Wellington MP keen to push for 8000-capacity arena
Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul is pledging to turn her focus to an 8000-person arena for the capital.
Talk of an arena, bigger than the TSB Arena on the waterfront which can seat 4500 and smaller than the 34,500seat Sky Stadium, has been discussed for more than 20 years but never got much further than that.
In that time, acts including Bruce Springsteen, Santana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Bryan Adams, Sir Cliff Richard, Metallica, and Pink have toured New Zealand but missed the capital, where there have long been calls for a bigger indoor arena.
Paul had been helping a Wellington team set up a new music venue, with capacity for about 1000 people, but said that she would then turn her attention to a new 8000-capacity venue after that.
The most-likely option was roughly doubling the size of the TSB Arena at Queens Wharf but there were other waterfront options that were possible.
She believed the work could be done with the help of private investors – meaning Wellington ratepayers would not have to pay. “The interest is definitely there,” she said.
Wellington’s lack of a decent-sized indoor arena – which most cities had – meant acts such as Pink often bypassed the capital, she said.
The new, or re-purposed, stadium would be “next level” for the city with benefits for hospitality, accommodation, local businesses and the “vibe” of the city, she said.
“All we need is a bit of political [drive].” She planned to soon “get the ball rolling” with the council, councillors, and mayor Tory Whanau, who she was yet to discuss plans with.
Wellington promoter Phil Sprey liked that a new arena was being discussed but, after at least 12 years of hearing about plans that never happened, he was cynical of it coming to pass.
An 8000-capacity venue was too small and, for Wellington to future proof its ability to get big international acts, “no less than 13,000 to 15,000” was needed, he said.
Queens Wharf was also the wrong spot with those going TSB Arena already struggling to find parking. The ideal location would be on CentrePort land, where logs were currently stored, opposite Sky Stadium.
He suggested a public-private partnership with a casino above the arena to fund it, and a car park built over the existing Wellington train yards.
But, given the mounting costs facing the city council, it would “piss people off big time” if council money went to a new arena.
Whanau said the council was not in a financial position to fund a new arena but she would be “open to conversations” about investment.
“All we need is a bit of political [drive].”
Tamatha Paul
Wellington Central MP