Eden Park Trust promises a noise limit for Waitangi Day concert

Sir Ray Avery talks at his foundation launch at Eden Park about the plan for a concert to raise money for his LifePod baby incubators. 6 June 2018 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Greg Bowker. NZH

Eden Park says it will impose a noise limit for Sir Ray Avery's plan to hold a charity concert at the ground on Waitangi Day.

The concession is a response to submissions on a resource consent application for the concert, which has received criticism from several members of the local community, most notably former prime minister Helen Clark.

Documents the Herald obtained from the Auckland Council show 186 submissions have been in support of the concert compared to just 17 opposed.

Today the Eden Park Trust said based on feedback from submissions to date, it will offer a noise limit as a condition of the resource consent.

The Live Aid-style concert will be used to raise money to build enough LifePod incubators to save a million babies worldwide.

Clark questioned on social media whether Eden Park was fully behind the cause or just using the concert as a "Trojan horse" to provide a precedent for music concerts in the future.

"If the 'charity' application succeeded, then a precedent for ongoing concerts would be set," Clark said.

Avery hit back at Clark saying she had become a "petty politician" and should have called him rather than posting online.

Former prime minister Helen Clark.

The trust said Auckland's Unitary Plan provides for up to six concerts in a 12 month period at Eden Park as a "discretionary activity", which requires resource consent.

The trust also said that under the Eden Park Trust Act, the park exists to "promote, operate and develop Eden Park as a high quality multi-purpose stadium for the use and benefit of rugby and cricket" as well as "other recreational, musical and cultural events".

As part of its resource consent application, the trust engaged environmental planners, traffic, acoustic and lighting specialists to assess the effect of the concert before making the application.

The trust also met with the Eden Park Residents' Association, the Eden Park Neighbours' Association and the Albert-Eden Local Board prior to lodging the application to explain the proposed concert and understand any concerns.

"If resource consent is granted, the Eden Park Trust and the surrounding community will be very interested to see how the Waitangi Day concert at the park turns out. It will help everyone plan for the future," the trust said in a statement.