Senate Inquiry into Olympics to hear pros and cons of Birkdale whitewater centre

Plans to build a $100 million Olympic whitewater centre south of Brisbane will be scrutinised at a senate inquiry in Brisbane on Tuesday.

An artist impression of the proposed Birkdale whitewater venue. Image: Redland City Council

Plans to build a $100 million Olympic whitewater centre south of Brisbane will be scrutinised at a senate inquiry in Brisbane on Tuesday, August 22.

The Redland Whitewater Centre, proposed for acreage at Birkdale, is one of six minor venues being planned for the Brisbane 2032 Games.

The inquiry has received 81 submissions, with 13 mentioning the proposed Redland venue.

Redlands2030, The Koala Action Group and CARP Redland will outline opposition to the project at the inquiry, while representatives of the state government and Council of Mayors will give details supporting the venue.

A submission from the Queensland Government said the Birkdale whitewater centre would meet “the long-term legacy needs of the state’s growing communities and support elite and community sports”.

The site of the proposed Olympic venue at Birkdale, where the council plans to also build a community centre.

It said the venue would be a great opportunity for elite sport and community legacy and was to be part of a broader adventure sports precinct.

“The facility will be able to be used year-round by Paddle Australia and Paddle Queensland for high-performance sport and sport development,” the submission said.

“Beyond sporting applications, the facility also provides an opportunity for emergency services and swift-water rescue training for state, national and Asia Pacific emergency services personnel.”

Three Redland community groups have lodged opposition submissions to building the Olympic venue, which will be equally funded by the federal and state governments with ownership handed to Redland City Council once it is built.

Lobby group Community Alliance for Responsible Planning, known as CARP, will argue that ratepayers will be left with the ongoing financial burden of maintaining a whitewater facility.

CARP spokeswoman Lavinia Wood, who will make the address, said 1900 people had signed a petition tabled to state parliament opposing the multimillion-dollar plans.

She said of the last six whitewater stadiums built around the world three were abandoned and three were “in the red”.

The former Beijing Olympic whitewater venue has been abandoned. Picture: Contributed

Athens, Rio and Beijing facilities were closed, while London, Tokyo and Penrith stadiums were running at losses.

The NSW Office of Sport took over management of the Penrith Whitewater Stadium from Penrith City Council on July 1 after the state government paid $3.1 million to upgrade the facility, which will host the Canoe Slalom World Championships in 2025.

The Penrith whitewater facility was handed to the NSW state government to manage in July. Picture: Contributed

“That’s the legacy that is being forced on ratepayers,” Ms Wood said.

“Residents’ support for an overall community precinct at Birkdale should not be misconstrued with support for a whitewater centre.

“We were never asked if we wanted to pay for this Olympic venue and even the spontaneous rebranding of the whitewater centre to a training facility doesn’t change that fact.

“Redlands is ineligible for a new Olympic facility under the IOC policy for building new facilities as it is not ‘much-needed’, it is not ‘long-planned’ and it was not already under way when the Olympic bid was announced.”

Other speakers on Tuesday include Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate, who has called for more venues to be built on the Gold Coast, as well as State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning director-general Mike Kaiser.