‘Too big for the site’: Tasmanian AFL stadium should not be built, says independent planning commission

An artist’s impression of the proposed Tasmanian stadium at Macquarie Point in Hobart. Photograph: Cox Architecture

The push to build a $945m home for the first AFL team in Tasmania has hit a major hurdle, with the proposed stadium condemned by the state’s planning commission as a “monolithic” blot on Hobart’s landscape and cultural heritage.

The damning report comes as the state’s premier, Jeremy Rockliff, admitted on Wednesday that the cost of the development had blown out by almost 20% to $1.13bn.