A watchdog group has rejected a proposal to increase the capacity at the Bowl of Brooklands in New Plymouth - which includes potentially covering its iconic lake.
The Bowl currently has a capacity of 15,000, but the district council has floated the idea of increasing it to 25,000 to attract bigger international acts.
The Bowl of Brooklands has hosted some of the biggest names in show business including Fleetwood Mac and Elton John, and kiwi favourites such as Six60 and Crowded House.
It is also the main stage for the Womad festival.
Council is reviewing its draft management plan for Pukekura Park and the adjoining Brooklands Park, and has begun sharing ideas for the Bowl with stakeholders.
That includes self-styled park watchdogs, Friends of Pukekura Park.
Dave Bruce, who recently stood down as the group's president, said the council events team was pushing for an increased capacity.
"Because there's a mistaken belief in my view that we need to have capacity for 25,000 people otherwise you won't get the big acts.
"Well you can go to Auckland to watch the big acts if you really want to. We can do better locally."
Photo: Dramatic, CC BY-SA 3.0
The council currently erects a platform across the lake for bigger shows and Bruce questioned the need to make that permanent.
"What did we have 17,000 for the Seekers way back in the dim dark past, which is probably as big as we've ever had.
"And we did that without the platform in front of the stage, so you know, when you start looking at the Bowl as an entity and trying to get 25,000 in there it doesn't work."
Photo: SUPPLIED
Bruce said although people focused on the lake, the council proposals also involved re-sculpting the hillside and terraces, relocating the driveway and the removal of buildings and trees.
The 130 members of Friends of Pukekura Park completed an internal questionnaire after being briefed by council on its early ideas for the Bowl.
Bruce said they opted to retain the status quo.
The Taranaki Arts Festival Trust puts on the Womad festival at Brooklands Park.
Chief executive Suzanne Porter said she was open to the idea of the lake being covered.
"If you stand on that Bowl stage you're actually looking out into blackness quite a bit and I've quite often been at side of the stage for a Bowl act at night.
"It's hard work, you're quite a distance from your audience and the groups get their energy and vibe back from their audience, so it's quite a hard venue to perform in."
Porter warned any proposal involving covering the lake would divide opinion.
"I have no doubt it would be contentious. It is beautiful, so there would have to be a balancing act I think between the aesthetics and an improvement to the performance space for festivals and events there."
The Bowl with the temporary cover over it Photo: RNZ/ Robin Martin
She said increasing the Bowl's capacity was not an issue for Womad as it saw itself as a niche event.
People out enjoying Pukekura and Brooklands parks had mixed views on covering the lake permanently.
Stuart Cruckshank couldn't see the point.
"For the amount of extra people you'd get I don't think it really warrants it.
"And there was talk of cutting down trees and expanding it, but the amount of times we get 15,000 people in here is very rare."
Out-of-towner, Sascha, had attended Womad and loved the lake in front of the stage.
"It's just a unique atmosphere to have the water separating the audience from the performers and I remember one year there were candles floating in the water and it was absolutely gorgeous."
Brooklyn worried about the resident ducks and geese.
"It could be good for the capacity of the Bowl but it would be limiting the lake space for the birds that are always here."
The lake was not foremost on Kate's mind.
"To me it sounds worse to get rid of trees than the pond so long as the character of the Bowl is preserved."
Tauranga visitor Dennis Keys reckoned a solution was already in place.
"If they can cover it temporarily for these concerts only, so people can enjoy the water and the look of the place when there aren't concerts that seems fine to me."
The district council said it had shared some early ideas with stakeholders, but that is as far as it has gone.
It said it had yet decided what what would or would not be included in the plan when it went out for public consultation in coming months.
