$100m whitewater Olympic venue stirs Redland anger at Senate inquiry

Bayside ratepayers have voiced their anger at a Senate inquiry over plans to build a $100 million whitewater venue for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games on council-owned land. Here’s why.

The Penrith whitewater centre was suggested as an alternative to the Redland proposal.

Bayside ratepayers have voiced their anger over plans to build a $100 million whitewater venue for the 2032 Olympics on council-owned land.

A Senate Inquiry in Brisbane today, August 22, took evidence on Australia’s preparedness to host Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic Games from three Redland City groups.

The groups claimed the project was a “white water elephant” which would cost Redland ratepayers millions of dollars every year to maintain after the Games.

They also claimed there was no need for it. They were angry that ratepayers were not consulted and that community land set aside for environmental purposes would be “wasted’’.

Queensland Senator Matt Canavan chaired the hearing which came a month after the Victorian government cancelled the 2026 Commonwealth Games because of budget blowouts.

Senator Canavan said the inquiry committee would decide whether to write to Redland City Council to raise the groups’ concerns.

Redland groups made 16 of the 89 submissions to the inquiry.

Some were made in the past week after an extension of the deadline to August 18 because of the 2026 Commonwealth Games announcement.

Community Alliance for Responsible Planning’s Lavinia Wood said Redland ratepayers wanted wild koalas, not a “white elephant’’.

Community Alliance for Responsible Planning Lavinia Wood said ratepayers did not want a whitewater stadium on Council land at Birkdale.

Her comments were backed up by Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate who said he had concerns for future Redland councils if the facility were built at Birkdale.

Ms Wood said the state government had been “misled” into believing the plans for the Olympic venue complied with International Olympic Committee policy.

“This Olympic whitewater centre is being forced upon the people of the Redlands,” she said.

“We did not ask for it, and we do not want it — it is entirely the council’s own making.

“The International Olympic Committee’s new norm policy tells us not to build new facilities and instead use existing ones even if they are in another place, because white elephant Olympic facilities are financially crushing host cities worldwide.

“The Redlands Whitewater Centre is being portrayed as compliant with the new norm policy.

“The council is making it out to be eligible as a planned new build facility because they claim it is much needed and supported by a robust business plan.

Redland ratepayers, from left, Redlands2030’s Chris Walker; Koala Action Group’s Debbie Pointing; CARP’s Lavinia Wood and Birkdale Progress Association’s Pam Spence at the Senate Inquiry. Picture: Contributed

“None of (this) is the case. We want wild koalas, not a whitewater elephant.”

Ms Wood also told the committee there had been no long-term planning.

Ratepayers found out about the idea at a 2019 Council meeting.

She said the initial justification that the venue would provide long-overdue transport infrastructure was also flawed.

A Redland City Council map of the planned Birkdale site.

“Justification by Redland City Council has more recently morphed into an alleged need for a Redlands Resilience Training Centre, known as RRTC,” she said.

“The training centre has no endorsement from the people of the Redlands. We were not asked if we wanted it.

“We also understand that capital funding of the ‘non-Olympic’ elements of such a training centre would not be covered under the federal and state government Olympic venues funding agreement.”

Redlands2030 secretary Chris Walker in his submission said the $110 million would be better spent on long-awaited and much-needed transport infrastructure in the southeast.

He said the Olympic events should be held at an existing whitewater venue in Penrith, Sydney.

Mr Walker also said a business case for the project remained secret and called for the details to be made public.

He said a whitewater venue completed at Montgomery, Alabama in July cost US$90 million, with the site valued at US$16 million — about A$115 million in total.

“There’s been no transparency and no meaningful community engagement,” Mr Walker said.

“This proposal is unsustainable and its pursuit shows a lack of good governance and a lack of ethical behaviour by Redland City Council.

“It would be ridiculous to spend such a large amount of money building a similar venue at Birkdale when it is possible and sensible to hold events at the existing whitewater stadium in Penrith.

“There is no credible evidence that a viable business case exists for the whitewater facility and if this venue was needed, it would have already been built.”

The Gold Coast mayor also agreed with the Redland delegation that the canoe slalom events should be staged at an existing venue at Penrith.

Birkdale Progress Association president Pam Spence said the site held significant heritage including the Post Master General’s antennae that received the first news of the end of WWII.

Other addresses to the inquiry from the Redland community were from the Birkdale Progress Association and the Redland Koala Action Group.

Association president Pam Spence said the land had significant heritage and was the former US Army station that received the first message in Australia that the Japanese had surrendered, marking the end of WWII.

The 1946 memo documenting the significance of the radio transmitters at Birkdale.

She said the Birkdale precinct, which Redland Council bought from the federal government for $4.1 million, also included heritage-listed wells and indigenous landmarks and 17ha had been designated for “Community Purpose”, with the rest for conservation.

“The Birkdale land has a freshwater aquifer with pools of water, freshwater springs that lie on the surface of the ground,” she said.

“Without the presence of the aquifer the essence of the land’s stories will be lost.”

A cultural heritage risk assessment of the Birkdale site with the dark-red shade showing areas of high risk to cultural heritage.

Koala Action Group Debbie Pointing’s submission said Redland City Council had asked the state government for a Local Government Infrastructure Designation which she said would severely limit public input into decisions for the site.

She told the inquiry the council’s master plan showed almost half of the development footprint would be blocked by the whitewater centre and a proposed swimming lagoon.

“The site contains some of the best koala habitat in the area and the endangered koalas that live on the site will be affected,” Ms Pointing said.

“Our group also has concerns about the indirect impact on the hydrology that may affect the protected habitat.

“Koalas in the Redlands are in such a tenuous position that any changes in their usage of the habitat can have profound deleterious consequences.”

Ms Pointing’s submission said the council’s master plan also listed some of the most culturally important sites as having a “low risk” to damage.

Before the Redland groups, the inquiry heard from the Australian Olympic Committee’s Matt Carrol, Paralympics Australia president Jock O’Callaghan, QShelter’s Fiona Caniglia, along with community groups from West End and East Brisbane, where the demolition of the Gabba Stadium will affect the local East Brisbane State School.

The Senate committee charged with reporting on the findings from the inquiry is due to report on December 1, 2023.