Cockburn calls foul on stadium

The City of Cockburn has hit out at the Major Stadia Taskforce’s interim report recommendation for a $600 million multi-purpose outdoor stadium to be built within 1.5 kilometres of the Perth CBD.

The recommendation is a significant early setback for the city’s bid to have the stadium located at its Cockburn Central site, 20 kilometres south-west of Perth. 

The state government’s taskforce, led by Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief economist John Langoulant, has short-listed existing sites at Kitchener/Mueller Park, adjacent to Subiaco Oval, and the old power station site in East Perth as preferred options for the 60,000-seat venue.

The report has also come under fire from the City of Subiaco and West Coast Eagles chairman Dalton Gooding, who said the report did not give adequate consideration for the Western Australian Football Commission’s $235 million stadium masterplan at Subiaco Oval.

Cockburn Mayor Stephen Lee said the taskforce had made a terrible call and had failed its terms of reference.

“They’ve given the state government the choice between knocking over an A-class reserve or a heritage-listed building. Both sites have the same access problems as Subiaco Oval – they have poor road links, they are not on the northern or southern rail links, and they won’t have any parking,” Mr Lee said.

Cockburn’s proposed stadium and infrastructure would have the capacity for up to 70,000 spectators, making it a natural host of international rugby tests and one-day cricket and test matches, as well as National Soccer League and AFL finals games.

The 33-hectare ‘clean’ site has 20.5ha available for the construction of a stadium and complementary infra-structure, and is located adjacent to the Cockburn Central railway station and the proposed $400 million Cockburn Central Town Centre, overseen by LandCorp.

Sport and Recreation Minister Jon Kobelke endorsed the taskforce recommendations and said in a statement that the government would be speaking to key sports administrators and listening to the public debate while refining terms of reference for the taskforce to complete the second stage of its investigation.

“The second stage will give the government a detailed examination of the taskforce’s preferred options,” Mr Kobelke said.

Mr Lee said the city would continue to campaign for a stadium at Cockburn ahead of the final taskforce report, to be delivered in the first quarter of next year.