03/06/25 Urgent Update! The Mayor has announced that he will not close the Quarry for at least another 10 years. This is a slap in the face to the community to whom they committed to closing the Quarry - which was supposed to happen in 2025 according to Council’s own Neighbourhood Plan. Mt Coot-tha Protection Alliance and local Greens State MP, Michael Berkman have been coordinating community discussion about the future of the site since 2019 due to this impending closure. The LNP Council administration know how completely our community opposes building luxury hotels and zip-lines there. Now we just need to continue pressuring this administration to keep their election commitment, and close the Quarry this year. Please add your reasons why we need to urgently close this Quarry to your email.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has announced his LNP-controlled Council intends to hand over parts of Mt Coot-tha to private developers - and we’ll need your help to stop them.
The LNP wants the Mt Coot-tha Quarry to become an Olympics focused tourist development, with major private investment, that would rule out this 26 hectares becoming free public space.
In July 2024, your Greens Councillor for Paddington, Seal Chong Wah, asked Mayor Schrinner to commit to keeping a rehabilitated Quarry as open access public space, for all residents of Brisbane.
His response was to declare, openly and aggressively, that the Quarry site should be privatised. He used Howard Smith Wharves as an example of giving up council land for private development.
The Mayor actually criticised the Greens for wanting a rehabilitated Quarry to be kept as public space, despite strong community support for that outcome. You can read Cr Seal Chong Wah’s response here.
Shockingly, just a week before Seal’s question, the Lord Mayor spoke to the media about proposals to privatise Mt Coot-tha, even indicating support for a luxury hotel and zipline at the rehabilitated quarry. The Mayor’s comments in the media were revealing - their priority is tourists turning profits for private corporations, not Brisbane residents or the ecological value of Mt Coot-tha.
Handing over 26 hectares of Mt Coot-Tha to private developers will fundamentally change its status as a protected natural reserve and create a dangerous precedent that could see more of Mt Coot-tha privatised.
Together we can protect Mt Coot-tha.
We ask that you email the Lord Mayor directly, to remind him of the value of Mt Coot-tha reserve and why a rehabilitated Quarry should be a beautiful public space for all the residents of Brisbane to enjoy.