As AFL finals fever sweeps Western Australia this month, the debate over the state’s new multi-purpose outdoor stadium is raging following public criticisms directed at the short-listed sites and the government appointed taskforce by key stakeholders.
As AFL finals fever sweeps Western Australia this month, the debate over the state’s new multi-purpose outdoor stadium is raging following public criticisms directed at the short-listed sites and the government appointed taskforce by key stakeholders.
To the frustration of the Major Stadia Taskforce, each proposal in its interim report is being picked apart, forcing chairman John Langoulant to defend the taskforce’s staged assessment of the stadium options last week.
“It’s now time to adopt new thinking and rise above selfish attitudes,” Mr Langoulant said.
The taskforce has been battling, among others, the WA Football Commission over the proposal to redevelop Subiaco Oval.
The WAFC took issue with the taskforce’s assessment, including the estimated costs of are development and the number of homes which must be demolished around the existing oval to make the project viable.
The football commission’s concerns came to light when Mr Langoulant publicly defended the East Perth proposal after the plan was attacked by Labor MLA John Hyde and Premier Alan Carpenter.
Mr Langoulant said the resumption of homes was not just an issue for East Perth, where he estimated 19 properties would need to be resumed, but was an issue for both the redevelopment of the Subiaco Oval and the construction of a new stadium on Kitchener/Mueller Park, which would require the resumption of somewhere between 60 and 110 homes.
However, the WAFC claims the figure is closer to seven properties to allow for redevelopment, and accused the taskforce of inaccurately criticising its proposal.
In his address, Mr Langoulant implored Mr Carpenter, his government and stakeholders to keep the vision and the passion, and not be persuaded to take adhoc approaches to the development of major facilities.
He said the taskforce always planned to look at there development of Subiaco Oval as a third option and reiterated that the location and design footprint of the outdoor stadium would be further tested in the next stage of the study and in consultation with the community.
In the meantime, the taskforce has collected at least one new proposed site for the stadium previously unmentioned in its reports.
The 17-hectare site in Bassendean fronts Collier Road, which is close to Tonkin and Great Eastern Highways, and 200 metres from a railway station.
Agents Paul Clune and Gerald Major, acting for the owners, have offered to sell the land to the state government for $31.3 million, rather than subdivide it for light industrial use.
Mr Clune said he had received a simple pro-forma response from the taskforce, and in the absence of any further developments would most likely instruct his clients to continue with their subdivision plans.
In a letter last month to Mr Langoulant, sport and recreation minister John Kolbelke said that, while not completely closing the door on any significant new development sites, the state had accepted the taskforce’s recommendation of three proposed sites.
