Doctor Feel
Shitposter In Chief
Out of curiosity, why didn't Port see through the process in the Licencing Court?
Obviously there would have been a delay and you'd likely lose half the season (at least) while the matter was being resolved, but in the scheme of getting Lawyers involved the licencing court is a pretty cheap jurisdiction. Also, I can think of some fairly prominent practitioners who would be happy to assist Port at mates rates (or less), particularly in the circumstances of getting one over the SMA.
This would also have had the benefit of exposing the SMA's position for the entire world to see.
I assume it just wasn't worthwhile given the combination of the delay and unavailability of the Tennis SA complex?
The reason was the logistics. We attempted several configurations of the GDV while Tennis SA was down for renovations, and each one received objections. In an attempt to compromise we moved further and further away from the stadium, even trying pinky flat and elder park, with the SMA objecting the whole way. The only way they would accept the application and remove their objections was if we met insane requirements such as not selling beer at half time, having the whole thing packed up an hour after the game, only being able to set it up a few hours before the event etc.
The legal process isn't cheap at all, especially since the SMA are throwing very expensive lawyers at it and hearings, emails and phone calls can be numerous. We spent significant time trying to make it work, but it became such a drain on resources that we scrapped the whole thing - granting the SMA their wish. Additionally, the club would quite rightfully only engage with their legal team that have represented us across the years - even if someone offered a pro bono service.
The added complexity was that the ACC was more heavily involved with anything that we tried to setup in the parklands, which as we know - is basically a very dense minefield.
There was even an attempt by Port to compromise with a profit sharing agreement, but this was withdrawn.
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