'Nobody had consulted us': Barr's stadium announcement blindsides current tenants

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr made the shock announcement on Wednesday they'd come up with yet another preferred site for a new $500 million, 30,000-seat stadium as they undertook their seventh study into the problematic venue.

The old Canberra Raiders HQ, on the corner of Haydon Drive and Battye Street, was Barr's latest preferred location.

The only problem was NSWRL have a long-term lease through a deal with the Canberra Institute of Technology, the owners of the land.

NSWRL chief executive David Trodden only found out about Barr's intentions after the chief minister revealed it on Wednesday.

Trodden said they were surprised by the news, which they found out via the grapevine.

But he couldn't say much more than that because he didn't know any details.

He'll have plenty of time to find out, with a new Canberra Stadium not expected to be built until 2033 - 24 years after the government first started planning a new one.

The government haven't done their technical due diligence on the site yet, which was hoped to be finished this year.

"It was a surprise because nobody had consulted us," Trodden said.

"The first we heard about it was when it was brought to our attention by somebody from the Canberra rugby league who had seen the announcements.

"I gather it came as a surprise to them as well.

"We really don't know any of the detail at all about it."

NSWRL wasn't the only tenant of the site, with the Belconnen Sharks, the Disability Trust and the ACT's rugby league referees also calling it home.

Canberra Region Rugby League general manager Mark Vergano expected the government wouldn't leave those tenants out in the cold if the new stadium was eventually built there.

He thought the government would look to either upgrade existing community facilities or create new ones if the site, which has an oval on it, was developed.

Barr was looking to revamp the whole AIS and CIT Bruce precinct.

"I would imagine any planning would encompass NSWRL, the current tenant, CIT, the government and ourselves," Vergano said.

"Any planning has to be an integrated plan, not only about the stadium being there, but about the relocation ... of our community based needs and I'm confident the government understands that.

"It might be upgrades to some existing facilities or it might be a green-fields [site]. One of [the 11 sites the government considered for a new stadium] might be suitable for a superior community facility that meets the needs of our community rugby league."