Stadium Ticket Levy Gives People Choice – Ashburton Mayor

Monday, 5 May 2025, 6:26 pm
Article: Jonathan Leask - Local Democracy Reporter

Ashburton's mayor is backing a proposal to make Mid Canterbury residents pay more for events at the new Christchurch stadium, rather than a regional rate.

Ratepayers outside the city won’t contribute directly to fund or run the new $683m One New Zealand Stadium / Te Kaha, but could may pay more for event tickets.

Ashburton Mayor Brown said he supported the user pays model over attempts to introduce a region-wide rate.

“If people from Mid Canterbury want to use the stadium, they may have to pay a little bit more – I’m happy with that.

“People have the choice then. They either pay the levy and use the facility or don’t pay it and don’t use the facility – it’s not something forced upon them.

“If they put the levy too high then it will deter people from using the facility and that’s not what they want, so they will need to put some thought into what the levy will be.”

One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha, a roofed stadium with 30,000 seats and room for 36,000 concert-goers, is due to open in April 2026.

Christchurch City Council and Venues Ōtautahi, the council-owned operator of sports and hospitality facilities, have ruled out seeking ratepayers across Canterbury to contribute to the cost of operating the arena.

Venues Ōtautahi chief executive Caroline Harvie-Teare said they are developing a commercial model that will cover the cost of running the stadium, which includes a potential ticket levy for people living outside the city.

Harvie-Teare said the details around the ticket levy are still being worked through and will be workshopped with the council later this month.

It will come down to having the “system and technology to enable that to be done accurately”.

She said additional financial support isn't expected to be needed for the stadium's operations for at least the first three years after it opens.

Funding for the construction of the stadium has come from central government ($230m), commercial partnerships, and Christchurch ratepayers.

The city council allocated $453m – with ratepayers contributing through a 30-year levy at an average of around $144 per year.

One New Zealand secured the naming rights sponsorship for 2026-36 for the stadium, but the land beneath the venue will remain Te Kaha and the whole precinct will be known as Te Kaharoa - the names gifted to the city by Ngai Tūāhuriri.

In his first week on the job in 2022, Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger said he would ask other Canterbury councils to help pay for the new multi-use arena in the city.

That request was never formally followed through.

At the time, Brown said Ashburton would “need to see a good business case” to prove the financial benefits of the arena in Christchurch to the district to warrant any contribution, suggesting “we have our own projects to fund.”

Mauger did eventually ask for help with operational funding, not construction costs, when he wrote to Selwyn Mayor Sam Broughton, Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon, and Environment Canterbury chair Peter Scott in February 2024.

-LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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