No meeting, secret advice on re-zoning decision
SA's new Planning Minister Josh Teague is about to make the biggest decision in the 184-year history of the Adelaide Park Lands. Yet his office has refused a meeting (now, or later) with community representatives.
These are the areas (heavy black diagonal lines) that are at risk from the rezoning
Last month, Mr Teague replaced Vicki Chapman as Planning Minister and Attorney-General, picking up Ms Chapman's controversial initiative, started earlier this year, to re-zone Park Lands areas that in total are 35 times the size of Adelaide Oval.
Former Planning Minister Vickie Chapman and her successor, Josh Teague
Mr Teague will soon be getting advice from the State Planning Commission on whether he should re-zone up to 70 hectares of your Open Green Public Park Lands to let developers loose to erect buildings such as offices, apartments, hotels etc (up to 20 storeys) along your Riverbank.
Consultation was open for only six weeks, and Mr Teague will soon be getting a summary of the results and recommendations from the State Planning Commission on what decision he should make.
Crucially, no information about the public consultation will be publicly released until AFTER Mr Teague has made his decision.
None of the members of the five-member State Planning Commission have environmental or heritage credentials, so it's unlikely their advice to Minister Teague would emphasize the world-unique nature of Adelaide's priceless garland of Park Lands.
Last month, more than 100 prominent South Australians signed an Open Letter to the Government urging a re-think.
On 26 September we asked for an urgent meeting with Minister Chapman.
On 6 December we renewed our request for an urgent meeting with Mr Teague before he makes his decision.
By 15 December, neither Vickie Chapman nor her successor Josh Teague had responded to those requests.
A similar request was made by the Community Alliance SA. The response from Minister Josh Teague’s office to CASA was that a meeting was not possible, “now or later”.
Nevertheless, it's not too late for you to contact Minister Teague directly. See our suggested messaging at www.adelaide-parklands.asn.au/rezoning
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The re-zoning process has revealed serious flaws in the Federal Government’s National Heritage Listing protection policies. See this analysis by author John Bridgland. (PDF, 16 Mb, 8 pages)