The DCC’s draft ten year plan for 2021-2032 proposes to delay the tertiary precinct upgrade into the 2030s.
In 2017, the DCC voted to spend $20 million during the 2018-2028 period upgrading the Tertiary Precinct. The plan would upgrade the streets with street art and bike lanes, to create "future-focused multi-purpose streets and an environment that enhances lifestyle as well as safety'', according to the original proposal.
Basically, they wanted to make the streets around campus seem less shit and more like part of a real city, so that your parents would less disgusted when they visit your flat, and might actually view Ōtepoti as a nice place. But no longer.
“We can confirm the draft ten-year plan 2021-2031 does not include funding for construction associated with the Tertiary Precinct Plan,” said DCC Group Manager Transport Jeanine Benson. “It makes sense to delay the work until after the central city upgrade work is completed.”
The draft plan now only includes $1 million for the Tertiary Precinct upgrade, to be spent in 2030-31 on “preliminary planning work”, even though the upgrade has been planned for years.
The consultation document for the current ten-year plan says that the plan is being delayed until after the central city upgrade is complete. It is unclear why that is the case. But presumably it has something to do with Lee Vandervis throwing a shitfit/ a vast conspiracy by the secretly all powerful Green Party that has replaced all levels of the public bureaucracy with space aliens.
“In the last ten-year plan we talked with you about upgrading the area around the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic campuses,” the consultation document said. “The aim was to improve the safety and accessibility of the area, as well as lifting the look and feel for students, staff and the wider community.”
With the proposed update to the ten-year plan, it seems that the campus area is no longer a priority for the DCC.