Eden Park sets up supporters' club to woo neighbours

Last week a new zipline for Eden Park. This week comes news of a neighbourhood supporters' club. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Eden Park is offering prizes of repainting local houses to improve relations with its neighbours.

The park used its annual residents' Christmas barbecue last week to launch a supporters' club for neighbours called The Hood, with a range of benefits and prizes, including repainting one house each year for the next three years to the value of $10,000.

Eden Park, located in the built-up residential suburb of Mt Eden, has not always enjoyed good relations with all of its neighbours, some of whom oppose having their lives disrupted on match days and support restrictions on the number of night-time events at the iconic ground.

New Eden Park chief executive Nick Sautner said building on a photographic exhibition, Our Neighbourhood, earlier this year, "The Hood reaffirms our commitment to the community and demonstrates our appreciation of our neighbours' ongoing support."

"It is well-known that families buy homes in specific areas to gain access to school zones and for convenience to work and transport.

"Eden Park is another example, where locals have decided to live in the area for the accessibility to domestic and world-class live events," Sautner said.

Eden Park Neighbours Association president Mark Donnelly said the group was aware of the new "supporters" club, one of several different approaches taken by different park chief executives over the years.

Eden Park has launched a new supporters' club, The Hood, to improve relations with neighbours. But the president of the existing Eden Park Neighbours Association, Mark Donnelly, says while giveaways are nice, those in the area mostly want to see well-run events with good external management in surrounding streets. Image / Supplied

"In our view what most want as a priority are well-run events, with good external management in the surrounding streets and the wider impacted area carried out within the rules set by council and Eden Park's previous undertakings to the local community," said Donnelly.

While some giveaways are nice, and no doubt very appreciated by those that win them, he said, the wider event management remains the priority for the association.

Other benefits and prizes include lighting packages, special ticket deals to the Pop-Up Globe and family passes to the Blues and Auckland Rugby matches.

Residents who live within the boundaries of Auckland Transport's Residents Only Parking Zone for Eden Park events can join The Hood at http://www.edenpark.co.nz/the-hood.