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World Rowing has backed a proposal for a new purpose-built facility just north of Brisbane, but has stopped short of picking a side in the Olympic venue dispute that has pitted central Queensland against the south-east.
It comes as the rowing community continues to rally behind a planned permanent flatwater facility in greater Brisbane, at a decommissioned Boral quarry in Lawnton.
In a letter to be tabled at this week’s City of Moreton Bay council meeting, World Rowing president Jean-Christophe Rolland expressed the sport’s enthusiasm about the Lawnton project.
“The concept of a permanent, world-standard flatwater facility of this nature anywhere in the world has the potential not only to elevate rowing to the highest level, but also to deliver meaningful and lasting benefits to the wider water sports community and to future generations of athletes,” he says in the letter to Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery.
However, Rolland notes in the letter World Rowing is committed to being involved in the feasibility process for the Fitzroy River – something the governing bodies of both rowing and paddle must sign off before it is confirmed for the Games.
“We continue to work with GIICA [the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority] and the Organising Committee to progress to more detailed designs and additional feasibility testing,” he says.
Flannery said he was glad to receive a positive response from World Rowing about his council’s $250 million proposal – $150 million of which would come from the $7.1 billion joint state and Commonwealth funding envelope.
The rest would come from private partners, which would recoup money through the sale of associated housing on the site.
“This is a pleasing confirmation of our detailed proposal,” Flannery said.
Support of the Lawnton plan – and opposition to Olympic competition being held on the Fitzroy – have amped up among the rowing community.
Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the 2032 Games delivery plan, about 500 rowers have signed up to an open letter demanding a rethink of the Rockhampton decision, made against the advice of the Crisafulli government’s independent 100-day review.
One of the letter’s organisers, Rowunion Queensland chairman Gary Merritt, said there had been overwhelming opposition against the Fitzroy River plan.
“In all my life, I have never seen the rowing community so galvanised on one issue, ever,” he said.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said the assessment of the Fitzroy River was ongoing and initial findings were positive.
“Rowing will be hosted on the mighty Fitzroy River in Rockhampton as part of a Games that delivers for all of Queensland,” he said.
Merritt said, when applied to a river, the adjective “mighty” usually described a body of water with “lots of flow”. It was the Fitzroy River’s flow that alarmed Rowing Australia when it was first suggested as an Olympic venue early last year.
“It’s a good place – nobody’s bashing Rockhampton,” Merritt said.
“It’s good for local regattas. It’s good for even a state championship, but for an Olympics it’s just out of its depth in terms of fairness.
“And the biggest thing is we won’t be able to maintain it – whenever it floods, it’ll get washed away.”
In the letter, the rowers point out the sport has been without a permanent home in south-east Queensland, where most rowers live, for decades, and the Olympics represented a “one-in-a-generation opportunity” to address that gap.
“Rowing venues are among the most specialised pieces of sporting infrastructure in the Olympic program,” they say in the letter.
“They require internationally certified 2000-metre courses, significant supporting facilities and substantial investment to deliver and maintain them.
“For that reason, Olympic rowing venues should be located where they can support sustained long-term use, including school and club rowing, national and international regattas and community participation long after the Olympic Games have concluded.”
It was not a debate about Brisbane versus regional Queensland, the rowers say, nor was it a reflection on the Fitzroy River’s value to the rowing community.
Merritt said he understood the reasoning behind spreading the Games across Queensland, and there were other potential opportunities for Rockhampton.
With the first stage of the Queensland government’s $62.78 million redevelopment of Browne Park nearing completion, Merritt said an Olympic event, such as rugby sevens, could still be hosted in the city.
“There’s more of the town interested in that than there is in rowing,” he said.
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