Ratepayers could own Eden Park

Auckland ratepayers could end up owning or underwriting Eden Park after the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The agency designing the Super City has floated the idea of Eden Park being part of a council-controlled organisation for major regional facilities.

That would put it in reach of ratepayers, who have had minimal financial exposure to the historic home of rugby and cricket in Auckland.

The park is run by a trust board, in which the Government has a controlling stake after taxpayers contributed $190 million of the $250 million redevelopment for the cup. Before the Eden Park Trust Board Amendment Act was passed this year, the park was owned and operated by a group of trustees that included representatives from the Auckland Rugby Union and the Auckland Cricket Association.

Last night, an agency spokesman said the idea for Eden Park coming under the Super City was about attracting major events to Auckland and optimising the use of major facilities in the city.

Other sporting facilities mooted for the council-controlled organisation include the Mt Smart, North Harbour and (Waitakere) Trusts stadiums.

Any decision to buy or sell any facility would be a matter for the Auckland Council after it comes into existence in November next year.

Speaking through the spokesman, Auckland Transition Agency executive chairman Mark Ford said Rob Fisher, who has a senior role at the agency and is a member of the Eden Park Trust Board, had not lobbied to put Eden Park in the Super City.

"There is a small team at the agency and Rob Fisher, as general counsel, has some involvement in most of our work.

"Responsibility for this document sits with me. It is intended to look at the major regional facilities we have in Auckland, regardless of whether they are owned by councils or - in the case of several of them - by trusts."

Trust board chairman John Waller said he was aware of the possibility of Eden Park coming under the Super City, but it was something for the future. He declined to discuss the operational costs of the park, but said the objective of the new board was to see it running at a profit after 2011.

Eden Park Neighbours' Association president and Auckland City councillor Mark Donnelly said Eden Park's financial position was marginal at best and had the potential to become a bottomless pit for ratepayers.