‘Costings will come’: Don Brown slams Olympic whitewater rafting critics
An Olympic whitewater rafting venue and an indoor boxing arena will both be built south of Brisbane in time for the 2032 Games. But so far ratepayers have not been told how much they will cost.
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A state MP has hit back at critics angry there has been no cost analysis completed on an Olympic whitewater rafting venue to be built south of Brisbane.
Capalaba MP Don Brown, whose southside electorate takes in Birkdale where the proposed whitewater precinct is to be built, said the venture was a done deal.
He said complaints were too late as the local Redland City Council and mayor endorsed the master plan for the venue last year.
He blasted complaints from local Redland City councillors who aired grievances in letters to the Premier about the council having to bear maintenance costs of the facility after it is built.
A $1.87 billion state and federal kitty, revealed on the weekend, will be spent on building and upgrading 16 Olympic venues outside Brisbane.
But the money is not for maintaining the venues after the Games.
The announcement provoked hostile responses from vocal Redland councillors and raised questions about how a Logan venue was chosen.
Details are yet to be made public for the amount to be spent on the whitewater rafting centre at Birkdale, 45 minutes’ drive south of Brisbane.
“The whitewater rafting venue is undergoing a project validation with a report, much similar to a business case, due this year,” Mr Brown said.
“That will determine the costs, design and construction process.
“The councillors complaining must have amnesia because Karen Williams and her council have voted for and endorsed this master plan.
“Councillors who don’t like the venue idea should have voiced their opinions before now — not to the state government but to the mayor.
“This is council land and the council was the entity that decided what to do with its own land — the state and federal governments are paying to build an Olympic venue on that land.”
But Redland councillor Paul Golle said state MPs were “playing games” and should be forthcoming with details about how much the whitewater rafting venue would cost ratepayers once it became a council asset.
“Redlands could get saddled with a very expensive site,” he said.
“The real question is costs post construction and post the Olympics, that’s when the council takes over and no one can forecast costs accurately to manage the site until it’s properly designed and implemented.”
The funding deal includes money to build southeast Queensland’s first whitewater rafting centre in Redland, a temporary broadcasting office, along with upgrading at least three existing venues.
Redland council directed questions about the agreement to the state and federal governments and a state Planning Department spokesman said a legacy meeting would be held in March to discuss the longevity of venues and their use after the 2032 Olympics.
“None of these facilities are being built for the Olympic and Paralympic Games — they are being built in time for them with lasting benefits for our communities,” the spokesman said.
“Redland budgetary considerations (after the Olympics) are a matter for Redland City Council.
“However the legacy summit will examine how to maximise the benefits of the Games well beyond 2032.”
The funding deal also includes money for building an indoor sports venue in Logan, believed to be at Logan Central, to possibly be used for Olympic boxing events.
Plans for the Logan venue remain top secret after details were made public for the first time on Friday.
Logan Mayor Darren Power was contacted for comment but has said in the past that it was unfortunate his city was overlooked for providing any Olympic venue sites.
Logan City Council refused to answer questions about the plans but inside sources said there was a battle over whether the indoor centre should be a venue at Beenleigh or at Logan Central.
It is also unknown how much will be allocated for the Logan Indoor Sports Centre.
Redland mayoral candidate Jos Mitchell called for the costs of the whitewater rafting venue to be made public and said people were angry at being kept in the dark about the spending project and how it would affect rates.
“Ratepayers have a right to know how their money is being spent, both now and what is proposed for the future,” she said.
Half of the whitewater rafting venues built around the world over the past 20 years have failed with a centre in Athens abandoned in 2004; Beijing closed in 2018 and a site in Rio shutting in 2016.
Venues in London, Tokyo and Sydney still operate but are heavily subsidised by governments and have also run at a loss.
Redland City Council endorsed a master plan for the site on former federal government land on Birkdale Rd last year but no costings or funding details were revealed.
Initial costs were believed to have been included in the Redland Coast Adventure Sports Precinct Financial Feasibility study 2019, which remains confidential and has never been made public.
Redland mayor Karen Williams also spent 10 days in the US this month on an Olympic fact finding mission checking out a Rapid water emergency centre in Charlotte.
While designing the Birkdale precinct and Olympic venue, Redland council also challenged a Heritage Council decision to lock away small portions of land on adjoining sites at the Birkdale precinct.
Redland council launched legal proceedings in May last year in the Planning and Environment court to unlock the parcels of land so a road could be built along with carparking for the proposed Olympic venue.
In July 2022, Redland council posted the highest rates rise in southeast Queensland and the highest rates after allocating $12 million for the Birkdale Olympic precinct.
Plans, showed the council needs 3ha of land to build a wide concrete path through a part of the heritage-listed Willard’s Farm to connect with the proposed Olympic facility.
The council lodged its court appeal on April 21, a week before it unveiled its Olympic plans for 62ha on Old Cleveland Rd East and a month after 4.18ha was put under heritage protection.
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