State MP Ray Stevens blasts council for choosing Broadbeach community centre as site for new stadium
A Gold Coast MP has strongly urged the council to reconsider the Broadbeach Cultural Centre as a site for a boutique indoor stadium.
Council
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Mayor Tom Tate has “categorically” ruled out the Broadbeach Cultural Precinct as the future location of a boutique stadium.
Council candidates and Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens have raised fears the site, home to the Albert Waterways Community Centre, Broadbeach Library and Life Education Centre, would be razed and replaced by a 12,000 seat area.
But Mr Tate insisted there was never a plan to redevelop the site, nor would there be.
“I can confirm that there are no plans for a boutique stadium on this site, despite the comments of one mayoral opponent,” he said.
The complex recently reopened after a $15m upgrade, with the existing buildings which dated back to the early 1980s given a significant facelift.
Mr Tate has made a boutique stadium for the city a key plank of his re-election bid.
The Bulletin revealed last year a site for an indoor stadium would need to be between 1.5 to 2ha with a price tag for the build ranging from $250 million to $350 million and – at its peak – $750 million.
It will need to be built on council-owned land near the light rail, with both the Miami depot and Pizzey Park previously spoken of as possibilities.
An expression of interest campaign closed in August 2023.
Mr Stevens last week told parliament the redevelopment an “absolutely ridiculous” choice.
“I’m all for an entertainment venue on the Gold Coast, but to include this site as part of their planning considerations is absolutely ludicrous,” Mr Stevens told parliament.
“The council has just spent $15 million upgrading the Cultural Centre, formerly the Albert Waterways Community Centre, and to bulldoze this excellent community facility makes absolutely no sense at all.”
Mr Stevens proposed redeveloping the existing Gold Coast Convention centre.
“I have news for the council officers in that it is held in trust by deed to benefit the community,” he said.
“I am also advised that Life Education Centre has a 9-year unbreakable lease over their premises at the community centre which will make resumption of their entitlement a legal minefield.
“It’s beggars’ belief that this site was included by council officers as a possible location for a privately controlled development proposal which, in its current form, is one of the city’s best used and most loved facilities in community ownership.”
In September last year a report to council warned the Gold Coast had a deficit of indoor entertainment stadiums for its population and must pursue a new major event centre or risk losing billions of dollars.
‘Absolutely ridiculous’: Fears key cultural site will become stadium
A Gold Coast MP has urged council not to consider a key Broadbeach hub as a potential site for a boutique indoor stadium, saying it would be an “absolutely ridiculous” choice.
Gold Coast City Council are investigating building an indoor stadium with an eye to hosting future sporting events and concerts.
There has been much speculation that the Broadbeach Cultural Centre near Pacific Fair could be a potential site for such a stadium.
But Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens told state parliament any such idea would be “nonsensical” and is demanding council steer clear of the former Albert Waterways Hall.
“I’m all for an entertainment venue on the Gold Coast, but to include this site as part of their planning considerations is absolutely ludicrous,” Mr Stevens told Parliament.
“The council has just spent $15 million upgrading the Cultural Centre, formerly the Albert Waterways Community Centre, and to bulldoze this excellent community facility makes absolutely no sense at all.”
Mayor Tom Tate is a big supporter of an indoor stadium, and council sources suggest the City’s bid for the next National Basketball League licence depends on securing a new facility.
In September last year a report to council warned the Gold Coast had a deficit of indoor entertainment stadiums for its population and must pursue a new major event centre or risk losing billions of dollars.
City councillors, in a closed session briefing, were told Brisbane, the Olympic host city, will gain a stranglehold on the lucrative entertainment, convention and sporting market courtesy of the 2032 Olympic Games.
Mr Stevens maintains there are four other locations included as possible sites for an
entertainment venue, with the Gold Coast Convention Centre a standout option.
“It has ample parking, light-rail access, and fits fairly and squarely within the entertainment
precincts,” he told parliament.
“On the Broadbeach Cultural Centre site, we have the fabulous Life Education headquarters with Healthy Harold, the Giraffe, doing a great job with our younger folk. Also abutting this site is the Albert Waterways Community Kindergarten, a not-for-profit community group, who have been blindsided by council officers inquiring about the legal ownership of their
kindergarten.
“I have news for the council officers in that it is held in trust by deed to benefit the community. I am also advised that Life Education Centre has a 9-year unbreakable lease over their premises at the community centre which will make resumption of their entitlement a legal minefield.
“It’s beggars’ belief that this site was included by council officers as a possible location for a privately controlled development proposal which, in its current form, is one of the city’s best used and most loved facilities in community ownership.”
Mr Stevens said he had sponsored a petition to parliament to exclude this site from consideration, and letter-boxed the immediate surrounding community.
“Now is the time for the Gold Coast Council to eliminate the Broadbeach Cultural Centre from the list of possible locations, given the land ownership impediments and community angst,” he said.
Division 12 candidate Nick Marshall also has strongly opposed the site being demolished.
“I’m not opposed to the building of a boutique stadium, but it can’t be at the expense of a green space and an already established and newly renovated community asset,” he said.
The content summaries were created with the assistance of AI technology then edited and approved for publication by an editor.
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