Greater Western Sydney Giants COO Richard Griffiths has labelled those opposing the Manuka Oval redevelopment plan as selfish Colonel Blimp-type characters "banging on about developments down Telopea Park" and blind to the very pressing need for Canberra to have a "world-class stadium". Mr Griffiths' free character assessment, offered at a club briefing on Sunday to drum up public support for the unsolicited proposal, was so disdainful he clearly envisaged it staying in the room, never to be mentioned again.
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That Mr Griffiths should have thought such remarks were warranted or justified, even amongst friends and supporters, attests either to colossal arrogance or a poor appreciation of the need to build solid public support, brick by brick, for what was always going to be a difficult public marketing exercise – justifying the development of substantial office, retail and residential infill in a heritage-listed area.
GWS and its partner, Grocon, are adamant Manuka's facilities need updating and improvement – and for or an organisation that regularly plays at the finest AFL stadiums in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, that sentiment is probably heart-felt. But given Manuka hosts only three or four AFL matches each year, and is unlikely to host any more until a club is based full-time in Canberra (an unlikely prospect), the argument for such improvement does not look compelling. Increasing Manuka's capacity – which would enhance its attractiveness to AFL and Cricket Australia match schedulers – is not on the cards either. Most stands will be covered, but the proposal will only result in a fairly marginal claimed increase of around 4000 seats.
GWS/Grocon have costed the oval improvements at between $80 million to $100 million. In return, they are seeking rights to develop a 160-room hotel and up to 1000 apartments on public land around the oval – including, apparently, a portion of the grounds surrounding the heritage-listed Manuka pool. These are large developments, and naturally enough concerns have coalesced around parking, overshadowing, and other impacts on neighbourhood amenity. The economics of the deal have also raised eyebrows.
The Brumbies parlayed their old headquarters into a complex of 134 apartments, a redevelopment that was aided and abetted by the Stanhope Labor Government and netted the club $30 million. With the promise of a jackpot likely to far exceed what the Brumbies got (and a government that's amenable to inner-suburban development as ever), it's perhaps unsurprising that GWS/Grocon should be trying to shout down their opponents.
Telling individuals what they need and that they should be grateful they're going to get it is a management strategy that works tolerably well with three-year-olds. But it's never likely to win over people of an older, more knowing demographic. Mr Griffiths' accusation that only a select group of reactionary NIMBYs has concerns about Manuka is as untrue as it is high-handed. And that attitude is likely to be rewarded with a re-doubling of efforts by sceptics to convince the government of the proposal's serious flaws.
