New Zealand / Auckland Region

Mayor defends timeframe of report

09:11 am on 21 May 2018

The Auckland mayor is defending the timeframe of releasing a report to RNZ about a future downtown stadium.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff. Photo: Auckland Council

RNZ had requested the report in December, and the Ombudsman found it was wrong to withhold it.

The PwC report cost the Auckland Council nearly $1 million and is inconclusive about whether a new stadium is worth pursuing.

Auckland Council has blacked out possible locations and costs.

PwC suggests a more detailed study is needed.

Mayor Phil Goff said he only received the report about two or three weeks ago and denied he has sat idle on it.

"I released that two hours after I had the approval of the Ombudsman to release it in that form... so did I sit on that report... no," he said.

Mr Goff said a new downtown stadium would be much more expensive than a rebuilt Eden Park, so the council needed to analyse which option was best.