The Hobart City Council has criticised the state government’s potential move to sidestep established planning processes for the proposed Macquarie Point stadium.
At Wednesday night’s meeting, the council’s planning committee passed a motion expressing disappointment over the government’s handling of the project and its “disregard for the Tasmanian planning system”.
Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said she was “shocked” after reading the Tasmanian Planning Commission’s 175-page draft report, which flagged a number of issues with the development.
“To read that really heightened my concerns about the issue. But then to then see many state parliamentarians diminish this report and say they possibly don’t even need to take the process further … is really a low point in the politicisation of the planning system,” Reynolds said.
“The council feels that it is now up to us to step up and to help provide the scrutiny and the advocacy that the community is looking for.”
“There is a bit of concern about what is happening in the state parliament, how they’re dealing with facts, how they’re potentially, you know, undermining and speaking down about certain experts and certain processes.”
“And that’s why council is rising or this committee is rising to that, this challenge as we should be doing as a planning committee.”
The committee voted to engage with state parliamentarians about the risks of abandoning the Project of State Significance (POSS) process and urged the government to formally respond to the Planning Commission’s findings.
The motion also called for the Lord Mayor to seek a meeting with the AFL CEO and write to the Prime Minister and Federal Infrastructure Minister about the stadium’s funding agreement. An elector poll is also possible.
Alderman Marti Zucco voted against the motion, warning it could damage the council’s relationship with the state government.
“We can jump up and down all we want. It’s not going to change anything,” he said.
“If people cannot add up that the majority the majority of our parliamentarians are representing the majority of the people of Tasmania, then we don’t understand what true democracy is.”
“We may not like it. There may be people who don’t like it, but democracy is a majority on the floor of a government representing the people.”
The state government is yet to announce whether it will push ahead with special enabling legislation to get the stadium built.
