Auckland’s North Harbour Stadium will continue to be operated by economic agency Tātaki Auckland Unlimited after the local board couldn’t find a better operator.
The North Harbour Stadium Steering Group, made up of the chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of the Upper Harbour and Hibiscus and Bays local boards, opened an expression of interest process in January but received just two submissions.
An evaluation panel found neither proposal met all the requirements and wouldn’t be any better than the status quo.
Panel members unanimously decided to keep the North Harbour Stadium and Domain Precinct under its current management through Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, a council-controlled organisation.
“While the intention was to seek a new operator for North Harbour Stadium, the outcome needed to deliver on the key criteria laid out in the EOI (expression of interest) such as increased connection with the community and at least matching, if not improving on, the stadium’s recent financial performance,” local board chair Anna Atkinson said in a statement.
“Independent financial analysis of the proposals received pointed to increased costs to ratepayers, when compared to the existing operating costs. The proposition of added financial burden to ratepayers, alongside assessment of other criteria within the proposals, was what led to the panel’s recommendation of TAU (Tātaki Auckland Unlimited) remaining operators of the stadium.”
rnz.co.nz