Mayor gets show on the road

Auckland will kick off the 2011 Rugby World Cup with a designed-for-television opening extravaganza.

In a first in the history of the cup, the ceremony will be one that the Rugby Union promised in its bid would be "an even greater spectacle than our unforgettable America's Cup celebrations".

Televised cup matches four years ago drew a worldwide audience of well over three billion, and Auckland City Mayor Dick Hubbard expects to put on a memorable show for the world.

"We haven't got down to the size, colour and nature of the fireworks, or the acts or anything like that, but we've got six years to make something pretty special."

He said yesterday was one of the best days in his mayoralty, as he unveiled a banner across Queen St proclaiming "2011 Bring It On".

"It doesn't get better than today for the mayor of any city," he said, "It's not just Eden Park being the host, it's the whole of the city."

Mr Hubbard was hopeful that preparatory work for 2011 - including a $100 million upgrade to Eden Park - could be done within the normal legal framework, without having to resort to special laws such as those enacted during the America's Cup tournament.

Already the signs are positive, said Mr Hubbard, with residents around Eden Park welcoming the upgrade - which would reduce noise and light emissions despite an increase in seating capacity.

He did not expect any major opposition, unlike with the V8 races.

"This just eclipses the V8s by a magnitude of hundreds.

"Car racing is not part of Auckland, rugby is. This is linking into our national psyche and our culture."

Eden Park Neighbours' Association spokeswoman Gayatri Jaduram said New Zealand's successful bid was "fantastic news" and neighbours were working with the Eden Park Trust Board and Auckland City Council to have everything worked out in time for the tournament.

"We are all working together to get everything in place, things like traffic are huge issues, not just for residents but for the public," she said.

"But the precursor was the Lions tour and that was really successful."

Preliminary discussions will start on Monday, Mr Hubbard said.

The city's handling of the Lions tour showed that it could host a major event.

"If we'd mucked up the Lions tour, we wouldn't be sitting here with smiles on our faces today."

North Shore Mayor George Wood was also chuffed with the result. He is hopeful Albany's North Harbour Stadium - one of 11 potential match venues - will be chosen as a site for the pool games.

"I'll be talking to the stadium's trust board to make sure everything is ship-shape for the cup.

"I'd like to see overseas teams based here in North Shore City. We'll look after them well with great facilities and a real rugby atmosphere that Colin Meads and Tana Umaga talked about when they presented to the IRB in Dublin."

Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee said the event would help boost work on improving public transport and infrastructure.