The future of the proposed Macquarie Point Stadium – which, if constructed, would be the world’s largest timber-roofed stadium – is in some doubt after the Hobart City Council formalised its opposition to the stadium after determining that the negative impacts of the development will far outweigh the positives.
In a preamble published yesterday, the council outlined concerns around environmental and heritage impacts, a lack of consultation with the Aboriginal community, and suboptimal planning outcomes.
It comes as Anna Renolyds, Hobart’s Lord Mayor, told the Mercury that she had been “horrified” by some of the suggestions made in the TPC’s draft integrated assessment report – provided to councillors on Monday – about the stadium.
“I think it’s incredibly appropriate that this submission combines both the advice and expertise of the [council] staff and the judgment calls on behalf of the community that we’re democratically elected to represent and that the submission is a merging of those views and concerns.”
It comes after Wood Central reported that the state government would abandon the Project of State Significance process for the stadium, which would have seen an independent panel comprising members of the TPC hand down a final evaluation report before parliamentarians vote to approve or reject the project. Instead, the government will introduce “enabling legislation” to fast-track the stadium and bypass the planning commission. However, Premier Jeremy Rockliff has said the government would still consider submissions to the TPC as part of its assessment prior to the stadium being voted on in both houses of parliament.
The report said the costs were “approximately double its estimated benefits,” with the panel also taking some issue with its overbearing form and raising concerns about the lack of transport in planning. This comes after economist Dr Nicholas Gruen released an independent report that found that the project cost was $1.4 billion rather than the original $775m and claimed that the stadium’s benefits were “greatly overstated.”
Speaking to the Mercury, Councillor Ben Lohberger said he was “completely opposed” to the stadium, which he described as an “unnecessary and ruinous duplication of two existing AFL grounds.”
On the other hand, Alderman Marti Zucco said the council had no say in the matter: “We can jump up and down all we want … We should be going down this track … in a proactive manner, not a reactive manner, and that’s what we’re doing,” he said. Councillor John Kelly said he supported the submission with a “heavy heart” and that while he thought it “probably goes a little bit too far”, it would “send a message to the government of the day that they’ve got to be more transparent”.
- For more information about the TPC report, click here for Wood Central’s special report from Monday.
