Long-running Timaru CBD project will not be completed by Christmas

Tuesday, 23 December 2025

Timaru’s Strathallan Corner redevelopment on Monday afternoon.

Handrails and weather delays have continued to hold up the completion of a controversial project in Timaru’s CBD.

The Timaru District Council’s Strathallan Corner upgrade began in May, with an original price tag of $1.6 million coming under fire from some in the community who questioned the sense of spending so much at a time when the council was making cuts.

The project was originally expected to have been completed by the end of July, but there had been several delays since. At the beginning of December, the council said its aim was for the corner to by completed by Christmas, dependent on the weather.

However, this week general manager assets and infrastructure Andrew Dixon said “75% of the area will be open before Christmas’’.

“There have been some weather delays, and we are waiting on the final handrails,’’ he said.

Trees and the Bob Fitzsimmons statue were removed from Timaru’s Strathallan Corner in April as part of the redevelopment. (File photo)

“We have, however, begun the plantings, and the area is currently fenced off to allow these to take hold.’’

The development of the site had been a long-running saga, and in July, Dixon admitted to councillors that an assurance the project would be completed by the end of July was “a little optimistic”.

A month later, in August, the council’s chief executive Nigel Trainor called for a review of the process.

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.

This week Timaru District Council general manager assets and infrastructure Andrew Dixon said “75% of the area will be open before Christmas’’.

“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.”

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.