Have your say about Council’s whitewater plan for the Birkdale lands

Image from flythrough video published by Redland City Council

Council’s community consultation “campaign”

Redland City Council is now undertaking a community consultation “campaign” to promote its whitewater centred $300 million Draft Master Plan for future use of the Birkdale lands.

Presumably they are in “campaign” mode because they know that the whitewater proposal lacks financial justification and community support.

What the Council has served up in its Draft Master Plan could be described as the Birkdale Boondoggle.

If you have not come across the term boondoggle, here are some examples.

The Council wants people to complete a long survey form designed with leading questions to get support for its proposed water wonderland. This consultation ‘campaign’ closes on 6 June 2022.

Have your say about the whitewater plans

Instead of completing the Council’s survey, Redlands2030 suggests that you send an email to the Council, including your full name and address so that it is regarded as a properly made submission.

Presented below is draft submission which anyone can copy and modify.

Have Your Say – Draft Birkdale Community Precinct Master Plan

Redland City Council, PO Box 21 CLEVELAND QLD 4163

rcc@redland.qld.gov.au and optionally, cc theeditor@redlands2030.net

Olympic Whitewater Facility

The Olympic Whitewater Facility should not be built on the Birkdale lands which Redland City Council describes as the Birkdale Community Precinct, for the following reasons:

• Community consultation in 2021 demonstrated that protecting cultural heritage and conservation values (including koalas) is the highest priority for use of the Precinct.
• The proposed Olympic Whitewater Facility and accompanying infrastructure would have a significant negative impact on cultural heritage and conservation values across the entire Precinct.
• The 2021 community consultation showed that there is little community support for building an Olympic Whitewater Facility on this site.
• “Olympic standard whitewater and adventure sports precinct” was ranked 8th out of 22 in last year’s public consultation exercise for future uses of the Precinct.
• Of the 3,156 comments received by the Council in its 2021 public consultation exercise, only 392 (12.5%) mention an Olympic Whitewater Facility of which 65% were AGAINST the Olympic Whitewater Facility.
• The Council has not disclosed to the community the economic, environmental and social impacts of building an Olympic Whitewater Facility on this publicly owned site.
• In particular, the Council has not made clear to the community the likely ongoing costs to operate and maintain an Olympic Whitewater Facility in the Precinct.
• While the State and Federal governments may fund most of the capital costs of an Olympic Whitewater Facility, likely to be about $50 million, the annual depreciation charge will be a cost to Redlands ratepayers, making our rates even higher.
• Claims that the proposed Olympic Whitewater facility would bring huge benefits to the Redlands such as “an annual contribution of $52 million to the local economy”, have not been substantiated in any meaningful credible way.
• Suggestions that having an Olympic venue in the Redlands would accelerate investment in transport infrastructure such as the Eastern Busway (estimated cost$1.7 billion) and duplication of the Cleveland Train Line are ridiculous. These transport projects will only ever happen to support a massive increase in residential density in the Redlands.
• Claims by Redland City Council that the proposed Olympic Whitewater Facility will be needed after the 2032 Olympics for swift-water rescue training appear to be speculative. Even if it were to be used occasionally, this activity is unlikely to significantly reduce the costs to ratepayers.
• The proposed Olympic Whitewater Facility will mostly be used by a small number of elite athletes and people who can afford the expense of whitewater rafting at about $100 per go.
• Meanwhile, the Council does not appear to be addressing the need for refurbishing swimming pools in Cleveland and on Russell Island which residents consider to be a higher priority.
• An Olympics Whitewater Facility is not required in Queensland for 8 years, so it would be better if the project was properly investigated to determine the most suitable location.
• It’s likely that an Olympic Whitewater Facility could be built for less overall cost to taxpayers at a site which already has suitable power, water and transport infrastructure. Logan City, Ipswich or the Gold Coast may be able to put forward better options than the Birkdale site.

Community responses to the Council’s 2021 consultation exercise were obtained by Redlands2030 through RTI and published in:

Birkdale Community Precinct Vision ignores community feedback

Swimming lagoon and/or water play facilities

We are not convinced that the Birkdale Precinct is the most suitable place in Redlands for a publicly funded swimming lagoon and we think that the community should be fully informed about the costs of such a facility before it is locked into the Master Plan.

It is understandable that many Redlands residents would like a swimming lagoon similar to the ones which have been provided at Southbank in Brisbane and Settlement Cove in Redcliffe.

Over the past seven years various local Councillors have raised prospects of water play facilities in the Redlands. Various locations have been mentioned but nothing ever happens.

This is largely because artificial swimming lagoons are expensive to build (say  $30 million) and operate (say $3 million per year).

An obvious drawback of the Birkdale site is prevalence of biting midges and mosquitoes. Has the Council investigated this risk to the people who might use the facility, especially young kids?

So instead of including in its Master Plan an artist’s impressions of a swimming lagoon that may never be built, the Council should undertake an honest conversation with the community about the choices and consequences of having some new water play facilities in the Redlands.

This honest conversation should include Council sharing information with the community about:

• Different types of water play facility e.g. swimming lagoon and splash playground
• Some sites which may be suitable for these facilities and criteria for assessing site suitability
• Estimated costs to build and own these facilities and the impact on rates bills
• Potential impacts on usage and viability of existing swimming pools in the Redlands including the Cleveland Aquatic Centre

Such an honest conversation could be followed by genuine community consultation about some specific proposals.

Heritage Places on the Birkdale lands

Please ensure that Willard’s Farm and the world War II Radio Receiving Facility are:

• Restored appropriately to preserve their heritage values without their sense of place and time being inappropriately impacted by adjacent activities
• Made accessible to the whole community

The Draft Master Plan is currently centred around the Council’s ambitions to have an Olympic venue in Redland City rather than focusing on the conservation and wise use of Willard’s Farm and the World War II Radio Receiving Station.

Given the amount of time that the Council has had to work on plans for restoration and future usage of these facilities, more detail should have been included in the Draft Plan.

It appears that the heritage values of these properties could be severely compromised by Council’s desire to cram a multitude of other activities nearby, presumably to get community support for its ‘every child wins a prize’ approach to planning the future use of the Birkdale lands.

A telling indicator of the Council’s disrespect of heritage values is its decision to appeal the Queensland Heritage Council’s decision to list an area around Willard’s Farm, presumably because this gets in the way of the Council’s plans for other (commercial) activities in the precinct.

We request that the Redlands Council reverse its decision to appeal, and work with the Heritage Council to ensure that any activities undertaken in the area around Willard’s Farm do not diminish this property’s heritage values.

Environment

We are concerned that the Council’s draft master plan for development of industrial scale facilities on the site such as the whitewater facility and associated infrastructure will impact negatively on koalas and other wildlife.

Consideration should be given to expanding koala habitat in the Birkdale Precinct as a high priority. This should include the areas that Council is currently proposing for a whitewater facility.

The most useful contribution that Redland City can make to the 2032 Olympics is to be a place where overseas visitors can easily see koalas in the wild.

We would like to see parts of the conservation area made accessible to the community with basic walking tracks within 12 months.

Submissions about the whitewater master plan

The Submission deadline is Monday 6 June 2022.

Remember to include your name and address so that your comments are considered to be a properly made submission.

Redlands2030 – 29 May 2022