For two years Melissa Occhipinti has feared her Brisbane home would be knocked down to make way for a temporary athletics track for the Olympic Games.
Her home, along with seven others, backs on to Raymond Park, which will be used as a warmup venue during the 16-day event.
Queensland’s deputy premier, Steven Miles, in February said “less than half a dozen homes” could be acquired by the government to make way for the athletics facilities at Kangaroo Point.
But on Monday Miles announced the homes would be spared, in a surprise move arising as the national standoff between Labor and the Greens over housing increasingly intersects with the debate over planning for Brisbane’s Games.
“Site survey and preliminary planning has confirmed a temporary athletics warm-up track and facilities will fit in Raymond Park without resuming houses,” Miles said in a statement.
He said that while early planning had considered an eight-lane track, a four-lane track with a six-lane straight will meet requirements and “minimises impacts on residents and trees”.
On top of concerns about houses, locals have been worried Raymond Park would be stripped of what makes it special – its barbecue areas, playgrounds, football club and community gardens. Thousands had signed a petition expressing their anxiety over the loss of the “crucial green space”.
Miles confirmed on Monday any trees that can’t be saved will be replanted, while the football club will be temporarily relocated.
Occhipinti is relieved her house is no longer on the chopping block but stresses the battle isn’t over yet. She believes the track will still have a “major impact” of the community over a long period.
“It’s been a very stressful two years. My house was in the direct firing line,” she said.
“To build an athletics track that’s Olympic standard, it’s going to block off that green space for years, not months.”
Not far away, the $2.7bn Gabba stadium rebuild for the Games is threatening the fate of East Brisbane state school. The primary school will be relocated in 2025 and its heritage-listed buildings will be integrated into the Gabba.
Amy MacMahon, the Greens MP for South Brisbane, accused Miles of “throwing crumbs” at the community while not addressing their demands to save East Brisbane state school and scrap the Gabba rebuild.
“The Labor government is trying to shut this community up because Labor knows that what we are fighting for here in South Brisbane is gaining traction and support across the state,” she said in a statement.
“But this community will not be won over by pitiful announcements like this. Even people whose homes might be spared aren’t convinced.”
Miles hit back at the Greens, accusing the party of running a “hysterical campaign” for their own political advantage.
“Their campaign was self-serving and caused real anxiety for residents and I’m sorry that happened,” he said.
A political storm between Labor and the Greens over housing and the Olympics has intensified in recent months.
The Greens have blasted Labor over a lack of affordable and public housing and argued for rent controls and negative gearing to be phased out.
But Labor has been quick to point the finger at the Greens, accusing them of “nimbyism” by highlighting their opposition to housing developments in Brisbane and the federal housing Australia future fund.
Dr Paul Williams, a political analyst at Griffith University, said Miles’s announcement shows the Palaszczuk government is desperate to bolster its credentials on housing amid a cost-of-living crisis.
“The federal government’s housing bill is being stalled in the Senate,” he said. “You can’t come out of these things resuming people’s homes.
“It would be a very bad look … for the sake of a sporting event.”
Williams said with the Greens “on the march in Brisbane”, the government doesn’t want to “die in a ditch” over the Olympics.
If Labor puts the Games above the community’s needs, they could lose seats such as Cooper and Greenslopes to the Greens at next year’s state election, Williams said.
“The tide of public opinion might be turning against the Olympics,” he said.
“People have other things to worry about … paying their rents and rates and so on.
“The government’s trying to cauterise this and prevent an anti-Olympic and anti-development sentiment developing in inner Brisbane.”
