People across the Clarence area will have their say on the proposed location of a new AFL High Performance Centre starting this week.
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission will launch a $200,000 elector poll on Wednesday, giving locals the chance to confirm whether they want to “secure a world-class community and sporting facility” or “[keep the] publicly owned parklands for future generations”.
The poll comes after a petition with more than 1,000 signatures was submitted to the council in June, asking for a vote on whether Charles Hand Park and Rosny Parklands should be used for the $70 million facility.
The polling period will run through to 2pm on August 8, with every Clarence City Council elector to be sent a personally addressed postal ballot pack.
The elector poll will ask two Yes or No questions:
1. Do you support building the AFL High Performance Centre entirely within the Rosny Parklands?
2. Do you support building the AFL High Performance Centre across both Rosny Parklands and Charles Hand Park?
The Clarence City Council has contributed to the ‘Yes’ case statement, saying the facility will “breathe new life into the area”.
“The High Performance Centre will deliver social and economic benefits for Clarence and provide a significant opportunity to enhance and shape the future of the Rosny Park CBD,” the ‘Yes’ statement reads.
“It will respect the area’s tradition as a sporting precinct, having been a golf course for nearly 100 years until 2021.”
The Save Rosny’s Parks group has contributed to the ‘No’ case statement, saying “voting no to both questions is the only way to save these parks”.
“From a 2023 survey on this proposal, Council only knows the views of 757 of our 61,500 residents. That’s just 1.2% of the Clarence population,” their statement reads.
“Rosny’s parks are used for skateboarding, cross country, athletics, orienteering, cycling events, exercising dogs, college outdoor activities and leisure pursuits which will be under threat or lost if the AFL takes over.”
Both sides also clashed over the location in their pitches, with the No side arguing that other areas in Clarence would be better suited and the council maintaining no other council-owned land meets the criteria.
If the proposed Rosny location falls through after the non-binding poll is completed, the AFL and Tasmania Devils have expressed openness to shifting the facility to Kingston altogether.
