Racing Minister Grace Grace is committing $39.15 million from the Racing Infrastructure Fund to build the greyhound code’s new state headquarters.

First announced in 2019, the Greater Brisbane Greyhound Centre (GBGC) has been granted development approval, paving the way for construction to begin at Purga, south of Ipswich.

With a string of animal cruelty cases attached to its brand, resulting in NSW temporarily banning the activity in 2015, Grace has stressed greyhound safety will be the number one priority for the new facility’s design.

“The GBGC will feature three tracks – a straight track, a one-turn track and a two-turn track – with the health and safety of greyhounds at the heart of design and construction,” Grace said.

“Racing Queensland is engaging with experts in track design and injury prevention in order to build a centre that is as safe for dogs and trainers as possible.

“Design features like appropriate radius and surface banking, air-conditioned kennels and world-class racing surfaces will be incorporated to achieve this.

“There will also be a veterinarian clinic on-site to provide quality care for greyhounds.”

The action track-side will be beamed to 60 nations around the world, putting the industry in Queensland on show to a global audience.

But many locals are not happy the facility is progressing. A petition launched by Animal Liberation Queensland in 2019 calling for the construction to be scrapped attracted more than 70,000 signatures, which the organisation says the state government has ignored.

Animal Liberation Queensland says the proposed location is core habitat for threatened species such as koalas and grey-headed flying foxes and is close to culturally significant areas and artefacts sacred to first Nations people.

Grace said the community would benefit from the construction of a multipurpose function centre that will be incorporated in the centre’s design.

The GBGC will replace current greyhound tracks at Albion Park and Ipswich.

Grace said greyhound racing contributed more than $170 million to the combined economies of Brisbane and Ipswich each year, supporting about 1200 full-time jobs.

A CQ University report published earlier this year, argued the economic contribution of greyhound racing was regularly overstated and remained in decline due to shifting public opinion about the sport, animal cruelty controversies and reduced race fixtures.

The authors of the report also suggested the industry would struggle to survive without significant government support.

The funds committed by the Palaszczuk Government to build the new complex are in addition to the $4.1 million of Queensland taxpayers’ money contributed to the sport as prize money in the 2019-20 financial year.