Lendlease Ordered to Halt Demolition of Allianz Stadium

Lendlease has been slapped with a temporary injunction in the Land and Environment Court, putting demolition work on hold for two weeks while a legal challenge is heard.

The court extended a temporary injunction to allow Justice Nicola Pain time to hand down her final decision, scheduled for 8 March.

Justice Nicola Pain ordered that Lendlease stop “hard demolition work”, halting the contractors plans to remove major structures, including the building’s roof, which was slated for late February.

Community group Local Democracy Matters launched a court action alongside Waverley Council, claiming the approval was invalid as plans were not exhibited for the required period of time.

The challenge also claimed that the plans flouted council’s design excellence requirements and did not properly assess contaminated soil on the Moore Park site.

The NSW government awarded the controversial $730 million project to demolish and rebuild Allianz Stadium in Moore Park in 2017.

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Local Democracy Matters treasurer Chris Maltby welcomed the injunction on Tuesday.

“We think we have quite a strong case, [the] council has assisted us with this hearing, putting the arguments very well.

“The [injunction] has made sure that the building stays in place until there’s a chance to hear our arguments properly.”

Infrastructure NSW barrister Sandra Duggan SC told the court that delays in the hard demolition work would cost her client $46,000 a day, compromising the scheduled mid-2020 completion date.

Justice Nicola Pain will hand down her judgment March 8.