More than 100 prominent South Australians have signed a letter to the State Government protesting against plans to rezone the Adelaide Park Lands.
They include a former Premier, three former Lord Mayors, three former or current Chancellors of SA universities, a distinguished former NASA astronaut, and many corporate, legal and cultural identities, including some of Adelaide’s leading property developers.
Just some of the famous South Aussies who have signed the open letter
The letter appears as a full-page advertisement in The Advertiser today, Saturday 20 November 2021, along with an article: ($$ subscriber-only link) “100 prominent South Australians protest against plans to rezone the Adelaide Park Lands.”
It describes the planned Riverbank rezoning as “a massive overreach” which goes far beyond what is needed to accommodate a hospital or an arena, allowing development on 70 hectares of Park Lands.
The feelings of signatories were best summed up by astronaut Dr Andy Thomas:
“They say you can see the great wall of China from space. You cannot. But you can see icons like Central Park in New York City, and even more clearly, the Adelaide Parklands. In what way does it serve the public interest to surrender something so special to corporate greed?”
Renowned businessman, former Chancellor at the University of Adelaide and Chair of the SA Economic Development Board, Robert Champion de Crespigny AC, said:
“The extraordinarily beautiful Adelaide Park Lands are a unique asset for our State - indeed they are a national treasure - that must be protected as they set us apart from other capital cities.
Those of us who support the protection of the Park Lands and stand against any incursion or confiscation of the land are wrongly branded as anti-development.
The opposite is true, those who seek to appropriate ‘cheap land’ distort land values and undermine the development sector. It is a disgrace.”
Dr Jane Lomax-Smith, a former Lord Mayor and long-standing resident of the city, said:
“I hope that the wide range of signatories representing a diversity of backgrounds across business, industry, the academic world and a broad range of political perspectives should give those promoting the rezoning good cause to reconsider”.
Read more about the re-zoning threat, and what YOU can do, here.
