A potential site for a new play hub in downtown Invercargill has been rejected by a council committee due to safety issues and limited space.

On Tuesday, committee members deliberated between endorsing an urban play option for the centre of town or distributing resources more widely throughout the city.

Both have a price tag of just under $5 million, plus external funding.

The city centre option highlighted 66 Dee St for a potential hub, but a report prepared for the meeting showed that site was only 618 square metres — vastly smaller than the recommended size of 2500 square metres for such a space.

The area also received limited sunlight and had safety concerns because of the adjacent Hubbers Emporium building, which currently has a wall propped up by supports.

Councillors were quick to point out those flaws, while indicating their preference to distribute urban play more widely.

Mana whenua representative Evelyn Cook said she liked the idea of pushing for play in the suburbs, while councillor Steve Broad questioned if the issues at Dee St meant it could work.

In response, council local play advocate Damien Puddle said all locations had their challenges, with a lack of open space a factor in the city centre.

Mayor Nobby Clark also believed the size of the Dee St site was an issue and said the future of the Hubbers Emporium building next door was uncertain.

He said the council should ask for prioritisation of projects when it ultimately went out for consultation on urban play options.

“A lot of the advice I’m getting back from the community at the moment is that we should focus on doing one project at a time.”

Councillor Ria Bond was a dissenting voice against the urban play project in its entirety.

A tense moment occurred when she quizzed Puddle and council parks and recreation manager Caroline Rain about engagement on the strategy, but was accused of asking a question she already knew the answer to by chair Darren Ludlow.

“Why didn’t you just say it?” Ludlow said.

“Can I speak please Mr Chair?” Bond asked.

“I’m the chair,” he said.

The committee ultimately recommended the distributed programme to the full council over the city centre option, taking into consideration a variety of places such as Bluff, South Invercargill and North Invercargill.

That option also makes allowance for a scaled down version of the city centre programme.

The city centre option — requiring $1.5 million external funding — included the downtown hub, a play pathway and temporary installations, while the distributed program could end up seeking extra money dependent on the project.

Public consultation will be undertaken between March and April before a final decision is made.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air