Eden Park Trust plans to seek better deal to get concerts approved at stadium, Phil Goff

Friday, 15 March 2019

The owners of Eden Park intend to seek planning approval in a bid to more easily stage concerts, according to Auckland's mayor Phil Goff.

Goff said the Eden Park Trust Board plan to try to sort out a 'better deal,' than the current situation where the stadium has to seek approval for each and every concert, up to a maximum of six in any given year.

The mayor's comments come as councillors prepare to vote next week on a $50 million-plus financial bailout for the stadium, likely to be in the form of a loan.

The debate around Eden Park is ongoing. Residents views. First published in Sept 2018

Any bid to relax planning conditions on the suburban venue, is likely to be a hot issue in the surrounding community and for city politicians.

06072018 Chris McKeen/Stuff NEWS PHOTOS: File photos of Eden Park

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Goff's comments are the first public reference to a move to tackle the current planning controls.

'I understand from the Eden Park Trust Board they have plans to go to the Environment Court to try to sort out a better deal,'Goff told Newshub's AM show.

'They will make the application, and the court will say Yay or Nay, and set whatever conditions - it's their business not ours (councils),' said Goff.

'As a regulator I sit on the sideline, I have to be objective, I can't pre-determine the outcome.'

Concerts are effectively out of reach for Eden Park, even though it is technically allowed to seek approval for up to six a year.

Each concert needs it's own resource consent in a process open to objections, and can be appealed through the court system.

Eden Park last year abandoned it's first serious attempt to stage a concert, when the level of objection signalled a lengthy and costly planning process.

Some estimates put the value of concerts to the stadium at up to $6 million a year, which would go a long way to solving it's cash troubles.

Stuff approached the Eden Park Trust Board but it declined comment ahead of it's appearance before councillors next Tuesday.

Councillors will next week vote on a financial package for Eden Park, likely to take the form of a loan of nearly $50 million, and further loans or grants to fund essential maintenance.

The need for the package has been triggered by a $40 million bank loan to Eden Park falling due, and which is guaranteed by the council.

Eden Park can't afford to repay the money, and the bank loan looks set to be repaid by the council and replaced with the council lending a similar amount directly to the stadium's owners.

Eden Park Trustees and management met the full council behind closed doors in February, and councillors considered the bailout options in a closed session on Thursday, ahead of next Tuesday's vote by the Finance and Performance committee.

Any move to loosen planning controls will become a political issue, especially with local body elections in October.

Centre-right politicians in the Sandringham have spoken out in favour of concerts, including one of the two ward councillors Christine Fletcher, and the C&R team for the Albert-Eden local board.

The board itself has come out in support of a viable Eden Park, but has been silent specifically on the question of concerts.