The Suttons Beach Public Space project is multi-phased.
Before any new building can be constructed, we must first:
- remove the existing Suttons Beach Pavilion and stabilise the embankment
- complete planning for the new building including a detailed business case
- develop the concept design of the new building
- develop the detailed design of the new building ready for construction.
Council's 23/24 budget allocates funding towards the first three steps listed above.
Council has put together a high-level outline of the project steps and timeframes, but the actual delivery timeframes for the new building depend heavily on budget and funding processes.
Council is continuing to advocate for additional funding to hasten the detailed design and construction of the new building. The timeframes for the delivery of the new building will depend on the timeframes in which funding can be secured.
The Demolition Contractor mobilised to site in December 2023. Demolition works are scheduled to be completed early 2024.
Following demolition, the park area will be landscaped with the temporary amenities and rotunda remaining while the replacement building is designed and funding is secured.
There are different types of development applications for different circumstances. The appropriate development application for the demolition of the Suttons Beach Pavilion was a Code Assessable application.
Code Assessable applications are required to be assessed against the relevant assessment benchmarks of Council’s Planning Scheme. In this instance the assessment benchmarks were:
- 6.2.9.2 - Recreation and open space zone code
- 8.2.1 - Coastal hazard overlay code
- 8.2.2 - Flood hazard overlay code.
In accordance with the Planning Act 2016, Code Assessable development applications are not required to be publicly advertised and there was no formal opportunity for submissions to be made about this application.
The development application, including all supporting information, is available on Council’s DA Tracker. You can find it using the Application number: DA/2023/2933
To enable you to purchase food and drink at Sutton Beach in the short to medium-term, while the long-term future of the site is being resolved, Council has established three sites for food trucks including coffee vans, ice-cream vans and other food vendors.
Permit-holding participants in the Moreton Bay Pop Ups Program can apply to book the sites between 6am–8pm Monday–Sunday.
Local business who would like to join the Pop Ups Program can do so by applying for a Sale of Goods - Moreton Bay Pop Ups Permit. Council’s Public Space Permits Team is available to assist applicants through the permitting process and can be contacted by emailing PublicSpacePermits@moretonbay.qld.gov.au, or by phoning 07 3205 0555 and asking to be put through to the Public Space Permits Team.
The existing rotunda was built in 1998 and has no authentic heritage values. The structure has substantially deteriorated and, if retained in its current location, it would significantly constrain future park improvements. It will remain on site until plans for the Suttons Beach Park and the new building design are confirmed.
We know many people have a special connection to the rotunda at Suttons Beach and Council has previously resolved to preserve the rotunda as part of any future design. However, after further investigation, removal of the current structure may be the best outcome for community.
During engagement in 2022, community shared their perspectives that the rotunda is valued as a stage for cultural performances and events and that its architecture is iconic and makes a great backdrop for photos. Engagement also highlights that the time spent at the rotunda is very short and the rotunda and surrounding concrete does not meet the stronger community need for shaded and grassed areas for picnics. Future design outcomes for the Suttons Beach Park will consider potential outcomes that align with attributes of the rotunda that the community value.
The strategic assessment identifies the problems. The service need explains why Council should address the problems.
In 2022, Council adopted the Moreton Bay Regional Council Corporate Plan 2022-2027. This plan sets out a long-term vision for the future of the Moreton Bay region and a roadmap for the next five years and beyond. This includes a number of outcomes that Council is striving to achieve. These outcomes inform all investment decisions.
The SAOA defines the problems associated with the Suttons Beach Complex to set the foundation for future investment consideration. The solutions to these problems are then provided within the service need response and how these solutions align to the outcomes in the Corporate Plan.
Any future options should consider these service needs. The options considered have been evaluated accordingly.
A multi-criteria assessment (MCA) was used. This type of assessment provides a way of analysing options against impacts that are important to decision-makers but that cannot be readily quantified and costed.
The criteria considered were:
- Mitigation of defects
- Capital cost
- Construction complexity
- Maintenance and operation
- Community need and benefits
- Respectful of context
- Strategic alignment.
You can read more about these criteria in Section 13 of the SAOA.
The criteria respond to the key problems that were identified for Suttons Beach Park. Each option was scored against the criteria and the highest scoring options were 5 and 6.
You can read more about the multicriteria analysis outcomes in Section 13.5 of the SAOA.
On 15 March 2023, Council considered the recommended options and unanimously resolved to progress a detailed business case for option 5. Read the Council General Meeting minutes on this matter.
While Suttons Beach Pavilion suffers from a complex range of defects, technical reports from the last 10 years frequently mention prolonged water ingress and widespread water proofing failures as major contributors to failures in structural and non-structural components of the complex. However, technical reports describe a range of other factors that contribute to the current state of Suttons Beach Pavilion including:
- age of the original building fabric
- poor quality design and construction
- Pavilion 1’s location against western cliff face and failed surface/subsurface water drainage
- multiple waterproofing failures in the external cladding system
- prolonged water ingress into internal spaces causing corrosion of reinforcement, corrosion of structural steelwork and fungal rot of framing timbers
- exposure to the harsh marine environment
- non-compliance with contemporary building standards.
Refurbishment of the Suttons Beach Pavilion was considered as the base case in the SAOA. The SAOA was undertaken in tandem to the building test by Covey Associates Pty Ltd.
The Covey Report 2022 has determined that Pavilion 1 requires significant remediation and rectification work to extend the remaining life of the structure. These works would:
- require extensive removal of the building’s structural elements to facilitate the access necessary to complete the repairs
- require complex and potentially costly work methods which would materially impact on the limited remaining elements of the “original” building
- would not guarantee any extended durability and residual life of the building
- result in ongoing costly maintenance.
Taking this into consideration along with the other criteria the base case was scored poorly by the multicriteria analysis of the SAOA and so it was not a recommended option.
Heritage investigations have shown very little of the original pavilion building has survived or been retained over time and with the past modifications.
The latest report concluded that the buildings have insufficient heritage significance to warrant retention with the exception of the stairs from Marine Parade.
Heritage reports have described the current Suttons Beach Pavilion as “substantially altered” from the original building. Most of the exterior of the building complex is described as “modern fabric designed to mimic an art deco period style” and consisting largely of “blue board cladding” and “applied polystyrene decorative motifs”.
Council will be looking to salvage and repurpose some of the original bricks if it is practical and reasonable to do so.
The SAOA considered building a new surf lifesaving club under Option 3. As the largest and most complex new building option, Option 3 received low scores for cost, constructability and alignment with Council outcomes, due to the location’s constraints.
In May 2022, Council signed a Statement of Intent with the Redcliffe Peninsula Surf Lifesaving Club (RPSLC) to explore the potential for the Club to occupy and manage a refurbished/new building at the Suttons Beach site and provide surf club facilities including casual public dining from the facility. Discussions with RPSLC have identified that the relocation of the club would be challenged by:
- undefined club need and priority for such a move
- design constraints associated with the location
- complex Surf Life Saving Australia requirements for such a facility.
As a result, relocation to a new facility at Suttons Beach is not feasible or warranted at this time.
Previous inspections of the Suttons Beach Pavilion were conducted as visual observations of the structure only. We heard from our communities that a more robust and substantial inspection was needed to properly inform the future of the site.
Council listened to this feedback and in response, commissioned independent experts Covey Associates Pty Ltd to undertake both non-invasive and invasive testing to validate and make absolutely sure of the significance of the deterioration of the buildings’ structural elements, including the link slab between the buildings.
This report provides information on the:
- overall and component structural condition, integrity and adequacy
- remaining life (including concrete life)
- degree of reinforced concrete carbonation and cover to reinforcement
- whether any structural components of concern can be repaired, and if so, provide conceptual details of the works provided.
Invasive testing has been undertaken on Suttons Beach Pavilion by Covey Associates Pty Ltd to validate and be absolutely sure of the significance of the buildings’ deterioration as indicated in previous engineering reports. Invasive testing involved the removal of fixtures and fittings inside the buildings to drill into the concrete floors, wall structures, ceilings and roof structures. This testing confirmed the internal structural damage is so bad that even rectification works would necessitate demolition of the Pavilion building to even allow partial reconstruction, due to significant water ingress and some concrete cancer.
The Covey Report 2022 concludes that the building has reached the end of its life and does not comply with modern building standards, outlining numerous, complex, and extensive defects to the building.
Moreton Bay Regional Council inherited this building from the former Redcliffe City Council upon amalgamation in 2008. Redcliffe City Council became the owner when the lessee who built the function centre and substantially modified the 1937 Bathing pavilion went into receivership in 2006. Council has undertaken a level of maintenance on the building over its lifetime.
The Covey Report 2022 confirms the structure has exceeded its design life.
Factors potentially contributing to the current deteriorated state of the buildings include:
- impacts of the coastal environment of the site
- initial building design and whether it was designed to deal with the coastal environment
- quality of construction materials and workmanship
- maintenance regime by the previous owners, Council and a succession of building tenants.
More specifically, the Covey Report 2022 articulates key findings contributing to the degradation of the building including, but not limited to:
- the reinforcement within the ground slab being in contact with the soil on which it sits, contributing to accelerated failure
- the location of the structure against a cliff face has led to continued and significant water ingress, contributing to the deterioration of various building elements due to corrosion and/or moisture rot.
Council could not grant any further extensions of the previous café lease due to the serious deteriorating condition of the buildings. To do so would have been an abrogation of Council’s fundamental and legal responsibility to ensure the safety of the community.
Also, Council needed unimpeded access to the buildings so independent engineering experts could conduct testing of the various building structures (such as floors, walls, ceilings and roofs) to verify in detail the extent of the buildings’ deterioration. This necessary verification work could not be undertaken while the buildings were occupied.
The lease of the previous tenant was not terminated. Like all leases, the lease had a specified end date; that came to an end and was not renewed.
On 25 February 2021, Council notified the tenant that their lease would not be renewed upon expiry (27 November 2021). This gave the tenant nine months’ notice - a much longer notice period than is standard for a commercial lease arrangement.
Following a request from the tenant, in March 2021 Council agreed to extend the lease end date to 28 February 2022 so the tenant could take advantage of the Christmas holiday trading period.
