Macquarie Point’s glulam-frame roof could be in doubt after Jeremy Rockliff signed off on a new agreement with Cricket Australia and Cricket Tasmania, giving cricket officials a final say on its “final specifications.” Wood Central understands that the premier, Cricket Tasmania, and Cricket Australia signed the ‘heads of agreement’ earlier this month, listing 16 principles agreed upon by the three parties.
The agreement—reported by the ABC on the first day of two weeks of hearings as part of the Project of State Significant (POSS) planning process—is co-signed by Cricket Tasmania’s Dominic Baker, Cricket Australia’s Todd Greenberg, and Mr Rockliff and was lodged in the Tasmanian Planning Commission (TPC) as part of Cricket Tasmania’s submission before the hearings. It includes agreements the three parties “work together to resolve to the satisfaction of all relevant parties the final specifications for the stadium roof” and that discussions for the “resolution and optimisation of the roof design will involve senior representatives from both Cricket Australia and Cricket Tasmania, with support from a highly experienced expert in stadia design, operation and management”.
As it stands, cricket’s primary concern has been the impact of shadows moving across the field of play, particularly the cricket pitch block, cast by the stadium roof’s supporting structure, which combines translucent ETFE pillows, 20mm timber laminate and glulam with metal cladding and steel bracing. Under the agreement, all parties agreed to work together to finalise a design that promotes “a safe and acceptable playing, operational, including spectator viewing and broadcast environment”.
Significantly, the heads of agreement formalised discussions between cricket and the government, which agreed that cricket was an essential stakeholder in the stadium. It also agrees that the new stadium must be designed to mitigate fears it could proceed without first being cleared by Cricket Australia and the International Cricket Council, leaving the stadium without content crucial to its business case and leaving Tasmanian cricket fixtures without a long-term home.
In a supporting letter, Mr Baker told TPC chair John Ramsey the heads of agreement “acknowledges that a suitable multipurpose all-weather roofed stadium presents a world-leading opportunity to play the highest levels of cricket across all formats of the game uninterrupted”. He said the heads of agreement “reinforces the parties’ combined commitment to identifying a stadium design that aligns with and delivers on playing, operational and broadcast requirements” and that “provides a pathway for resolution of issues with the proposed roof design that have been identified as challenging for cricket.”
World’s first timber-roofed cricket stadium in doubt over sight lines
It comes after Wood Central reported (in March) that the stadium’s roof was in doubt after Cricket Australia wrote to the government urging the Macquarie Point stadium architects to redesign the roof or remove it entirely over concerns about sight lines across the centre wicket.
In a letter obtained by ABC, Cricket Tasmania and Cricket Australia raised “significant concerns” about the effects of shadows cast by the roof’s supporting structure, which they said would severely impair the stadium’s capacity to stage cricket matches: “We are of the view that the current roof design will mean the stadium is unlikely to be conducive to hosting test matches and could also be challenged in hosting One Day (50 over) and T20 (20 over) fixtures,” the letter reads. “This is not an outcome that either CA (Cricket Australia) or CT (Cricket Tasmania) wants, and CT will be strongly challenged by its members to advocate for an alternate solution. For this reason, we would like to discuss with you what opportunity there is to consider a stadium design option that does not have a roof or that has an operable roof.”
Last week, Wood Central reported that Macquarie Point will be built, regardless of who wins Tasmania’s election. That is according to Tasmanian Labor leader Dean Winter, who categorically ruled out any alternative stadium proposals yesterday, saying his party will stick with the Macquarie Point project should it win government. “We want to deliver the project currently proposed through the Project of State Significance process, but also the legislation,” he said. “We’re not considering proposals other than those in front of Tasmanians.”
- To learn more about Macquarie Point, click here for Wood Central’s special feature including the full plans for the stadium.
