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Premier Colin Barnett has dashed hopes that Subiaco Oval could get a $600 million redevelopment in the near future.
He said the Government would be happy to look at any proposals by the AFL and WA Football Commission, but the stadium was on hold for two years because there were other priorities such as a children’s hospital.
“We don’t rule it out, but I made it very clear to the football commission this issue is on hold for two years,” Mr Barnett said.
The West Australian revealed on Saturday that the AFL and WAFC had asked architects to produce a new $600 million redevelopment plan in a fresh bid to win State Government money for a project to replace the stalled plan for a multi-purpose stadium.
It is understood that regular WAFC architect Peter Hunt and Melbourne-based Daryl Jackson, a leading architect on the MCG redevelopment, have been briefed on the new project on Subiaco’s current site.
The WAFC has said it hopes to have a fresh stadium proposal by June and it will then be up to the Government to decide if funds will be allocated. The AFL has said it will probably commit funds to a new project but the bulk of the money will have to come from the Government.
Shadow sport minister Ken Travers said the State Government had mismanaged the issue and even if it wanted to delay the construction for the project it needed to be doing the planning, particularly on financial modelling, now.
He said a public-private partnership was one option for considerably reducing the cost of such a project to the taxpayer.
JESSICA STRUTT
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.as...ntentID=136886