by Shane Sody

While the State Government is proposing to target your Open Green Public Park Lands for massive new buildings, an ideal brownfield building location, right next to your Park Lands, is going begging.

The State Government claims it is is committed to “protecting and restoring” your Adelaide Park Lands, but its actions speak louder than words.

Since being elected in March 2022, the State Government has produced plans or proposals to confiscate your Open Green Public Park Lands for:

• a new $98 million eight-storey high school building,

• a new $82 million aquatic centre,

• a new multi-storey car park,

• a new $3 billion hospital,

• a new police barracks and stables for the mounted police unit; and

• more bitumen to help stage carbon-emission motor races in your Victoria Park.

The State Government has powers of compulsory acquisition so it could obtain any land it wanted for its proposals. However it’s obviously better to buy land from a willing seller. Coincidentally a huge parcel of brownfield land (8.4 hectares) next to Bonython Park is now for sale.

We have written to the Deputy Premier, Susan Close MP (the Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) urging her to follow through on her promise to “protect and restore” your Adelaide Park Lands by choosing a brownfield site, such as this one, for one or more of the Government’s proposed new buildings.

In the meantime, the State Government has started consulting on what facilities you would like to see inside a new Aquatic centre.

The Government’s Aquatic Centre “Project Update” dated November/December 2022 repeats some of the diversions and illusions that we debunked on 12 November. Specifically, it repeats the discredited claim of “no net loss” of your Park Lands.

The Project Update also admits that the proposal for a new Aquatic Centre in your Park Lands is contrary to the Government’s own Planning and Design Code. The Government intends to side-step this problem by changing the Code to suit what it intends to do.

See related stories about the proposed new Aquatic Centre:

• Government to chop falcon, possum, cockatoo habitat (27 Jan 2023)

• Aquatic centre double press: Gov’t and Council (15 Jan 2023)

• Aquatic centre: petition reaches 1,000 signatures (20 Dec 2022)

• Cognitive dissonance on your tree canopy (4 Dec 2022)

• Diversions, illusions on Park attacks (12 Nov 2022)

• Demand brownfield building sites instead (28 Oct 2022)

• Patrick’s FOI probe on Aquatic Centre bungle (26 Sept 2022)

• Hands Up for your Trees (12 Sept 2022)

• New Aquatic Centre site targets dozens of mature trees (5 Sept 2022)

• No assurances on tree destruction plans (15 Aug 2022)

• When given a real choice (31 July 2022)

• Aquatic centre consultation farce (22 July 2022)

• Hindmarsh, Brompton, for an Aquatic Centre? (30 June 2022)

• Olympic swimmer backs Park restoration (29 June 2022)

• Imagine a restoration of this Park (20 June 2022)

• State Gov’t tree threats making national headlines (16 June 2022)

• Think Outside the Box for locations (26 May 2022)

• Aquatic mistakes - learn from history and restore a Park (16 Feb 2022)