Facing the music New battlelines drawn in charity gig fight

Poll finds 91 per cent in favour of charity event in contrast to objections by high-profile residents

A poll for the Eden Park Trust has found an overwhelming 91 per cent of surveyed Aucklanders support the proposed “Million Babies” concert, despite objections by some highprofile local residents.

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark, who lives near Eden Park, is one of 127 objectors to the proposed Waitangi Day 2019 concert for Sir Ray Avery’s LifePod incubators for premature babies, calling it a “Trojan horse” for more night concerts at the park.

But the poll, commissioned by the trust and completed by UMR, found

87 per cent of 350 people questioned in nearby suburbs, and 91 per cent of

650 people across the rest of Auckland, support the concert proposal.

The park, New Zealand’s biggest stadium with capacity for 60,000 spectators, has consent under the Auckland unitary plan for up to 25 night-time sports events a year.

The plan also allows for up to six night concerts a year, but requires the trust to apply for an individual resource consent for each concert.

No consent for a concert has ever been granted.

The trust’s application for the Million Babies event, lodged on June

6, said noise levels during the concert, between 7pm and 10.30pm on Waitangi Day, could exceed 75 decibels for about 30 houses west of Sandringham Rd and 80 decibels for another small group of houses near the northwest corner of the park.

On July 12, when submissions closed, the trust announced it would offer a noise limit as a condition for the resource consent, but it has not said what the limit would be.

Auckland Council said it received

360 submissions supporting the consent, 127 against and one neutral.

The trust and the council have agreed to send the case directly to the Environment Court so it can be decided by October, in time to confirm what the trust called “a star-studded cast including a performance by an unrevealed music icon who has never before performed in New Zealand”.

The poll’s sample of 350 people was drawn from Balmoral, Eden Terrace, Kingsland, Morningside, Mt Eden and Mt Albert.

Questions indicated that the trust was keen to hold more than the current maximum of 25 night events including up to six night concerts a year.

“With the support of our neighbours, in future we are interested in doing more of the sorts of events that our Trust Deed envisages,” Eden Park Trust chief executive Nick Sautner said.

Sautner said there was “no doubt” the proposed LifePod Appeal concert would “impact our neighbours”.

The poll has been released in the wake of reports this week that the Australian Federal Court found in 2015 that Sautner was dismissed from a previous job with Melbourne Stadiums because of misuse of free tickets to games and other “serious misconduct”.

Trust board chairman Doug McKay said he was aware of the Australian allegations before Sautner was appointed chief executive last year but investigated them, and Sautner had the board’s full support.

Avery said last night he was determined to make the concert happen at Eden Park.

“I didn’t realise how much it would cost to get the consents. We are still hopeful we can get it through the court.”

He added: “I live my life on acute social values. What I am trying to do here is raise money to save one million kids’ lives.”