The release of Macquarie Point stadium ‘concept designs’ reveal a 25% blow out in the height of the stadium, expected to be the first of many examples where Government assurances are exposed as meaningless.
Notably, no impressions have been created to demonstrate visual appearance from the most revered and cherished sites that would have their values impacted, particularly the Cenotaph, the Derwent River and Constitution Dock. Stakeholders have been explicitly raising concerns about the visual impact from these locations, yet today’s revel is conspicuously silent on their impacts.
The new size of the stadium is over three times the height limits allowed for the Macquarie Point site and it would tower over the Cenotaph and historic Evans and Hunter Street buildings, creating unacceptable impacts on well-established and until now, well-protected values.
Quotes from Vica Bayley MP:
‘This is the first formal reveal of the size and shape of the stadium and it is 25% bigger than the Premier’s reassurance and, presumably the brief given to the architects.
‘Tasmanians can expect this to be the first of the Premier’s reassurances proven farcically wrong. Noone genuinely expects this stadium to be built for $715 million and that Tasmania’s investment can be capped. The deal with the AFL is clear, Tasmania pays for every single dollar of cost overrun.
‘Premier Rockliff signed a dud deal with the AFL, failed to secure GST exemption from the Feds and now celebrates a design that is 25% higher than he told stakeholders it would be.
‘As this farcical process proceeds, Tasmanians can expect more of Premier Rockliff’s reassurance to be utter delusion, including the negative impact on others, the cost to the taxpayer, the return to the economy and timelines by which it could be delivered.’
