Residents living near New Zealand’s largest stadium are worried the Government’s proposed plan to remove event limitations would gridlock them in the quiet streets surrounding it.
The impending review into enabling more opportunities for concerts at Eden Park has soured some community stakeholders, with nearby residents - including a former Prime Minister - questioning the extent officials are willing to go to, to strip back protections long argued for by neighbours.
As part of a $70 million investment package aimed at attracting major events to New Zealand and boosting tourism prospects, the Government will investigate whether Eden Park can be further leveraged to maximise its use.
Currently, Eden Park faces regulatory limitations that only allow up to 12 concerts from six artists per year, restrict operations on certain days and times, and ban more than four concerts in a four-week period.
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop told Newstalk ZB he finds the restrictions “comical”.
“I’ve publicly said, on many occasions, I think the rules are pretty stupid, but I’ve got to go through a statutory process.
“I’ve started that work. In fact, I signed the paperwork a couple days ago.”
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop says Eden Park's current limitations are "pretty stupid". Photo / Mark Mitchell
The investigation is expected to take four to six weeks.
Eden Park chief executive Nick Sautner told Herald NOW the resource consent process for events is “complex” and highlights the “range of overlay and bureaucracy that needs to be stripped out” from the stadium’s operating rules.
“It’s like a hotel that can operate two days a week,” he said.
“We can’t operate on a Sunday night. Our resource consent dictates that the time the sun sets determines whether or not an event is classified a day or an evening event. So there’s a number of restrictions.”
Eden Park averages about 35 event days per year - leaving it empty for 90% of the year - but Sautner believes this could be greatly increased.
“Realistically, we would see one event a week,” he said, adding that 11pm is the “ideal curfew”.
Yet Colin Lucas, Eden Park Neighbours’ Association chair, described the prospect of 52 events a year as “unprintable”.
Eden Park is currently restricted to 12 concerts from six artists each year. Photo / Brett Phibbs
“There would be just sensory overload for everybody in the area ... They’d be chopped off [at] a major arterial [route] on an event night,” he told Herald NOW.
Lucas said the current settings were already contentious, with a survey in the last planning application suggesting the 12-concert rule was at the top end of tolerance for the area’s residents.
“If Eden Park gets its wish, the area will get locked down.”
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark, a long-time Mt Eden resident, said she wasn’t sure what problem the Government’s trying to solve given the venue isn’t “close to maximising the use of the park to the level for which it currently has agreement”.
Noting that the economic impact of hosting events in Auckland was the same regardless of the venue, Clark argued the Government should be “venue-neutral in its desire to attract events”.
Bishop stands by the Government’s approach, saying Eden Park already has the infrastructure in place, including a train station hundreds of metres away.
“The reality is it’s our national stadium and it’s where we want concerts and major events to take place. It’s just as simple as that.”
Tom Rose is an Auckland-based journalist who covers breaking news, specialising in lifestyle, entertainment and travel. He joined the Herald in 2023.
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