Despite vociferous opposition the New Plymouth District Council has signed off on a $50 million repair and upgrade of Yarrow Stadium.
Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth. Photo: RNZ/Robin Martin
The council operates Yarrow and is a signatory to the Taranaki Stadium Trust, and an extraordinary meeting today faced a 'yes' or 'no' vote to approve the transaction.
Taranaki Regional Council owns the stadium via the trust and has already approved the repair.
Five New Plymouth councillors voted 'no' and a series of public deputations urged the council to find a different way.
The vote was won nine to five.
New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom said there would have been real risks if the spending had not been approved.
"To say no, we would likely have ended up in control of the stadium trust, it comes with $4.27m worth of debt and a broken stadium that we need to repair."
Mr Holdom said New Plymouth would have faced a $39m bill to pay off debt and carry out basic repairs at the stadium without the support of South Taranaki and Stratford.
South Taranaki District mayor Ross Dunlop told the meeting he wanted a basic $33m repair only.
He told the council to delay the vote and seek further discussions with the regional council.