https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/n...d/news-story/6c51a6dbca6eeff2fa3214902c7b4918
Government’s Allianz Stadium rebuild documents to be released
Emily Macdonald, Wentworth Courier
March 27, 2018 11:00pm
THE government wants to spend around $800 million knocking down and replacing Moore Park’s crumbling Allianz Stadium but the decision is not proving to be a fan favourite with everyone.
Despite previously withholding the information, in the next week premier Gladys Berejiklian will have to release all documents relating to the stadium, officially known as Sydney Football Stadium, after government MP Matthew Mason-Cox sensationally threatened to cross the floor on the issue.
Critics say the stadium’s main tenants — Sydney FC, the Roosters and the Waratahs — rarely draw crowds of more than 20,000 and so the proposed 45,000 seat stadium will be largely redundant.
However, Sydney FC have warmly embraced the proposal as have the South Sydney Rabbitohs who took the extraordinary step of writing to all their members and asking them to back the stadiums rebuild.
Regulars to the facility will have no doubt spotted rusting metal and electrical tape patch up jobs.
Construction of the stadium will create thousands of jobs and backers of the proposal say it is a necessary investment in sporting infrastructure for Australia to regain its former podium position on the world stage.
The cost of the project has put off voters with almost 40 per cent of respondents to a recent survey divulging it has put them off the Berejiklian government.
A company which conducts polls for local and state governments, Micromex Research and Consulting, revealed this week that 37 per cent of respondents who said they supported the LNP also said they would be less inclined to vote for them if the stadium was built.
Opposition leader Luke Foley, who has spent the last week tripping around in a bus emblazoned with the slogan “schools and hospitals before stadiums”, has ruled out knocking down the stadium if he wins government at next year’s election and says he will instead do “modest refurbishments”.
VOX POP
We went to Moore Park and asked the locals what they think should happen to Allianz Stadium.
Alice Harrington, 31, copyrighter
“I think the stadium is fine the way it is. It’s a waste of money to knock it down and try to turn it into something bigger. I don’t think it’s going to attract the kind of events to Moore Park Gladys thinks it will.”
Paul Littman, 53, commercial manager
“I’m not averse to replacing it and investing in sporting infrastructure. But what I don’t understand is the argument that keeps getting put forward that the new venue would be suitable to host events like the Rugby World Cup.
“I have attended a Rugby World Cup in the current venue and it seemed completely fine to me, although I am not a structural engineer.”
Kylie Stanton, 35, carer
“I think they should stick with the renovations and save that money and use it to help the community. There are so many health and support services out there dying for resources and waiting lists are so long.”
REPLICATE PARRAMATTA IN MOORE PARK
Opinion by Phil Rothfield — Sports Editor-at-Large
Moore Park doesn’t need a 45,000 seat stadium.
Its major tenants, the Sydney Roosters, Sydney FC and the Waratahs, have average crowds of way below the 20,000 mark.
So for a $900 million government spend, we’d have more than 25,000 empty seats on game days.
Sometimes when the Roosters play, 35,000 empty seats.
Of course the Anzac Day Roosters-Dragons NRL blockbuster and soccer’s A League Derby are two events that need the space. But do we spend $900 million for two games of footy?
Instead the government should replicate the 32,000 seat stadium that is currently under construction at Parramatta. It’s costing only $350 million. Now that’s a huge saving.
It’s still a world class, state of the art venue.
It’s a win for taxpayers and for footy fans at Allianz Stadium.
You get much better atmosphere at the smaller venue.
It becomes a better television product too.
And for long suffering eastern suburbs residence, it’s less traffic too.
Sydney needs only one major event venue at Homebush closer to Sydney’s biggest population growth areas.
It would be a rectangular 75,000 seater for NRL blockbusters, State of Origin, the grand-final, the Bledisloe Cup, the Socceroos, Manchester United, Liverpool, Ed Sheeran and all the big concerts.
It would drive tourism dollars into Sydney.
It would stop Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth from pinching all the big events.
And that is what this stadium debate is all about … attracting the world’s best sport and entertainment to the Harbour City.
Gladys Berejiklian is right — Allianz Stadium has to be rebuilt
Opinion Alan Jones — Breakfast radio announcer
I will have been a Trustee of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust for 30 continuous years come this July.
I have been intimately involved in every detail about the future of the football stadium.
Much of what had been said about the redevelopment demonstrates an appalling level of ignorance of the facts.
The Trust has, over and over again, tried to draw the attention of successive governments in New South Wales to the inability of the Sydney Football Stadium to comply with current public safety standards.
The football stadium was built according to an ordinance introduced in 1906. Public safety standards have changed. The football stadium hasn’t.
A modern stadium must evacuate within eight minutes. It would take over 24 minutes to clear the Sydney Football Stadium.
There are 38 wheelchair accessible seats. Modern legislation dictates there should be more than 400.
Any number of reports commissioned by the New South Wales government have recommended a knock down and rebuild.
The Sydney Football Stadium was built at no cost to the New South Wales taxpayer. It was funded by members.
And even though it’s a public venue, not one cent of government money can be counted amongst the tens of millions that have been spent on its maintenance and its upkeep.
Now, independent experts have told us to seek a conditional certificate of occupancy to operate the stadium safely.
There are stringent guidelines. But the certificate expires next year.
Gladys Berejiklian is right — Allianz Stadium has to be rebuilt.
