Duffy promises 20,000-seat stadium if elected Ipswich mayor
Joel Gould | 10th Sep 2015 5:00 AM
MAYORAL candidate Gary Duffy will build a 20,000-seat stadium at North Ipswich Reserve if elected in 2016.
Mr Duffy told the QT the stadium would be a drawcard for major sporting events and be a win-win for the city's businesses and economy.
He said that "Cairns with a population of 160,000 is building a brand new 20,000-capacity stadium and has an AFL stadium".
He pointed to Gosford's 20,000 seat stadium for a city with a population of 162,000.
"Mackay, with a population of 102,000, has a 10,000-capacity stadium, but Ipswich with 180,000-plus has no stadium," he said.
Those cities all have hosted NRL games in the past and continue to do so.
"Ipswich is missing out on major sporting events that come to south-east Queensland," Mr Duffy said.
"We could host NRL games and trial games. We could host Brisbane Roar games here.
"To have a venue that has 20,000 seats close to Brisbane means that we will end up getting games from the Brisbane area played at the stadium.
"It is not just about Ipswich. It is about bringing people into Ipswich and community events here.
"We could easily host cross-fit games, the highest growth games in the world, where the stadium would be full.
"Since Mackay has put in its stadium it has hosted NRL games, bull rides and numerous events which has helped to pay for the stadium and has given life to the city."
The south-east Queensland regional plan has factored in a stadium at Ripley Valley in the decades ahead, which would ultimately be used by a Western Corridor NRL side if it won a licence.
But Mr Duffy, who has been a rugby league coaching director and coached rugby union in Europe, said suburban stadiums don't cut it.
"Ipswich is going to boom, but every stadium that has been out in the suburbs hasn't really worked.
"If you put a stadium in a suburb you are making the suburb the city, and that is wrong.
"People at Rosewood, do they want to go to Ripley or bring people to the CBD?
"If it worked in the suburbs they would have put Lang Park at North Lakes, but they didn't.
"The stadium has got to be in the city and part of the city so businesses can have added benefits by coming in here.
"If I am elected the Barry St bridge will go in and that will mean we are connected north and south of the river, making the journey to the stadium easy as buses can loop around the bridges from park and ride places either side of the river.
"I intend to turn Lamington Pde into the new Caxton St, and we are on the river here so we can utilise the green space between the park and the river. It becomes a very friendly, family place to be."
Mr Duffy said the stadium would be similar to the one at Robina used by the Titans, which cost $160 million. AAMI Park in Melbourne cost $268 million.
He said that funding would have to come from federal and state governments, but added that his infrastructure plans for Ipswich would make that more feasible.
"The savings of $200 million that we would make by putting in a Barry St bridge (instead of at Norman St) means we could put in a $200 million stadium," he said.
Ipswich Jets CEO Wayne Wendt said a stadium at North Ipswich Reserve "in the long term probably makes a lot of sense".
"It would all depend on a Western Corridor NRL side. If that happens we need a stadium of size, 20,000 to 25,000 in my view, and you would fill that week in and week out."
Ipswich Rugby League chairman Jack Rhea said North Ipswich Reserve needed "more seating, more shade and an upgrade of the dressing sheds" as a priority.
He said a stadium would be viable if Ipswich secured an NRL side in the Western Corridor, but favoured Springfield as a location.
