Eden Park bail out should mean more Auckland council control, mayor says

Tuesday, 19 February 2019

Eden Park has seen it all in sport - but 2020 and Covid-19 has brought new challenges

Eden Park could move under increasing Auckland Council control as part of a bail out likely to be settled in the coming months.

The scenario has been laid out by Mayor Phil Goff who said the city already had too many under-used stadiums.

Goff's comments come as the council prepares to pay off the financially-troubled stadium's $40 million bank loan, and possibly inject up to $65 million over the next decade.

Trust-owned Eden Park could move more under council control in a future bail-out package

'If council is going to spend money, it wants to be sure the beneficiary of any loan is managing its assets as cost effectively as possible,' Goff told Stuff.

* Auckland Council considers Eden Park's $100 million financial hole

* Eden Park's grim financial future laid bare in report

* Eden Park: Stadium of the future or housing site?**

Securing Eden Park's medium-term future will be the first in a chain of decisions the council faces about its family of venues and sporting codes.

Goff said he favoured any council assistance being in the form of a loan, but he wanted conditions attached.

'That would be on the condition of the Eden Park Trust Board working closely with council and the council's venue operator, Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA), to find ways of ensuring the best utilisation of the stadium,' he told Stuff.

'That would minimise losses and duplication, and work better and more closely with council, in terms of the range of the stadium assets that the city has.'

Goff's view would significantly change the relationship between the council and trust-owned Eden Park, which has its own management and systems.

The trust's board has argued it is disadvantaged in the market to secure some events.

'In stark contrast to the heavily-subsidised council facilities against which it competes on the 'open market' for event activity,' it said in its annual report.

The council agency RFA runs the ageing Mt Smart stadium and North Shore's QBE stadium, as well as venues such as Western Springs.

Other decisions that would follow Eden Park, include how and when to move speedway from Western Springs to Colin Dale Park, and the springs' development as a cricket oval.

One of the earning constraints Eden Park faces comes from planning conditions that limit the number and nature of night events.

It is allowed to host up to six concerts a year, but has yet to test the lengthy and costly resource consent process in the face of opposition from some neighbours.

Goff said it would be up to the trust's board to seek any relaxation of planning restrictions - requiring a change to the city's development blueprint, the Unitary Plan.

'They would initiate that change and presumably end up in the Environment Court and the could would independently make its decision on what controls are justifiable,' Goff said.

'The Eden Park Trust Board will have its own legal advice in relation to its options on planning restrictions, without interference from council which is the regulatory authority, and shouldn't pass an opinion on it.'

Goff wanted any loans to the trust's board to be secured against the stadium property and repayable to the council should it ever be sold.

The council has made no decisions yet on the scale and nature of its involvement with Eden Park.

The stadium remains Auckland's only international stadium for the next 10-15 years at least, until the council explores the option of a new stadium at a different site.

Council loans or other significant contributions to Eden Park will be wrapped up as part of the council's 2019-20 budget, which has to be signed off by the end of June.