The Night Noodle Market in Hagley Park attracted big crowds in February.

Hands Off Hagley wants "popular but noisy" events hosted in Christchurch's residential red zone.

The group says Hagley Park could be irreparably damaged by the "pressure to maximise" its use and wants the Christchurch City Council to shift large commercial events to red-zoned land in the east.

A tourism industry spokesman said the proposal was counter intuitive.

In a submission on the council's 2016-17 draft annual plan, group secretary Anne Martin said the council and the Government had the opportunity to preserve Hagley Park while creating a money-making venture in the red zone.

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Hosting concerts and other big events in the red zone would create minimal disturbance and reduce the congestion and parking pressures associated with large central city events, the submission said.

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/FAIRFAX NZ An aerial shot of the All Blacks victory parade in Hagley Park in November.

Since the earthquakes Hagley Park has hosted events including the World Buskers Festival, the Great Kiwi Beer Festival, Live In The Park and the Night Noodle Market.

The 2007-2017 Christchurch Events Strategy estimated that more than $40 million of event-related expenditure was generated in the city each year.

Hands Off Hagley is a preservation group, which lost a legal bid to block the redevelopment of the Hagley Oval.

STACY SQUIRES/FAIRFAX NZ Queues for the Great Kiwi Beer Festival in Hagley Park.

"[Hagley Park] is a great space for public events as well as for regular sport and recreation," the submission said.

The pressure to maximise Hagley Park's use, especially for commercial events, must be controlled, it said.

"It is, unfortunately, quite possible to damage Hagley Park irreparably if intensification of use is permitted in a manner that has long-term negative environmental consequences."

The city's red zone was a suitable space to host large events without "being a nuisance to neighbours" or causing parking mayhem.

Road access and utilities were already in place in the red zone, the group said.

"It could all be part of the overall rejuvenation of the eastern part of Christchurch as a significant playground with a major outdoor events."

Bruce Garrett, general manager of The George Hotel on Park Tce, opposite Hagley Park, said having the park to fall back on since the earthquakes had been "fantastic for the city".

Garrett, who is also the regional chair of the Tourism Industry Aotearoa's hotel sector, said it made no sense to locate major events outside the central city.

Events at Hagley Park were "well managed and well organised", he said.

"The George is directly affected because the road will often be closed, the parking [spaces] fills up . . . there's noise too, but guests enjoy it.

"It creates an atmosphere and gives the city a buzz."

If events were "held in the middle of nowhere effectively" then the general public would miss out.

"If you're in town and you see something is on you're far more likely to wander over and have a look . . . that wouldn't happen if events were out in the suburbs."

Event organisers would "probably not buy" the Hands Off Hagley proposal, Garrett said.

Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce chief executive Peter Townsend said there was "room for everyone" in Hagley Park.

"It's there to provide enjoyment for the public . . . not just to be a deserted sanctuary," he said.

New recovery agency Regenerate Christchurch is in charge of developing regeneration plans for the central city, New Brighton and residential red zone.

Its chairman, Andre Lovatt, has previously said that all proposals for the future of red-zoned land would be considered equally.

A flat-land rowing lake and a Christchurch version of Britain's famous Eden Project are among proposals for the red zone.

Hands Off Hagley could not be contacted on Monday and the council was unable to provide a response before deadline.