John MacDonald: Don't count your chickens Christchurch stadium fans

An artists' impression of the planned Te Kaha Canterbury Multi-Use Arena. Photo / Supplied

OPINION:

If you are like me, and you are a fan of the new Christchurch stadium Te Kaha going ahead, a word of warning - don't count your chickens just yet.

The results of the city council's consultation process following the budget blow-out are in, with 77 percent of the 30,500 submissions in favour of the Council pouring in another $150 million to make up the difference and make the thing a reality.

There were three options put out for feedback: spend the extra money and press on, pause the project or scrap the whole thing altogether.

77 percent say press on, 15 percent want the project completely scrapped and 8 percent of the submissions say the project should be paused and re-evaluated.

So, it's safe to say that the key message coming through in 23,485 of those 30,500 submissions is this: "Just get on with it".

And next week, city councillors will meet to consider and discuss the consultation findings and make a decision on the future of the stadium project.

But remember it's the Christchurch City Council we're talking about here and remember too that 77 percent of 30,500 isn't actually a lot of people. So, if you think the Council's woken up today with a mandate to pour more money into the stadium, it hasn't.

Here are the numbers: From a population of 392,000 people, there were 30,500 submissions. Let's assume each submission is from a different person - which is probably being generous - but let's assume that, and we have 8 percent of the city's population taking part and giving their view.

Take that further, and the percentage of Christchurch's population that has stood up and said it wants the Council to spend another $150 million and press on with the stadium project is just 6 percent.

Now there will be a lot of people saying today that the results of the consultation are a clear mandate for the Council to stick with the stadium project. But anyone who thinks having 6 percent of the population on your side is a mandate needs to go away and look up what the word means.

Essentially, it means an authority to act. Getting the nod from 6 percent of the population is not an authority to act, as far as I'm concerned. Which is why I'm saying, don't count your chickens.

Whether you like it or not, there will be a truckload of people who don't want the Council spending more money on the stadium - they just won't have taken part in the consultation. Just like truckloads of people don't take part in local body elections.

So, 77 percent of the 30,000 people who actually took part in the consultation process is not the ringing endorsement that some are saying it is.

But I tell you what 100 percent of people in Christchurch and Canterbury are in favour of and do want - they want this Council to show some leadership for a change, to make a decision and to stick with it.

And the councillors, when they get around that council table next Thursday to decide what to do next with the stadium, we need to remember that this consultation process only happened because local government rules require it.

This was not the Council being genuinely interested in what people had to say - it happened because the rules say it had to consult the public before it put more money into the stadium project. And this is what councillors need to remember - it was a box-ticking exercise. Nothing more, nothing less.

And that's why they could, and should, pretty much ignore the findings and make a decision that demonstrates true leadership and a bold vision for the future of Christchurch.

They don't have a mandate from the people to spend the extra money and get on with building the stadium. Just like they don't have a mandate to press pause or stop the thing altogether.

The only mandate they have is to make a decision and show they are capable of seeing past all the noise, and not be swayed in any particular direction by a box-ticking exercise which only a tiny proportion of the people they represent showed interest in or took part in.

That's why they need to make the decision next week that, 11 years after those terrible earthquakes, we are not going to kick this can down the road any longer and whether people like it or not, we're going to spend the money and build the bloody thing.