Auckland mayor Phil Goff puts stadium talks on hold - for the next decade at least

Monday, 28 May 2018

A downtown stadium was not part of Auckland Mayor Phil Goff's 10-year budget for Auckland City.

Auckland mayor Phil Goff has squashed hope of a waterfront stadium anytime soon, saying Aucklanders could be made to wait up to 20 years.

On Monday, Goff delivered his final proposal for Auckland Council's 10-year budget setting out $26.2 billion of investment over the next decade.

A new waterfront stadium in Auckland would cost up to $1.5 billion, a report has found.

However none of that cash would be going toward a new downtown stadium, he said.

Goff was criticised last week for his handling of a $1 million pre-feasibility report from PwC which looked into the pros and cons of building a new stadium.

Grant Robertson says he is all for a waterfront stadium, but money remained the issue.

Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck.

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Several councillors said the report could only be viewed in his office under supervision, leading several concerned councillors to hit out at the mayor and it ultimately landed him in hot water with the Ombudsman.

During Monday's announcement Goff said he raised the stadium debate early in the term 'quite deliberately' in an effort to get the wheels turning on what could be a 20 year process.

'The stadium is not in this budget and was never intended to be in this budget,' he said.

'But we renew our 10-year plan in three years time and at that stage, if you count back from 2030 when you would want to have a facility in place, we will need to be seriously thinking about how we could fund a new stadium and where that might be.'

The pre-feasibilty report found a new stadium, which would have a retractable roof and could seat up to 55,000 spectators, would cost up to $1.5 billion.

'I remember the pain of 2008 where Auckland Council were offered hundreds of millions of dollars for a new city centre stadium and decided to say no to it,' he said.

'It's expensive, and it's early on, but I have been pretty pleased that the Government has been listening and hasn't rejected the proposal, but like us they say they have other priorities.

'Do I want a stadium? yes I am aspirational about that, but I have a sense of priority as well and a new stadium is not at the top of that list. If it were in the next 10-year plan, it would probably be in the latter part of that plan.'

Goff's hoarding of the pre-feasibilty report has reignited the downtown stadium debate, and stakeholders on both sides have let their voices be heard.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson said most large cities around the world were going for downtown stadiums, and Auckland should be no different - but agreed money was the major issue.

Heart of the City spokeswoman Viv Beck said the business association was all for a new stadium, provided it was well thought out and planned for.

'People want a central entertainment hub where they can go to an event and walk to different restaurants and hotels afterwards. This is a chance to get it right. We are a growing international city and we have to think about the future and this is something, potentially, that we could really shape our city around,' she said.

Part of the pre-feasibiltiy report looked into a new stadium versus redeveloping Eden Park up to international standards - which it found would cost $700 million less.

Eden Park chief executive Nick Sautner said Auckland already had 'a stadium for all' in Eden Park.

Council needed to carefully consider the substantial public investment already made there and the value that would be lost if they chose to build a new stadium, he said.

AUT professor of construction management John Tookey, who has been following the 'new stadium narrative' for years, said the effects on surrounding rail and roads a new stadium would create would be substantial.

'Auckland is struggling with literally every aspect of infrastructure and resilience. We need new roads, public transportation, healthcare provision and schools,' he said.

'We need a new harbour crossing. Most of all we need housing, and every aspect of infrastructure for the economic and social needs of an expanding population. But a new stadium? No. I particularly look forward to him (Goff) making the 'pressing stadium need' case to a family of four living in a sleepout.'