Songcheng theme park Gold Coast: What will replace $600m development at Carrara

A Chinese developer’s plans to dump a controversial $600m theme park in favour of a hi-tech Australian-first mega project have been welcomed.

Mayor Tom Tate has welcomed a Chinese developer’s plans to create Australia’s first purpose-built esports precinct at Carrara.

Songcheng announced on Monday it had abandoned plans for the $600m Australian Legends World for a riverside site at Nerang and was selling 4.3ha of the site for residential development.

It will now create a new development application for the complex, which will be built next to the Nerang train station.

Mr Tate visited the UK in July in a bid to attract greater esports investment for the city and said he was keen to see details of the proposal.

“To learn that the Carrara land may be re-purposed to include an esports facility is encouraging and obviously the proposal will require development approval but it just goes to show that when one door closes, another opens,” he said.

“My recent meeting with the Global Esports CEO in Birmingham has opened up a range of possibilities for our city.

“I can’t go into too much detail now but there is no doubt the Gold Coast is positioned to be a part of global esports, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere.”

The expression of interest campaign for the land will run for six weeks.

Scrapped: What will replace dumped $600m theme park

Plans for a giant $600m theme park at Carrara are dead, with its Chinese developer abandoning the project and selling part of its site.

But Songcheng isn’t entirely finished with land on the Nerang River at Carrara. It has visions of creating Australia’s first purpose-built esports precinct.

Songcheng will on Tuesday launch a six-week expression-of-interest campaign to sell 4.4ha of land on Broadbeach-Nerang Rd next to the proposed start of the Coomera Connector highway. It is expected to be snapped up for housing and able to accommodate more than 320 units.

The company will focus on the remaining 40ha, which will also include its own residential precinct and a large public wetlands on the banks of the river.

The site is being marketed by Canford Estate agents. Company head Roland Evans said Songcheng had listened to residents’ concerns about its controversial project.

He said the developer wanted to establish the Gold Coast as a major esports location.

“The theme park is no more, because Songcheng have listened to the concerns of the residents in the immediate area and they don’t want to do anything which is controversial,” he said.

“They will now focus on the larger parcel of land and this will be a much-reduced development from what they were previously going to attempt.

Canford's Roland Evans. Photo: Supplied

“Esports is hugely successful in China and worldwide the market is now enormous and council is quite supportive of this.”

Chinese company Wanda bought the site in the early 2010s before offloading it in 2015 to Songcheng.

Artist impression of Songcheng’s now shelved theme park at Carrara. Imaged supplied by Canford Property Group

Immediately, it pitched Australian Legends World, a giant theme park that feature an indoor ski field, animal exhibits, adventure park and 3500-seat performance theatre.

It was to feature a fibreglass Uluru and replica of Captain Cook’s HMS Endeavour but both were abandoned in 2018 after the project was submitted to the Gold Coast City Council.

The council received more than 600 submissions during the public comment period held in January-February 2018, many of which objected to the proposal.

Concerns included the impact on the flood plain, traffic and a negative impact on the suburb’s amenity.

However, there were also submissions in support of the development from prominent business figures including then-Destination Gold Coast chairman Paul Donovan, Gold Coast North Chamber of Commerce president Gary Mays and Vicky Cao, director of developer Garuda GC, which owns the Southport Star of the Sea site.

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Originally published as Songcheng theme park Gold Coast: What will replace $600m development at Carrara