No result in stadium report

AUCKLAND: A report costing nearly $1 million has failed to conclude whether a downtown stadium in Auckland is feasible.

The report examined the initial possibility of building a rectangular footballsized stadium, with an estimated capacity of around 30,000 seats but able to expand to up to 50,000.

The concept has been mooted since before the 2011 Rugby World Cup, when Helen Clark’s Labour government — in which Auckland Mayor Phil Goff was a minister — offered to pay for a waterfront stadium.

The $930,000 PWC report has found only that a further, more detailed report is needed.

Prior to his election in 2016, Phil Goff had said a downtown stadium would be needed in 15 years’ time, and once in office repeatedly said its feasibility should be explored.

‘‘There’s a lot of work to be done and time is on our side to look at this, and it may be that it doesn’t work as a stadium site,’’ Mr Goff said in March last year, when the commissioning of the report was announced.

The report’s authors underlined the significant challenges in building a downtown stadium.

‘‘They most often do not generate operational revenue that is sufficient to cover operational costs, depreciation, renewals and maintenance,’’ they said.

Mr Goff has so far been unavailable to comment on the report.