A bidding war is underway for the rights to build the proposed Brisbane Live 2032 Brisbane Olympics Arena as Redlands City Council reveals plans for its proposed Birkdale community precinct.
Key points:
- A consortium led by Live Nation Entertainment is in a bidding battle against ASM-Global to build the Brisbane Live stadium
- The Birkdale Community Precinct draft plan was approved by Redlands City Council on Wednesday
- The Birkdale Community Precinct will also be used for emergency services training
A major feature for the Brisbane Olympics is the proposed Brisbane Live stadium in Roma Street.
The project has sparked a bidding battle between Harvey Lister’s ASM-Global and a consortium led by Live Nation Entertainment with the Oakview Group and Plenery Group.
Oakview Group executive vice president Brian Kaputnik told ABC Radio Brisbane’s Steve Austin the consortium could build it at a reduced cost to the Australian taxpayer due to its ability to bring its own capital to the project.
Mr Kaputnik said the consortium viewed Brisbane as an incredible market with a history of great entertainment and live events.
“We see ourselves creating a productive partnership with the government providing private funding and cooperation as well as delivery of the next generation of arenas that are sustainable and successful for the businesses and the residents of Queensland,” he said.
Mr Kaputnik said the consortium would not enter into an operation engagement deed with ASM Global if the Queensland government proposed it.
“In our opinion, it’s really not in the best interest to look at that type of relationship because in a competitive bidding process, it’s clearly transparent for all parties, and it offers the best value for money for the government and the citizens of Brisbane.”
Precinct receives green light
It comes after Redlands Council on Wednesday approved the long-debated Birkdale Community Precinct proposal.
The hub will be home to the Olympic whitewater rafting stadium, which some residents view as abandoned precinct in the making.
Community Alliance for Responsible Planning spokesperson Lavinia Wood said residents did not ask for the proposed stadium.
“Putting it very simply, this Olympic Stadium is being forced upon the people of the Redlands,” she said.
“We don’t want it, and of the last six, which were built for the Olympic Games, three being Athens, Rio and Beijing, are completely abandoned, making them effectively concrete swamps.
“The other three, the Penrith Stadium, which was used for Sydney 2000, London and Tokyo, are all running in the red.”
Redlands City Council mayor Karen Williams told ABC Radio’s Rebecca Levingston that the adoption of the Birkdale Community Precinct Master plan was an exciting step for Brisbane and the region.
“The plan includes seven different hubs, and it gives us the opportunity to put on show what will probably be the best park in Queensland,” she said.
Ms Williams said the seven precincts included heritage buildings, an innovation area, a landcare environmental opportunity using 40 hectares of the 62 hectares of the site’s land, running tracks, the Redlands Resilience Training Centre, and the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic whitewater rafting stadium and swimming lagoons.
Alternate use
Cr Williams said 1,200 people responded to a survey on the draft master plan.
She said three out of four people supported the plan, and the council had worked closely with emergency services.
“I think some of the other comments that have been made, obviously, you take some things in isolation, and they focus on one element, which will be the two weeks of the Olympics,” she said.
“But right from the beginning, we had worked with people such as our emergency services to make sure that this could at least be a swift water training facility.
“They’re all very excited about that because firstly, they have to travel to places like Tasmania and New Zealand to do some of that training and from a Queensland perspective and from a northern NSW perspective, we know that the demand for that type of emergency service is growing, so it’s always been a component.”
Cr Williams said the precinct would create a an extraordinary example of an Olympic legacy.
“One thing that we did learn probably last year from the likes of Lismore and what happened here in south-east Queensland is that urban flooding has become more and more apparent, and so we’ve got that third channel now that will absolutely allow people to work out how they get people off roofs and use IRBs,” she said.
Cr Williams also said the International Canoe Federation saw the precinct as an opportunity for its sport to grow.
She said facilities that had been built in isolation in other parts of the world hadn’t worked.
“This is why this is different because this is part of a huge precinct right on the doorstep of Brisbane, and the opportunity for it to be used as a recreational as well as a training facility makes it the legacy that it’s going to be,” she said.
Discussion about this post