Adelaide Park Lands Association

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Aquatic Centre: Win-win option getting traction

Shane Sody

by Shane Sody

State Government Ministers still have their heads stuck in the sand, refusing to acknowledge growing community demands for a new Aquatic Centre to be built on a brownfield site rather than on your Park Lands.

Government plans released in June 2023 propose a massive new double-storey building near the centre of your Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2), destroying dozens of trees and breaking a promise to swimmers to keep the old Aquatic Centre open while a new one was being built.

This plan ignores the opportunity for a win-win, which could easily still be achieved if the Government chose a more convenient near-city brownfield site for a new Aquatic Centre.

It’s hard to keep up with the changes that the Government keeps making; shifting the proposed site (only slightly); promising a more expensive building (up from $82m to now $135 million); and now re-neging on a previous promise to keep the existing Aquatic Centre operating, while constructing a new one.

This means swimmers will be denied a central Aquatic Centre for about 18 months, from August 2024.

What has NOT changed is the Government’s determination to ignore growing community support for your Park Lands, and to press ahead with destruction of dozens of trees.

Our petition “Save these trees - choose a brownfield site for new Aquatic Centre” has surpassed 4,000 signatures.

However Government “spin” so far, is refusing to even acknowledge your views, much less respond to them.

We had hoped that the State Government might have learned from the recent debacle over plans for a massive new police compound on your Park Lands, which is now, thankfully, going ahead on a brownfield site instead.

We had hoped that the Government would have listened to your views, and purchased land in a nearby suburb (e.g. in Thebarton, Hindmarsh, Bowden, Brompton or similar) for its new Aquatic Centre.

Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2) can be both Restored and Protected; and a brand new, state-of-the-art Aquatic Centre can be provided at a more convenient brownfield location, better served by public transport.

We had hoped, above all, that the State Government would have belatedly learned to Love Your Park Lands.

But no. Despite the increasing popularity of the alternative win-win option, the Government (until now) is intent on a plan that, if it were carried out, would result in the destruction of dozens of mature trees; and would disadvantage Adelaide swimmers for 18 months during construction.

We will keep pressing for a win-win: a new Aquatic Centre on a brownfield site.

What can you do?

  • If you haven’t already, please sign our petition. We will be providing the petition to the Premier within the next few weeks.

  • Also, within the next few weeks, we will be staging a fun, mass participation event in Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2). Please subscribe to our newsletter and/or follow us on Facebook so that we can advise you of your opportunity to participate.

Read more

See our ongoing coverage of the proposed new Aquatic Centre:


See the latest analysis (12 June 2023) by author John Bridgland. (“Questions fester” PDF, 4 pages, 17 Mb)