Decade wait for arena
‘Wellington missing out’
Don’t expect to see superstars like singer Ed Sheeran play a concert in Wellington any time soon.
Plans for a 10,000 to 12,000-capacity indoor arena, costing about $200 million and touted to attract big acts, could be a decade away.
Wellington City Council, which had been leading the charge for the arena, has signalled that it doesn’t intend to start construction until about 2025.
The delay has frustrated businesses, regional mayors and a prominent concert promoter.
Phil Sprey, who has long been advocating for a covered venue bigger than TSB Arena but smaller than Westpac Stadium, said he was shocked the plans had been pushed back. ‘‘That’s insane, it’s ridiculous. I’ll be dead by then.’’
The council had given the impression the arena was on the way in the next few years, he said.
‘‘Wellington is so far behind the [arena] eight-ball. The interim [acts] will be huge. Wellington will be missing out.’’
The council has pegged $85m for the estimated $200m venue in its 2018-28 draft Long-Term Plan. It proposes to start funnelling sizeable funds toward the project in year six of the plan, with larger amounts scheduled in years seven and eight.
While most of the Wellington region’s mayors supported the venture, they were expecting it far sooner.
Porirua Mayor Mike Tana said the arena no longer seemed to be a priority for the city council, while Lower Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace was disappointed it appeared to be on the ‘‘backburner’’.
Public perception was that an arena would happen sooner rather than later, Wallace said. ‘‘We want to keep the region vibrant but we are missing out on major events and concerts. As a region, we need to be able to attract performers.’’
It remained unclear how construction of the arena would be fully funded.
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said it would require promotional partners, and the city would look to Greater Wellington Regional Council for a regional rate.
The region’s ratepayers have contributed to a stadium levy of more than $2m a year to help finance Westpac Stadium, which is almost paid off, so the mayors said they would consider whether this fee could be continued to support a new arena.
However, it is understood the regional council was not sold on the idea.
Greater Wellington Regional Council chairman Chris Laidlaw said it would keep an open mind if there was a valid business case. ‘‘But at the moment we have higher, more pressing priorities.’’
The council wanted to concentrate on ‘‘core business projects’’, and an indoor arena would have to take its place behind them.
City council chief executive Kevin Lavery said his council’s draft Long-Term Plan was ambitious and had a lot of other big investments in the first five years.
The indoor arena was a complicated project that would take years to complete, and finding a site was a priority, he said.
A shortlist of sites include: TSB Arena, the BNZ site at CentrePort, and Westpac Stadium’s concourse.
The city council would consider a commercial partner to help fund the arena, and there was still a long way to go to understand the other councils’ roles, Lavery said.
In May last year, Wellington regional strategy committee members agreed to advance plans to build the arena. Since then, Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (Wreda) has prepared a draft strategic case that is understood to indicate there is an opportunity for such a venue.
However, the project still does not have a detailed business case.