Have your say, AT THIS LINK, but do it by Friday 17 December 2021.
The Premier has set up a Committee to look at how the State Government should manage this bitumen-paved part of your Adelaide Park Lands.
The Torrens Parade ground and the Torrens Training Depot are located off Victoria Drive, across King William Road from Elder Park within Red Gum Park / Karrawirra (Park 12).
This site has been taken away from the Park Lands twice! From 1839 to 1850 it was a "Government Quarry".
Long after the quarry had stopped operating, in the 1890's it was partially returned to Park Lands, but then in 1936, the Commonwealth Government erected the "Drill Hall" that now has heritage status as the Torrens Training Depot.
The first contingent of soldiers returning from the Boer War, (c1899) assembled on the Parade Ground. Pic: State Library: B47675
It's no longer a military building but is the headquarters of History SA.
The “Drill Hall” or Torrens Training Depot alongside the bitumen Torrens Parade Ground
The Premier's Committee includes current serving and veteran representatives from a range of service backgrounds, veteran families, representatives of the defence industry, Department of Education, Department of Environment and Water, and the Lord Mayor.
The Committee is seeking your views, although you have only until Friday 17 December to fill out a survey or make a comment at https://yoursay.sa.gov.au/torrens-training-depot
APA President Shane Sody has lodged this comment:
The Torrens Parade Ground (TPG) is situated entirely within Red Gum Park / Karrawirra (Park 12). It is part of the Adelaide Park Lands but it has been managed historically with little to no regard to its site and context within the garland of Park Lands, unique to this City.
No other city in the world is built inside a single Park, as Adelaide is. The TPG can contribute to the cultural and historic value of the greater North Terrace precinct by embracing its position within Park 12. This would mean eschewing its bitumen surface and (to the extent possible) re-greening the site to effectively integrate the TPG into the rest of Park 12 which surrounds it.
This can be accomplished while maintaining the historical military connections of the TPG and its utility as a meeting place and event venue for the wider South Australian community, and also recognising the area's significance to the Kaurna community and others.
Re-greening the site with (at a minimum) lawn, select tree plantings and pathways of permeable pavers would create a much more welcoming area.
You can have your say too, but you have only until Friday 17 December to fill out a survey or make a comment at https://yoursay.sa.gov.au/torrens-training-depot
