Mayor moves to save Leichhardt

[Benjirific]

Its a very loose definition of 'conflict of interest' and if you believe that is the case, then the moral thing for those people to do is to take themselves out of the situation and not support either side. My family also owns a business in the area, and have for 25 years.

No use going deep into arguments about that though, because it isn't appropriate for this topic. This topic is about the Mayor supporting Leichhardt Oval and more games there, and as I said in my last post, it is EXTREMELY hypocritical of him to support that on the basis that he supports the Tigers, yet then turn his back on them after they supported his election (sending letters to all members in the municipality telling them to vote for him) for the two previous council elections to this year. I don't want Leichhardt to lose games, but the reality is that it can't hold the crowds that we should be aiming at attracting. I would support (in the short-term at least) only using Leichhardt for teams which draw very small away crowds (the likes of Warriors, Storm, Raiders) which will make it a fortress and allow us to accommodate the larger crowds at Allianz (and hopefully a newly redeveloped Campbelltown).

 

[weststigers4life]

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/proposal-wont-save-leichhardt-oval-mayor-20121210-2b5iv.html

Proposal won't save Leichhardt Oval: mayor

Leichhardt mayor Darcy Byrne says the current proposal to rebuild Balmain Leagues Club would have no impact on keeping the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval.

Balmain great Paul Sironen on Monday handed nearly 5,000 submissions to the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure in support of bringing the leagues club back to its Rozelle base.

Sironen said the development was crucial to saving rugby league in the inner west, and would shore up the future of Leichhardt Oval - which could stop hosting games after next year, Wests Tigers chief executive Stephen Humphreys told a Sunday newspaper.

But Byrne said it was misinformation to suggest approving the 24-storey proposal at the Rozelle site would increase the likelihood of the Tigers retaining a base at their spiritual home, where they currently play three games a year.

"There's not a cent for the club in the redevelopment," Byrne told AAP.

"There's no cash payment to the club if this redevelopment is approved.

"The only benefit for the club is a 15-year lease at commercial rates.

"We had a representative of the club suggest in the paper on Sunday that this would be the last year the Tigers would play at Leichhardt Oval.

"Some people might interpret it as hypocrisy to suggest that we have to have skyscrapers in Rozelle to bring the Tigers home, whilst in the same breath agreeing to the government and the NRL's proposal to end rugby league at Leichhardt Oval."

Sironen admitted the future of the Tigers was in doubt if the latest proposal was blocked.

"It's dire alright. It could spell the end of (the fight to save the leagues club)," he said.

"That's how bad it is. We need support from the leagues club to help fund Tigers football.

"This has dragged on for a long time now. For the sake of Tigers football in the Balmain area we need some positive news."

While Sironen was pleased to have Byrne's support for keeping Leichhardt Oval operational, he urged the mayor to listen to the fans who want a rebuilt leagues club.

"It sounds like the mayor is fully supportive of keeping the football ground there and NRL games there, but I wish it was the same with the leagues club side at Rozelle," Sironen said.

"As the mayor said, listen to the fans. The fans want us to go back to Rozelle as well."

To which Byrne responded: "(The form letter) asks people to show their support for the Tigers return to Rozelle - you'll find no one who supports that more strongly than me.

"But to interpret people signing onto that statement as them supporting 24-storey skyscrapers in low-rise Rozelle is stretching the truth quite a bit."

Byrne said it was unlikely the latest proposal would be approved, saying independent assessors had given it the thumbs down.

"The independent advice that we've got from planning experts and the people who are most respected in their field is that the revised proposal will still have a disastrous impact on local traffic, local businesses and will draw Victoria Road to a standstill," he said.

"As desperate as I am to see the Tigers return to Rozelle through a sensible redevelopment, I'm not in a position to ignore the independent planning advice of experts.

"The proposal as it stands doesn't comply with a single one of the state government's own planning controls."

 

[Yossarian]

SMH also ran a story about the Libs being lobbied… Another in the long, long list of anti-Rozelle articles in that paper.

 

[Guest]

Proposal won't save Leichhardt Oval: mayor
December 10, 2012 - 7:08PM
Joe Barton

AAP

Leichhardt mayor Darcy Byrne says the current proposal to rebuild Balmain Leagues Club would have no impact on keeping the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval.

Balmain great Paul Sironen on Monday handed nearly 5,000 submissions to the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure in support of bringing the leagues club back to its Rozelle base.

Sironen said the development was crucial to saving rugby league in the inner west, and would shore up the future of Leichhardt Oval - which could stop hosting games after next year, Wests Tigers chief executive Stephen Humphreys told a Sunday newspaper.

But Byrne said it was misinformation to suggest approving the 24-storey proposal at the Rozelle site would increase the likelihood of the Tigers retaining a base at their spiritual home, where they currently play three games a year.

"There's not a cent for the club in the redevelopment," Byrne told AAP.

"There's no cash payment to the club if this redevelopment is approved.

"The only benefit for the club is a 15-year lease at commercial rates.

"We had a representative of the club suggest in the paper on Sunday that this would be the last year the Tigers would play at Leichhardt Oval.

"Some people might interpret it as hypocrisy to suggest that we have to have skyscrapers in Rozelle to bring the Tigers home, whilst in the same breath agreeing to the government and the NRL's proposal to end rugby league at Leichhardt Oval."

Sironen admitted the future of the Tigers was in doubt if the latest proposal was blocked.

"It's dire alright. It could spell the end of (the fight to save the leagues club)," he said.

"That's how bad it is. We need support from the leagues club to help fund Tigers football.

"This has dragged on for a long time now. For the sake of Tigers football in the Balmain area we need some positive news."

While Sironen was pleased to have Byrne's support for keeping Leichhardt Oval operational, he urged the mayor to listen to the fans who want a rebuilt leagues club.

"It sounds like the mayor is fully supportive of keeping the football ground there and NRL games there, but I wish it was the same with the leagues club side at Rozelle," Sironen said.

"As the mayor said, listen to the fans. The fans want us to go back to Rozelle as well."

To which Byrne responded: "(The form letter) asks people to show their support for the Tigers return to Rozelle - you'll find no one who supports that more strongly than me.

"But to interpret people signing onto that statement as them supporting 24-storey skyscrapers in low-rise Rozelle is stretching the truth quite a bit."

Byrne said it was unlikely the latest proposal would be approved, saying independent assessors had given it the thumbs down.

"The independent advice that we've got from planning experts and the people who are most respected in their field is that the revised proposal will still have a disastrous impact on local traffic, local businesses and will draw Victoria Road to a standstill," he said.

"As desperate as I am to see the Tigers return to Rozelle through a sensible redevelopment, I'm not in a position to ignore the independent planning advice of experts.

"The proposal as it stands doesn't comply with a single one of the state government's own planning controls."

 

[the_third]

If the council wants
Them there, build a proper car park for the pool and add a club on top. Better views from there anyway.the club doesn't have to be huge
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[prattenpark]

Governments and the NRL should really be looking at getting crowd figures up before thinking about abandoning local home grounds like Leichhardt and Brookvale. The facilities are comfortable enough, who cares if they aren't bloody 'state of the art'. It would look much better for the League to have a packed to the rafters local suburban ground than a big stadium with no one in it! Half empty stadiums are not a good look and, apart from when the finals are on, this is what we have happening now. The crowds have gone away from Rugby League - hell, there were far more people attending matches in 70s and 80s than there is now.

This is not correct, crowd figures are about double what they were in the 70s and 80s. http://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/summary.html

I can remember many a game when there was only 2, 3 or 4,000 in attendance.

 

[wtfl1981]

MORE than $17 million would be needed to bring Leichhardt Oval up to NRL standard, but the capacity of the suburban ground could not be increased.

Leichhardt Council wanted to discuss the future use of the oval with Wests Tigers, and was hoping it would increase its number of games at the ground from four to six. This has come after the state government released its stadium policy, which supported larger venues such as ANZ and Allianz stadiums getting funding priority over suburban grounds.

The Tigers played four games each at traditional bases Leichhardt and Campbelltown. The NRL will also adopt a stadium policy where games that would attract bigger crowds were played at larger venues, with the aim of increasing average attendance to 20,000 by 2017.

With Leichhardt Oval's capacity just more than 20,000, it could miss out on blockbusters in future.

A 2010 council report stated $17.2 million would be needed to complete the oval's upgrade, but the capacity could not be increased. Greens councillor Rochelle Porteous said more Sunday afternoon games, which usually drew larger crowds, needed to be scheduled.
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[Yossarian]

"Greens councillor Rochelle Porteous said more Sunday afternoon games, which usually drew larger crowds, needed to be scheduled."

That makes no sense in the context that the council have already said capacity can not be increased… Why would you want to focus on games where the demand exceeds capacity?

 

[Tiger_Watto]

With the NRL adopting the average of 20k crowd numbers, it virtually means 50% of our game will need to be played at the SFS/ANZ to cover the short-fall of the crowds at CSS & LO…

Wasnt it 3 x LO; 3 x CSS; 6 x ANZ a few years back?

 

[innsaneink]

http://inner-west-courier.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/balmain-rugby-make-move-on-leichhardt-oval/
Balmain Rugby make move on Leichhardt Oval
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Rugby Union
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Balmain Muzzled Wolves, celebrating the division two title this year, want to play at Leichhardt Oval next season. CRAIG WILSON

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Balmain Muzzled Wolves, celebrating the division two title this year, want to play at Leichhardt Oval next season. CRAIG WILSON
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BALMAIN Rugby Club hopes to become "Balmain's team", with the Muzzled Wolves aiming to play home games at Leichhardt Oval next year.
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Follow this reporter on Twitter: Oli_Murray
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With NRL club Wests Tigers only using the suburban ground four times in 2013, Balmain Rugby Club president Warren Livingstone said the club wanted to fill the void.
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"The Wests Tigers aren't playing there very much and we want to become Balmain's team," he said.
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"We'll make it free entry to try and get a good crowd."
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It would continue a sharp rise for the Muzzled Wolves, who were only formed seven years ago.
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The club started in suburban rugby division five in 2005 and will play in the top division in 2013 after winning the division two club championship this year.
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Wests Tigers will not play any Sunday afternoon games at the ground in 2013, but Livingstone said the Wolves wanted to switch some of their games from Saturdays.
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The club, which previously played at Blackmore Oval, has made a submission to the Tigers, who lease the ground from Leichhardt Council.
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The Wolves resume pre-season training from January 15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.30pm at Leichhardt Oval 2\. Details: balmainrugby.com

The hillbillies will get to sing 'Lollylegs', lots and lots and lots

 

[simonthetiger]

Nice jab from an impartial…....

 

[wtfl1981]

WT will also play 8 x nsw cup games there + 5 at campbelltown. NSW finals games will most likely also be played there.
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[system]

8???

I must have miscounted as I had it 6 - 6

A few other clubs are using LO on days independently of WT for NSW Cup though

 

[wtfl1981]

Sorry my bad - its 6/6
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