Works funded for Redlands Coast Eco Precinct at Capalaba

Redlands Coast Eco Precinct is on track to become a leading ecotourism attraction for the city with funding for works on the Capalaba site that will connect the IndigiScapes native gardens, cafe and education centre with the proposed RSPCA Wildlife Hospital.

At today’s General Meeting (21 August 2024), Redland City Council endorsed the details of the financial commitment necessary for the detailed design and delivery of infrastructure that will connect current and future uses within the precinct.

The precinct incorporates Council land at 377-385 Redland Bay Road and 17 Runnymede Road, Capalaba, that already features Council’s environment centre IndigiScapes as its centrepiece, and is the location of community disability support organisation Myhorizon’s main facility.

It also will become the home of RSPCA Queensland’s purpose-built Wildlife Hospital and Centre of Excellence, expected to cost in excess of $20 million and planned for completion in the next few years.

As Chair of today’s Council meeting, Deputy Mayor Julie Talty said Council was providing 1 hectare of land in the new Redlands Coast Eco Precinct to RSPCA Queensland for the wildlife hospital’s development, just east of the IndigiScapes Native Nursery. The entire precinct is about 16.7 hectares.

“The funding endorsed for the Redlands Coast Eco Precinct is timed in consideration of the development aspirations of the RSPCA and the existing community, environmental and education uses of the site,” Cr Talty said.

The proposed funding comprises approximately $4.4 million for new precinct connections – such as car parks, walkways, road connections, and drainage – and approximately $1.9 million for outdoor space renewals including safety and accessibility improvements, landscaping, and playground renewal.

Detailed design work is planned to start in the current financial year.

Cr Talty said the Redlands Coast Eco Precinct would bring significant environmental and community benefits to the city through its educational and practical focus on caring for habitat and wildlife.

“It brings increased opportunities for social connection, cohesion and inclusion, while also encouraging economic activity by attracting a wide range of users and investments,” she said.

It is expected that visitor numbers will increase significantly with the development of the precinct.

Conservatively, those numbers could well double from the annual 50,000 visits currently recorded by Redlands IndigiScapes Centre, Cr Talty said.

“Redlands Coast Eco Precinct is poised to be a premier, visitor-ready and immersive ecotourism attraction in parallel with the wildlife hospital’s construction and opening,” she said.

“It will be an ecotourism destination where people of all ages and backgrounds can connect with nature, while championing environmental stewardship, and building community awareness, engagement and advocacy for native wildlife and habitat.”

RSPCA Queensland Wildlife Hospital and Centre of Excellence will include native animal wards, specialist medical equipment, outdoor enclosures, surgical suites and an ancillary plantation for specific animal fodder. It will not cater for domestic animals.

Cr Talty said the centre would bring a state-of-the-art wildlife care facility to Redlands Coast which would significantly help local and regional wildlife, as well as help train future wildlife veterinarians and specialists.

The centre’s educational spaces will include an auditorium and training rooms which will provide important opportunities to build community awareness and engagement.