The future of the North Harbour Stadium in Albany was thrown into doubt by Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown today.

Brown told an Auckland Council meeting the stadium was “a white elephant” and “we’re probably going to pull down next year because nobody uses it”.

This is not council policy and has not been agreed by any council meeting. The stadium is a council-owned facility but the mayor does not have the authority to decide on its future by himself.

Upper Harbour Stadium is a 25,000-seat stadium opened in 1997. It’s home to New Zealand Football, North Harbour Rugby, the Marist North Harbour Rugby Club, Harbour Sport and, until recently, the Auckland Tuatara baseball team.

The stadium has hosted international fixtures in rugby, football, baseball and other sports. But in recent years has not been used as frequently as Go Media Stadium (formerly Mt Smart) or Eden Park, and has not managed to draw large crowds.

North Harbour also has facilities for conferences, trade shows, weddings and other functions.

The future of stadiums in Auckland has been a fraught topic for many years, especially after a council review in 2020 found that “the harsh economic reality is Auckland neither needs nor can afford four stadiums”.

This was a reference to Eden Park, Mt Smart, North Harbour and Western Springs. But the council in 2020 could not agree on a way to rationalise operations at those venues.

Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, the council’s events and venues agency, currently has the subject under review.

Mayor Wayne Brown on the top of Eden Park to promote the Fifa Women's World Cup. Photo / Alex Burton

And just last week, at Mayor Brown’s suggestion, the council set up a new “stadiums working group”. That group will be chaired by councillor Shane Henderson and it has a Tātaki representative on it. But it has yet to meet.

Henderson told the Herald, “We will be discussing the North Harbour Stadium. It’s fair to say it’s a venue looking for an identity but I’m not going to draw any conclusions yet.”

During the council meeting, councillor Julie Fairey reminded the mayor about the existence of the working group and said it was not appropriate to be discussing North Harbour at this point.

The issue arose during debate on the council’s capital investment programme for regional programmes. The mayor was querying spending in the Upper Harbour area.

“I’m not sure about this spending on Upper Harbour, wherever that is,” he said. He then started talking about the North Harbour Stadium and suggested it would be pulled down next year.

Upper Harbour generally refers to Westgate, Hobsonville Point, Whenuapai and other suburbs to the west of the upper reaches of the Waitematā Harbour.

The North Harbour Stadium in Albany is well to the east of the harbour and those suburbs.

Asked during a break in the council meeting to explain his comment, Mayor Brown said North Harbour was “a loss-making venture” and the rugby clubs that use it “want to move to the Onewa Domain”.

He added that there were “a number of options” for the future of North Harbour Stadium and other sports venues on the Shore.

In response to the mayor’s statement, a spokesperson for Tātaki (Tau) said, “North Harbour Stadium is part of the Auckland Stadiums Network, alongside Go Media Stadium (formerly Mt Smart) and Western Springs Stadium. It is a strategic asset owned and governed by Tau on behalf of Auckland Council. Tau is unable to change its fundamental use without Auckland Council governing body approval.”

Albany ward councillor John Watson has also responded.

“North Harbour is Auckland’s newest stadium,” he told the Herald, “and the only one that serves the entire area north of the [harbour] bridge. Over the years it has served a host of sporting codes at club, national and international level. As such it is a vital part of the sporting fabric of this significant part of the Auckland region.

“As has happened with Mt Smart in recent years, it has the ability to cater for new and emerging sporting needs in a city fast approaching 1.7 million. Any talk of removal therefore is both ill-informed and misguided.”

Wayne Walker, Albany’s other ward councillor, and Anna Atkinson, chair of the Upper Harbour Local Board, which includes Albany, have also been approached for comment.

Simon Wilson is an award-winning senior writer covering politics, the climate crisis, transport, housing, urban design and social issues, with a focus on Auckland. He joined the Herald in 2018.