Hamilton City Council backs off World Cup bid

Hamilton in wary of bidding for the Fifa event after teh V8 fiasco has left the coffers empty. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The cash-strapped Hamilton City Council has decided against making a bid for the Fifa Under 20 World Cup in 2015 because its coffers are empty.

Councillors voted 7-4 against vying for seven soccer games including a quarter-final as the V8 event which cost the city up to $40 million still weighs heavily on their minds.

Estimated costs of hosting the event would be $809,000 plus potential in-kind costs of providing office space, staff time and any other requirements identified after a site visit by Fifa, according to a business case presented yesterday at the full council meeting. The council was hosted at the Western Heights Community Centre to enable it to interact with the community.

The economic benefit to the city is estimated to be between $2.9 million and $3.5 million depending on the quarter-final. Two games would be played on one day at the Waikato Stadium.

The main accommodation benefactors from the teams and their crews were likely to be the city's 3-star-plus hotels - Ibis, Novotel Tainui and maybe Kingsgate Hotel. Fewer spectators were expected to attend than this year's Rugby World Cup but global TV exposure to 200 countries was promised.

Hamilton Mayor Julie Hardaker, Deputy Mayor Gordon Chesterman and Ewan Wilson said the council couldn't afford it.

"The real test is can we afford it, not whether we want it and of course we do. It's about ratepayer money and looking at the current financial situation - we must say no, there's no bottomless bucket of ratepayer money," Mr Chesterman said.

Ms Hardaker said at least residents could travel to Auckland to watch a game. Mr Wilson was not convinced on the return on investment and doubted the city's restaurants and accommodation would benefit. He also said the cost of the event compared with the benefit was expensive compared with the RWC and Under 17s.

Councillor Peter Bos, supported by councillor Pippa Mahood, said it wasn't time for the city to get gun shy just because they had been burned by another event, "... but that doesn't mean we have to close the door to everything".

Mr Bos said twice as many children played soccer than rugby and he was excited about the opportunity. Councillor Maria Westphal said they should put in a bid and see if it was successful before making a final decision. Councillors Roger Hennebry, Daphne Bell, Dave Macpherson and Angela O'Leary said they were torn over the cost vs the benefit. They worried other events and community sports and activities would suffer as they funded it from the event sponsorship fund.

Ms O'Leary feared the city's real hallmark events such as Balloons over Waikato and the Fuel Festival would suffer.

The council was one of 12 who were asked to submit a bid.

BUDGET BLUES

* $809,000+ estimate to host the event

* $2.9 million economic benefit

The vote

* For: Pippa Mahood, Dave Macpherson, Peter Bos, Maria Westphal

* Against: Julie Hardaker, Gordon Chesterman, Ewan Wilson, Daphne Bell, Martin Gallagher, Roger Hennebry, Angela O'Leary