Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger says he expects councillors to approve a combined $34 million for three of the city’s major projects when they vote tomorrow, despite public opposition to further ratepayer spending on heritage buildings.

Councillors will consider allocating an additional $15 million each to the Christ Church Cathedral and Canterbury Museum, along with $4 million toward the School of Music.

The proposal was brought to the table by councillors Sam MacDonald and Jake McLellan.

Mauger told Chris Lynch Media the funding had found support around the council table and he did not expect it to be a difficult vote to win.

“It’s actually a recommendation that’s been brought up by Sam and Jake. It seems to have garnered a fair bit of support, which is good in my view.”

The money would come from capital budget savings accumulated through the year, rather than additional borrowing or rates increases.

Mauger said the timing was deliberate, with the council already committed to rate rises of 6%, 5% and then 4% in coming years.

“If we don’t do this now we’ll never have the money surplus to be able to do it.”

The funding is contingent on matching contributions from central government and other sources.

The cathedral must secure government money, as must the museum, while the School of Music has donors prepared to contribute subject to the council committing its share.

Mauger acknowledged public sentiment was not squarely behind the cathedral spend, noting consultation showed only 14% of respondents supported further council investment in the building.

“The next thing you might say is only 14% of people wanted to actually spend any more money on the cathedral.”

He argued the council had a broader obligation to complete the city’s recovery and finish what had been started, pointing to the $160 million Sheraton development as evidence of private confidence in the city centre.

“We’ve got to get our square back. We’ve got to finish off some things.”

On the Cardboard Cathedral, Mauger said the council had walked away from a potential purchase and told the Anglican Church to sell it on the open market instead.

“The stadium runs fantastically whether we own the cardboard cathedral or not. It’s not a bottomless pit.”

On the question of Winston Peters delivering on a government commitment to the cathedral, Mauger said he was hopeful but cautious.

“It’s all very well that Winston has said yes he will do it. We’ll wait and see, and I certainly hope he does.”

Mauger also addressed Cathedral Square itself, where a $28 million line item exists for future development.

He was blunt about his reluctance to spend anything close to that figure on the small area of public space directly in front of the cathedral.

“There’s no way that sort of money should be spent on that tiny bit of dirt.”

He said the square needed life and colour rather than more of the same, singling out the granite paving as too stark and calling for something more imaginative than planter boxes.

“As long as we can do something a bit more exciting than bloody planter boxes. The granite is a bit stark in my view. We need to soften it up.”

Mauger said he had seen a suggestion from councillor Aaron Keown about a seasonal ice skating rink and was open to ideas ahead of design concepts being presented to the council.

“We’ve got to do something because it’s no good the way it is.”