The Government today seized control of Party Central on Queens Wharf following last Friday’s transport debacle which ended in hundreds of people missing out on the opening of the Rugby World Cup at Eden Park.
RWC Minister Murray McCully said today they would enlarge the Fan Zones to include Bledisloe and Captain Cook wharfs.
The announcement comes after more than 200,000 people poured into downtown Auckland for the cup opening celebrations on Friday night.
It has been revealed that cup organisers had been expecting a crowd of up to 150,000 at the waterfront for weeks when they were publicly talking about a crowd of 50,000.
Problems were compounded when one side of a double-sided television screen on Quay St failed and people poured over to the Ferry Building side of the screen, which was still working. This led to the cancellation of ferry services. A second television screen failed in the Viaduct Harbour.
Thousands of commuters had their night disrupted by trains, buses and ferries that were unable to cope with the number of people wanting to join in the festivities.
At least 2000 people missed the Rugby World Cup opening ceremony at Eden Park as trains backed up on the tracks to Kingsland station.
Auckland Council transport committee chair Mike Lee said Mr McCully's move to "nationalise" Party Central was an overreaction.
Mr McCully announced revised plans for the Fan Zone on Queen's Wharf, which would be put into action under Rugby World Cup Empowerment legislation.
Mr McCully said the Auckland Council and other authorities had dropped the ball and the government needed to step in to fix the situation.