Stadium for Burswood

[travelling_gerry]

Paul Lampathakis & Joe Spagnolo From: The Sunday Times January 22, 2011 6:00PM 17 comments

PREMIER Colin Barnett wants to build Perth's long-awaited new stadium at Burswood.

Informed sources said this week Mr Barnett had clearly indicated he "does not want Subiaco".

And while before Christmas he had discussed both Burswood and East Perth as possibilities, Burswood has now firmed as his preferred site.

The sources said Mr Barnett had been emphatic he was "not going to mess around" for long periods with consultants, and a decision would simply be made and announced. But they believed any announcement was still several months away.

"He has been saying he's not going to mess around, he's going to build it at either Burswood or East Perth, but Burswood is his preference," one said. "But he has said he does not want Subiaco, that Subiaco is not a good idea."

A spokeswoman for Mr Barnett, who returns to work tomorrow, said the Premier was on leave and would not be commenting.

But in an interview earlier this month, Mr Barnett told The Sunday Times: "I said the issue would be off the agenda for two years. That two years is up on February 1. I will do what I said, I will now go back to the issue. I will not be making a decision in February but the decision will be made quickly."

Other sources said Mr Barnett was particularly keen on Burswood because the former Labor government had picked Subiaco's Kitchener Park as the site for a new $1 billion outdoor stadium.

"He wants to call the project his own and not be seen as purely giving the go-ahead for a project that was already committed to by Labor," one source said.

But the City of Subiaco is pleading with the Premier not to build a new stadium at Burswood, with council officials saying they would be seeking an urgent meeting with him to state their case.

City of Subiaco chief executive officer Stephen Tindale said Subiaco, "the spiritual home of football", would be devastated if the stadium went elsewhere.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/west...-1225992852943

[zimeric]

oh have a cry Tindale... simply put, you dont have the room for a stadium bigger than 50 000

[jargan83]

oh have a cry Tindale... simply put, you dont have the room for a stadium bigger than 50 000

Thats a bit rich given the original Kitchener Park multi purpose stadium was going to hold 60,000 people

Burswood would be a good place to build a stadium given the transport Infrastructure there already with an existing rail link, easy access to the Graham Farmer Fwy and Great Eastern and Canning Hwy's
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[zimeric]

Thats a bit rich given the original Kitchener Park multi purpose stadium was going to hold 60,000 people
Posted via Mobile Device

there are so many issues with Subi as it is. Noise complaints, inadequate transport infrastructure around it, losing significant park space, parking etc.. Kitchener will not be much better. In fact going by their proposal it looks like theyll have to sink more of the rail line, encroach on housing etc... they are more worried about the loss of revenue for the area than for the real reason for having the stadium, and fair enough as a businessman i would be trying to keep it.. doesnt mean its a good idea though.

[blueandblack]

Thats a bit rich given the original Kitchener Park multi purpose stadium was going to hold 60,000 people

Burswood would be a good place to build a stadium given the transport Infrastructure there already with an existing rail link, easy access to the Graham Farmer Fwy and Great Eastern and Canning Hwy's
Posted via Mobile Device

and parking available at Burswood Casino and Belmont Racecourse.

[beige]

Hah, Burswood Casino doesn't even have parking for Burswood Casino!

[.X.]

Correct me if I am wrong - and I could be for the last time I lived in Perth Burswood was brand new.

But doesn't Burswood use the Golf course fairways for parking for big events?

[oxleymoron]

What shape is Colin talking about - an egg or rectangle?

[blueandblack]

What shape is Colin talking about - an egg or rectangle?

an egg (for AFL)

[Flamethrower]

Build it on reclaimed swamp. Way to go

[beige]

Build it on reclaimed swamp. Way to go

Worked well enough for the rest of the city

[GIGS20]

If it's for gayfl, a swamp would be the perfect place. Only better choice could be a reclaimed sewage farm.

I hope there's still a $160,000,000 dedicated rectangle on that agenda!

[AndyS]

The transport infrastructure would be my biggest concern. Subi does have a lot of parking, stretching into Leederville and West Perth. They have masses of pubs and restaurants to distract and slow the punters, and a wide variety of different routes by which cars can escape the area. Folk can even walk into Perth without that much trouble if they wish. Yet we all know what a shambles it can be post-match with 40k people.

Burswood has none of those things. Parking will have to either be either new, or use Belmont Park, and either way I'll bet the fees will reflect the lack of alternatives. There are no pubs and facilities post-match other than what is at Burswood, and new ones couldn't survive on the strength of a couple of hours after a handful of games each year. They would need to be either temporary (with all the quality choice and service that implies in Perth) or there would need to be an ongoing demand the rest of the year (i.e a surrounding residential development, lack of space, no parking and, in time, the neighbours complaining). But most importantly, it will be 50% more people trying to excape with almost no outlets. There is a single rail line for those on foot, one intersection onto the Farmer freeway and two onto Great Eastern Highway. You can't walk back to town, so you're effectively pinned on the peninsula until you get into out by one of those means.

It will be an absolute shambles unless the Government is also planning to do a major infrastructure upgrade as part of the deal. That won't be cheap, but I suspect you'd find that's the real prize for the folk behind the Burswood plan.

[blueandblack]

I believe that the Graham Farmer Freeway bridge has a cycle path underneath, so people might be able to use that to walk. I would suspect most people would train it back in anyway especially since they probably have free Transperth travel for 3 hrs after the game.

This is Burswood, taken via nearmap.com this morning:



The part just above the Dome (with the 5 shadowed "stones", which are actually residential towers) is a residential development.

[zimeric]

there is a large walkway under the bridge, they could also run a ferry service from east perth, there are pubs and restaurants there that could do with some extra patronage, three lane graham farmer, great eastern highway and rail service for transport... i dont think thatll be a problem at all. where there might be is bottlenecking at the tunnel area and great eastern (which has needed an upgrade for 10 years now)