Exquisite Eden Park to gyrate to gigs

Image: Eden Park, Auckland, TimBray, CC BY-SA 4.0

New Zealand could see more leading artistes coming its way next year as the Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, gets the green light to hold more concerts.

‘The New Zealand Herald’ stated that a ruling from the Auckland Council published recently confirms the stadium can now host double the number of concerts previously allowed since it was first permitted to host them in 2021.

The Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometers Southwest of the Auckland central business district (CBD) on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000 and is sometimes referred to as New Zealand’s national stadium.

Noted Nick Sautner, Eden Park Chief Executive, “Receiving consent to host up to 12 concerts featuring six different artistes annually is a significant milestone and further strengthens our global reputation as a world-class sporting and entertainment venue.”

An application from the Eden Park Trust earlier this year to double the annual concert numbers from January next year has been approved.

‘The New Zealand Herald’ further stated that the submission was spearheaded by planner Mark Vinall of Tattico who submitted an assessment of environmental effects, certificate of title, resource consent approvals as they stood, concert consent, transport assessment, acoustic assessment, social impact assessment, proposed consent conditions, and letters of support.

The members of the public could submit their views as part of the process.

More than 2,000 public submissions were made with 94 percent of people in support of more concerts.

Sautner was a “historic day for the Eden Park, our City and Country. Increasing our concert capacity allows us to expand venue availability to provide the promoters the flexibility and certainty they need to bring the global artistes to New Zealand and enables us to compete with stadiums in Australia for content.”

The consent states that up to six artistes will be allowed to perform during the calendar year. There are several conditions including that concerts must finish by 11 pm on most days and 10.30 pm on a Sunday not followed by a public holiday. Noise limits also remain in place.

Sautner noted the economic and social impacts of having large-scale events in Auckland had been proven since gigs started in 2021.

He said, “From Six60 (New Zealand pop rock band) to Billy Joel (American singer-songwriter and pianist) and more recently Coldplay (British rock band), the Eden Park has demonstrated its ability to successfully host the global artistes.”

Earlier in the month of November, the stadium hosted more than 160,000 fans at three sold-out Coldplay concerts with Sautner saying their economic benefit was expected to reach tens of millions of dollars – “When you take into account direct spending on plane tickets, hotels, cafes, bars, transportation, retail, and tourism by the 60 percent of fans who traveled to Auckland from New Zealand and world right through to the 3,000 casual staff we employed each night of the concert for many of whom working at an event like this is their second job, the impact is significant.”

The Eden Park team would continue working with the promoters to bring international artistes to the venue, he said.

Stated Sautner, “Our commitment to continually enhancing venue utilization and infrastructure will ensure that the Eden Park is a world-class, multipurpose venue for top-tier events.”

The decision to increase the number of concerts was also welcome news for Auckland’s hospitality sector.

Hospitality NZ Chief Executive Steve Armitage said events such as concerts at the Eden Park were “a real boost for the local businesses, including hospitality and accommodation operators. Our sector thrives when visitors come to our Cities and towns. The run of Coldplay and Pearl Jam (American rock band) concerts in Auckland earlier in the month of November brought the City to life filling our venues and restaurants with visitors keen to experience more than just the music. Accommodation occupancies were also close to 90 percent.”

Sautner said recent research from the Massey University (university in Auckland, New Zealand) showed that for every dollar spent on a live performance $ 3.20 was returned in benefits to the wider community – “Auckland businesses in our sector will be ready to welcome the locals and the visitors heading to Eden Park and to make the most of the opportunities that more concerts will create.”

Sautner previously said that the consent restrictions may have been one of the reasons why the pop superstar Taylor Swift (American singer-songwriter) snubbed New Zealand on her record-breaking Eras Tour.

He said in February, “In 2020, our resource consent permitted the Eden Park to hold up to six concerts in any 12-month period.”

The promoters of big acts were increasingly requiring multiple concert dates to accommodate the demand – “Our current consent doesn’t make this possible which means the artistes are bypassing New Zealand and fans are missing out.”

Concerts already scheduled for Eden Park next year include two nights of country star Luke Combs (American singer) in January and one night of rock band Metallica (American heavy metal band) in November.

The Auckland Council’s decision noted that an appeal can be lodged within 15 working days of publication.

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