Government’s Macquarie Point Stadium plan criticised at parliamentary inquiry

The impacts at the state government’s proposed Macquarie Point Stadium will not be combined to just the field after some heavy-hitting stakeholders let loose at a parliamentary inquiry.

Macquarie point stadium artists impression

The state government’s vision for Macquarie Point Stadium number one was slammed by tourism heavy-hitters and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra at a Parliamentary House Committee hearing on Friday for its likely impact on their businesses and a lack of formal engagement.

Mac Point one is planned for the level part of the Macquarie Point precinct adjacent to Evans St, as opposed to the design for an alternative Mac Point two venue on the opposite side of the precinct.

Federal Hotels and the Grand Chancellor Hotel, as well as the TSO, tag teamed an attack on the government over their combined concerns about its stadium model.

Original Macquarie Point Stadium artists impression

After their hearing was over, the Royal Hobart Regatta Association stepped into the breach with its consultation experience, president Ross Doddridge saying it was “virtually none” and revealed that some of its correspondence to the government had gone unanswered.

Mr Doddridge said he was consulted almost on a weekly basis by Mac Point two proponent Dean Coleman.

While all Federal Hotels, Grand Chancellor and TSO also had been widely consulted by the proponents of Mac Point two, the same could not be said for the government, its representatives or Macquarie Point Development Corporation.

Grand Chancellor boss Ralph Freckelton said he had been approached twice for “informal” meetings – one was a cafe chat where he was shown a “circle on a map” to represent the government’s plan for Mac Point one – whereas extensive designs had been provided by Mac Point two developers.

“It was an informal coffee catch-up where we were shown a ‘mud map’ and told that not much was confirmed but this was the basic idea – just a round circle on a map,” Mr Freckelton.

“My feedback to them was about noise, access, and concerns about crowds leaving the stadium. There’s been no further feedback [provided to him] since that meeting.”

Ralph Freckelton (Grand Chancellor), Caroline Sharpen (TSO) and Daniel Hanna (Federal Hotels) front a parliamentary committee.

Federal Hotels executive general manager Daniel Hanna had been contacted only twice for informal meetings, the second of which was on Thursday – the day before his appearance at parliament.

Anti-stadium group Our Place enlisted architect Shamus Mulcahy to create an artist's impression of the Macquarie Point stadium. The image was mentioned at the parliamentary inquiry.

He said most information about the stadium process he learned via the media.

“We are the owner and operator of hotels, restaurants and bars in Hunter St, adjacent to the proposed site, and we are also the owner of a future development site on Evans St directly opposite the proposed stadium development,” Mr Hanna said

“We have been disappointed by the lack of detail about the proposed stadium and the lack of consultation before announcements have been made.

“We are a directly impacted stakeholder and we would have expected consultation prior to some of these announcements _ certainly as a company it’s something we always aim to do.”

Federal’s concerns were based around noise, loss of access for guests, staff and suppliers, reduced customer and visitor experience, impact on site-lines and potential overshadowing.

Ms Sharpen criticised Mac Point 1 as a potential threat to the quality of its performances, audio and visual recordings, its earning capacity, and a potential devaluation of acoustic upgrade of Federation Hall.

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra workshop with the Tasmanian Youth Orchestra at the Federation Concert Hall. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

“It would come as no surprise to anyone that a proposed 23,000 seat stadium 200m from our facade has raised some concerns, especially for a company in the business of sound,” she said.

“These are concerns generated by noise generated by stadium activities and risk to the TSO business through disrupted performance, recording and filming activities, degraded performance, recording and film outcomes, which goes to product integrity and export quality, a compromised export hub and degraded customer experience, loss of earnings and ultimately significant financial risk and devaluation of the TSO’s recent $1.3m investment in acoustic upgrades and digital upgrades in Federation Hall.”