Council dispute almost finished Bulldogs
Posted
The AFL says it was gravely concerned about the future of the Western Bulldogs following a dispute with a local council.
The Victorian Government had to intervene in a town planning dispute between the Maribyrnong Council and the club which threatened to halt redevelopment work at Whitten Oval.
The Bulldogs would have been left with a half finished facility and a $6 million construction bill.
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou says the council's behaviour was worrying.
"I've seen all the correspondence and I'm aware at what's happened at the meetings," he said.
"It's terribly disappointing and I hope that going forward that cooler heads can prevail and people can work in a collaborative fashion rather than an adversarial fashion - it doesn't get anywhere it doesn't make any progress."
But Maribyrnong City Council mayor Michelle MacDonald says the council is being used as a scapegoat.
"I think it is an appalling process," she said.
"I think that the State Government and the Western Bulldogs have a long, long way to crawl back to a good relationship with the City of Maribyrnong because we are fuming and the residents are fuming.
"If the Bulldogs had bungled their development, if the Bulldogs were about to go down the gurgler, that's all up to the Bulldogs.
"They can't be blaming council for following its own statutory processes."
