Will Canberra Protect?
by Shane Sody
How would a three billion dollar hospital and eight-storey car park affect the National Heritage values of your Adelaide Park Lands?
You had only a very short time - just 10 days ending on Tuesday 31 October - to answer that question for Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.
Ms Plibersek's Department is belatedly examining the State Government's proposed new Women's and Children's Hospital.
Her Federal Department has a role because the proposed hospital would be built over a large swathe of your National Heritage-listed Park Lands, including this grove of about 50 ancient olives and sheoak trees.
Federal Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek
It's long been recognised that there are better sites for a new Women's and Children's Hospital.
However, since announcing the project a year ago, the State Government has refused to look at any alternative sites, and has even tried to persuade you that large new buildings on your Park Lands would make other parts of your Park Lands more "accessible".
The State plans are well advanced, and the Federal Government is only now catching up.
What Can You Do?
You had only a few days - until 31 October 2023- to lodge a brief comment at this web page of the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. (DCCEEW).
Many Park Lands supporters took the opportunity to lodge submissions along the lines suggested by APA, like this:
The new carpark and hospital buildings would compromise the integrity of the Park Lands, because they would be significantly larger in scale and height than existing historic (police barracks) encroachments.
The proposed car park alone would destroy five hectares of Park 27 (Kate Cocks Park) adjoining Gaol Road, containing an ancient olive grove and sheoak trees.
The project would be of very high visual prominence, reducing if not entirely eliminating the landscape character of the Park Lands which is of National Heritage importance.
Although some of the project area is currently inaccessible or under-maintained, establishment of the proposed hospital, car park, and central energy plant would preclude any future rejuvenation of these areas in a manner that would be more consistent with the National Heritage values of the Park Lands.
Our own submission was lodged on Saturday 28 October 2023. You can see our submission here:
At its meeting on Thursday 26 October, Kadaltilla / Adelaide Park Lands Authority discussed the possibility of making a submission. By the date of this article (Sunday 29 October) no detail had been released about what, if anything, the Authority was intending to submit to the Federal Department.
More information
This lengthy report by DASH Architects sets out clearly how this proposed site for the new Women's and Children's Hospital is inconsistent with the National Heritage values of your Open, Green, Public Adelaide Park Lands. (PDF, 5.4 Mb, 126 pages)
Imagery from the new WCH project team, showing the proposed hospital (in white) and the adjacent eight-storey car park covering five hectares of your Park Lands - the same size as the Adelaide Oval stadium - that would obliterate Kate Cocks Park, in Park 27, including the ancient olive groves off Gaol Road.
“Significant impact” to an “unacceptable level”
The Australian branch of the “International Council on Monuments and Sites” (ICOMOS) has recommended an alternative location [for the Women’s and Children’s Hospital] be found “that does not significantly impact both National Heritage and State heritage values,”
Read their submission here: (PDF, 4 pages, 235 Kb)
Latest analysis from author John Bridgland
“Why state Labor is pursuing an aggressive new park lands project agenda” (PDF, 8 pages, 3.8 Mb)