Opinion: Huge move showcases what Brisbane will be like in 2032

The government’s latest move reveals the massive scale of the transformation Brisbane will make to host 2032 Games, writes the editor.

The massive scale of the transformation of Brisbane as the host of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032 is just beginning to emerge – and today’s move by Deputy Premier and Planning Minister Steven Miles to lay the platform for the massive Athletes Village at Hamilton is perhaps the biggest actual move seen so far.

As we report exclusively this morning, Mr Miles has approved a development scheme amendment for the Northshore Hamilton Priority Development Area that gives the green light for the massive 304ha urban renewal project that will include the “Village”.

The early design for the precinct is something else – and is the first time Queenslanders will have seen the scale of what is coming our way in hosting the biggest event in the world a decade from now.

The area in scope is about the same size as the entire central business district. From Portside Wharf all the way along the river to the Northshore Riverside Park, and then back north to Kingsford Smith Drive – the Athletes Village precinct will transform what is now not much more than a series of warehouses and large empty streets into a vibrant new riverside suburb that will, post-Games, eventually be home to 24,000 people living alongside 1.2km of riverside land that is now essentially locked up.

A screen grab of the Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Village at Northshore Hamilton. Source: YouTube.

As Mr Miles says, “it will be one of the biggest contributions of Brisbane riverfront parkland since South Bank was established”.

It is indeed, again as he says, a “city-shaping project” that will deliver a long-lasting legacy for the city from hosting the Games.

During the Games in July 2032 the Village itself will be home to the 10,000-plus Olympic athletes and team officials, and then more than 5000 visitors a few weeks later for the Paralympic Games.

But in the years after the closing ceremonies, the Village will be converted into a mix of housing and commercial property – with more than 1750 apartments delivered back into the private market.

It is a bold vision and a welcome one. That is because it is critical as we start making decisions about the Games that one eye is always locked on the legacy elements.

There is no point hosting the Games if the legacy is nothing more than a bunch of precincts that are lifeless after the show leaves town.

Northshore Hamilton plan. Picture: Supplied

And for every benefit the Village will deliver for the Hamilton Northshore precinct, there should be many more for the CBD itself – which will, almost uniquely in the history of the Games, become the Olympic (and Paralympic) Park.

In fact, thinking of it that way unlocks a long list of new ways to consider the benefits into the future. All of the spending on passenger transport and pedestrian infrastructure that would normally be spent on a stand-alone Games Park on a green or brownfield site – such as Homebush for the Sydney 2000 Olympics – should be coming the way of Brisbane’s CBD over the next 10 years. The opportunities are therefore vast and far-reaching.

Brisbane people already know our city is the most liveable of all. Hosting the Games should only further improve that truth.

The legacy opportunities are why The Courier-Mail backed the bid all the way back to its inception.

This is so much more than four weeks of sensational sport a decade from now. This is a chance to change for the better, forever.