Chris Brooks, the council boss charged with salvaging the city's stadium strategy, is a quietly spoken Australian.
The 61-year-old arrived in Auckland 13 months ago to replace another Australian, Robert Domm, whose crusade to implement the stadium strategy turned into a public battle with the Warriors and other sporting codes.
Brooks has adopted a diplomatic approach for the stadium "refresh", as he calls it, focusing on short, medium and long-term solutions. He made amends with the Warriors, but got offside with Eden Park and Speedway promoter Greg Mosen, who says the motorsport will be left out in the cold if cricket moves to Western Springs.
Eden Park Trust Board chairman and former Auckland Council chief executive Doug McKay this week said the strategy was in tatters, surplus assets were eating their heads off and nobody was making hard decisions to make the city's stadiums fit for purpose.
The stadium strategy has been the major focus since Mr Brooks joined Regional Facilities Auckland in February last year. This culminated in Mr Brooks putting up his hand on Tuesday to work on a multi-code downtown stadium after the idea won public support.
