Will the Government override Auckland Council on concerts at Eden Park?

Wednesday, 5 November 2025

The Government is considering using new legislation to override Auckland Council’s planning rules to allow for more concerts at Eden Park, despite noise complaints from nearby residents.

An amendment to the Resource Management Act this year introduced new powers allowing the Environment Minister, or their delegate, to modify local planning provisions that “negatively impact economic growth”.

On Wednesday, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop released an “investigative report” which he said showed restrictions on Eden Park could be costing “hundreds of millions”.

“Restrictive local planning rules are stifling Eden Park’s ability to drive economic growth and create jobs,” Bishop said.

Earlier this year, Eden Park won the right to hold 12 concerts a year via a resource consent and public hearings process, but a new report commissioned by the Ministry for the Environment recommends turning up the dial and allowing 32.

The report, by private consultancy Incite, estimated that current restrictions would result in $432 million in “foregone economic activity” in Auckland over 10 years, and 751 fewer potential jobs.

It said that if Eden Park attracted more acts, they might also tour the rest of New Zealand and generate a further $190m.

It recommends Eden Park be allowed to hold 12 “large” concerts of more than 30,000 attendees and 20 “medium” concerts each year. It also suggests allowing concerts up to eight hours in length.

The report draws from Eden Park chief executive Nick Sautner, who earlier this year blamed Taylor Swift bypassing New Zealand on a lack of available dates at the stadium.

While public submissions to the council previously showed 94% support from the general public to increase concerts, the proposal also drew vocal criticism from nearby residents.

“We can hear the noise above the radio and TV with the windows shut. We don’t go out due to the traffic. We cannot sleep for the noise in our bedroom. We cannot escape from it,” resident Amanda McMullin told the council.

“Long after concerts are over, we are woken by the noise of concert goers wandering the streets drunk, singing and shouting, looking for their cars.”

Last year, a concert by rapper Travis Scott saw 24 noise complaints, while Coldplay and Six60 each got six complaints.

The opposition camp, made up of about 100 households, have an ally in former Prime Minister Helen Clark. She suggests existing concerts are already an “unreasonable burden”.

“The current effects of concerts at Eden Park are a major adverse impact on our residential amenity. These effects include concert noise (including sound checks), and major traffic and parking disruption,” she previously told the council.

Resident Michael Jones told the council that allowing all of Auckland to submit on the concert proposal meant the closest residents weren’t getting a “fair trial”.

“The potential benefit to Eden Park to attract acts cannot be more than the real detriment that residents will suffer here,” Jones wrote.

Bishop disagrees.

“Eden Park is a vital asset for Auckland and for New Zealand, hosting major sporting and entertainment events that inject millions into the local economy,” he said.

The Government has begun public consultation on “developing new targeted regulations” which would overwrite the Unitary Plan, and submissions are open until November 19 on the Ministry for the Environment website.

Bishop said he had also written to the council on Monday with a copy of the investigation and had given them 20 working days to respond with feedback.

The attempt at boosting Eden Park’s economic productivity comes as its Trust Board seeks $110m from the Government for an upgrade to its lower north stand.

Bishop told The Post that while the Government was keen to see more events, the expansion proposal was “not currently under consideration”.

“Planning restrictions aside, there are a range of other well-known complexities with Eden Park, including the existing use rights of Auckland Cricket and Auckland Rugby, and the fact that Eden Park is governed by a private trust,” he said.

“I am aware Eden Park has submitted their expansion proposal to the Infrastructure Commission for consideration as part of their Infrastructure Priorities Programme and I look forward to seeing the results of that.”

Deputy mayor Desley Simpson told The Post she supported the Government consulting on the issue of more concerts.

“In my personal opinion, less red tape will help Eden Park deliver more benefits to Auckland,” she said.

Simpson said that in the latter half of November, Auckland accommodation providers were 97% booked out off the back of Metallica at Eden Park and the World Indigenous Peoples Conference.

She added that the council would carefully consider the issue before forming an official view later this month.

Earlier this year, Auckland’s councillors voted to endorse an Eden Park upgrade over a waterfront stadium.

However, Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has said upgrades won’t be funded by the ratepayer. He’s also previously been lukewarm on increasing concerts.

“We just doubled it after years, but it's a democracy, you can't just force more rock bands on an area which has had a sports field,” he told 1News.

But Bishop said “big concerts deliver big economic benefits”. Over three years, performances from the likes of Coldplay and Pearl Jam had generated $33.7m for the local economy, he said.

He said he hoped to make a decision on “what changes are warranted” by the end of this year.