The government is inviting feedback from the public and the council on its proposal to raise the number of gigs at Auckland’s Eden Park to 12 large and 20 medium concerts annually.
A local community board was said to have rejected the plan, provoking outrage from the Dominion Rd Business Association.
The association’s manager, Gary Holmes, described the decision as “economic vandalism.”
“We’ve got business on Dominion Rd fighting to survive a recession, and here we’ve got a local board turning away $250,000 of economic stimulus for our area alone per event, and they’re ignoring their own voters,” he said.
“We know over 70% of locals support more concerts. It’s not just out of touch with businesses but out of touch with reality.”
The Albert-Eden Local Board’s chairperson said they are not opposed to additional events at Eden Park.
Margi Watson of the Local Board explained that reactions from the business community and public stemmed from incomplete information.
“We very much supported a lot that was in the proposal, there was nothing that we opposed,” Watson said.
“What we raised was some concerns that we had about some of the things that pop up on a regular basis related to large events at Eden Park, and we asked that was considered and looked at.”
She explained that the confusion likely came from people viewing an initial document on the council website without reading the board’s full perspective, which was uploaded later.
Watson highlighted issues with traffic management for events. She said large events frequently block neighbourhood access and necessitate diverting major bus routes.
Watson expressed doubt that Eden Park’s proposal for on-site parking for 1500 vehicles would alleviate congestion.
She said they want a review of the traffic management plans and would like to see greater emphasis on “integrated ticketing,” where tickets for major events would also include bus and train fares.
Watson said she understands that Eden Park is planning to have discussions next week about reviewing the traffic management plan, and she is eager to see the outcomes of those talks.
She said the Auckland Council will submit feedback to the minister, incorporating the Local Board’s perspectives on noise and traffic, alongside an economic report addressing “assumptions about economic growth in the area” and a noise report evaluating the shift from 12 large events to more small and medium ones.