Tensions are boiling over in Clarence as the local mayor hits out at the state government for “kicking the can down the road” in developing the AFL high-performance centre.
Rosny was chosen as the preferred site for the $70 million facility in December last year, but after a $145,000 elector poll and $20,000 public meeting, Clarence Mayor Brendan Blomeley says there has been “absolutely zero action”.
“It has just been so frustrating. And in my view, it really has been the most unprofessional process I’ve ever seen,” he told Triple M.
“There’s been no proper structure. It’s been incredibly poorly handled by senior bureaucrats within the Department of State Growth and the Minister and … it’s just diabolical where we are at the moment.”
“The DA should have been lodged by now. The construction should have started. If we’re serious about having this facility up by 2026, I think that that now is a very challenging timeframe to meet.”
The mayor’s comments come after Sports Minister Nic Street told state parliament last week that work was still ongoing in finalising a location for the site, but assured MPs that Rosny remained their preferred option.
“We obviously can’t lodge the DA until we have chosen our final site. As soon as we do we will submit a DA and we hope to do that as soon as possible,” Street said.
Blomeley said he does not know whether the development will ultimately take shape in Rosny or the backup site at Kingston.
“We’ve had no contact, no conversations or ability to negotiate with senior staff within the Department of State Growth in recent months and at no point in time has Kingborough been mentioned as the preferred site,” he said.
“As I understand it, there are challenges with both sites and the geotechnical information I’ve not been privy to.”
He said the government had continually told the council that Rosny “was the only site” that meets the AFL’s requirements of being close to a population centre and transport corridors.
“And if those criteria are now negotiable, other sites within the Clarence municipality which were dismissed by the state and AFL representatives could have been further explored,” he said.
“From my perspective, the division of the community has been caused by severe lack of information coming out of the government and frankly, it’s been horrible to see.”
