Thousands Sign Petition For NSW Govt To Axe Plans To Rebuild Sydney Stadiums

Thousands have signed a new online petition calling for the NSW government to axe plans to rebuild Sydney's ANZ and Allianz stadiums. 

As Sydney Morning Herald reports, the rebuild would cost $2 billion, which Sports Minister Stuart Ayres said is a 30-year investment and "is critical for the long-term success of the visitor economy in NSW".

The Change.org petition, launched on Saturday, has already garnered over 70,000 signatures. 

"We, the undersigned, respectfully call on the Premier of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian, and the NSW Cabinet, to reconsider their decision to knock down two perfectly fine sports stadiums - the Olympic Stadium and Sydney Football Stadium - at a staggering cost of $2Billion, to replace them with new ones, at a time when there is ZERO public demand to replace either," a statement on the petition reads. 

"We are tired of taxpayer dollars being lavished on building facilities for Sports Big Business, while community sport withers on the vine for lack of facilities and resources."

Both ANZ and Allianz Stadium have played host to a number of big-name music acts in the last 12 months. 

While Sia performed at Allianz Stadium just this past weekend, acts such as Guns N' Roses and Justin Bieber have performed at ANZ this year. 

Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Foo Fighters are also scheduled to perform at ANZ Stadium in 2018.