The New South Wales land and environment court has extended the injunction preventing demolition of Allianz stadium at Moore Park until 8 March when Justice Nicola Pain will bring down her ruling deciding its fate.
The case, brought by community group Local Democracy Matters, is seeking to delay the stadium demolition and has argued that the government has failed to follow its own planning rules.
The decision means hard demolition cannot occur before 8 March and could be delayed further depending on the final decision, which is likely to be delivered on the same day.
Infrastructure NSW indicated during the hearing it wanted to start work on removing the roof of the stadium soon.
The Berejiklian government had hoped to begin demolition of the Allianz stadium ahead of the state election on 23 March. It has already begun stripping out seats even though the design for the new $730m stadium is yet to get through the planning process.
Labor has accused the government of trying to lock in the decision to knock down the stadium before the election.
It has said that if it wins government it will make the Sydney Sports and Cricket Ground Trust borrow the funds rather than spend taxpayer’s money and has suggested refurbishment might be a more appropriate option.
The decision has been deeply unpopular with Sydneysiders who have criticised the spending as profligate when schools and hospitals are in need of upgrades.
The stadium was opened in 1988 and is just 30 years old but the trust says it is not up to standard and requires a safety upgrade.
Local Democracy Matters spokesman Chris Maltby welcomed the injunction especially as there had been discussion in recent days in the case about removing the stadium’s roof.
“Its excellent that we have got this far,” he said and welcomed Waverley Council’s decision to join the legal challenge.
“The main issue here is will the government uphold its own planning laws.”
Maltby said the outcome was not necessarily dependent on the outcome of the case.
“We hope the decision will be revisited in the backwash of the election: $700 and something million to build a stadium of the same size on the same site is just a terrible waste of money,” he said.
