Victoria Park campaigners lodge formal objection to Games stadium plan
With momentum building for a new stadium, the Save Victoria Park community group has mobilised against the plan and made its case to the 100-day Olympic venue review.
The Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority is conducting the 100-day review of Olympic infrastructure. Read some of the submissions here.
They consider themselves the Davids to the big-money Goliaths pushing for a new stadium to be built on prime inner-city land for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
But that has not deterred the opponents of the proposed Olympic stadium at Victoria Park/Barrambin from submitting their formal objection to Brisbane 2032’s marquee venue being built on the 64-hectare parkland.
In a 45-page submission to the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority’s 100-day review, Save Victoria Park makes the case for “keeping Brisbane’s lungs green and stadium-free”.
Among the myriad issues they raise with GIICA are increased traffic, worsening parking woes, a loss of heritage, and issues with emergency access to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
“A stadium next door to our major hospital would bring significant noise, traffic, and disruption, negatively impacting healthcare services and the wellbeing of hospital staff, patients, and visitors,” SVP says in its submission to the review panel.
“A stadium in such close proximity to the RBWH would likely also create critical delays for ambulances and emergency services on game days, jeopardising patient care and outcomes.”
The group argues Brisbane lags other state capitals when it comes to inner-city green space, compared to Adelaide’s ring of parks around the CBD, Perth’s Kings Park, Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens and Sydney’s Centennial Parklands – all much larger than Victoria Park.
A new two-kilometre parkway loop is planned as part of a $120 million upgrade of the park. Those plans did not include a stadium.
“A stadium in Victoria Park would stand as a symbol of environmental destruction, contradicting Brisbane’s reputation as a green and livable city,” Save Victoria Park says in its submission.
Save Victoria Park notes construction challenges due to the site’s topography, the mental health benefits of green open space, and the site’s Indigenous heritage.
First Nations peoples had enduring “profound spiritual connection” with Barrambin, they argue.
“The area is associated with Dreaming stories, particularly the creation of the Brisbane River by a Dreaming Ancestor, often depicted as an eel, rainbow serpent, or carpet snake,” the group says in its submission.
A sculpture in Victoria Park at York’s Hollow depicting a serpent and her eggs - part of the Turrbal people’s Dreaming. This area will be reimagined in the new Victoria Park Barrambin.Credit:Ray Kerkhov
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“According to these stories, the Ancestor carved out the river valley while fleeing from Goanna, who sought her eggs. These eggs, carried in her mouth, were said to have spilled at the river’s mouth, forming the islands and the people.”
The economic benefit of having a stadium in Victoria Park also comes under question.
“To provide a comparison with Brisbane’s existing stadiums both Suncorp Stadium and the Gabba are well-integrated into areas with established hospitality infrastructure,” Save Victoria Park says.
“Suncorp Stadium in Milton is surrounded by the restaurants, bars, and pubs of Caxton Street, Latrobe Terrace, and the Barracks, making it a natural hub for pre- and post-event crowds. Similarly, the Gabba benefits from its close proximity to dining and entertainment options in Woolloongabba and surrounding areas.
“Victoria Park lacks this level of hospitality infrastructure, meaning a stadium in this location would face significant challenges in providing visitors with the same level of experience while simultaneously disrupting vital educational and medical services in the precinct.”
Even the spectre of terrorism is raised. “Many of the Victoria Park stadium designs propose a stadium platform to be built over the Inner City Bypass, which raises significant concerns regarding counterterrorism measures and public safety,” Save Victoria Park argues, referring to
Archipelago’s Brisbane Bold plan.
“Modern stadiums require comprehensive security protocols, including secure perimeters, crowd control zones, and vehicle exclusion areas to mitigate potential threats such as vehicular attacks or other incidents.
“However, constructing a platform directly above a major traffic artery like the ICB compromises these measures by allowing uncontrolled access beneath the structure.”
Save Victoria Park spokeswoman Sue Bremner said the submission was, from top to bottom, a labour of love from a team of dedicated volunteers.
But despite their passion and determination, Bremner the organisation was well aware of its limitations.
“We’ve had to step up in the last three months to really fight [the stadium], but we are still definitely the Davids to the Goliaths,” she said.
“You can use terminology like people power, grassroots, whatever, but everybody who volunteers or who signs a petition or who does letter boxing does it because they care.”
Bremner said the Save Victoria Park submission was a group effort, with input from a “broad spectrum” of people, including retired town planners, active engineers and others who brought their talents to the cause.
“We’re incorporated, so technically there’s a president, secretary and treasurer, but we don’t operate that way – we run as a flat organisation and we work closely with the other community groups that are in Spring Hill and Kelvin Grove and so on.
Artists’ impressions of Brisbane City Council option plans for Victoria Park, supplied on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.Credit:Brisbane City Council
“There’s no point in reinventing the wheel, basically, but nobody pays to join. It’s a grassroots, voluntary organisation.”
The group had its genesis with Brisbane City Council’s 2019 decision to close the
Victoria Park golf course to create Brisbane’s version of London’s Hyde Park, or New York’s Central Park.
Little did they realise their group would find itself at the coalface of a fight against multi-billion-dollar interests pushing for a stadium at Victoria Park.
Their first hint? The endorsement of former lord mayor Graham Quirk who, after his 60-day review into Olympic venues,
recommended a new oval stadium be built in Victoria Park to host Olympic track and field, with a legacy for cricket and AFL.
“We still don’t understand where it came from with Quirk, because certainly when we put in our submission to him, we were talking about Victoria Park in terms of a temporary [equestrian and BMX] venue and some of the issues of concern that we had about that,” she said.
“There was never any talk of a stadium.”
But the Quirk recommendation gave the group a new purpose, even after then-premier Steven Miles ruled out a Victoria Park stadium and
opted instead for the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre.
The
new 100-day review served as a clarion call for Save Victoria Park to pull out all stops and have their voices heard. Even if the timing was less than ideal.
“I know they’re constrained because of the timing of the election, but it would have been good if the 100 days had been ready to go by early November, instead of early December,” Bremner said.
“We have run into things like getting people to help – they’re on holidays, it’s Christmas/New Year.
“Business is closed down, but people are also involved with family or away on holidays, so the timing hasn’t been great.
“It doesn’t really make for a real consultation, but it’ll be good to actually be able to talk to the panel and make that point – that we feel as though we are really up against some very powerful forces out there.”
With momentum building for a new stadium, the Save Victoria Park community group has mobilised against the plan and made its case to the 100-day Olympic venue review.
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