New images and documents relating to Hobart's Macquarie Point Stadium provided to Tasmanian Planning Commission

More than 800 pages of additional information has been provided to the Tasmanian Planning Commission by the Macquarie Point Development Corporation, in response to a request for more information about the stadium project.

Among its various requests, which were made in November, the TPC had asked for more visualisations of the stadium's effects on the broader area, leading to Friday's release of new images that show how the proposed Macquarie Point stadium would look from the Hobart waterfront.

Three additional images, provided by consulting firm 'SLR', show how the stadium appears behind a row of heritage buildings on Hunter Street, and from Constitution Dock.

A render of the stadium seen from Franklin Wharf along Hobart's waterfront. (Supplied: MPDC)

A render of the proposed stadium behind heritage buildings on Evans Street. (Supplied: MPDC)

The TPC had also queried previous visualisations of the stadium from Hobart's Bridge of Remembrance towards the Cenotaph, noting the 51m-high stadium appeared to stand at the same height as the 42m-high Grand Chancellor Hotel.

In response, SLR technical director Dean Butcher said he considered that to be a "result of distortion of the image at the edges" due to stitching several photographs together to form a panorama.

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The images were among 27 documents published on the Tasmanian Planning Commission (TPC) website in response to queries about the management of vehicle and pedestrian traffic, economic assumptions, the management of site contamination and consultation with the Aboriginal community.

In a statement, MPDC said the documents adequately answered the TPC's questions.

"We have provided a comprehensive set of supplementary reports, including providing clarifications and information on the design, planning analysis, further information on the financial analysis, further information on transport and movement, environmental information, and engagement," the statement reads.

"We will continue working with the TPC as the process moves forward, including providing further updates and information as required."

New economic scenarios modelled

The Tasmanian Planning Commission also sought more detailed economic analysis, requesting that several different scenarios involving construction cost escalation and "AFL penalties" be modelled.

In response, consultants KPMG produced a report that modelled a 20 per cent capital cost increase, included top-up payments of $4.5 million from the government to the Tasmania Football Club for two years, and included $98.5 million of government funding to the Devils.

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It found that under that scenario, total costs would equate to $885 million, with a benefit cost ratio of 0.58.

KPMG was also asked to model pessimistic and optimistic cases for the stadium, based on higher and lower interstate visitation, visitor spend, and effect on sports participation.

Under a range of scenarios, it determined benefit cost ratios spanning from 0.43 in the most pessimistic scenario, to 1.09 in the most optimistic.

However, KPMG stood firm on its decision not to originally model a "with or without the stadium" case, stating that "choosing an alternative project as a counterfactual for considering the economic impact of the stadium is based on a false premise that the opportunity cost of the stadium is an alternative investment that the government may choose to do".

The estimated cost of building the stadium remains at $775 million, and a spreadsheet compiled by surveyors WT Partnership containing 35 budget line items was also provided to the planning commission, including $109 million for construction of the "main roof".

The cost of relocating the Goods Shed is estimated at $6.5 million.

A render of the Goods Shed in its proposed new position outside the stadium, released by MPDC in August 2024. (Supplied: MPDC)

Some requests were out of scope

In February, the TPC published guidelines that set out the framework for which the stadium project was to be assessed, but in its response to the planning commissions list of requests, the MPDC noted that the TPC sought extra information that went beyond those guidelines on 12 separate occasions.

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The MPDC also referred the planning commission back to its original submission several times, while some requests for information were met with rebuttals from the firms that completed the initial work.

In response to stadium lighting analysis being referred to by the planning commission as "concept level assumptions", the principal electrical engineer of 'Introba' said his firm's work was "sufficiently detailed and should not be characterised as concept level assumptions".

The German engineering firm that designed the stadium roof, Schlaich Bergermann Partner, wrote that the roof structure "is achievable subject to the final design and associated detailing" and that "the materials used, the geometry in height and spacing chosen form a well-balanced structural system".

Other requests for information, such as a wind effects report, flooding report, and a detailed construction management plan are still being prepared by the MPDC, while other requests such as for more detailed design drawings, were granted.

More transport infrastructure needed, but parking sufficient

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Some of those requests also related to traffic, parking and the construction of a carpark on the north-east edge of the stadium.

A report by independent environmental auditor Tetra Tech Coffey suggests that the basement carpark will be "significantly deeper" than a previously proposed underground carpark and could carry risk.

Also among the documents was a response from the consultant WSP, further detailing how people could be transported to and from the stadium.

MPDC is aiming to have 60 per cent of attendees travel to the stadium in ways other than by car.

While the report points out that stadium itself will have facilities to manage buses and car drop-offs, more infrastructure will be required in Hobart over time.

"Supporting projects will be required across Greater Hobart," the report reads.

"It is too early to provide further detail on bus fleet and operations including costs at this point in time.

"The ultimate scale of the event bus operation will be dependent on investment in other bus services (i.e. Rapid Bus), which may be incrementally delivered over time."

The rapid bus system is reliant on significant infrastructure upgrades on the disused northern suburbs rail corridor.

The Macquarie Point precinct plan. (Supplied: Macquarie Point Development Corporation)

The report notes that there are 6,000 public on-street and off-street parking bays within one kilometre of the stadium and referenced last year's Christmas Pageant in relation to parking for stadium events.

"Recent City of Hobart parking occupancy data from the 2024 Christmas Pageant event in the CBD with an estimated attendance of 35,000 showed that the city's three multi-storey car parks were collectively only 24.58 per cent full during the event" the report reads.

Approval of the stadium is required for the Tasmania Devils to enter the AFL.

The planning commission is assessing the stadium as a project of state significance, and will release a draft assessment of the project in the coming weeks, before releasing a full report and recommendation later this year.

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