Eden Park – Yet another application – 100% more concerts per year – UPDATED 30/08

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Click here for submission information.

Click or tap: SAMPLE SUBMISSION ADDED

The Eden Park Trust Board is continuing its program of incremental change to its operating consents with a new application for 6 more concerts at the venue allowing it to host 12 concerts annually, up from the current 6.

The application states (with EPNA comments in italics added):

• Consent is sought to hold up to 12 concert events in any calendar year
• Those concerts can only be performed by no more than six different artists or acts. EPNA comment: Don’t be fooled by this, as this condition can be easily relaxed – or removed altogether – with another variation. They’re setting the stage for the next variation.
• EPNA Note: 12 concerts annually is twice the amount Mt Smart or Western Springs have, each with only six High Noise level events per year.
• Concerts on any weekday and now includes Sundays and public holidays.
• Finish times to be extended to 11.00pm, any day of the week (including Sundays)
• Increase of concert duration during the week to 5 hours
• Later testing/sound check times now 10am – 8pm any day, with mid-week controls removed for schools, day-care centres, etc. Previously weekday sound checks were only 5pm – 7pm. This will directly affect those residents who – for example – work from home, or the elderly who spend most of their time at home, etc. This is totally unacceptable.
• 60,000 maximum crowd size for a mid-week concert, up from 50,000
• Increase from 40dB to 45dB of the pack in/out night-time residential noise limit. 40 to 45dB is a 50% increase (every 10dB doubles the noise level)
• No maximum night-time peak noise limit during pack-in/pack-out, as previous 75dB LAFmax is removed. Think about it for a moment what this means! A peak sound of 100dB (very loud) could be produced. THIS is what will instantly wake you up at night if you live close. And yet the 45dB average level may never be reached if it’s relatively quiet for the next 10mins. This is why the average values used are so meaningless and deceptive. It’s not the averages that are going to wake you up, it’s the peaks!
• Pack-in and pack-out from concerts can take place all through the night, with unrestricted truck movement in and out of the site (see picture of truck path further below this article). Previously this was limited to 17 heavy vehicles (meaning container trucks with 40-foot containers). Not only that, but forklifts can be used outside the stadium throughout the night and steel works be carrier out (both of these were not allowed previously). This is the reason for the 50% increase in residential noise levels. Forget about sleeping with your windows open if living in close proximity of the stadium site. We have direct experience of 40-foot containers being dumped onto the ground in the middle of the night. This – or similar peak noise – will only increase exponentially with these variations.
• Sound monitoring will no longer be performed at the property boundary, but only from the mixing desk inside the venue. Boundary noise will then be calculated using what is called the Transfer Function. This will apply to both West and East facing stage configurations. So in future, monitoring relies on computer modelling based on past concert measurements. A computer model is only as good as the data that is fed into it (leaving other factors out of consideration). If the data is unreliable or not consistent (each concert is different, in combination with differing environmental/atmospheric conditions), then it becomes almost meaningless.
  We see this change as an open invitation for concert noise to exceed permitted levels at the property boundaries.

We said that Eden Park was engaging in this drip feed of variations to the consents it holds and would seek further variations. We were right.
Page 19 of the “Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE)” lists five variations that were granted since the initial resource consent in January 2021. The first non-notified variation already followed two months later in March 2021.

If this application is granted it will see many more cricket games being driven away – both on the main ground and the outer oval with pack in and out, and ground recovery periods. Moving yet further away from the traditional sporting focus.

This new 100% increase will become the new “base”. Just as Council this year granted an extra concert (to 7) non-notified, a new level of 12 per annum will easily be increased in future given Council’s quality of decision making.

Once again the amenities of our area and not just the “Hood” will be materially affected by the extra concerts- Streets will be locked down for 2-3 evenings, the usual parking issues will multiply, the later finishes will mean the audiences will leave later and the TMP clean-up will last till after midnight in a residential area.

The community around Eden Park is a bit like a frog in a pot of water being brought to the boil. It doesn’t notice the temperature change until it is too late.

Also, on page 24 of the application’s assessment (Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE) it is noted that in future for most of the 12 concert nights the stage and sound systems will face East. Meaning up the slope towards Mt Eden. There are three possible stage configurations, facing West, East or a 360degree stage. From the application, QUOTE:
5.3 STAGE CONFIGURATIONS
The Concert Consent does not restrict stage location or configuration inside the stadium. Notwithstanding this, the three primary stage locations within the stadium are an East, West or Central stage with differing speaker arrangements and crowd sizes as detailed in Table 5 below.
Table 5: Stage Locations and Crowd Size

Stage Location	Speaker Arrangements	Estimated maximum crowd size
East	Speakers facing West	42,000 – 46,500
West	Speakers facing East	40,000 – 45,500
Central	360 degree speaker arrangement	58,000 – 60,000

Each of these stage locations has been utilised for the concerts held at Eden Park. The planned installation of retractable seating to the Lower West Stand will enhance the configuration of a West stage to provide more optimal sight lines from the North and South Stands and a greater capacity than for an East stage. For these reasons, a West stage is likely to become the predominant stage location (emphasis EPNA).
END QUOTE

Meaning sound systems facing East, towards Mt Eden.
The 360degree stage was used for the two Ed Sheeran concerts and was an absolute disaster when it came to noise levels in surrounding streets. The bass in particular, with numerous complaints made to EP and Council. It showed how inadequate the current noise levels & controls are, especially the average noise levels used, nowhere near the peak level. The peak level is what we experience in our houses, or outside for that matter.

Once again, the Marshall Day Acoustics report (Attachment G – Acoustic Assessment) compares Eden Park with other stadia around New Zealand regarding noise levels, completely ignoring Eden Park’s residential location, with residential housing in extreme close proximity, unlike any other stadium in NZ (or even world-wide for that matter). There is no comparison and noise levels should be set appropriately. The concerts we’ve just experienced – Ed Sheeran in particular – prove this point. The existing levels are already unacceptable! Not to mention the level at which Marshall Day is clutching at straws to try and justify not just the extra concerts, but the removal of monitoring controls. Just read the Acoustic Assessment for your self.

Staying with the AEE, this is what it says on Page 27: “The Transport Assessment also includes travel mode split for events to Eden Park. The statistics on the public transport usage for arrivals to the concerts shows average 10% of arrivals by bus and average 30% of arrivals by train“.
So, only 40% of patrons use public transport to get to/from the stadium. Using a mid-week crowd size of 60,000 (for which they have applied) means 24,000 will use public transport, a whopping 36,000 won’t and come predominantly by taxi or car. Think about what that means for a mid-week concert that starts at 6:30pm with patrons arriving during rush hour!

It is also worth noting that Eden Park is a private stadium, run by a private trust (The Eden Park Trust), not owned or run by Council / Government. Directly taking revenue away from publicly owned stadiums such as Mt Smart. Any concert hosted at Eden Park, could equally be hosted at Mt Smart or Western Springs (as they always have been), providing much needed income to the city. All without causing the disruption and discomfort experienced by local EP residents. The concerts to date have been with artists who previously played in Auckland at other council venues such as Mt Smart.

Lastly, it pays to ask yourself: Why should Eden Park be treated so preferably compared to other stadia such as Mt Smart? Looking at EPTB’s PR spin and track record: What is their End Game?

Submissions

So if you oppose (or support) the application for consent summarized above make a submission to council on their web site, the details of which are:
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/have-your-say/have-your-say-notified-resource-consent/notified-resource-consent-applications-open-submissions/Pages/ResourceConsentApplication.aspx?itemId=638&applNum=LUC60434909

Note that submissions close on the 2^nd of September so time is short.

Following are some suggestions / guidelines when filing your on-line submission

• Highlight the adverse affects that the doubling of concerts will have on you and your family
• This can be concert noise, inability to sleep, inability to work from home due to noise (can’t concentrate), parking restrictions, road closures, traffic chaos, litter, rowdy patrons, bus and train disruptions, etc.
• Loss of amenity such as parking, especially if no ROP (Residents Only Parking) in place such as east of Dominion Rd
• The displacement of sporting events, especially cricket with the stadium moving further and further away from its traditional sporting focus
• No need to get into too much specific detail as this can be expanded on at the hearing (which we recommend you attend)

Submission process

• Click or tap the web link given above, that will take you to the on-line Council submission form
• At the top of the page, select the “Make a submission” button
• Enter your details and select Next
• On the following page select “oppose/support/neutral”
• It then asks which aspects of the application you are submitting on, it’s easiest just to say “The application in its entirety”
• Then provide your reasons for the submission. This can be brief, but often it’s better to give some more detail (i.e. noise impact if that is the main concern), so that council planners are aware of the type of effects that concerts currently impose on you, i.e. “Particular effects I/we’ve faced have been …..”
• Lastly, confirm which decision you would like Council to make, eg “Decline the application in its entirety”
• Next confirm that you are not a trade competitor
• You can upload any supporting documents, i.e. photos, PDF document with more detail, etc
• On the next page confirm if you would like to attend the hearing. Always a good idea, you can change later if the hearing date does not suit you
• Then submit

Don’t feel apprehensive about attending the hearing. They are usually held at the Town Hall. You turn up at your allotted timeslot and then have your say in front of the hearing panel. The panel may ask you a question or two regarding a comment you have made. Note that the applicant (Eden Park) can not ask you anything.
Attending the hearing really adds additional “oomph” to your submission.

Sample Submission

Below is the wording of a submission to the council in opposition to the proposal by Eden Park Trust to add a further 6 concerts to their schedule. Please download and complete it, setting out your own reasons why you feel the consent should not be granted.  Once completed submit it to council using the link provided above (attach the file to your submission as outlined above).