Sports stadium players press selection claims

The first major official shot in the sports stadium debate will be fired next month when the high-powered Major Stadia Taskforce, headed by Chamber of Commerce and Industry boss John Langoulant, will deliver its interim report.

The taskforce’s brief is to develop a plan for the needs of the major sports in the state – all football codes and cricket – and the public, for the next 15 to 20 years.

Specifically, that means future development of Subiaco Oval and the WACA Ground, or the construction of new venues.

Recent debate has been driven by expectations of the need for a 60,000 to 70,000-seat stadium in Western Australia, and the requirement that rugby and soccer be accommodated in an appropriate venue.      

Aside from the redevelopment of Subiaco or the WACA, other sites under consideration include Belmont Racetrack, Claremont Showgrounds, and Cockburn Central.

A key issue in the stadium debate is the ‘two-stadium policy’; that is, having one major oval-shaped stadium and another major rectangle shaped venue.

It is an approach Mr Langoulant believes has some merit.

“We need to achieve some rationalisation and have venues that get frequent and effective use,” he told WA Business News. “I also see the demise of sports like rugby and soccer if they are continued to be played on an oval ground.”

There are a number of ways to deal with the need for a rectangle-shaped stadium.

Members Equity Stadium has already had $12 million spent on a partial upgrade to a rectangular playing field and spectator complex.

It is the only venue of its type in WA, but in its current form it is far from state-of-the-art.

This is evidenced by Rugby WA’s decision to undertake discussions with the WACA about relocating to the cricket ground, after initial indications that Members Equity was its preferred option.        

The WACA is eager to secure a winter tenant, and chief executive Tony Dodemaide believes cricket and rugby can co-exist.

“We have a cricket focus but trading on so few occasions a year is hard, so a rugby alliance would be good for us,” Mr Dodemaide said.

The WACA believes it can reconfigure the ground into a rectangle venue, using existing seating on one side of the field and removable seats on the other. The association estimates a price tag of between $80 million and $100 million for the makeover.

Town of Vincent mayor Nick Catania said that designs and costings had already been undertaken to increase Members Equity Stadium to a 32,000-seat capacity.

“It will cost around $100 million to make it a state-of-the-art venue. This compares favourably with Suncorp Sta-dium in Brisbane, which cost around $290 million to redevelop,” he said.          

However, the main game remains the future options for hosting major, blockbuster-type sporting events in the state.

Mr Langoulant and his team have all but removed Belmont Park from its deliberations, indicating that Perth Racing wanted to retain control of the venue for horse racing, and residential development.     

The WACA has made a submission to the taskforce, but with its current capacity of around 25,000 and the taskforce speaking in terms of rationalising venues, it is hard to see the WACA emerging as WA’s headline sporting stadium.

Mr Langoulant raised the prospect of redeveloping the venue in a similar fashion to Brisbane’s Allan Border Field and having it host secondary cricket matches, with major international matches played at the state’s premier stadium.

The West Australian Football Commission is also preparing a submission for the taskforce on Subiaco Oval.

It is believed that expanding Subiaco from its current capacity of 43,500 to 50,000 would cost in the order of $40 million, while extending it capacity of 60,000 would cost about $250 million. 

The most advanced of all taskforce major stadium submissions is Cockburn Central in Perth’s southern corridor, which has spent $100,000 on design and concept.

It proposes a new $500 million, 60,000-seat stadium designed for all major sports, called Stadium WA, to be built on a greenfields site adjacent to train and bus links in the area.

A spokesperson for Stadium WA said research into modern stadia indicated that a venue needed a catchment of one million people within a 30-kilometre radius to make it viable.

“Cockburn Central achieves this target, needs no approvals to proceed, and will be only 12 minutes from Perth by train,” the spokesperson told WA Business News.

The stadium would also have moveable stands to create a rectangular pitch when needed.

For all the merits of Cockburn Central, respected ABC sports journalist Glenn Mitchell believes a central location such as the Claremont Showgrounds offers the best solution for a major sporting venue.

“There is no local catchment for Cockburn and its location would make it difficult for those in the northern suburbs to attend the venue,” he said. 

Another option is to maintain the status quo with WA’s existing sporting venues.

Some argue there is no pressing need for a 60,000-seat venue, and that on most occasions it would only be partially full.

Proponents of this view point to the Docklands stadium in Melbourne, and the few times it has been sold-out since opening in 2000.

The Major Stadia Taskforce will present its final recommendations in October.