Gold Coast development: How Robina will be transformed by 2032 Olympics Athletes Village

A Gold Coast suburb will be utterly transformed within 11 years with a series of major new towers to be built. But civic leaders warn they will be a “massive white elephant” unless something critical happens.

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THE Gold Coast’s Olympic Games Athletes Village must be designed to become a giant retirement community in a bid to avoid a multimillion-dollar white elephant.

City leaders say the project, worth several hundred million dollars and earmarked for a 7ha site next to Robina Town Centre, cannot repeat the “failures” of the Commonwealth Games at Southport – and must be useful for post-2032 residents.

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Robina councillor Hermann Vorster has written to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in the wake of southeast Queensland winning the Olympics, warning failure “was not an option”.

“People have plainly been disappointed by the outcomes at Southport and there will be intense interest in making sure any Games village pays a proper social dividend,” he said.

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Cr Hermann Vorster. Picture: Tim Marsden

“There is a housing crisis unfolding across the Gold Coast and in the area. It is not just a crisis of affordability but a crisis of choice and one of the biggest sore points seems to be the dearth of retirement and aged care options on the doorstep of essential services including hospitals, government agencies and decent public transport.

“If the state government insists on developing a games village on their land on the doorstep of Robina Town Centre, there is a golden opportunity to see that future village become a retirement and aged care development.”

The future site of the Olympic Games Athletes Village at Robina. Picture: Tertius Pickard

The former Commonwealth Games Village was transformed into the city’s Health and Knowledge Precinct but it has long been the target of criticism for failing to live up to expectations.

Bonney MP Sam O’Connor said little of the $1 billion in promised economic impact from the Southport precinct had eventuated in three years since the Games closed, leaving it as a white elephant.

Cr Vorster wants to see the village designed so it can be converted to over-60s housing after the Olympic Games.

Gold Coast-based Cabinet Minister Meaghan Scanlon said discussions had begun about the future used of the Athletes Village.

“The 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games for Queensland will deliver legacy infrastructure for the Gold Coast,” Ms Scanlon told the Bulletin.

“That includes a games village at Robina, with planning underway right now for how it could be used during the games and after.

“With more people choosing the Gold Coast and Queensland as their home, I would encourage other levels of government to create more affordable housing for our region as well.”

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