Acting Mayor Julie Talty has defended Redland City Council’s vision for the Birkdale Community Precinct and Whitewater Centre following the Federal Government’s decision not to require further environmental assessment under the EPBC Act.
In a wide-ranging interview with ABC Brisbane Mornings host Steve Austin, Cr Talty addressed questions about the project’s environmental impacts, long-term costs, future revenue opportunities, koala habitat concerns, council rates and the controversial Ormiston College expansion.
Here is the interview in full.
STEVE AUSTIN: Julie Talty, good morning to you.
JULIE TALTY: Good morning, Steve. Thank you for having me today.
STEVE AUSTIN: So exactly what has the Federal Government approved for the facility?
JULIE TALTY: Well, it’s a little bit confusing for people. The EPBC referral assessment is a system where the project is put up to the government for them to confirm whether they do or do not want to control the activity on site from an environmental perspective. They have confirmed that they do not need to call it a controlled action. So it’s not so much that they’ve approved it. What they’ve approved is what the council intended to do, and the conditions, if you like, are that council remains on that path and does what it said it was going to do with the site.
STEVE AUSTIN: So there’s no Federal opposition? The government is saying to the Redland City Council: “It’s all yours. Go for it.”
JULIE TALTY: Yes, and as long as you do what you’ve said you’re going to do, we’re happy with that, I guess, is the way to look at it.
STEVE AUSTIN: So what have you said you’re going to do with the Whitewater facility in Birkdale?
JULIE TALTY: Well, from the outset, this land was originally purchased from the Federal Government by council, and there was always an arrangement with the Federal Government that the environmental aspects of the property would be protected. We’ve known that right from the start.
There’s been extensive ecological reports done on everything from groundwater tables to flora and fauna on the site. Over 60 per cent of the site is going to be protected, as was always the intention, and around 38 per cent of the site, which is already cleared, is the area that is going to be used for the parkland.
I have to say, it’s not just the Whitewater Centre. This is a significant parkland for our community. It has two historic sites on it. It has the historic site of Willards Farm, which has been fully renovated back to pristine condition, and it has the World War II radio receiving station on it.
Both those historic sites form part of the broader parkland and the attractions that will be there in the end product for the community to enjoy.
The Whitewater Centre, while it’s being used for the Olympics, is very exciting, but it’s not just for those few weeks of the Olympics. This is a site that’s going to be used by the broader community.
Part of the long-term vision is that we will have a water park there for the community to use, which will function next to the Swiftwater Centre. The Swiftwater Centre will immediately, as soon as it’s finished, be available for swiftwater training for lifesavers and emergency services rescue personnel, as well as, we hope, forming a lazy river for local kids to enjoy.
STEVE AUSTIN: So an Olympic venue for whitewater rafting, alongside that a water park for families, and then after the Olympics the swiftwater facility will be used to train SES personnel and the like?
JULIE TALTY: Yes. That’s the plan.
At the moment all swiftwater rescue training is either done north of Cairns, which presents challenges—
STEVE AUSTIN: A long way away.
JULIE TALTY: Yes, with cost and natural elements. Or people have to go south where it’s very cold for six months of the year and so the training doesn’t always happen. Again, it’s very expensive.
For our people here, they’ll have access to an opportunity to do swiftwater rescue training.
Further down the track, with the support of other levels of government, we have provision in the overall plan to build a flood training centre. That would sit at the rear of the site and would look like an underground car park in a high-rise building.
In a flood situation, for example if the Brisbane River were to flood through the city and rescuers were going in there to manage floating cars and refrigerators to get to people, then they’ve got a lifelike training scenario.
That’s not being built in this first tranche of activity, but it’s on the cards and we would really hope that in the future it will add to the opportunities on the site.
STEVE AUSTIN: So after the Olympics, what will ratepayers of Redlands be on the hook for when it comes to paying for the running, maintenance, upkeep and construction of the facility?
JULIE TALTY: I think what we need to remember is the Olympics is only a point in time. It’s an opportunity and a driver. Even without the Olympics, our community has had a strong desire to have a citywide, beautiful parkland with entertainment and adventure activities.
STEVE AUSTIN: Sure, but I’m asking about what ratepayers will be on the hook for, cost-wise, after the Olympics.
JULIE TALTY: The Whitewater Training Centre, all of the reports are telling us that it will be able to support itself and contribute to the cost of maintaining the rest of the parkland.
STEVE AUSTIN: Okay, that’s good. So there’s a business case done on it?
JULIE TALTY: Yes. That business case is held by the authority and the state and has not been publicly released.
Council’s information, and the information we’ve relied upon for decision-making, is that we can expect to have an income from those training opportunities and sporting opportunities. That can then feed back into the cost of running the park.
I guess the point I was trying to make is that, with or without the Olympic facility, our community still wants a South Bank-style lagoon, water play area and nice parkland. Council has to maintain that one way or the other if we’re going to have it.
So it’s better to have it with an income coming off that facility than not.
STEVE AUSTIN: While we’ve been talking, Debbie from the Redlands has sent me a message saying it’s not a dead space, it’s an environmentally sensitive site that supports a myriad of wildlife, including a colony of koalas. Can you speak to that? Is there a colony of koalas on the site?
JULIE TALTY: Yes. Hello Deb. Deb Ponting from Redlands Koala Action Group.
Yes, there is some activity on the site and we have spent an extraordinary amount for a council. We are the only council in Australia that I’m aware of that has a tracking program for our koalas. We know exactly where they are and where they go.
Every environmental opportunity has been taken to preserve that and there will be a positive impact.
This has been through state environmental assessment and now the Federal EPBC process. Every report and every piece of information we have is that we can do this very successfully and there is no negative impact.
STEVE AUSTIN: I want to ask you about the cost of construction. Debbie says the venue is going to send council broke and increase rates for the Redlands community, who already pay the highest rates in South East Queensland.
Is it true Redlands residents pay the highest rates in South East Queensland? And will this increase rates?
JULIE TALTY: No, that’s not true.
I can guarantee you that if you go across the state and talk to ratepayers they’ll all tell you they pay the highest rates in the state.
STEVE AUSTIN: Will it lead to a rise in rates?
JULIE TALTY: Rates are revenue for council. We’ve got some sustainability issues from the perspective that our rates are collected mainly from residential properties, whereas other cities have opportunities to raise funds through greater industrial and commercial activity, high-rise development and so on.
We don’t have those opportunities and that’s why our ratepayers sometimes feel we have to lean on them more heavily.
Council’s job is to maintain parks and recreation facilities. This is another park.
It would be unreasonable for anyone to expect me to draw a line between our construction now of a parkland and the cost of maintaining that parkland in the future. That’s no different to the Raby Bay Foreshore Park or any other park in the city.
I have said that, on all the information available to us, we have been able to show that we can provide the facility our community wants and that the cost of providing it will be less than it would otherwise have been because of the income that will come from the Whitewater Centre.
STEVE AUSTIN: So the training centre and other revenue sources after the Olympics will help fund and maintain the facilities?
JULIE TALTY: Yes. We have to pay for it somehow and we’ll be doing everything we can to make sure it is revenue-generating and that revenue contributes to the cost of having that fabulous facility for our community.
STEVE AUSTIN: By the way, how is the Mayor going? Have you spoken to her in the last few days?
JULIE TALTY: No, I haven’t spoken with the Mayor. She’s on medical leave and we’re giving her the opportunity to recuperate and rest. I have had no contact at all with her.
STEVE AUSTIN: We’ve seen several protests over the site of a new stadium at Victoria Park. We’ve seen concern from your ratepayers about the Whitewater facility. Protesters have also been very vocal about expansion plans for Ormiston College, which has been given the green light by government despite council previously rejecting a similar application.
How do you feel about the latest decision around Ormiston College?
JULIE TALTY: I do have some concerns about that.
I haven’t seen the detailed reports related to it, but as I said, we do track our koalas in Redland. Our mainland koalas in that area are well known and their pathways and feeding grounds are well understood.
Personally, I would like to see a little less tree clearing.
One of the beauties of the Redlands area is that it is one of the greenest areas of South East Queensland.
STEVE AUSTIN: It used to have strawberry farms and untouched wildlife and forest. That now appears to be rapidly eroding. At least that’s the perception.
How do you feel about that?
JULIE TALTY: As far as bushland goes, that really is a perception rather than reality.
I am the local councillor for Mount Cotton and Redland Bay and have previously been the councillor for Sheldon, which is our hinterland area.
There is no rapid clearing going on. It’s very difficult for residents to function normally on their properties because of environmental protections.
The problem we find now is that because we have been extraordinarily good environmental stewards in the Redlands for the last 30 or 40 years, we’re being punished for it.
We’ve been trying to build a regional sporting facility on Heinemann Road at Mount Cotton and, through the EPBC process, despite preserving over 60 per cent of that site, we haven’t been able to get approval.
The EPBC process, once it decides something is a controlled action, measures a sporting field in the same way it measures an open-cut mine or industrial facility.
From their perspective they’re saying wallabies can’t graze on it, echidnas can’t walk over it at night and so on, which common sense tells you simply isn’t the case.
We’re being punished, really, for having done very good environmental work.
We’ve also got a lot of misinformation and disinformation, such as some of what has come through your text messages today.
STEVE AUSTIN: One of my listeners has done an artificial intelligence search using Claude, which is a very high-quality AI program, and apparently Claude says Redland City Council has the highest average rates in South East Queensland.
Is that not the case?
JULIE TALTY: No, that’s not the case.
STEVE AUSTIN: So the AI program is wrong and the ratepayers are wrong?
JULIE TALTY: AI is only as good as the data that goes into it, Steve.
You’re telling me some person we don’t know has sent you a text message using something that I’ve got no way of verifying.
STEVE AUSTIN: But there has been a widespread belief that Redland City Council has the highest average rates.
Which council does have the highest average rates?
JULIE TALTY: Steve, our council does not have the highest rates in Queensland.
STEVE AUSTIN: Average rates. Average rates.
JULIE TALTY: So we’ve gone from the highest rates in Queensland to the highest average rates in Queensland. How else can they manipulate the statement?
Reasonable people will look at that and say, “Okay.”
I came on today to talk about the EPBC decision at Birkdale.
STEVE AUSTIN: But your ratepayers are concerned that once the Olympics are over they will be responsible for funding the facility through higher rates.
JULIE TALTY: Specifically, as I’ve said, based on the information available to us, the business case has told us the Whitewater Centre will be able to contribute to the maintenance of the broader parkland.
The parkland is a facility for the whole city to use and enjoy for adventure recreation, historic sites, picnics, sporting opportunities and entertainment.
To suggest that one element is going to be responsible for whatever multitude of decisions have to be made across council isn’t reasonable.
All councils are feeling the financial pinch at the moment because of rising service costs, rising material costs and increasing cost-shifting from other levels of government.
You’ll find mayors across the state will tell you everyone is having to look seriously at their costs, their levels of service and their structures because it is becoming very difficult within the current system to remain sustainable into the future.
We really need to look at how we’re going to make local government in Queensland sustainable into the future.
STEVE AUSTIN: You’ve been very generous with your time. I appreciate it, Julie Talty. Thank you very much.
