NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has abandoned plans to knock down and rebuild ANZ Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park but will go ahead with its proposal for Allianz Stadium at Moore Park.
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The shell of the former Olympic stadium will instead be refurbished and transformed into a rectangular stadium.
This will save the state government half a billion dollars.
The change of heart is likely to be welcomed by regional communities, including Shoalhaven residents.
A strong majority (80 per cent) of South Coast Register poll respondents said they did not support plans to spend $2.5 billion on the Sydney stadiums.
Shoalhaven mayor Amanda Findley praised the premier for listening to the public on this matter.
Months ago, Mayor Findley wrote to the premier with serious concerns about stadium rebuild spending.
“It’s good to see logic has prevailed,” she said.
“It’s a reasonable solution.”
Colleagues threatened that getting involved in the issue would backfire, and mayor Findley believes they were correct.
“They said, ‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you,’ and not much later there was a threat from the state MP (Gareth Ward) that if we didn’t save the Bomaderry 50m pool, there would be no funding for the Shoalhaven sporting precinct.
“The tit for tat needs to stop.”
Regardless, she has no regrets about making her thoughts known.
“As a community leader it’s my responsibility to relay messages I’m getting from the people I represent,” she said.