Council aims to finish Strathallan Corner upgrade by Christmas

Tuesday, 2 December 2025

Four months after the original deadline for completion of a controversial upgrade to a corner site in central Timaru, the council is still waiting on handrails to be made.

Strathallan Corner has been undergoing a makeover since May.

The work’s original price tag of $1.6 million has come under fire from some in the community who questioned the sense of spending so much at a time when the Timaru District Council is making cuts.

Speaking about the upgrade, which was earlier described by the council’s chief executive as an example of “how not to do a project”, a council spokesperson said the aim now was to complete the job by Christmas.

But that would depend on the weather, the spokesperson said.

The project was “going well” with 97% of the pavers installed and the installation of bluestone seating under way.

Two of eight handrails were in place, and the remaining six were at the manufacturing stage.

“Planting will be the last stage of the project. Plants have been purchased locally.”

The redeveloped public space had been achieved with materials made and manufactured in Timaru and installed by local contractors, the spokesperson said.

The development of the site has been a long-running saga, leading council chief executive Nigel Trainor to call for a review of the process in August.

At the time, Trainor said “the need to follow a project plan process” had been made clear and that would include the initial idea, business case and design.

“Effectively what’s happened here is that the concept is being put in place and then we’re off doing it, but we’re actually designing it as we’re doing it.

“So there’s a fundamental lesson to be learnt here of how not to do a project, and this is it.”

The project was originally expected to be completed by July, but in the same month the council’s general manager for assets and infrastructure, Andrew Dixon, admitted that had been “a little optimistic”.

At the end of October, Dixon told The Timaru Herald that although the council aimed to have the redevelopment finished by the end of November, “it could take slightly longer due to manufacturing delays and space constraints for installation”.

The bronze statue honouring the life of the world champion boxer Bob Fitzsimmons, one of Timaru’s most acclaimed sportsmen, was temporarily removed in April as work on the redevelopment began.

The statue, created by Margriet Windhausen, was donated to the people of Timaru by Sir Robert Jones in 1987 and unveiled at the site by Prime Minister David Lange.

The statue was moved back to the site in October.