Barlow Park upgrades rejuvenated after closed-door meeting at Cairns Regional Council

Cairns councillors have breathed new life into Barlow Park upgrades after a closed-door meeting discussed the opportunities ahead.

A behind-closed-doors meeting of Cairns Regional Council has revived talk of Barlow Park’s future and how the precinct will fit in with the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.

Councillors voted unanimously in the closed session of Wednesday’s ordinary meeting to work with the state government on the planning and delivery of “Olympic Legacy upgrades” at the major Cairns sporting precinct, which has been the subject of serious upgrade discussion for more than 12 months, but little action.

Whether it was causality or coincidence, the latest news on Barlow’s upgrades has come as the NRL announced a possible expansion into the Far North.

Cairns rugby league stalwart John Moore called on the Cairns Regional Council and the state and federal governments to urgently upgrade Barlow Park to a 14,000 seat stadium in February 2022. The former Australian Rugby League board member said at the time the city couldn't wait another five or ten years to attract top tier sporting events to Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

Cairns mayor Bob Manning said the NRL news, as well as increasing talk concerning the 2032 Olympics, played a part in stimulating local discussion.

“Everything links in,” Cr Manning said.

“It seems the state government has indicated there’s more money available for Barlow Park … money to bring it up to a better standard for the Olympic Games.

“This is a matter that has got to be progressed to a conclusion and will be subject to ongoing discussion.”

Tourism and Sport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe, Cairns Mayor Bob Manning and Cairns MP Michael Healy announced a $4m lighting upgrade for Barlow Park in July 2022, but works have not started. Picture: Peter Carruthers

Talk of Barlow upgrades turned into whispers in the later months of 2022 after the issue was subject to exciting discussion in the run-up to the 2022 Federal Election.

Cairns Regional Council did announce in November it had received $4m in state government funding for lighting and audiovisual upgrades, but no works have since commenced.

“Detailed design has now been finalised,” Destry Puia, the council’s lifestyle and community director, said.

“We are currently in the process of securing relevant development approvals and referrals to Ergon and CASA.

“At this stage, we expect to call for tenders in June with construction to start at the conclusion of the winter sporting season to minimise disruptions to events at Barlow Park.”

Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch recently described the idea of major Barlow Park upgrades as lifeless, pointing at little action from the council.

But Division 7 councillor Max O’Halloran said Wednesday’s motion, which councillors passed unanimously, meant works could commence soon.

Community and business leaders such as Chamber of Commerce CEO Patricia O’Neill, Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch and former Advance Cairns CEO Paul Sparshott met with Cairns Regional Council officials in 2021 and agreed on a master plan to upgrade Barlow Park into a world class combined rectangular stadium and athletics facility. But the idea has not progressed since that time. Picture: Brendan Radke

“There’s a lot of balls in the air with the Olympics and rugby league announcement,” Cr O’Halloran said.

“We’ve been given some money for lighting and a scoreboard. That should be under way shortly.

“But these are things that might be held up while planning for other works.

“If there was a new grand stand put in, for example, you’ve got to make sure you’re not pulling the new lighting poles up after you’ve put them in.”

After the NRL’s recent announcement, the council begun internal discussion on what facilities were needed to host a team, with a new stadium and Barlow Park upgrades being the two obvious solutions.

Division 9 councillor Brett Olds said the council had progressed through recent workshops on the matter of Barlow Park upgrades but couldn’t confirm details discussed.

He warned, however, of chasing money for new stadium infrastructure without first getting a guarantee on which tier of government would own maintenance costs.

“If we get in the way of this, it becomes council’s baby, and governments are all too happy to throw capital at something like this, make all the ribbon-cutting decisions, but then leave our rate payers with a legacy of ongoing maintenance costs,” Cr Olds said.

“We lose two to three million dollars a year on Barlow. It’s a vital piece of infrastructure, but you could imagine what a stadium would cost to maintain.

“Instead, I think it makes sense to allow other tiers of government or Stadiums Queensland to tell us what needs to be put where, and we as council say ‘yes sir, no sir’, as long as they come up with the money for ongoing maintenance.”

Originally published as Barlow Park upgrades rejuvenated after closed-door meeting at Cairns Regional Council