source : the age
A draft 20-year vision for Mount Coot-tha has been unveiled by Brisbane City Council, without a controversial zipline but with insight on how for-sale broadcast sites will be used.
Brisbane Sustainability Agency was contracted by the council to develop the plan, which focused on improving existing attractions, picnic spots and walking trails while investigating the rehabilitation of the existing quarry.
The plan is expected to be finalised mid-2027, after which costing will occur.
“That will allow us to systematically go through and map out projects that can be delivered and what they will cost,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said from the Mount Coot-tha lookout on Tuesday.
“This is a 20-year plan, so it doesn’t have to all be done at once, it can be done in an affordable way.”
The summit would be prioritised due to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games, Schrinner said.
There were limited opportunities for private investment, he said. Those include the Nine and Seven TV studios, which are currently listed for sale.
Both sites are being represented by Savills, which has also visited the unlisted 10 News site.
Schrinner said residential development of these sites would not occur.
“It’s currently zoned for utility purposes, which covers the TV use, but we have envisaged for quite some time now that if it wasn’t used for that, then there would be an ecotourism opportunity, such as function centre, visitors centre, potentially an eco hotel,” he said.
“All this would have to be done though without disrupting the natural environment.
“I commend the Brisbane Sustainability Agency for coming up with a plan that strikes a balance between protecting our unique natural environment and providing plenty of things for people to see and do.”
Community consultation was crucial to developing the plan, Brisbane Sustainability Agency CEO Tracy Melenewycz said.
“We engaged with over 4800 community representatives to form a draft vision,” she said.
“The vision is very much focused on protecting what matters and what makes Mount Coot-tha special, renewing those assets and spaces.”
The agency heard feedback from almost 5000 people, with community members vocal about not wanting a zipline to go ahead.
The multimillion-dollar project, designed and assessed by the council, was pledged in 2016 when the LNP went to the election and championed by former lord mayor Graham Quirk.
Plans for a giant zipline over the Brisbane River, from the cliffs at Kangaroo Point to the City Botanic Gardens, were funded by the state government earlier this year.
Schrinner confirmed there were “no ziplines in this plan”.
“You won’t see Mount Coot-tha turned into a theme park, you will see it as a nature-based place that people can come and enjoy.”
Almost 700 submissions were received about re-imagining the Mount Coot-tha quarry, though the council believed it might have operational capacity for another decade.
Possibilities identified by the agency for the quarry included informal green space, nature-based tourism, off-road cycling and other outdoor adventure pursuits, and water-based activities.
Further community feedback on the plan would be collected at pop-up stalls in the CBD and Mount Coot-tha surrounds over the next four weeks.
The council’s Labor opposition leader, Jared Cassidy, called the plans unattainable and said Schrinner was focusing on the wrong issues.
“This adds to the lord mayor’s shopping list of visions with no plan – such as booze on ferries, buses on ferries, flying Ubers, river taxis and water scooters,” Cassidy said.
“Have we seen any progress on these? No, because the lord mayor knows he won’t be around to answer for them 20 years from now.
“Yes, we must do forward planning. But the lord mayor should get on with the crises facing Brisbane today.”
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