The Rosny Parklands site has been identified as the Rockliff Liberal Government’s preferred location for the Tasmanian AFL Football Club’s High Performance Centre.
The $70 million High Performance Centre will be the home of the Tasmanian AFL team and provide state-of-the-art facilities for Tasmania’s AFL, AFLW, VFL and VFLW players along with youth and academy programs.
It will include facilities for coaching, administrative and support staff, with a second oval to be located at the adjacent Charles Hand Park, and will be vital in setting the club up for success from the outset.
The development of a High Performance Centre was identified as a key requirement to support the Tasmanian AFL licence to underpin player retention and is part of the Tasmanian Government’s agreement with the AFL.
The Clarence City Council-owned site was chosen ahead of a strong bid from Kingborough Council, with its highly visible central location being a key factor in the decision.
Minister for Stadia and Events, Nic Street, said the High Performance Centre would be more than just a place for players to prepare.
“It will represent a symbol of the club’s ambitions and values,” Minister Street said.
“We’re confident players and staff will embrace this location. It is close to the city and the airport, has great amenities nearby and will make the team highly visible.”
The Clarence City Council has consulted widely on its plan and the Rosny Parklands site has strong support from the community.
It was the unanimous choice of the steering committee charged with evaluating proposals, which comprised representatives of the Government, the AFL and the Tasmania AFL football club.
“We will now immediately move to the next phase of this process which is to commence discussions on a Heads of Agreement with the Clarence City Council,” Minister Street said.
The facility is planned to be ready in 2026 to enable the Tasmanian AFL team to prepare for its commencement in the 2028 season.
Tasmanian AFL Football Club Board Director, Roger Curtis, said that, coupled with good planning and management, building the main training ground at the southern end of Rosny Parklands with a secondary oval at Charles Hand Park would deliver the most benefit for the community and Tasmania’s new AFL teams.
“This club is for all Tasmanians and this site offers a great location, allowing for players and staff to be connected to the community,” Mr Curtis said.
Minister Street thanked the other councils involved in the process to select a preferred site.
“I thank all councils that we have worked with over the past four months for their interest and cooperation in this process,” he said.
“With projects such as this, it’s always unfortunate that there cannot be multiple winners as we saw a strong bid by Kingborough Council for the Twin Ovals site that demonstrated their passion for their community and for AFL.
“Kingborough’s submission highlighted the importance of ongoing development of sporting precincts in growing municipalities and as Minister for Sport and Recreation, I look forward to continuing these discussions with Kingborough Council in relation to future opportunities at the Kingborough Sports Precinct.”
The Rockliff Liberal Government has committed $60 million toward the development, with the AFL contributing a further $10 million.
