Hands Up for a Win-Win Aquatic Centre

ON THIS “PROTECT” SITE: Sat 24 September @ 9.30am

First: sign our petition to the Premier.

Then, come to Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2) at 9.30am on Saturday 24 September, to put your hands up for:

• these tall sugar gums,

• the row of Aleppo pines along Jeffcott road,

• the nearby row of Moreton Bay fig trees, and

• a threatened sports field, and more.

More than 85 percent of survey respondents voted for a new Aquatic Centre to be built on a brownfield site: with most opting for a location close to public transport in Hindmarsh, Thebarton, Bowden or Brompton. See “Real Survey Results” below.

Despite this clear community feedback, the State Government is pushing ahead with its win-lose scenario. The Government is promising a new Aquatic Centre, while also threatening to tear apart this slice of your world-unique National Heritage-listed Adelaide Park Lands.

The State Government is trying to pretend there is community support for its plans, but we call bullshit. A leaflet being distributed by the Government just doesn’t pass the pub test.

Show the State Government that there's a better way. Show candidates for the City Council election that you value your Park Lands.

Put your hands up for these trees, and put your hands up for a win-win Aquatic Centre, away from your irreplaceable Park Lands.

This is a short, sharp, protest action. 9.30 to 10.00am. Meet at the corner of Jeffcott Road and Barton Terrace West. Wear black; and raise your hands with us on Saturday 24 September. Protect and Restore. It's now or never.

What else can you do?

• Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/save-these-trees-choose-a-brownfield-site-for-new-aquatic-centre

• Write to the Premier, Peter Malinauskas, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Tom Koutsantonis and/or the Member for Adelaide, Lucy Hood. Click on their names to open a draft suggested email.

• Share this story with your friends;

• Share our ‘Call Out Bullshit’ leaflet with your friends. Download and print the leaflet (PDF, double-sided A4, 570 kb).

• Contact candidates for the City Council election and ask them where they stand on this.

Real Survey Results

During July, while the Government’s consultants were trying to shoe-horn a dubious “consultation” into a preconceived very narrow range of options, the Adelaide Park Lands Association ran a rival, broader, open-ended survey. We used “Survey Monkey” and advertised on social media. By 6pm on Sunday 31 July we had received 682 responses.

Only nine percent of respondents wanted to see another Aquatic Centre built on your Open Green Public Park Lands.

What are the alternative sites?

See our earlier story “Think Outside the Box”

https://www.adelaide-parklands.asn.au/blog/2022/5/27/think-outside-the-box