http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/10634212/North-shift-for-Warriors-the-wrong-move
There's a long sad record of Auckland politicians getting it wrong in Auckland.
I believe they're doing it again with the Warriors and Mt Smart.
Look at the record of how Auckland's leaders from all sides of the political spectrum have bungled big issues.
Go back to 1959 and the harbour bridge. The civic leaders were warned four lanes would not be enough. By the time the bridge opened it was already outdated. Small thinking.
Look at the losing battle mayor Dove-Myer Robinson fought for a light rail transit system in the 1960s. How much would Aucklanders give for a decent public transport system now? Small thinking.
Look at the chance that was missed to build a great national stadium alongside the Vector Arena. Instead the old railway land is filled with cheap, ugly blocks of student flats. Small thinking.
By contrast, look at what happens when minds are opened, and some imagination is applied.
To my shame I was one who doubted the America's Cup would do much to improve the Viaduct Basin.
Having worked for 10 years at Radio Hauraki in Caltex House to 1992, I was very familiar with the area. You needed a pretty strong stomach to look into the basin, which was then a toxic mix of oily water, plastic bags, rotting driftwood and dead seagulls.
The Auckland waterfront in the central city in general was crap. Nobody in their right mind would go there for fun in daylight, much less at night.
Look at Viaduct Basin (now called Viaduct Harbour) today, one of the busiest, most entertaining parts of the city.
As it happens, it was sport, in this case yachting, that provided the push to turn a dump into a jewel.
I don't see any sign of similar enlightened thinking in the push to drive the Warriors out of Mt Smart into either Eden Park or, God forbid, North Harbour Stadium.
This goes beyond being small minded. It lurches into the flat-out stupid corner.
History shows that in a bureaucracy if there are enough consultants, reports and in-house meetings you can eventually provide living proof of the saying that a giraffe is a horse designed by a committee.
I've just spent seven years living on the Shore, and can vouch for the fact "North Shore league fan" is as much of an oxymoron as "humble Australian".
The heart of league in Auckland beats mostly in the south and to force fans from Manurewa to trek to Albany to see the Warriors signals that the people at Regional Facilities Auckland either have no idea about how the city works or, for some strange, vindictive reason, want to punish the club and its fans.
Eden Park? I love the ground, but I'm a rugby tragic, and personal memories overwhelm the fact that not only is it much too big for anything other than a rugby test or the league nines, but also that it's not even a real football ground. It's a cricket oval with a footy ground in the middle.
Put 15,000, even 20,000, people in Eden Park and there's about as much atmosphere as a senior citizens' indoor bowls club night.
Ideally we should have a stadium near the middle of the city for all football codes - rugby, league and soccer.
The chance to build one near the Vector Arena has probably gone, but there are suggestions land at the Tank Farm further along the waterfront could be used.
How great would a national football stadium, one that seats between 50,000 and 60,000, be there?
(By the way, the difference between a rectangular stadium and Eden Park is that when you have 15,000 people in a much larger, but true football ground you fill the first 30 rows all round the park. Voila, an intimate arena.)
I'm worried that concept will be too big for the politicians to grasp. Small minds think small.
But in the meantime, at least have the grace to work out a compromise with the Warriors and let them stay at Mt Smart.
It may not be perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than the alternatives being suggested.
