$40-45 Million Soccer Specific Stadium - Petone Phoenix

I take the point of this and I'm not saying it would stop me going to a game or that I don't support the concept of a stadium in Petone (I'm still on the fence) but how many intersections do you have to cross to get from either of those two stations to the Petone Rec? In the case of Petone it's about 11 and one of them is State Highway 2. So, while in distance it might be similar, in time it would be colossally more inconvenient.

You are in good form this afternoon Christo!

I like Shane Harmon and think he is doing his best and I don't want to run him down in any way (in fact if this new stadium gets built he'd be a prime candidate to be CEO!).

When he said in the paper today that "a multi-million dollar upgrade of Westpac Stadium should be considered as part of the debate around the proposed Petone Arena" he's right of course. But what also needs to be part of the debate is much more information and clarity for Wellington rate-payers about how the stadium ownership, governance and funding works. I know that this info is contained in annual reports and trust deeds and whatever but this all needs to be brought to the fore so that people can easily understand what's going on and the potential pros and cons for Wellington of losing the Nix to Hutt City.

In fact, maybe that's the job of a decent journo. Do we have one available?

Returning to serious chat for a minute. Do we think this is actually WCC's view - that they are providing the Phoenix with a free stadium? It would make a massive lie of what former Cr John Morrison was saying on the radio the other morning.

Re the new stadium. 'Stade Petone', proposal. If anyone is interested there's a public meeting at Petone Baptist Church on Buick St, 7pm Monday night. 24/2/2014 - Come along.

On a serious note I think the walk is a bit of a red herring anyway. I live in Island Bay and if the stadium's in Petone I will be taking the opportunity to go via Jackson Street and make a bit more of an afternoon of it, get a bite to eat, have a beer etc so the distance direct from either station becomes irrelevant. I know people already go to the Backbencher or other pubs near Westpac but Jackson Street has much more of a village type of feel to it and is literally right next to the proposed location.

I think Jackson Street is a real plus point in this proposal and will probably only get better if this actually happens. On a match day you can imagine Jackson Street really humming, with all the fans larging it up in a relatively small area. The hospitality industry on Jackson Street must be rubbing their hands together already.

As i have stated before i love the idea.

What i dont get is Gareth wanting to throw money at something when lets face it the main tenant isnt exactly locked into its future for any long period of time.Yes there may be promises but wherever FIFA is involved can you be guaranteed those promises will remain .

Also  cant believe the moaners on here complaining about about getting to the proposed stadium you would think it was going to require massive travel the way some are carrying on.

jackson st is a huge upside to this thing, it's a great street for food and drink

could seal the b*stard off on gameday and make a real thing of it

walking to game along jackson would smash the concourse 'experience' 

All this talk about Westpac Stadium being too expensive for the Nix is nonsense and Gareth & Co know it.

The fact is that the Nix have the best venue deal in the A League.

They pay a very small fixed hire fee plus event costs which amounts to less than $30k per home match.

They have also pocketed "marketing grants" of over $1m in cash from the WCC and the Stadium Trust since Wellnix took over the A league license.

You may well ask were this money has gone because it is clear that it has not been spent on marketing.

So effectively Wellington City via the WCC Event fund and the Stadium Trust has provided the Wellnix with a FREE stadium.

This is disingenuous at best and deliberately misleading at worst.  If the only cost involved with putting on an event at the stadium was $30k the stadium would be bankrupt.  If you want this debate to be had out in the open then come back with real figures.  You are essentially accusing the Phoenix CEO of lying as he's been on the record time and time again that playing at home loses money with crowds below 9ish - thousand

Just watched Smithy on firstline:

http://www.3news.co.nz/Phoenix-fans-back-new-stadium-proposal/tabid/415/articleID/332659/Default.aspx

This has been a party political broadcast of the anti-NIMBYs business lobby.

There are some great potential economic benefits. Some outstanding potential sporting/football benefits. But there are also some potentially legitimate negatives - crowd control, loss of green space, and direct impact on adjacent residents. 

I don't have a problem with an advocacy group giving voice to the negatively affected.

Perhaps the issue is that those of us in favour of it are too lazy.

Here's another slightly mischevious point

Should some of the slagging off of John Morrison that's gone on on here and elsewhere be taken back?  He said the Phoenix were looking to leave Westpac.  Turns out it was true!

Not really. Most people weren't slagging for his saying about the move (although he did leak info given to him in confidence) but the fact he complained about the stadium even though he was on the board for 6 years.

Yes love that idea, well at least a portion of it, that would be insane. 

Not really. Most people weren't slagging for his saying about the move (although he did leak info given to him in confidence) but the fact he complained about the stadium even though he was on the board for 6 years.

No I'm thinking about the story/non-story from about 6 months or a year ago.  I think Sam Boyer was the journo and he got a bit of a roasting on here

"The Wellington Phoenix say they will make a major announcement at 9am this morning.

There has been much speculation in recent weeks about whether the club will remain at the Cake Tin or move to a smaller venue and the team's run of poor results has added extra pressure"

Found the old story http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8225955/Phoenix-eye-move-to-smaller-venue

Then a month later this popped up.

Wasn't that talking about moving to Newtown Park for the upcoming season? Without any redevelopment.