Chairman of The Eden Park Trust, Doug McKay talks to the Herald about the exciting proposed changes to Eden Park. Video / NZ Herald
Eden Park is believed to be the frontrunner to be crowned the city’s premium stadium following a meeting behind closed doors today.
Nine months after Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown set up a working group to resolve what a multi-purpose “Auckland Main Stadium” would look like for the city, it is understood Eden Park will win out against three other proposals.
Councillor Shane Henderson, chair of the working group set up to determine the main stadium for the city, said the group met this morning and came up with a preferred option.
He said the working group, made up of several councillors, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited chief executive Nick Hill, Sport New Zealand chief executive Raelene Castle as the Government nominee and a member of the Independent Māori Statutory Board, would present the four options to a workshop of all councillors a week before the issue comes to the council’s governing body on May 30 for a formal vote.
An artist's impression of the proposed new precinct at Quay Park, Te Tōangaroa Stadium.
a waterfront stadium precinct at Quay Park or Te Tōangaroa, backed by New Zealand Rugby, and including an All Blacks-branded hotel.
a stadium and entertainment precinct at Wynyard Quarter encompassing the main 55,000-seat stadium, an indoor arena and an outdoor amphitheatre to view harbour events like SailGP.
Henderson would not comment on Eden Park being the frontrunner, saying councillors are not at that point yet.
But with Brown making it clear any stadium options will be at “no cost to ratepayers” and no funding in the council’s 10-year budget to contribute to the hundreds of millions of dollars for a new stadium, council sources are picking the status quo at Eden Park.
Henderson said the purpose of the process is to say: “This is Auckland’s choice for a large stadium and it gives confidence to the private sector that it may want to invest.”
Councillor Shane Henderson is heading the stadium working group. Photo / Michael Craig
“We have always been very clear that ratepayers’ money is very little to none available, but at the same time we are signalling to the market of stadiums ‘hey, here’s what you might want to do and get your best people on to it’,” he said.
Henderson said even the status quo would have costs.
“The most important thing is the financials have to stack up, and that’s our first port of call. Financials and the site,” he said.
The latest plans are playing out 13 years after Auckland Council unveiled plans to rationalise the city’s four stadiums - Go Media Mt Smart, North Harbour, Western Springs and Eden Park - and put them on a “more sustainable financial footing”.
Eden Park's capacity would lift to 60,000 under the 2.0 vision. Image / Eden Park Trust
Since then, five plans have come and gone and nothing has changed.
A separate proposal in the 10-year budget is to redevelop North Harbour Stadium by downsizing from 25,000 seats to about 8000.
This would lead to Auckland having a large stadium (Eden Park), a medium-sized stadium (Mt Smart) and a small stadium (North Harbour) with the future of Western Springs still up in the air.
The North Harbour proposal is strongly opposed by Albany councillors John Watson and Wayne Walker, and the MP for East Coast Bays, Erica Stanford.
