Mt Coot-tha zipline: Battle lines drawn over eco-tourism proposal

It promises jobs and tourism revenue, as well as an additional low-impact and exciting use for one of Brisbane’s most recognisable landmarks, but the plans for the Mt Coot-tha zipline are drawing huge opposition from locals. Here’s why.

THERE are two kinds of lines drawn up involving Brisbane’s Mt Coot-tha Forest Park at the moment: those associated with the “eco-tourism” zipline proposal, backed by Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, and battle lines by those opposed to it.

But on the wider front, away from this immediate skirmish, also at issue is whether the River City’s iconic mountain landmark should be more or less left as the nature reserve it was originally intended to be, though with its many walking and mountain biking tracks carefully maintained. Or whether the tourism and other commercial potential for this 1500ha open eucalypt forest should be exploited for the jobs and revenue boosts that would bring, with the zipline project a taste of things to come.

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While the eco-adventure zipline project is being touted by the Brisbane City Council in its development application as providing “a low impact, environmentally sensitive, world-class eco-tourism zipline experience”, many local residents in the area are claiming the whizzing of ziplines, the influx of traffic and clearing of land will ruin the integrity of the forest park, while supporters are hopeful the new project will be used as an exciting educational tool about the native wildlife.

This debate was sparked in late 2016 when Quirk announced an $11 million upgrade to Mt Coot-tha as part of his election campaign.

His four-year investment included the introduction of a zipline project, through the canopy of the mountain, showcasing scenic views of the city and the Botanic Gardens below.

An artist’s impression of the Mt Coot-tha Zipline.

On November 30, 2017, Quirk announced the successful applicant of the year-long three-stage tender process as being West End-based company Zipline Australia, which would construct, operate and maintain the project.

Project leaders, Brisbane brothers Matt and Mike Thompson, directors of Zipline Australia, have proposed three separate experiences in it.

The first is a 349m suspension bridge, which would be the longest in the Southern Hemisphere, and 321m of boardwalk as part of a Skywalk Tour at JC Slaughter Falls. The second is a guided 2km Treetop Canopy Tour, to be the longest in Australia, which will incorporate a zipline – starting west from Mt Coot-tha lookout and down to near JC Slaughter Falls – and four “CloudStation” platforms, which can fit up to 12 people about 6.5m above ground.

The third is the Scenic Zipline Tour, which features six compacted-cable lines, roughly spanning 12.5m across and running 1.1km from a platform adjacent to the Summit Lookout all the way down to the Botanic Gardens.

An arrivals lounge for visitors will also be built at the old Legacy Way workers’ car park on Sir Samuel Griffith Drive and will operate as a “hub” for the entire project, with buses ferrying people to the hub from the Botanic Gardens.

The Brisbane City Council, which has also described the project as being a “new high adrenaline tourist attraction” and “a great addition to the leisure and lifestyle activities available to residents”, has found itself butting heads with at least 5000 locals opposed to the project.

These are the two sides of the battle for which only one can claim the mountain.

Mount Coot-tha zipline artists impressions: The Skywalk cultural heritage tour

Historically, the arm wrestle over Mt Coot-tha is nothing new.

Since 1880, when the Queensland government’s Lands Department so formally declared that the mountain, formerly known as One Tree Hill, would be a “Public Park for the recreation, convenience, health and amusement of the inhabitants of the City of Brisbane ... and for no other purpose whatsoever”, many quixotic schemes have been imposed on the area.

They included a dance hall, a zoo, an artificial snow ski slope, a wedding reception complex and a model railway. All of them withered in the face of public protest.

However, the struggle to maintain the integrity of this inner-city reserve was complicated and required constant vigilance over time. The initial parcel of park land was held in trust, overseen by a powerful board of trustees (including, at one time, none other than Sir Samuel Griffith, former Queensland premier and Australia’s first Chief Justice), and during lean financial times in the 1890s the trust allowed part of the reserve to be logged and mined for gold.

After more money trouble in 1919, the Deed of Trust was handed over to the Brisbane Council, itself absorbed into the broader Brisbane City Council following the 1924 City of Brisbane Act.

From this moment, Mt Coot-tha came under the control of the council, which has been the status quo for almost a century.

The mountain had an early champion in the city’s first mayor, William Jolly.

According to historian Janet Spillman, Jolly had a passion for public parks, or “breathing spaces for the city”.

He assiduously purchased parcels of land, expanding the reserve, and one mayoral minute from 1925 revealed Jolly’s vision for the mountain. He recommended that “steps be taken to negotiate for the acquisition of the whole of the town side of the range and the crown of the Hill”.

Jolly further said that “it would be calamitous for Brisbane to lose the opportunity of retaining these ranges in their sylvan state”.

In the end, though, the battle may be purely semantic.

The founding fathers of the reserve, those visionaries in the Lands Department, specifically noted the park be used for recreation, convenience and health, and “for no other purpose whatsoever”.

But it also stated that the park be used for the “amusement of the inhabitants of the City of Brisbane”.

Could this stipulation – the “amusement” of the city’s populace – worded 138 years ago, allow a 21st century zipline to slip in under its umbrella?

The Arrival Centre.

Mt Coot-tha Forest Park, with its trickling streams and tranquil atmosphere, is a world away from the hustle and bustle of the Brisbane CBD just 5km away.

There’s a peacefulness and serenity many a Brisbane resident and visiting tourist has found as they trek through the winding walking trails or picnic beneath a canopy of trees alive with birdsong.

President of anti-development group Mt Coot-tha Protection Alliance Inc., Peter Hale, says this will all be ruined if the project goes ahead.

He says the influx of traffic, the noise from excited, screaming zipliners and the cost associated with going through the experience will drive thousands of people away from the mountain and the Botanic Gardens.

“It beggars belief because it’s going to cost an enormous amount of money and I can’t see how it will have a net positive impact on tourism,” he says.

“Because one, it will drive people away from the Summit (lookout), two, it’ll drive people away from the Botanic Gardens and, three, it will restrict people from accessing all the walking tracks.

“For what a park is for – which is for quiet, relaxation bushwalking – it’s devastating.”

Hale also claims up to 28ha – or close to 40 football fields – will have to be cleared for the development of the project because of its position in a high fire danger area.

“That’s going to have big impacts of wildlife on the mountain,” he says. “It’s essential wildlife habitat. It’s a regional biodiversity wildlife corridor. You’re going to restrict the movement and population of wildlife.”

Mt Coot-tha is host to many native birds and animals, including the threatened Powerful Owl along with echidnas, koalas, sugar gliders and lorikeets.

“There was an e-petition on the State Government website (against the development of the project) which had around 5000 signatures,” Hale says.

“There have been over 700 submissions on the development application (against the project).”

Chapel Hill resident Jan Thomas is one of those many against the project and says Mt Coot-tha was like a backyard for her kids when she was raising them.

“Everyone I have spoken to who is against the zipline stress the fact that the Mt Coot-tha Forest Park was given to the people of Brisbane and was not to be used for commercial or money-making enterprises,” she says.

“I love the mountain the way it is. The zipline, tree canopy walk and the suspension bridge will change all that.”

Matt Thompson says no more than 760sq m, the size of a large backyard, will be cleared to make way for the zipline project.

Suspended mid-air, legs dangling through the safety harness strapped tightly around your body, hands gripping the hanging rope so tightly your knuckles begin to turn white.

To your left and right, the magnificent tree canopies of Mt Coot-tha Forest. Below, the forest floor. And ahead, views of Brisbane City and beyond.

This would be the thrilling zipline experience – from the Summit Lookout to the Botanic Gardens – but it won’t be the sole purpose of the project, according to Zipline Australia.

Matt Thompson says his eco-adventure project will tell three stories: the mountain forest’s cultural heritage, including its indigenous and colonial history; its flora and fauna; and the Scenic Zipline, which he hopes will become a “nationally iconic tourist experience”.

Thompson claims there are several “myths” being spread about the project, including habitat clearing, noise pollution and affordability.

He says no more than 760sq m, the size of a large backyard, will be cleared to make way for the zipline project.

Lord Mayor Quirk also disputes this claim.

He says only “around 200 trees in total will be removed for the Mt Coot-tha Zipline project, which represents just 0.077 per cent of the entire 1600ha Mt Coot-tha precinct”.

“For each tree removed there will be eight trees planted within the Mt Coot-tha precinct, so around 1600 new trees will be within the precinct by 2020,” he says.

Thompson says the zipline “flight corridor” does not require any clearing to ground level.

He says another myth about the project is that the views from the summit will be obstructed.

“What we’ve done with the Scenic Zipline is made sure it’s beneath the visual amenity lines, which means as you look out at the bay, city and Scenic Rim, it won’t impede the view of those areas.”

Thompson says, as a Brisbane local, he wants to create something for the whole city to enjoy.

“(Brother) Mike and I are both Brisbane boys,” he says.

“We’re driven to deliver something that not only we will be proud of, but something our families would be proud of and people of Brisbane would be proud of.”

While public submissions on the development application closed yesterday, locals can still have their say on the land management plan until the end of the month.

The battle, therefore, is set to continue.