Late Friday afternoon the Federal Government published its decision that Redland City Council’s proposal to develop a whitewater centre and community precinct on part of the Council owned Birkdale lands would NOT be a controlled action under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act provided that the Council complies with a number of conditions.
This decision means that the Council and the State Government can proceed with the plan of development submitted with the EPBC referral:
But to avoid and mitigate impacts on endangered koalas, the Council and the State Government MUST not clear or construct within the conservation area or the avoidance area shown on the Avoidance and Fauna Movement Plan which is shown below.
Additionally, the Federal Government has imposed the following conditions to avoid impacts on koalas during construction work:
a) implement the clearing in the sequence specified in section 4.2 of the Birkdale Community Precinct Koala Management Plan (12 March 2026).
b) ensure a fauna spotter catcher is present during all clearing and is given authority to supervise and order (including halting or delaying) the manner in which all clearing is undertaken, to ensure koalas have safely vacated the area of works of their own volition before or during clearing.
c) post clearing, ensure each area of works is surrounded by temporary fauna-exclusion fencing.
d) during construction, conduct daily checks to ensure that any koala has safely vacated the area of works of its own volition before and during any construction.
If/when construction is completed, the Council is also required by the Federal Government to facilitate koala movement across the site, including via the movement routes shown in purple on the Avoidance and Fauna Movement Plan (above).
To avoid and mitigate impacts on koalas the Federal Government has limited the hours of operation on the Birkdale site.
The normal hours of operation will be from 6:00am to 9:00pm but the Council is allowed to operate from 6:00am to 12:00 midnight not more than 12 times per year and never for more than two nights consecutively.
The Federal Government has exempted the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games from limits to the hours of operation.
Here is the Federal Government’s decision (click to enlarge pages):
The referral documentation referred to in the Federal Government’s decision, is shown below:
- Att-1_Portal-Proforma.pdf(PDF, 633KB)
- Att-2_MNES-EAR.pdf(PDF, 25MB)
- Att-3_Conservation-Plan.pdf(PDF, 603KB)
- Att-4_BCP-CMP.pdf(PDF, 11MB)
- Att-5_BCP-MP.pdf(PDF, 34MB)
- Att-6_IDS.pdf(PDF, 26MB)
- Att-7_CCS.pdf(PDF, 24MB)
- Att-8_RCC-Env-Policy.pdf(PDF, 383KB)
- Att-9_Koala-Tech-Memo.pdf(PDF, 982KB)
- Att-10_Koala-Study.pdf(PDF, 5MB)
- Att-11_KMR.pdf(PDF, 13MB)
- Att-12_GG-Report.pdf(PDF, 28MB)
- Att-13_GAR.pdf(PDF, 35MB)
- Att-14_KMP.pdf(PDF, 511KB)
Community reaction to the Federal Government’s whitewater centre decision
An alliance of community organisations in Redland City is in disbelief over the Federal Environment Minister’s decision to allow Redland City Council’s proposal to construct the 2032 Olympic Whitewater Centre within the designated sensitive conservation lands of the Birkdale Community Precinct to go ahead, unrestricted.
The alliance had urged the Federal Environment Department to apply the highest level of scrutiny to Redland City Council’s proposal to construct the Olympic venue adjacent to Core Koala Habitat.
The Council had submitted a referral under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), and the community groups had warned that failure to designate the proposal as a ‘Controlled Action’ would risk serious and irreversible environmental harm causing the demise of the local koala population.
The Community Alliance for Responsible Planning (CARP), Redlands2030 Inc, the Koala Action Group, the Birkdale Progress Association and the Wildlife Preservation Society Queensland Bayside Branch had all lodged detailed submissions highlighting significant risks and gaps associated with the Council’s proposal, which also includes other future developments across the wider Precinct.
The groups had argued that only a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) could truly assess the scale, complexity, and risks of the project. Anything less would limit informed assessment and decision-making by the Federal Minister and his Department.
“We are in disbelief,” said Lavinia Wood, President of CARP and spokesperson for the alliance.
“It is impossible to understand how the Minister could summarily dismiss all the hard evidence we placed before him, and come to this decision.”
“Has the Minister somehow accepted the Council’s preposterous proposition that building an industrial scale Olympic Whitewater Centre in the middle of Core Koala Habitat will lead to the local koala population being better off?”
Why are governments hellbent on abandoning koala protection? Earlier this week, the same Federal Minister chose not to intervene when koala habitat carrying the highest protection possible was destroyed as part of the Ormiston College proposed expansion, with the approval to destroy the trees having come from the Queensland Government under a Ministerial Infrastructure Designation.
This is not only another tragic day for Redlands’ koalas, but it is a sad day for Redlands’ ratepayers, who well know that a Whitewater Centre is the short straw of Olympic venues. Clearly now, the 2032 Olympic legacy for Redlanders will be the ongoing financial burden of an Olympic facility we did not want, on special conservation lands where it should never have been.
The terrible irony is the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will not decide which sports will be included in the Brisbane 2032 Games until late 2026 or early 2027. The IOC is keen to reduce the number of sports in the Games, and it appears Whitewater could be among them. The IOC is looking hard at sports requiring expensive, mono-use facilities, with certain disciplines requiring specific facilities coming under greater scrutiny.
Included among these are mountain bike within cycling, canoe slalom (whitewater) and eventing in equestrian.
For further information see IOC to trim Olympic programme for Brisbane 2032
“If the IOC wishes to safeguard the Olympic brand from the embarrassment and disgrace of proliferating even more Olympic White Elephant facilities across the globe, it will intercede to stop new facilities such as the Redland Whitewater Centre,” said Ms Wood.
“If the IOC wants to include the sport of Canoe Slalom (Whitewater) in the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games, it should be on the proviso that the existing Penrith Whitewater Stadium in Sydney, New South Wales be designated the 2032 Olympic venue, as recommended in the International Olympic Committee’s own Feasibility Assessment – IOC Feasibility Assessment Olympic Games – Brisbane 2032 – February 2021 (p31).”
“It is patently clear that the IOC’s own ‘New Norm’ Policy, which mandates the use of existing facilities (even if in another country), is the only way forward if the integrity of the Olympic product, and the reputation of the Olympic brand, are to be preserved.”
“It is also the only way forward if the koalas of the Birkdale Community Precinct are to have any chance of survival.”
I fail to understand how our impending whitewater disaster can progress without any figures showing how it won’t be a huge financial loss, like every other whitewater facility built.
Who will profit from this? Certainty not Redlands Ratepayers or our Koalas.
Catherine.
I have to agree with you. We have some really dumb councillors in the RCC, who vote on these important issues as a group rather than thinking for themselves. We need a complete change of councillors at the next council election.
This disgraceful decision is yet another example of a Council and State Government determined to develop at any cost and with no regard to either the environment, nature or the opinion of local residents. That such a proposal as the Birkdale Whitewater Centre should be sanctioned by the Federal Government minister responsible says everything one needs to know about the way government and politicians at all levels are taking our wonderful country.