AusLeisure

Brisbane's Milton Tennis Centre, the one-time home of Queensland Tennis, is to be redeveloped as parkland.

The 3.5-hectare site, which was vacated by Queensland Tennis when it moved to its new UQSport managed home in the riverside suburb of Tennyson, had been acquired by a property developer with a view to it being redeveloped for housing and retail space.

However, as part of a push to stop land zoned for sport and recreational use being rezoned for development, Brisbane City Council has stepped in to buy the former tennis venue from developer Kevin Seymour and turn it into parkland.

In 2008, the Seymour Group bought the property for $24 million and the adjoining Milton Bowl site for $6 million, planning a mixed use development.

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman explained that the Council has "decided to acquire the site, either by negotiation or if need be by resumption" in order for it to redevelop into parkland. Mayor Newman said the council would be able to "digest" the total cost, likely to be about $40 million, in order to deliver a park within the next three years. The park would include green space, tennis courts, and children's playgrounds, along with flood mitigation measures.

"When you've got an opportunity like this, you've got to grasp it with both hands; you can't let it slip away. It would be unforgivable if we missed this opportunity to acquire this site."

Elizabeth Handley, who heads the action group Concerned Residents Against Milton's Excessive Development, welcomed the decision as "absolutely fantastic", adding âwe really need this green space in this area.

"It's just a fantastic outcome, because people keep saying the green space in the inner-city is just too expensive, but I say the people in the inner-city deserve it as much as anybody else does."

5th January 2009 - QUEENSLAND TENNIS CENTRE OPENS

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