The Tasmanian Planning Commission (TPC) has pushed back against claims it overstepped its authority in assessing the Macquarie Point stadium project.
In a letter rejecting legal advice from the Macquarie Point Development Corporation (MPDC), TPC Chairman John Ramsay stood by the Commission’s draft assessment report, denying it contained “errors of law, approach and analysis”.
“The Commission maintains the view that the scope of the assessment as reflected in the published Draft Integrated Assessment Report is concordant with the terms of the State Policies and Projects Act,” Ramsay wrote.
The MPDC argues the draft went beyond the project’s defined boundary and strayed into irrelevant economic territory, citing concerns about “total state sector debt” and Tasmania’s “credit rating”.
In an unusual move, the TPC published both the legal challenge and its response before public submissions closed, citing the MPDC’s decision to go public with a media release.
“The practice of the Commission is not to make statements to the media about the conduct of its assessments,” Ramsay noted, adding that “in the circumstances, the Commission will depart from its usual practice”.
The MPDC, represented by law firm MinterEllison, claims the draft report “should be given limited, if any, weight” and plans to lodge multiple submissions during the exhibition period.
Public hearings on the stadium project are expected to wrap up next month, with the Commission set to deliver its final recommendations to Parliament later this year.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff is still weighing up whether to bypass the Project of State Significance process altogether, after raising concerns with parts of the Commission’s findings.
