Falling off the rails?
Adj. Professor Warwick Powell 鲍韶山
Chairman at Smart Trade Networks | Author of China, Trust & Digital Supply Chains | Research Leader in Value Flows, Distributed Networks & Supply Chain Integrity | International Political Economy | Impact Analyst Expert
When the lead cheerleader for the Townsville superstadium admits that there's no business case at the moment or the facts needed to "leverage funding" (despite having pushed for the project for years), you know you're in trouble.
Don't believe me?
Well, this is what the CEO of Townsville Enterprise had to say in the press yesterday:
We do need a business case to provide us with facts that help us leverage other funding sources, whether that be government or the private sector."
Yep, that's right. Only yesterday. Eighteen months (18, that's all) after KPMG's feasibility study was completed, which supposedly made the case for the superstadium, we are now told that we need a business case for the facts.
The KPMG feasibility study, which cost the public over $100,000 was meant to be the definitive case for why the project should be funded. Given this latest admission, you'd have to wonder what the original feasibility had to say. I guess the last document, which formed the basis of the entire case to date, was devoid of the appropriate facts.
Strangely, however, the new business case - or the updated business case - is going to be prepared by the same firm that did the first analysis. I guess that should save plenty of money, though it's hard to see that happening when another $5m has been earmarked for this round of "business case" development.
New architects, phew!
The latest twist is that global architects have been enlisted to jazz up the concept.
We're told that they added value by coming up with creative uses of spaces for hospitality and such like. That's such a relief, especially as the Cowboys new CEO is now openly contemplating reducing the number of games played in Townsville by moving at least one home game a year to Cairns.
The new architects could probably also take a fresh look at the issues of flood inundation and storm surge, which have been modelled by the State Government to swamp the entire Ross Creek SDA, including the proposed site of the superstadium.
According to preliminary estimates prepared by external engineering consultants for Council (in 2012/13), the costs of defending the Townsville CBD from storm surge and flooding is in the order of $190m of additional works. That includes dikes, levees and storm gates at the mouth of the Creek. I trust these features will be included in the new master plan and cost model.
Transparency?
Now that there's a new government and a new business case, perhaps it's a bit much to hope for a new approach to transparency. You see, despite the fact that the public paid for the last feasibility study, it has remained locked away in a vault ever since.
Perhaps, just perhaps, the new folk would consider releasing both the 2013 feasibility report and the updated version when it's done. That way, the public can have a proper and complete view as to the supposed business case and its merits.
Pigs will probably fly first.
(c) 2015 Warwick Powell