by Shane Sody
The State Government has allocated $2.3 million for new private facilities on two Parks within your Adelaide Park Lands.
The grants have come through the Office of Recreation and Sport, which earlier this month, handed out over $20 million for 84 new sports facilities throughout South Australia.
Sports Minister Corey Wingard has described the grant program as a “honeypot.”
Of the 84 grants, two of the biggest are for private facilities within your Adelaide Park Lands.
The largest grant of them all ($1.55 million) is for a new "sporting hub including unisex changerooms, umpire room, first aid, amenities, kitchen, canteen, storage and viewing area" off Goodwood Road in Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra (Park 21W).
The yellow star marks the site of the proposed new two-storey building, now funded by the State Government,
Although no plans have yet been submitted to the Park Lands Authority, this is how the Adelaide Lutheran Sports Club has pictured its intentions for a two-storey building.
The proposed double-storey building will be home to the Adelaide Lutheran Sports Club. The club says the building will include a "social area [and] significantly more storage space" compared to this, its current building off Goodwood Road.
The existing shed leased from the City Council by the Adelaide Lutheran Sports Club, off Goodwood Road in Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra (Park 21W).
Another large State Government grant of $750,000 has gone to Prince Alfred Old Collegians Football Club for this proposed "sports club building with two unisex changerooms, viewing area, storage and amenities" at Bundey's Paddock/ Tidlangga (Park 9).
The design of the PAOC clubrooms and bar, which has attracted a $750,000 State Government grant
The PAOC building would replace these two old sheds on Park 9.
The existing change rooms (top) and storage shed in Bundeys Paddock / Tidlangga (Park 9)
While change rooms, showers and toilets are resources that might be made available to the public, these grants are mostly for private, not public benefit. The funding includes elements that are exclusively for the benefit of each private group. The intention is to take over some of your Park Lands with private rooms for functions and storage, which is not consistent with the concept of Park Lands as “Open, Green, Public”.
There are dozens of other sporting groups with sheds on your Park Lands, as you can see below.
Just some of the sports buildings dotted about your Adelaide Park Lands.
How many of the buildings depicted above will be replaced in future, with larger, two-storey clubrooms, complete with function spaces, meeting spaces and extensive storage? Precedents have been set.
The University of Adelaide “Graduates” clubrooms built in 2014
How many more such buildings will be permitted to chip away at Adelaide’s priceless Open Green Public garland of Park Lands? Regrettably, there is no limit. There is no law to prevent gradual privatisation and erosion of your Park Lands.
If you think that something should be done about this, then TAKE ACTION.
The City Council has already given approval for the two projects that have just received funding from the Office of Recreation and Sport.
In the case of Prince Alfred College Old Collegians in Park 9, a design has been approved.
In the case of the Lutheran Sports Club in Park 21W, the approval is only in-principle because no building design has yet been submitted.
The Adelaide Lutheran Sports Club advises on its website that its own fundraising efforts have raised only $35,000 so the State Government's grant of $1.55 million represents a massive breakthrough.
The Lutheran Sports Club anticipates construction starting "during the second half of 2022 and completion before the 2023 winter season."
