Island Life: All stadium, all the time
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I'm afriad I am with Andre on this.
That is: really, really afraid, cos the sweaty men are not to be dissed lightly. They weren't BORN with ears and noses that shape you know...
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Being the parochial critters that some Aucklanders are will prevent them making a trip over the harbour bridge.
Ten or fifteen minutes away from their cluttered mess of a city would have them at Albany where the stadium offers pleasant views of bush clad hills while waiting for a game to commence.
Motorway access from North or South, and plenty of parking space makes the North Harbour stadium very accessible.
To a lay person, like me, there appears to be room for expansion.
Maybe it would all be too much for those who think they live at the centre of the universe to consider, but it is still part of the Auckland area.
If Aucklanders could quit the myopic vision of _which_ central city stadium they might be able to see other alternatives to sort out this debacle. -
Ten or fifteen minutes away ...
When there are 60,000 people heading in the same direction? I think not. I've been to NH Stadium from just south of the bridge a number of times, and I've never done it it 10 minutes. South Aucklanders would be wanting to allow at least an hour on big match days.
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My last trip to Albany was for an All Whites game, already you can imagine what the crowd was like, pitiful. We still had to circle to park, and with only a few thousand people driving out it was still a fair drive, no 10 minute jaunt.
Besides, the point would have to be that the only way to get to Albany is drive, 60,000 all needing to use 1 road, it just isn't doable. We need to be able to offer good public transport, including rail. 1 lane for buses doesn't cut it in my opinion.
I have had the good fortune to travel to many great sporting stadiums in the last few years, Stade de France, Millennium Stadium, Highbury, Maddison Square Garden, all within cooee of solid reliable public transport (I don't want to start an argument here on how solid Britomart is either!!).
Also how is the hotel situation in Albany?
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Oh! is that some of that parochialism showing?
Would_all_60,000 be coming from your side of the city?
I was not expecting them to travel at that pace on match day. Just pointing out how close it is in real terms compared to the long way that south-side dwellers regard it in their minds
And how long would the usual 15 min trip from central suburbs to a central stadium take on the grand day? An hour and how much? -
Being from the Bay of Plenty I have no underlying ties to Auckland City, I just reside here as that is where the man pays me, so no real parochialism.
I just feel that the ability for people to be able to train/bus/ferry/drive to a ground is a real advantage.
You make a good point about the central suburbs taking a long time to get to the CBD, then add on a bus ride to Albany over the bridge.
I really like North Harbour stadium, but I don't think it is the solution for the stadium debate due to public transport.
And I would hazard a guess that a fair proportion of Punters would be traveling to the ground from South of the bridge, that is where a lot of hotels are, the airport and the other 2/3rds of the country (not that the 15 min north is much further indeed, but would really compound the problem on game day).
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Bryan how close do you live to Albany?
The entire population of Auckland does not live on the other side of the harbour bridge. Some of us live in places like Massey, Gled Eden, Papatoetoe, Otahuhu, Onehunga and a few dozen other suburbs which are all quite a way from just jumping on the harbour bridge.
The waterfront is the central point or as near as you are going to get to EVERYWHERE in the greater Auckland region. Albany isn't even central to the North Shore. It has buses yes, it has car parking yes.
The waterfront has buses, way more car parking potentially available (yes, there are huge empty carparks arund the times most events will be on), rail, workers and residents on it's doorstep and it is no more than 30 minutes drive outside peak hour for roughly a million people.
60,000 seats at Albany = whiter than white elephant.
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Fair enough, Hayden.
I don't really care where they all go to sit for the grand final.What puzzles me is what the Rugby Union had in mind when they made their herioc bid for the World Cup. Did this business/sports company always expect the population at large to prop it up?
What are the estimated economic factors involved with the Cup?
Do the overall figures show a benefit to our country after the $1 billion spend up?( I know the stadium will remain for further use, but it seems like a lot of other peoples' money is being committed here)Why were discussions so quiet a year ago? Those responsible must have had an inkling that they didn't have a suitable venue.
I also wonder why a stadium for such an earth-based sport has to intrude on what has previously been the domain of water-based amusement.
Just because the space is there over the water does not seem a good enough reason to throw citizens' rights away by rolling over top of all established planning procedures.
The RMA might be a bother to some, but usually only those who want to get things done in a hurry without due consideration for all.
Fast tracking a large public project like this without adequate public consultation makes a mockery of democratic process.Russell, please excuse my exaggeration. Ten or fifteen minutes as the real estate agent flies, perhaps.
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When it boils down to it you are right Bryan. I have got a little swept up in the debate. It is a time to stand back and look at the bigger picture. There is a phenomenal amount of money at stake here, and it needs to be spent correctly.
Auckland is in an unfortunate position of having 2 - 3 decent sized stadiums that aren't quite up to World Cup Final capacity, so a decision needs to be made.
My main criticism is that Eden Park is dead money. And I have had a golden carrot dangled in front of me that I don't directly have to pay for (as much as we all know we will!!).
At least the injunction was overturned, someone can now put their cojones on the line and make a decision!!
Regardless I look forward to not getting tickets to the final by ballot wherever it is played.
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Bryan to answer some of your questions:
The NZRU originally planned for about 80 million dollars worth of temporary seating to go into Eden Park and that is what was sold to the IRB and deemed perfectly adequate to them to give us the WC. That number shot up after they unveiled plans for a big 350 million dollar revamp and thats when the waterfront idea seed was sown and germinated fairly quickly.If they had stuck to the 80 million dollar temporary idea the waterfront option would possibly never have surfaced. Well not for much longer anyway.
Its now up to 385 million and basically its a rubbish idea throwing money into a stadium without a real long term future.
Auckland will eventually grow to the point where it even needs a stadium able to seat more than 60,000 and Eden Park simply can't keep doing that. At least at the waterfront you can do a highbury or yankee stadium and build a new one down the road and demolish the old one once it can't cater to your needs anymore. Eden Park may be a bit cheaper but its short term thinking not long term. It's like building a one lane bridge over a river when you are building a huge subdivision on the otherside.
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The Auckland Regional Council has voted unanimously in favour of an Eden Park upgrade for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Councillors voted 12 to nil against the waterfront stadium proposal.
And now back to the book...
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Now it is up to Trev to make a decision and stand by it, but without the ARC and presumably the port Co, I think he has no choice but to go back to the eden park proposal.
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Go Jade Stadium
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go bledisloe wharf. we could just clear the containers, put down some jerseys in the corners and play shirts vs skins. heaps cheaper, and it doesn't ruin the view. after the game, its just 5 minutes walk to fort street
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put down some jerseys in the corners and play shirts vs skins. heaps cheaper, and it doesn't ruin the view.
In fact, in my considered opinion with a France-NZ final, that could well MAKE the view.
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I keen to hear a bit more about the new waterfront location, particularly in terms of transport and nearby bars/cafes, but I am pleased something ambitious has been agreed over a compromise. Eden Park is a good venue but not a great one and I can't see how the middle of a leafy suburb could ever sustain a really great stadium in the way the heart of the city could.
Jade is not a meaningful option.
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Jade is not a meaningful option.
Eden Park will never be a "National Stadium" ergo Auckland ratepayers can foot the bill
Upgrading Jade to 60k seats is cheaper and Christchurch people can agree on things
not to mention that the south island is a much better destination for both overseas visitors and travel within NZ.
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What the hell was the ARC thinking when in it's statement it claimed that
negative impact on the heritage and urban design values of the Britomart precinct and the adjacent waterfront area
Bejesus their inerpretation of heritage and urban design values must include locks, cranes, containers freakin ugly buildings...
Mind you look who is on the ARC and one only needs to imagine the board room lunch offers for a "unanimous" decision to come through.
Surely ther had to be one voice of dissension, even if we are just going by the annecdotal polls that are about.
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I've said it beofre.
Auckland really doesn't deserve it. They get the motorwayed environment they deserve.
So the rich smucks of the apartment dwellers are going to win over the poor buggers of suburban eden park? -
Christchurch will benefit enough from the visitors going to other games and enjoying NZ's attractions, Christchurch has much to commend it, but the final must be held in a city that compares internationally and I don't think Christchurch does; it might as well be Adelaide.
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Don Brash gets rolled
John Key's fingers are in the till (apologies to Yeats)
Plonker Basset gets outed
Auckland yet again demonstrates it's unity of purpose (I can only imagine the finger pointing if Jade actually got the deal)
The sun is shining in Wellington -
Press Release by New Zealand Government at 2:34 pm, 24 Nov 2006
“I have formally received the decisions of the Auckland Regional Council and the Auckland City Council relating to the location of the stadium for the Rugby World Cup 2011 final.
The decisions are not consistent.
I will refer the matter to Cabinet on Monday” Trevor Mallard said.There will be no further comment from Trevor Mallard.
ENDSoh well I guess we wait till monday now .......
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I'm with you Mark, a proper Kiwi World Cup, just like we used to play. We could even bring in that temporary stadium seating I remember someone mentioning that was for Eden Park!!
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Ten or fifteen minutes away from their cluttered mess of a city would have them at Albany where the stadium offers pleasant views of bush clad hills while waiting for a game to commence.... Motorway access from North or South, and plenty of parking space makes the North Harbour stadium very accessible.
It's that sort of thinking (sprawling out away from the "cluttered" city towards the big open views, with plenty of motorway access and parking space) that's turned Auckland into the hopelessly placeless, scattered, car-obsessed disaster that it is. How pleasant it is to live in a "cluttered mess" of a city where people can walk from work to the Stadium to the bars and then home.
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Agree. I could get the bus or train to the waterfront stadium from where I live. To Eden Park I can get... my arse out to the car and drive in, park miles away and walk and repeat to get home.
Haven't had time to go over it but is the main sticking point with the ARC really about the disruption tot he ports because the line about heritage values etc is a complete and utter joke. The cbd is filled with recently built buildings. Some look nice and some look bloody awful but if they have an issue with preservation then they should do more. My father has busted his guts along with a few others to preserve countless buildings in the cbd and other parts of Auckland because nobody will get on board. Now all of a sudden it's become a big concern. Screw it, lets invade one of Aucklands oldest suburbs a few times a year instead.
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