Plans move forward for new Western Australian whitewater centre

Longstanding plans for a new world-class whitewater centre in Perth are reportedly moving forward with several sites short listed for a world-class centre.

According to PerthNow, Canoeing WA and the Australian Sports Federation are developing plans for the new venue, which could host recreational whitewater rafting, kayaking and canoeing as well as world championship events.

The report indicates that potential sites include Centenary Road in Canning or at Bayswater Gardens East in Bayswater.

The proposal suggests that centre would be open to the community for whitewater rafting, kayaking and canoe slalom, and also used to train elite Western Australian athletes, for fun and education for school groups, and for emergency services’ swift water rescue training.

Canoeing WA Chief Executive Rosalie Evans told PerthNow “a whitewater centre in Perth would not only be a major tourist attraction, an amazing community centre, and a much needed whitewater safety training centre, but an incredible point of difference for our State.”

Evans said the facility would be multipurpose and could also host a full program of wheelchair sports, BMX training and events, a high-ropes course, rock-climbing wall, and host wakeboarding training and events in a partnership with the WA Ski Association.

To go ahead, the project relies on a site being gifted by the Western Government but funded and built by Canoeing WA, which has joined forces with the Australian Sports Foundation to raise $1 million to kick-start the project.

The State’s peak canoeing group has been campaigning for a white-water venue for Perth since 1998, when an International Slalom Course on the Harvey River was lost when the river was dammed.

The Western Australian Department for Sport and Recreation in 2014 commissioned a study into a potential whitewater centre locations, identifying 11 potential sites in Perth.

The same year there were suggestions a longstanding plan for a $25 million whitewater facility at Champion Lakes be revived while a Perth entrepreneur also reportedly planned to build a $9 million white water canoeing facility at a site near Perth’s Challenge Stadium.

Evans said the time was now ripe for a white water centre and she said being able to raft and canoe at a world-class facility would be a big win for Perth residents and visitors, concluding “whitewater is a dynamic environment that ignites imagination and encourages participants to challenge themselves physically and mentally.

“A world-class white-water centre in metropolitan Perth ...would be a positive, ongoing legacy that turns a profit.”

Images: Auckland's Vector Wero Whitewater Park, the southern hemisphere's most recently completed whitewater centre (top) and artist's impression of the proposed Perth White Water Centre (below). 

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