Aspirations remain for catalyst project as review continues
In response to our community’s need for more sports facilities at a club level, and with our focus on creating healthier communities, the Redlands Coast Regional Sport and Recreation Precinct is an important Redland City Council catalyst project.
Council’s aspiration for the new sport and recreation precinct is to deliver an intergenerational project that will help meet the sporting and recreational needs of Redlands Coast’s growing community, while also protecting a significant area of natural habitat across the 101-hectare precinct.
While this exciting project will deliver on our much-needed sporting facilities, it is important this doesn’t come at the cost of our environmental obligations.
Council takes its environmental credentials seriously and decided to self-refer the precinct’s final designs to the Federal Government to assess for compliance with the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
In March this year, the Federal Department of Environment and Water determined that the project would be treated as a ‘controlled action’ under the EPBC Act and requested additional information.
While this will delay our project schedule and may result in changes to the scope of the project, Council believes the referral was the right decision as we continue to support koala conservation and respect environmental protections.
As a result of the additional time required for the Federal Government to undertake its review, $4.5 million in grant funding allocated to the project through the State Government’s 2021-24 SEQ Community Stimulus Program, will need to be repurposed to another Council project that meets the strict timing and guidelines under the grant agreement.
Council is working collaboratively with the State Government to agree how best to repurpose this funding so our community continues to receive this much needed State Government support.
The Redlands Coast Regional Sport and Recreation Precinct is to be located at 277-293 Heinemann Road, Mount Cotton.
