by Shane Sody
Moves are under way in State Parliament to reduce the risk of a future State Government seizing any part of your Park Lands for new Police barracks.
On Thursday 8 June, the State Government backed down in the face of a wide-scale community campaign, and promised that new barracks for the Police Mounted Unit would be built near Adelaide airport, rather than on this previous target site in Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra (Park 21 West).
However, there remains a risk that this might be only a temporary reprieve.
Section 10 of the New Women’s and Children’s Hospital Act 2022 still gives any future State Government power to confiscate any part of your Park Lands for a future Police barracks.
Greens MLC Robert Simms has moved in State Parliament to repeal this loophole:
Greens MLC, Robert Simms
“While the Government has announced it has a new site in mind for the SAPOL Mounted Operations Unit, the threat to the Park Lands remains and under the current Act, the Police Minister has a blank cheque to allocate any Park Lands to SAPOL.
“The Greens are seeking to remove that provision- ensuring the Park Lands are protected from any future SAPOL land grab.
“While we welcomed the Government finding another site for the Mounted Operations Unit, they have a poor track record on protecting our Park Lands. The Parliament needs to close this loop hole.”
Meanwhile, two Adelaide University students have completed their assignments to document biodiversity in the area of Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra (Park 21 West) that had been threatened by the proposed police barracks.
Shainel Davies (left) and Otis Noble
Otis Noble and Shainel Davies have uploaded 80 observation between them. Here are some of the species that they observed and recorded in this biodiversity hotspot of your Adelaide Park Lands.
Some of Shainel Davies’ species observations in Golden Wattle Park /Mirnu Wirra (Park 21 West) during her internship with the Adelaide Park Lands Association.
Here is Shainel’s written report on her observations: (PDF, 3 pages, 274 Kb)
Some of Otis Noble’s species observations in Golden Wattle Park /Mirnu Wirra (Park 21 West) during his internship with the Adelaide Park Lands Association.
You can be a citizen scientist, in your Adelaide Park Lands (or anywhere) and upload your species observations to iNaturalist, to build the world-wide database identifying plants, animals, insects, birds, reptiles or any species, wherever you find them.
