What happens when Adelaide people are given a real choice about where they would like to see a new Aquatic Centre?
The State Government has conducted a sham process of consultation, trying to suggest that the only site choices for a new Aquatic Centre are on your Open Green Public Park Lands.
Over recent weeks, the State Government has tried to focus attention only on these three wooded sites, any one of which would spell doom for dozens of trees:
This is Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2). Do you want a win-win, saving these trees and putting a new Aquatic Centre on a brownfield site? You’ll need to convince the State Government’s Infrastructure Minister, Tom Koutsantonis.
During July, while the Government’s consultants were trying to shoe-horn a dubious “consultation” into this very narrow range of options, the Adelaide Park Lands Association ran a rival, broader survey process. We used “Survey Monkey” and advertised on social media. By 6pm on Sunday 31 July we had received 682 responses.
When asked about locations, most respondents expressed support for building a new Aquatic Centre on an inner-suburban brownfield site, close to the city and better public transport, to allow a restoration and re-greening of the current Aquatic Centre site.
Out of 682 responses received by Sunday 31 July, 674 (99%) responded to the question of the proposed Aquatic Centre location. 576 of them (85.5%) wanted to see a new Aquatic Centre built on a site other than on your Open Green Public Adelaide Park Lands.
Only nine percent of respondents wanted to see another Aquatic Centre built on your Open Green Public Park Lands. That included 2% who wanted the centre rebuilt on its current site.
Of the 576 respondents who wanted a new Aquatic Centre built somewhere other than Park Lands many commented on the need to have the centre close to public transport in an area that would benefit most from such an important new community facility.
A so-called “community reference group” recruited by State Government consultants met on Tuesday 19 July. APA offered to provide members of the group with the full responses we had received by that date. However, members of the group were instructed to consider only the responses collected by the State Government.
The Government’s narrow survey, which closed on 10 July, provided a choice of only three site options, all within Denise Norton Park / Pardinpardinyilla (Park 2) of your Adelaide Park Lands.
APA’s Deputy President Ingrid Wangel, who was part of that “community reference group” was frustrated to find that APA’s survey results seem to be regarded by Government consultants as irrelevant, or unimportant when assessing potential sites for a new Aquatic Centre.
Denise Norton and her daughter Ingrid Wangel, who is APA Deputy President and Park Ambassador for Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2). Rear: Shane Sody, APA President.
The State Government’s threats to axe scores of mature trees in Adelaide’s heritage Park Lands is in direct contrast to the Federal Labor Environment Minister’s vows on 19 July 2022 to “Protect, Restore and manage” Australia’s environment.
Like the Federal Environment Minister, we want to “Restore” and “Protect” while supporting a new Aquatic Centre on a nearby brownfield site.
We will provide all 682 survey responses to:
You can back up this message if you also write to them. Please urge each of them to:
RESTORE the existing site of the Aquatic Centre to make it Open, Green, Public; and
PROTECT the remainder of Denise Norton Park from the threat of losing dozens of mature trees and their complex ecosystems; and
INVESTIGATE one or more of the multiple other brownfield sites around Adelaide that could be used for a new Aquatic Centre.
