just wasteful gold-plating.

“Christchurch ratepayers have only just been slapped with a double–digit rates hike and are being warned of more to come. Any responsible Council should be focussed on getting that figure down by any means necessary – including scrapping needless vanity projects like this.”

“This upgrade is clearly not a priority for NZTA, who aren’t even convinced they’ll be able to hold up their side of the bargain come July, so why should it be a priority for the Council? Potentially opening up ratepayers to further costs going forward by ploughing ahead here would be ludicrously irresponsible.”

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