http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/stadi ... -dylk.html
Quote:
Stadium plans leave World Cup bid in danger
Tim Clarke
July 28, 2009 - 9:19AM
The plan to completely rebuild Member's Equity Stadium will still leave Perth in danger of missing out on staging any games if Australia's bid to host soccer's World Cup is successful.
Staged upgrade plans will be officially unveiled some time next year, with the intention to reshape the former Perth Oval based on Skilled Park on the Gold Coast, which houses 27,400 spectators.
With Town of Vincent mayor Nick Catania boldly predicting a 2012 finish date - if they are given the construction - planning with the council which owns the land freehold will take at least a year.
However, Sports Minister Terry Waldron said costs and timelines for the proposal would not be confirmed until the middle of next year.
He acknowledged the Government's plans will not solve WA's lack of a major arena to host soccer internationals - with the FFA looking to make a decision on potential World Cup venues by the end of this year.
The Government is still eyeing Subiaco Oval as a potential host of World Cup matches.
"This stadium is going to be designed to meet the requirements of our State, our competitions, the state provincial competitions, Super 14 and the A-League," Mr Waldron said.
"With the World Cup, you are talking 2018 and 2022. There are other options including a greenfield site, and if we couldn’t work through the issues with this stadium we would have to look at that.
"There is Subiaco Oval which will always be used to host the bigger games, Test matches and those with crowds of 25,000-plus people.
"We have been talking to the football commission, and in the next two to three weeks they will be coming to us with a proposal.
"To meet the requirements of the World Cup I think Subiaco Oval could be the best answer."
The decision on Australia's bid for either the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be made in December 2010, with Australia having to show a minimum of 12 stadiums, two of which must hold 80,000 fans and 10 with a minimum capacity of 45,000.
Opposition sports spokesman Ken Travers said this should be addressed urgently by the Government.
"I welcome trying to address the stadia in this state but this announcement is just another unfunded thought bubble," Mr Travers said.
"The Government does not have plans for stadia in WA, and have come up with an idea without funding and no lack of any detail.
The Government also needs to address the issue of Australia's world cup bid and Perth's place in it.
Mr Catania, who along with the Town of Vincent had been awaiting a decision its own $73 million proposal for improvements to Members Equity, admitted he had been "pleasantly surprised" by the Government announcement over the weekend.
With a year of planning details now to be thrashed out, Mr Catania flagged the authority's intention to push for control over construction, rather than the State Government.
"We were very pleasantly surprised at the extent of the plans," Mr Catania said.
"The Government well advised to give us that responsibility because we do it better, we know the oval, we are better negotiators in getting the best bang for our dollar.
"We are better at it than the Department of Sport and Recreation would be, they are sports people they are not builder, they do not know the oval like we do, and they don't know what services and how to use them.
"We will build it, and if that is the case the timeline will be shorter as well … we could deliver it by late 2012."
i want the new Kitchener Park Multi-Purpose Stadium not Subiaco Oval. and don't let the town of Vincent build the rectangle stadium, that would be a catastrophe, going off anything they have attempted previously.
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