Ponsonby Rugby Club chair unsurprised Auckland Arena deal falls through

RNZ News

8 hours ago

Western Springs.
Photo:
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
The chair of Auckland's Ponsonby Rugby Club is not surprised the Mowbray-backed proposal for Western Springs Stadium fell through.
Rich-listers - including entrepreneur Anna Mowbray, her husband, former All Black Ali Williams, American businessman Bill Foley, and New Zealander and NBA player Steven Adams -
withdrew their proposal
for an Auckland Arena, a privately-funded venue focused on football, on Tuesday.
It was one of three options for the future of the stadium that went out for public consultation in May.
A statement from Auckland Arena now said delivering the privately funded project on public land posed unique challenges.
Ponsonby Rugby Club chair Greg Edmonds, who is backing a competing proposal to
develop a Western Springs Bowl
, said he saw it coming.
"It wasn't really a surprise to us," he said.
"Getting their proposal up on a piece of land that was publicly owned was always going to be a challenge. A hundred-year lease is a long time to have to look after an asset so we always thought there was some risk that it might not actually get through to a conclusion."
He said using public land for a private asset was always going to be an uphill battle.
"You've got a private professional sports club that wants to use a public asset for a private-use club. It's the challenge of convincing the governing body that would be the best use of an asset," Edmonds said.
Despite the shake-up, Edmonds said there was no need to restart the process.
"I don't think they need to restart the process because it was a public, open process for expressions of interest. All of those that had an option for Western Springs Stadium have had that opportunity," he said.
"No need to restart the process and spend more public money on a debate that's pretty crystal clear now.
"Our proposal is about keeping that stadium in public hands and public use. It's in the best interest of the whole of Auckland, not just for rugby but for all rectangular sports."
The Western Springs Bowl proposal was now largely unopposed, however a slim majority indicated a preference to "explore other ideas" during the public consultation period.
Tātaki Auckland Unlimited chief executive Nick Hill said the agency, which had previously held Auckland Arena as its preferred option, would no longer provide a recommendation to the governing body meeting on 31 July.
Instead he said the recommendation would be delayed until after this year's local government elections.
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