Mr BAYLEY – Minister, through you, I asked this question last year and I’m interested to get an update. The Macquarie Point Development Plan specifically identifies a coach pick‑up and drop‑off zone on the Domain. From memory, it accommodates about 2 per cent of patrons, you know, we’re talking a dozen or more coaches, these are regional coaches for private charters and the like. When I asked last year, there had been no conversations with the Hobart City Council about that potential drop‑off zone. I’m interested in an update as to whether conversations have kicked off with the council, and where they’re at with it?
Ms BEACH – You’re right, it is 2 per cent in the projected patronage. Coaches, just for context, are different to the public bus facilities. This is where people might charter a bus together and come to the facility. The lower Domain is still our indicative location. We have had discussions with council but they will need to be progressed in more detail as part of the transport planning that will be developed working with Stadiums Tas.
Mr BAYLEY – Where in the lower Domain? What’s the proposition there, in your minds, for the site?
Ms BEACH – We’ve identified that location because of the flexibility in access from multiple locations. The specifics of that we will work through with the council as part of the transport plan to activate the stadium, once built.
Mr BAYLEY – And the originally proposed three‑level car park, now two – can you talk us through the decision around minimising that facility? What were the implications there, why was that decision made and what does it do for finances?
Ms BEACH – Do you mean the reduction in the proposed size?
Mr BAYLEY – That’s right, from a three‑level underground car park to a two‑level underground car park.
Ms BEACH – The car park is separate to the stadium in that it’s not required for the operation of the stadium. The agreement between the Tasmanian government and the AFL requires 40 car parks to be made available for officials and support staff and they are provided for within the stadium itself in the secure zone. We keep those separate to public access for security reasons.
The reason we included the car park was, looking at the activation of the broader precinct, we need to have car parking facilities onsite for the other developments onsite. For efficiency, if we were to do that section, it would make sense to do it in parallel, so we sought planning approval as part of that. It isn’t required for the stadium, but it was an efficiency in the design. We’ll work through getting a price on the delivery on that, and whether or not that solution is something that will be proceeded will depend on the viability of the cost.
Mr BAYLEY – So it’s still something that’s up in the air and you may not proceed with it at all? Is that what you’re saying?
Ms BEACH – In that location, it’s not a certainty. It was looking at exploring that option, making sure we can understand the cost. As I noted before, the site does slightly increase in height as you go to the north, so you can have an underground car park without having to do extensive excavations because you can use the height of the site, but we would only proceed with that if it was viable. It was to make sure we had the option through planning approval to explore it further.
Mr BAYLEY – What were the contamination issues associated with digging farther down like that?
Ms BEACH – It does require some excavations and it would increase the bulk material we’d need to remove from site.
