Lights gaffe at stadium adds $410k to rugby bill

Hamilton City Council will have to foot the $410,000 bill after an investigation into Waikato Stadium's floodlights found they were not up to stringent cup broadcast requirements. Photo / Getty Images

Waikato Stadium is an "exception" and all other Rugby World Cup stadia are on track to be ready for the September tournament, a World Cup spokesman says.

The assurance comes after the stadium's management was told it must fork out for new floodlights or risk losing its matches at this year's tournament.

The Hamilton City Council will have to foot the $410,000 bill after an investigation into Waikato Stadium's floodlights found they were not up to stringent cup broadcast requirements.

A report obtained by the Herald shows the mistake is being blamed on human error.

Tests by Sky Television and a council-commissioned source showed that floodlight-illumination levels at the venue were below the tournament's agreed minimum.

Lighting director Chris MacKenzie said the agreed level in "lux" - a measurement of light arriving at a given point - was being driven by high-definition television, which required superior lighting for cameras running at higher speeds to capture the effect of slow-motion images.

The council report said that staff had mistakenly thought that 1200 lux would meet the requirements for the RWC, but actually 1500 lux was needed.

The oversight, which will see the council's Rugby World Cup budgeted spend of $200,000 for the tournament treble to more than $600,000, was apparently brought about by a number of managerial changes at the stadium over the past two years.

Sky TV's Rugby World Cup project director Kevin Cameron told Newstalk ZB tests revealed some pockets of the stadium were darker than others.

He said there were also other stadiums facing similar issues.

"The point is that they're all aware of where the deficiencies are and they're all on a programme to make sure that that's all addressed before the Rugby World Cup," he said.

Mr Cameron won't reveal which other stadia need lighting improvements.

Rugby World Cup spokesman Mike Jaspers said organisers were reviewing the lighting at all of the stadia - but only Waikato has had any real issues.

"Waikato is exceptional - there are no significant issues at any of the other stadia," Mr Jaspers said.

All the other stadia are on track for the tournament, he said.

A Hamilton City councillor, who asked not to be named, said "heads should roll" over the gaffe as the city's debt levels were already soaring with the blowout in the cost of hosting the V8 racing and an additional $400,000 - which is to be taken from existing budgets - was too big a burden for ratepayers.

"Whoever signed the contract should be held responsible. Someone should go."

While the All Blacks match against Japan on September 16 will be the only one of three scheduled Rugby World Cup matches at the stadium to be played at night, the council conceded it could be sued for compensation or lose big events in future if it did not fix the lights.

Hamilton Mayor Julie Hardaker admitted a mistake had been made but was glad it had been identified in time.

"We realised that this was part of our contractual obligations and an oversight which staff had not identified this early. Basically it was a mistake," she said.

Asked what the ramifications were if the council failed to meet its lighting requirements, Ms Hardaker replied: "We will comply."

She said the upgrade would be necessary as future events, such as All Blacks test matches and the Under-20 soccer World Cup in 2015, could be jeopardised.

"We have a good stadium, the turf is great and I know the players like playing on it. These lights have to be done and we will be ready."

Hamilton City Council events facilities manager Mark Christie said the lights underwent maintenance twice a year but had not been upgraded since the stadium was built at the end of 2001.

He said a further 62 lightbulbs would be added, and night games between now and the start of the World Cup would not be affected.

Rugby New Zealand 2011 would not say if the council would be granted dispensation or what action could result if it did not meet its requirements.

But RNZ 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden said the match-venue specifications were set out in May 2008 and the subsequent bid by Hamilton in July that year confirmed acceptance of the 1500-lux level.

Mr Snedden said organisers became aware of the issue last month and were actively working with the council, the stadium and Sky Television to achieve a solution.

UNDER SPOTLIGHT

Hamilton City Council needs to spend:

* $110,000 on higher-output lamps.

* $240,000 on installation.

* $60,000 on the four light towers at Waikato Stadium.