KEY POINTS:
The boss of the country's biggest construction firm has delivered a broadside to Rugby World Cup 2011 organisers.
A decision on what should be done to prepare Eden Park for the 2011 Rugby World Cup needs to be made soon or construction companies won't want to touch it, Fletcher Building's chief executive has warned.
Jonathan Ling told reporters after the company's annual general meeting today many of the long term projects earmarked for completion before the cup won't be finished in time unless they are started soon.
In particular, he said, Eden Park was of concern.
"Unless they make a decision soon no construction company will want it because they would not be able to be finished in time."
Eden Park is due for a $190 million redevelopment for the 2011 Rugby World Cup , to boost the stadium's capacity to 60,000 - the International Rugby Board's stipulated minimum capacity for a semifinal and final venue.
Fletcher Building is one of the companies tendering for the redevelopment project.
Debate has surrounded who will pay for the upgrade since Auckland city mayor John Banks said he would fight against Auckland ratepayers footing the bill.
In September, Auckland City Council said it had conditionally agreed to a $30m funding commitment to the redevelopment of the park along with a further $20m for transport, amenity and design improvement to the neighbourhood.
Mr Ling said other projects, such as the development of the rail network in Auckland, were also key for the Rugby World Cup and needed to be decided on.
" One of the things that is different with the Rugby World Cup finals which is different from our normal rugby competition is we're going to have roughly 70,000 guest visitors and supporters from overseas coming into New Zealand for the competition.
"It's reasonable to expect that a high percentage of the audience will be visitors who will rely on public transport to run around, not Aucklanders who may go by car.
"So getting a lot of that infrastructure spent and working properly when it comes is important and not only to the stadium, but also to get around Auckland."
Eden Park Redevelopment Board chief executive Adam Feeley told NZPA all of the companies who had put in a tender for the contract had been kept up to date with the tender process.
"They have all been kept up to date and no other company has raised that as an issue."
Mr Feeley said a short-list of companies had been compiled and the contract was due to be awarded in early December.
The demolition of Eden Park's south and southwest stands is scheduled to begin next August.
Fletcher Building today announced a 2006/7 full year net profit of $484 million, up 28 per cent from the previous year, including a $70m one-off tax gain.
But the construction and building materials giant agreed with forecasts that its next full year profit would likely slip to between $450 million and $460 million, with operating conditions expected to "soften".
- With NZPA
