What The Bulletin thinks
13Jul05
Robina the
correct call
for stadium
WHOOPS! Now that's an oversight.
While the city has agonised over whether the Gold Coast City Council will get its act together in providing its part of a deal that will deliver a new stadium to be home for our yet-to-be-named National Rugby League team, the council apparently forgot according to councillor Peter Young that it owned a 13ha site near the motorway and the railway line at Nerang.
That's rather perplexing, given the land is a matter of a few hundred metres from the council's Nerang chambers.
The land is separate from another block at Nerang earmarked as a possible site for a stadium the State Government has promised to build, but which lies on the floodplain and would have to be bought.
At this point, Robina is the preferred option, provided the council and the Robina Land Corporation are able to settle negotiations for the purchase of a site next to the Robina railway station.
Robina enjoys ideal access for a complex catering for large sports crowds easy road access to the M1, plenty of land for parking and, importantly, a railway station within easy walking distance.
But the sudden recollection that the council owns land at Nerang, coming as late as it has as councillors and senior officials try to come to a decision on a site within days, presents an interesting option.
Already owning the land is a handy start, but of course the site also presents problems.
The railway line might run near by, but there is no station and the site appears to demand a lot of preparation before a stadium can be built. Where would the roads, parking facilities, bus pick-up and set-down areas be positioned?
And is construction of an alternative Nerang station next to the stadium, just for use on game days, the sort of project the Government will agree to or be prepared to finance?
The council, meanwhile, is investigating the new Nerang option which, of course, is its own block of land at the last minute and after weeks of stumbling along in such a way with this issue that it has found itself criticised time and again for dragging the chain.
With the latest 'oversight', the question is whether the authority forgot about the block, which is embarrassing, or knew of the land but preferred to keep it under wraps for some other purpose.
The cost of acquiring land for this project however, should not be the sole deter-mining factor.
The Gold Coast should look to Lang Park, which was developed into the magnificent Suncorp Stadium, to learn what works.
The key there has been recognition that going to the football has become much more than simply watching a game.
Plonking the Gold Coast's new stadium in a virtual desert will only repeat the folly of Carrara.
Many heading for Lang Park nowadays leave early on the train, perhaps enjoy a couple of pre-game drinks somewhere in the precinct, then after the football head to the hotels and entertainment of Caxton Street and the city or the restaurants of Park Road.
Therein lies the key to success the recognition that going to the footy now is an entertainment experience rather than just 80 minutes of watching a game and maybe munching on a pie.
A decision has to be made. The council has to make up its mind and get on with it.
With Robina obviously the best location and, as the council has often stated, the centre of the Gold Coast, the city may have to pay more than it wants to for the site.
Better though to pay a premium now rather than suffer another stadium failure.
