Hobart City Council finalises position on proposed Macquarie Point stadium development

The Hobart City Council has finalised its position on the proposed Macquarie Point stadium after the state government announced it would be seeking to fast-track the project.

Concept design of Hobart’s new AFL stadium proposed for Macquarie Point. Picture: Supplied

The Hobart City Council has formally declared its opposition to the Macquarie Point stadium, determining that the negative impacts of the project would “outweigh” the positives.

At a meeting on Monday evening, elected members voted to amend a submission to the Tasmanian Planning Commission (TPC) regarding the proposed stadium, adding in a preamble to outline concerns around issues including environmental and heritage impacts, a lack of consultation with the Aboriginal community, and suboptimal planning outcomes.

Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said she had been “horrified” by some of the findings made in the TPC’s draft integrated assessment report about the stadium.

Anna Reynolds Lord Mayor of Hobart. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“I think it’s incredibly appropriate that this submission combines both the advice and expertise of the [council] staff and the judgement 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,” she said.

It comes after the state government abandoned 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 voted either to approve or reject the project.

The government will now instead bring on “enabling legislation” to fast-track the stadium and bypass the planning commission. However, Premier Jeremy Rockliff has said submissions to the TPC as part of its assessment would still be considered by the government prior to the stadium being voted on in both houses of parliament.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The TPC’s draft integrated assessment report, released late last month, said the costs of the stadium were “approximately double its estimated benefits”. The panel also took issue with the “overbearing” form of the stadium and raised concerns about a lack of transport planning as part of the development.

Economist Dr Nicholas Gruen also released an independent report that found the project could actually cost $1.4bn rather than $775m and that its benefits had been “overstated”.

The council’s submission to the TPC is informed by economic analysis it commissioned AEC Group to conduct.

The consultants found the stadium would stimulate the Hobart economy to the tune of $143.3m during the construction phase, contribute $65.4m to gross regional product (GRP), and create $44.7m in incomes and 385 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs.

AEC Group estimated that once the stadium was operational, it would bring $178.9m of annual economic activity to the city, $87.2m in GRP, $62.8m in incomes, and 813 FTEs.

But the council has cast doubt on AEC’s findings, noting they were not equivalent to a cost-benefit analysis and nor did they draw on local research.

Renders showing the relocated Goods Shed at Macquarie Point, to make way for a multipurpose stadium. Picture: Cox Architecture

Councillor Ben Lohberger said he was “completely opposed” to the Macquarie Point stadium, which he described as an “unnecessary and ruinous duplication of two existing AFL grounds that we already have”.

Alderman Marti Zucco, on the other hand, 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”.

Originally published as Hobart City Council finalises position on proposed Macquarie Point stadium development