The demolition of Sydney’s Allianz stadium ahead of the March election is facing a new threat after a local community group threatened legal action in the New South Wales land and environment court.
Local Democracy Matters, which was set up to fight the amalgamation of Randwick and Waverley councils 18 months ago, on Monday issued a letter of demand to Infrastructure NSW, the government agency responsible for the $700m demolition and rebuild.
Unless the government agrees to the demand to stop the demolition, the group plans to commence legal proceedings as early as Tuesday.
“The local community is very concerned about the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on this wasteful project, from a government that can’t even get the basic legal requirements in place,” the group’s treasurer, Chris Maltby, said. “We were hopeful our local councils would bring this challenge but because they haven’t stepped up we are now forced to.”
Waverley council had said it would take legal action if it was joined by another council but so far no other has stepped up.
Local Democracy Matters argues that the planning consent is invalid because the government failed to follow its own planning rules. These include failing to exhibit the development application for the required period, failing to follow its own rules on contaminated soils and failing to meet its own design excellence criteria.
The group will not be seeking an injunction but will instead ask the court for an urgent hearing, given that the soft demolition – removal of seating and fittings – has already begun.
Lawyer James Ryan said the group had the assistance of senior counsel in taking their case but declined to name who.
“We hope the government will withdraw the consent but if they don’t then we will file today,” he said. “The case looks pretty strong to us.
“There is the rule of law. Governments should follow their own rules.”
The Greens’ planning spokesman, David Shoebridge, said the demolition approval had been improperly granted and should be stopped.
“This case has a very strong legal basis and we’re heartened to see the community taking on the Berejiklian government,” he said. “Spending billions knocking down stadiums is an extraordinarily short-sighted infrastructure policy, and we join the community in opposing it.”
A spokesperson for Infrastructure NSW said they had sent the correspondence to their legal representatives but declined to comment further.
