Penrith named as viable Olympic alternative to $100m Birkdale whitewater venue

A Brisbane bayside council has been told its pledge to build a $100m whitewater venue for the 2032 Brisbane Games could be for nought, with a senate committee recommending investigating the use of an existing NSW venue as a priority.

Redland groups who made submissions to the Senate Inquiry, 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 inquiry last month. Picture: Contributed

A whitewater venue in New South Wales could be used to host slalom and kayak events for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The venue was named as a cost-effective alternative to a $100 million stadium proposed to be built on land in Redland at Birkdale.

The Senate committee, which held a hearing in Brisbane last month, also found the decision to build a whitewater centre at Redland should be subjected to a publicly-available and robust business case.

“The history of whitewater facilities built for previous Games suggests there is a high likelihood that the facility could become a drain on the community and public funds in the future,” the interim Senate committee report found.

“This evidence would suggest that Australia does not need, and cannot sustain, two whitewater facilities.

“Proponents of the project should be willing and able to provide detailed evidence of the benefits to the community and residents of the state.

“The committee would like to see a detailed analysis of the feasibility of using the existing Penrith facilities for the Games, instead of building a new facility at Redland.”

An initial drawing of the proposed whitewater venue to be built at Birkdale. Picture: Redland City Council

The committee, headed by Nationals Senator Matt Canavan, also included Greens Senator Penny Allman-Payne along with Liberals Senator Bridget McKenzie and Sarah Henderson.

It also recommended that the state government should work with the New South Wales government to “fully explore” the possibility of holding the events at the Penrith Whitewater Centre.

The findings came a day after Redland City Council threw its support behind the whitewater venue and gave its chief executive the power to sign contracts for the project despite not having a final “costings validation” report from the state government.

The council’s public show of support for the $100 million venue followed a request from the state government’s Olympic and Paralympic Infrastructure Office for a solid commitment.

The committee’s concerns were raised after a preliminary state government validation report found there was “a risk” the council may decide against providing “common” infrastructure, which would be needed at the greenfield site.

“To mitigate this risk, the Olympic and Paralympic Infrastructure Office has requested that council affirm its support for the project by committing to ensure that council will allocate sufficient funding, resources and commit to work with the state in good faith on the delivery of the elements of the precinct that are the council’s responsibility but have an interdependence on the part of the whitewater venue,” council officers said.

The council also voted to provide all the necessary funding to meet its obligations to provide the ancillary infrastructure which includes roads, drains, footpaths and parking at the Birkdale site.

The Birkdale site where Redland City Council wants an Olympic whitewater venue.

Plans to approve a local government infrastructure designation, which gives the council ultimate planning control over the site, were also endorsed.

The council decisions for the 62 hectare of land also included voting to authorise its chief executive to manage the delivery of a partnership deed with the state government.

Four councillors voted against granting the CEO the high-level authority, claiming that they wanted to see a business case and a full validation report before committing “a blank cheque”.

Deputy Mayor Julie Talty said councillors had been provided “quite a significant amount of information”.

“As the process moves forward, a lot of that information will come into the public realm but I am certainly very happy and very satisfied that we have been provided sufficient information to move forward in a calm and confident manner and that this is the right thing both for our city and for the council.”

But councillor Adelia Berridge claimed it was premature to commit to funding the project when “we do not know what costs are associated with the broader aspect of delivering this project”.

“And there’s an expectation that the masterplan for the entire precinct will be delivered in component parts and the costs associated with those elements have not been provided to us.”

Originally published as Penrith named as viable Olympic alternative to $100m Birkdale whitewater venue