Minister clears way for Park attacks
Only days after Adelaide was declared a National Park City, with a wish for “higher expectations” the State Government has reaffirmed its intention to attack your Park Lands.
Newly installed Planning Minister Josh Teague has announced his decision to rezone huge areas of riverbank Park Lands for development.
A brief summary was released at 4pm on Friday 17 December - with a promise that maps and further details would be unveiled the next day.
The area around Pinky Flat has been removed from the rezoning changes.
However, multi-storey development will be permitted in the so-called "Entertainment Zone" (Helen Mayo Park) and other riverbank parts of your Open Green Public Park Lands.
Without access to any map it's not yet possible to see how much of your Park Lands will be targeted for development.
However to judge from the Planning Department's letter, the area affected may still be around 32 hectares, compared to the previous proposal, which targeted 70 hectares.
This would still represent the most severe attack on the Park Lands in their 184 year history. It is inconsistent with Adelaide's status as a National Park City, and the efforts of Green Adelaide to re-wild waterways, and bring back native animals and plants.
The area of your Park Lands into which developers will now be invited will still be equivalent in size to more than a dozen Adelaide Ovals.
This month, Minister Teague’s office ignored a request from APA for an urgent meeting and advised the Community Alliance that no meeting would be arranged.