It's lazy to write off opposition to the Burswood proposal as simple WA itis.
It's a poorly thought out project that features illogical solutions and bad planning. That is WA itis in a nutshell.
Subi council's attitude to footy follows a similar trajectory. Subi could have thrived and grown around footy events but they chose not to do that and that suburb is now floundering for lack of forward planning.
Sooner or later people will wake up to the fact that city living means compromising on some life qualities that they hold dear and the possibility of having a regular crowd on your doorstep might also mean having better amenities and facilities on the same doorstep. Burswood as a plan presents the need for a major investment in support infrastructure like transport in order to work. It promises to be a white elephant because it will be a major occasion facility only, not a complementary one. The investment needed in public transit will lie dormant most of the week so it won't be nurtured. Picture a windswept, vandalised and dusty train station platform... that shouldn't be hard to do, this is Perth after all and they're all over the place.
There's no point complaining about it now as the thing is almost a done deal and is being built.... but please, don't try gilding a faded lily and telling me and others that it's a good plan, because it isn't. It will suit a few thousand footy fans every week during the season who like new, shiny things and don't see past that singular experience... for a lot of other footy fans, it will probably be a negative compared to their current experience of attending. For a lot more people across the metro area and out in the regions, it will come to symbolise everything they see wrong with what they think is favouritism in spending on football over other projects.
Perhaps there's an argumetn that it will serve as a gateway or flagship icon for the city and state... I suspect that's a factor in the reasoning that has it out where it is, so it will look good from an aerial tv shot at sunset with the crowd streaming in... but even that falls flat because it won't physically link with anything apart from a freeway and a footbridge to a carpark behind a trotting track.
