ABOUT

The ECHO7250 team acknowledges the First Peoples – the Traditional Owners of the lands where we live and work, and recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay respect to Elders – past, present and emerging – and acknowledge the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within local cultural landscapes. ECHO7250 is a not-for-profit community enterprise publishing news, letters, photographs and feature articles relevant to kanamalukaTAMAR 'placedness'. Contributions welcomed!

Saturday, 28 January 2023

REAL LOCAL GOVERNANCE NEWS

 


Stadium at Mac Point – the new hot topic
Just as the ink dried on the Planning Tribunal’s rejection of a cable car, another controversial development proposal has emerged to get Hobartians talking............


Q.1 Where did the drive for a stadium come from?
The first mention of a stadium was in Premier Gutwein’s ‘State of the State’ speech in November 2021, as part of his pitch to get a team for the AFL. ........

Q.2 Is a new stadium the best public investment in Hobart infrastructure?
A ‘Strategic Business Case’ has been published to try to secure federal government funding. Unsurprisingly, it finds there will be jobs created and economic value derived from public investment in this project.........

Q.3 Have all the options for and alternatives to a new stadium been properly assessed?
A thorough and dispassionate analysis should closely examine the benefit of a $700 million-plus public investment in a new stadium against the other options. ......

Q.4 Is a stadium the best way to activate Mac Point?
Everyone in Hobart has been disappointed by how long it's taken to redevelop Macquarie Point. Until the stadium proposal, the state government hadn’t made any significant investments in new public projects at the site.......

Q.5 Can a stadium also be a suitable arts venue?
The Hobart community loves arts and cultural activities and the arts sector employs double those in the sports and recreational sector. The $30 million state government investment in the Hedberg Centre / Theatre Royal development was the last major investment in arts infrastructure in the city. ............

Q.6. What infrastructure do the people of Hobart want the state government to invest in?

There has been no consultation with the community about this proposal and if people consider this to be a top priority investment in central Hobart infrastructure. .......

Q.7 What impact will this stadium have on surrounding heritage places (such as the Cenotaph)?
Great cities use special sites well and when the Macquarie Point masterplan was first approved by Council it was anticipated that development on the site would remain lower than the Cenotaph. .......


Q.9 Which projects might miss out on funding because of the focus on the stadium?
I’m concerned that the stadium will compromise the ability for state and federal government to invest in any other priority projects for the city (including community sporting facilities and other economic development priority projects)........

ALTERNATIVES
As part of my commitment to solutions-based leadership, I always aim to propose alternative ideas and win-win compromises when critiquing a project. .........


I propose a better way to spend $1 billion would be:

$240 million for urgent port upgrades and......................CLICK HERE

HAVE YOUR SAY

This is an exemplar all Councils might well emulate and advocate. If Hobart's Mayor can do this why not Launceston's? Mayors are resourced to do such things and sitting on their hands and allowing that euphemistic tail wagging the dog in a gilded frame and doing the SHOTcalling aught not be an option. 

Self-serving STATUS QUOISM all too frequently precludes elected representatives voicing strategic positions and policy aspirations. Also, SECTION 62/2 of the Local Govt Act is all too often invoked to shut down contentious and un-welcomed commentaries. It is time for meaningful change and a lot that needs to be done that can be done strategically around the table by a self-empowered cohort of COUNCILLORS. The GM's (AKA CEO's) approval is NOT required.

No comments:

Post a Comment