‘Ugly stepsister’: SEQ community backs Sydney whitewater venue over local Games build

As submissions closed for the Brisbane 2032 Games’ 100-day review at midnight Friday, a collective of community groups in Brisbane’s east opposed to a local whitewater rafting facility have lobbied to take the venue down – all the way to Sydney’s legacy Penrith stadium.

The Community Alliance for Responsible Planning (CARP) Redlands – representing multiple local groups – highlighted environmental constraints in the proposed site, and echoed Senate findings that Australia cannot support two whitewater rafting facilities.

“This thing is going to cost at least $100 million to build – $100 million 50-50 with the Queensland and federal government – what an obscene waste of money,” CARP Redlands spokeswoman Lavinia Wood said.

A rendered overview of the Birkdale Community Precinct, showing the precinct concept designs, from March 2022.Credit: Redland City Council

“Redland City Council is going to have to cough up $50 million-plus in order to upgrade the roads ... and also bring in all of the [infrastructure] that isn’t there – water, electricity, sewerage.”

The new facility, slated to adjoin the as-yet unbuilt Birkdale Community Precinct, was proposed by Redlands City Council in 2019, and was expected to accommodate 8000 spectators for the whitewater rafting slalom events.

The Penrith Whitewater Facility historically housed about 12,500 spectators, and was offered as a potential ready-made substitute by the International Olympic Committee as far back as 2020.

Some of the key issues of the Birkdale site include the cultural and environmental significance of the site and the lack of a large body of water to feed a whitewater centre, meaning the venue would need to use the city’s water supply.

A concept image rendering of the proposed whitewater facility in Redland City, earmarked for the Olympic canoe slalom events, from March 2021.Credit: Redland City Council

In March 2023, the Commonwealth’s Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee opened a report into the country’s preparedness to host the 2032 Brisbane Games and then-upcoming Commonwealth Games in Victoria.

The final report – called Australia’s preparedness to host Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic Games – was extended to May 2025, with two interim reports released in late 2023.

“The Senate inquiry … actually said that they believed the council was misrepresenting the community’s wishes, and that Australia does not need and cannot sustain two whitewater venues,” Wood said.

“The solution is Penrith. I mean, that’s the obvious thing, and actually prescribed by the International Olympic Committee’s new norm policy: use existing facilities, even if in another country.”

The Redland City Council maintained the site would be “a financially sustainable venue that will benefit Redlands Coast, the south-east Queensland region and Queensland for generations to come.”

“The planned Redland Whitewater Centre will be designed for all ages and abilities,” said a council spokeswoman.

“This year-round venue will be a great spot for families, emergency services and athletes.”

Following its initial submission, the Redland City Council acquired in 2019 a 62-hectare land parcel in Birkdale to protect it from development plans.

The land is a culturally important site for the local Indigenous community, and holds historical and environmental significance, housing a large population of koalas and several colonial and wartime buildings.

The council then lodged plans to create a 36-hectare conservation area on the land, and use 26 hectares to form parkland as part of the Birkdale Community Precinct.

The Redland Whitewater Centre would take up 8 per cent of the total site, and 18 per cent of the parkland.

Wood said the community had not been sufficiently consulted, and that a lack of a natural water supply on the land could lead to large-scale habitat damage and high ongoing costs for the council and community.

An overview of the Birkdale Community Precinct planned to house the Redlands Whitewater Centre, from March 2023.Credit: Redland City Council

“The Olympic Games talk a big line about legacy … well, the Olympic 2032 legacy for the people of the Redlands will be the ongoing financial burden of a whitewater centre we didn’t want on special conservation lands where it should never have been,” she said.

“Trying to put a whitewater centre on this land is like the ugly stepsister jamming her foot into the glass slipper – it just doesn’t belong.”

The proposed venue has drawn long-standing backlash, although the council presented a “sound business case” to the Quirk review in 2024.

Former Brisbane City Lord Mayor and review chair Graham Quirk said to the Senate in mid-2024 that his committee had not gone into detail about the environmental considerations, or the supply of water to the facility.

“We were given assurances around the management of that [by the Redland City Council] … ‘reassured’ would be the word I would use,” he said.

A concept image rendering of the proposed whitewater facility in Redland City, from June 2022, shows the proposed practice lane and longer event circuit.Credit: Redland City Council

The Redlands whitewater centre received the third-highest number of submissions in the Quirk review.

The Games Independent Infrastructure and Co-ordination Authority’s 100-day review reported receiving more than 5000 submissions from “a broad array of groups”.

“The large volume and quality of the submissions, from across the state, is … a reminder of how passionate Queenslanders are about the opportunities that can be linked to delivering this historic event,” Authority chairman Stephen Conry said.

While the majority of submissions concerned the Games’ main stadium, major and minor venues – which included the whitewater facility – public transport and fulfilling long-term infrastructure needs were frequently mentioned.