Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Matt Hepworth spoke with AFLNT Chairman Sean Bowden

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Matt Hepworth spoke with AFLNT Chairman Sean Bowden · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Hello, Kady Wolf and three point sixty online at mixed
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  Speaker 1: one O four nine dot com. You Matt Hepworth filling
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  Speaker 1: in Forcatie Wolf this morning. Well, designs for a three
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  Speaker 1: hundred million dollars sporting stadium in the heart of the
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  Speaker 1: Darwin CBD have been revealed. To tell us more about
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  Speaker 1: it is the chairman of afl NT, Sean Bowden. Get Sean.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Matt Sean.
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  Speaker 1: We spoke about this last year when the idea was
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  Speaker 1: first floated. Since then, it looks like some detailed plans
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  Speaker 1: have been drawn up. For those who haven't seen us,
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  Speaker 1: can you tell us what this stadium could look like?
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  Speaker 2: Oh? Well, there's a couple of concepts we've put out Matt,
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  Speaker 2: led by a pretty high profile and competent design team.
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  Speaker 2: The first is a dome type structure which has its
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  Speaker 2: roots back in the panthem in Rome, I'm told by
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  Speaker 2: the architecture, but it's a unique structure that there's not
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  Speaker 2: there's three or four of them in the world, and
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  Speaker 2: this would be one of the largest if it was constructed.
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  Speaker 2: But for those who do want to look at it,
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  Speaker 2: these designs are up on the afl NT website. So
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  Speaker 2: your listeners can jump on that website and have a
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  Speaker 2: look at these designs. That's the first one. The second
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  Speaker 2: one is the more standard are opening and closing roofs,
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  Speaker 2: such as people would be familiar with with the Marvel
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  Speaker 2: Stadium and to a lesser extent, the Rod Laver Stadium
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  Speaker 2: in Melbourne, which is a smaller structure, but that's a
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  Speaker 2: roof that opens and shuts on tracks, whereas the dome
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  Speaker 2: would ultimately have a louver type system at the top
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  Speaker 2: that would enable it to be closed.
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  Speaker 1: Sure, obviously that there's shape wise, like you alluded to,
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  Speaker 1: one is more of a rectangular and you've got the
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  Speaker 1: dome as well. Apart from shape, is there much difference
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  Speaker 1: in these two designs.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, there is, and we're interested now to cost it out.
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  Speaker 2: We've put these designs out initially to get feedback from
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  Speaker 2: the public and other stakeholders to see what their thoughts
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  Speaker 2: were and what their preferences were. Obviously, the arch textual
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  Speaker 2: design is important because we see this as an iconic
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  Speaker 2: structure that's going to really link in with Darwin and
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory as a whole. So we want I
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  Speaker 2: want people to see it when they see it, to
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  Speaker 2: really appreciate its place in the life of the Northern
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  Speaker 2: Territory and what it can achieve. We want that feedback.
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  Speaker 2: I have to say the start that the dome is
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  Speaker 2: getting a lot of really positive support. It's probably that's
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  Speaker 2: got it stay as well ahead at the moment in
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  Speaker 2: terms of preferred But what we'll do over the next
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  Speaker 2: month or so we start to cost it out and
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  Speaker 2: we'll then get the design team now to start doing
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  Speaker 2: the costings see what the costs are around it. We've
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  Speaker 2: also engaged Price Waterhousekeepers p WC are an international advisory firm.
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  Speaker 2: They've got some experience in this field, and we'll be
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  Speaker 2: linking p WC with the design team. They're guiding us
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  Speaker 2: now as to next steps as to consultations and development
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  Speaker 2: of the concept, and we'll you know, next next step
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  Speaker 2: will be putting more information out to the public, more
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  Speaker 2: information to the government, and we'll just continue to build
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  Speaker 2: the concept.
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  Speaker 1: I note while both designs do have a roof over
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  Speaker 1: the top, both still I guess are not fully enclosed
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  Speaker 1: around the side of parts of the stadium. Would that
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  Speaker 1: be an issue at all? I mean, you look at
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  Speaker 1: our you know, I say, up here, our NTFL seasons.
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  Speaker 1: You know, in the peak of the wet season, you'd
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  Speaker 1: still probably have by the look of it. I obviously
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  Speaker 1: in the detailed architectural plans, but I guess punters could
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  Speaker 1: still be getting wet around the sides. Is that an
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  Speaker 1: issue at all?
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  Speaker 2: I don't think. So. It's designed so that it gives
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  Speaker 2: full protective cover but still allows those wet season bruises
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  Speaker 2: in particular to come through and to develop the natural
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  Speaker 2: calling effect. A lot of work's being done on that
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  Speaker 2: by Tropo. Architecture nationally and internationally regarded this for this
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  Speaker 2: type of thinking and this type of work, and I
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  Speaker 2: should say this juncture were very great full to Tropole
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  Speaker 2: and Studio Nealed and Perfects, the Professor Max Irvine and
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  Speaker 2: the other groups because they're giving us their time pro bono.
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  Speaker 2: They're not sending us a bill for this work, so
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  Speaker 2: we're very grateful for that. So you know, Tropo have
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  Speaker 2: given a lot of thought to that, as have the
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  Speaker 2: other engineers and designers. And you know, this is the
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  Speaker 2: nique part of the part of the concept. We can't
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  Speaker 2: act condition it. It would be uneconomic and have to
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  Speaker 2: close the whole thing up. So we have to find
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  Speaker 2: that way and we think we can now for those
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  Speaker 2: who like your conditioning, and I'm partial to it as
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  Speaker 2: well myself. There's four we're looking at forty r sort
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  Speaker 2: of corporate enclosed areas. They'll be breakout rooms, so they'll
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  Speaker 2: be of course all the change rooms, the players will
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  Speaker 2: have cooling and all of that sort of stuff, and
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  Speaker 2: they'll also be hopefully in the stadium. The high level
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  Speaker 2: Sports Medicine a sports training component of it as well,
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  Speaker 2: which will ultimately be for high level athletes want to
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  Speaker 2: come into a more humid and tropical environment and get
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  Speaker 2: their training done here, and that's quite quite that's something
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  Speaker 2: that we've been receiving pretty good feedback about.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously, you guys at AFL and T are leading the
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  Speaker 1: charge on these, but it sounds like you really want
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  Speaker 1: to make it a stadium and a facility for a
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  Speaker 1: number of sports.
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  Speaker 2: This is a facility first and foremost for all of
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory in all sports. This is for the community,
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  Speaker 2: and we're not building this for IFL and T itself,
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  Speaker 2: and there's no profit motive here. Mat This is a
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  Speaker 2: community minor thing. We obviously want to use it for
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  Speaker 2: AFL high level AFL games and to be able to
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  Speaker 2: build that profile on that footprint of AFL in the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory. But in RL, I mean we saw a
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  Speaker 2: fantastic game a few weeks ago put on the AFL
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  Speaker 2: and t put on with major events that it was
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  Speaker 2: really well supported. We think that there's a scope for
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  Speaker 2: more NRL games. You've got a league soccer, then you've
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  Speaker 2: got the Agian Soup League for example. I mean with
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  Speaker 2: a facility such as this, there'd be no reason you
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  Speaker 2: wouldn't see some of those teams coming in. You've got
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  Speaker 2: rugby union, and you think about the cricket. If we
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  Speaker 2: can provide a secure venue for the cricket And again
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  Speaker 2: some thinking, some detailed thinking has been given about IPL
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  Speaker 2: Cricket out of India, which is one of the biggest
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  Speaker 2: sports competitions in the world at the moment, and they're
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  Speaker 2: running out of venues and they're also looking for new
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  Speaker 2: opportunities and new concepts. So IPL Cricket I think that
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  Speaker 2: would be a real coupe. But if you could bring
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  Speaker 2: them over for a four or five week stint, you'd
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  Speaker 2: really find that you'd be using this stadium fifty two
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  Speaker 2: weeks as well. Maybe not fifty two weeks of the
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  Speaker 2: year because you have to have a breather at some point,
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  Speaker 2: but you could build it up.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Sean. The price tag for this has been reported
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  Speaker 1: as three hundred million dollars. Obviously it's big money. Who
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  Speaker 1: is going to pay for it?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the first step is to work out exactly what
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  Speaker 2: the price tag is and also then to see whether
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  Speaker 2: there's private infrastructure groups that want to back a concept
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  Speaker 2: like this. Today, we have not put our hand out
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  Speaker 2: to government and we don't intend to until we have
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  Speaker 2: a really clear idea of the cost and the scope
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  Speaker 2: and what a private partnership might look like. Obviously is
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  Speaker 2: a a really critical role for government governably terrific to
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  Speaker 2: date in supporting what we're doing. But this is not
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  Speaker 2: project where we're walking in to government saying, oh, look,
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  Speaker 2: could you give us one hundred million dollars. Conversations just
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  Speaker 2: hasn't happened. It's not going to happen. We're not going
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  Speaker 2: to do in the current environment. But we do think
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  Speaker 2: that if we prepare this properly, the time's right for
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  Speaker 2: that infrastructure investment. Now we all know up here in
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  Speaker 2: the territory that we haven't benefited from the Great Wealth
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  Speaker 2: and affluence of some of these southern states. They've been
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  Speaker 2: able to put public funds in the massive billion dollar
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  Speaker 2: stadiums and greed developments. We don't have that capacity. So
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  Speaker 2: there is a discussion to be had, not just with
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  Speaker 2: the norm territory government, I think with the Commonwealth government.
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  Speaker 2: And it's a discussion we also want to have around
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  Speaker 2: remote sports infrastructure. They're an enormous deficit in remote sports
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  Speaker 2: infrastructure and the deficits territory wide, as your listeners well known,
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  Speaker 2: and the Commonwealth left and Northern Territory of nineteen seventy
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  Speaker 2: eight and we've been on our own in a way
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  Speaker 2: since then, and the funding formulas that exist basically keep
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  Speaker 2: us as we are. So we've got to be innovative
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  Speaker 2: and we've got to be clever, and we've got to
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  Speaker 2: be pretty bold to bring the common Wealth back into
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  Speaker 2: the space and so that we're part of Australia as well,
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  Speaker 2: and our citizens need these opportunities, and that include our
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  Speaker 2: remote citizens. You know, we've got enormous football talent out
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  Speaker 2: there and it's in all sports and it's not fair
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  Speaker 2: to some of our young people out there that they're working,
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  Speaker 2: they're playing their sport on inadequate grounds, without change rooms,
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  Speaker 2: without water facilities and all these sorts of things. So
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  Speaker 2: it's a big discuss, but we're keen to have it.
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  Speaker 1: Sean, what happens.
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  Speaker 3: Next well, as I say, the next step will be
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  Speaker 3: to the most concrete step will be to link tw
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  Speaker 3: C up with the design group and start to.
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  Speaker 2: Work up the costings up. T w C will also
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  Speaker 2: start to guide us about these opportunities I'm discussing, and
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  Speaker 2: we'll start to talk to some of the other sports.
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  Speaker 2: We'll talk to the Northern Territory government, we'll talk to
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  Speaker 2: major events, and we'll talk to the Comwealth. And I
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  Speaker 2: think you and I spoke maybe six months ago. Was
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  Speaker 2: it December last year, so maybe five months ago, and
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  Speaker 2: it's taken us a bit of time to get the
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  Speaker 2: concept developed and to get that architectural design. We're done,
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  Speaker 2: so we're not rushing it. We're we're not going to
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  Speaker 2: get ahead of ourselves. So we'll do that careful, careful
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  Speaker 2: work with the experts and just keep building it.
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  Speaker 1: Matt, Yeah, No, it's good to say that that follow
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  Speaker 1: up story and obviously that these plans have been developed now.
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  Speaker 1: I think too often in the territory we can hear
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  Speaker 1: of these grand dreams and designs and it never really
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  Speaker 1: goes much further than a pipe dream. So it's good
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  Speaker 1: to say that the progress is being made.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I copy that. And as someone who's spent
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  Speaker 2: my life in the territory, I'm aware of the sentiment
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  Speaker 2: that you just expressed. And it's not too tough or
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  Speaker 2: my intention to be part of that. We've put this
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  Speaker 2: up in a really serious way. I've got to say
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  Speaker 2: we've received extraordinary support. I mean, it could well have
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  Speaker 2: ended up like a few of those brochures that you're
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  Speaker 2: talking about, but the support from across the territory and
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  Speaker 2: across the business groups and the Aboriginal communities as well
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  Speaker 2: the Aboriginal Leadership Group, the land councils, and they have
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  Speaker 2: to say we get on and do this. And you've
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  Speaker 2: seen Nigel Brown and a Larikia working with us. They're
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  Speaker 2: going to continue to work with us. And I mean
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  Speaker 2: i'd love to see I'd like to call it, have
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  Speaker 2: this stadium named by the Larache of people and for
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  Speaker 2: them to have an integral and full stake in it.
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  Speaker 2: So you know that feedback we've had to date, it's
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  Speaker 2: put a bit of wind in ourselves and we'll keep going.
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  Speaker 2: We'll build it. We're not going to do it in
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  Speaker 2: a so we won't of course, there's no interest for
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  Speaker 2: us to do it that way when we're all long
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  Speaker 2: term participants in the Northern Territory and we don't have
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  Speaker 2: a profit motive. This is a concept and IFL has
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  Speaker 2: I think twenty five thousand participants in the territory, so
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  Speaker 2: we've got a big footprint.
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  Speaker 1: I cannot wait to see what happens next. Sean Bannon
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  Speaker 1: will have to leave it there. Thank you so much
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  Speaker 1: for your time this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks mate, Thanks for giving me the opportunity