Friday 10 February 2012

Politics again shows up disunity and poor leadership

Sin-bin for Warren's sports vision

Daniel Strudwick
Thursday, February 9, 2012
© The Cairns Post

Warren Entsch's grand vision for sports infrastructure in Cairns has been
dismissed as a "hodgepodge, time-wasting
wish list" by Cairns regional councillors.

The council yesterday rubbished a report by
the Cairns Business and Sporting Group set up by
Mr Entsch, which outlines more than $51 million of "shovel ready" construction projects for sports in the region.

Councillors criticised the group for giving false ideas to the public about what it meant for a project to be shovel ready, and putting forward ideas out of step with those already in the council’s pipeline. Mr Entsch has criticised the council’s laborious approach to planning public infrastructure, insisting feasibility studies and consultancies are often "an expensive waste of time".

That prompted council bosses to take a closer look at Mr Entsch’s own plans for infrastructure upgrades.The council’s formal response to the master plan will be a one-page letter stating that the group’s priorities mostly do not align with council’s priorities over the next six years. But the letter was described as a "polite" version of how councillors really felt about the master plan.

Mayor Val Schier acknowledged the importance of upgrading facilities, but said those involved in Mr Entsch’s group might have had more success working with the council. "The figures are a bit rubbery, there’s nothing in there about the southern area, and then we’ve got small things thrown in there (that) are not at all strategic in their thinking," Cr Schier said of the plan. "To me it’s a hodgepodge list. I used to say it was done on the back of an envelope, but I have to concede the report is bigger than an envelope. However, it’s still not the planning we need to really achieve things in this region."

Mr Entsch said the criticism highlighted why the current CRC would be a one-term council.
"They have no vision whatsoever," Mr Entsch said. "The city lacks the infrastructure to consistently attract major sporting events."

Cr Kirsten Lesina said Mr Entsch’s group had lied by saying projects were ready for construction and Cr Di Forsyth said the plan was a waste of the council’s time.

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3 comments:

  1. I would urge everyone to look at the setup of the Runaway Bay centre of sports excellence and the opportunities that would provide Cairns

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  2. The Runaway Bay Centre is certainly a fantastic one and the idea would work well here so long as there was acknowledgement of what we should have in Cairns as opposed to what they have down there. For example, in Mareeba the facilities for shooting and for bow and arrow practice are fantastic and under-utilised. We need a diving pool which the Gold Coast already have on the waterfront at the aquatics centre. There is no other diving pool in Qld. It should be in the Edmonton Leisure Centre as that facility is not yet built and still in design stages, it is right near the Gymnastics club which is where divers come from and it's across the road from TAS Aquatics Centre which is renowned for it's swimming club and has been used in the past for acclimatisation of our athletes from the AIS. Barlow Park has a great athletics field and it would benefit them to expand on that while removing the football based sports into a new stadium (the only part of the plan with immediate merit).

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  3. I support a bigger football stadium as well, although, like Townsville's Dairy Farmers Stadium, I would like it well away from the central business district and city areas. However, I cant see where Entsch consulted the community on his plans. What community consultation was there?

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