Adelaide Park Lands Association

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Protectors or Wreckers? Act Now

Shane Sody

The Adelaide City Council is about to decide whether to protect, or allow a State Government attack on a massive three hectare site within your Adelaide Park Lands.

At their meeting on Tuesday 22 August, the City’s eleven councillors will be deciding whether:

  • to authorise a State Government project to destroy dozens of mature trees and two soccer fields; OR

  • to listen to public calls for a win-win; and push for an alternative new Aquatic Centre location.

UPDATE 19 AUGUST 2023: The debate and decision has been postponed. It will not be part of the Council’s meeting on 22 August. The date is yet to be determined, but is likely to be in September.

This is the simple, stark choice confronting the Council for Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2 of your Adelaide Park Lands).

Act now!

Before the Council meeting on Tuesday 22 August, Councillors need to hear from you.

Contact the Lord Mayor, and all Councillors individually to ensure that they get the message directly; i.e. not filtered through the Town Hall bureaucracy.

Clicking on any or all of these email addresses will open up a short simple draft email, asking each Councillor, in turn, to Love Your Park Lands and help the State Government find a better, brownfield site, to secure a win-win outcome for swimmers and your Park Lands.

Here is a plain text of the suggested email that you can copy and paste.

You can also:

  • ATTEND the Council meeting at the Adelaide Town Hall, from 5.30pm on Tuesday 22 August;

  • SEEK PERMISSION to make a deputation of up to 5 minutes; i.e. to speak directly to Councillors before they debate this matter. Here’s where you can register to make a deputation. A deputation request needs to be lodged by 12 midday on the day prior to the scheduled meeting; i.e. by Monday 21 August.


Why should you write /attend?

The State Government admits that its plans for a $135 million megalith aquatic and commercial centre would require the destruction of 15 regulated trees and seven significant trees (not counting other smaller trees). Its plans also include expanding the hard surfaces within the Park for more roadways and 108 more car parking spaces.

Community consultation last year revealed that most respondents wanted a new Aquatic Centre on a brownfield site, close to public transport; such as an industrial site in Thebarton, Hindmarsh, Bowden or Brompton, that could be landscaped and greened, while accommodating a new Aquatic Centre. The old West End brewery site is the most obvious, but not the only potential alternative site.

The State Government is purchasing 524 properties to upgrade South Road, but has refused to consider purchasing even ONE site for a new Aquatic Centre.

The City Council’s meeting on Tuesday 22 August represents an opportunity for a re-set, for the Council to invite the State Government to choose a different, better site.

What have we been doing?

Our petition to the Premier urging him to “Save These Trees - Choose a Brownfield Site for New Aquatic Centre” has now attracted 5,294 signatures.

On Sunday 9 July 2023, we demonstrated to the Premier how many people he was ignoring. Our “Plant to Protect” event used paper figures on sticks to illustrate the thousands of people who had signed our petition.

After receiving the petition names on 27 July, the Premier has agreed to a meeting with the Adelaide Park Lands Association, but not until 26 September.

Meanwhile, our petition to “Save These Trees - Choose a Brownfield Site for New Aquatic Centre” is still growing. By 15 August, it had attracted 5,294 signatures.

27 July 2023. Left: APA President Shane Sody delivering 5,073 names on the petition to the Premier’s office.

Right: Mr Sody, and APA Deputy President Ben Ayris, on the same day, with a copy of the petition list for Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith

The still-growing petition demonstrates the community’s clear preference for a win-win, i.e. for BOTH a new Aquatic centre AND full protection for your Park Lands.

Despite being advised of this, neither the State Government nor the City Council has so far shown any interest in searching for an alternative site.

If you Love Your Park Lands, now is the time to make your voice heard.

The State Government proposal: A win-lose for your Park Lands, that would destroy dozens of mature trees, and two soccer pitches, rather than the win-win option of locating this proposed building on a convenient, near-city brownfield site, close to public transport.

In the future, the area marked in blue will be either entirely Open Green Public Park Lands with a new aquatic centre located somewhere else (a win-win for swimmers and your Park Lands) OR the area marked in blue will be covered in bitumen, concrete and an enormous new aquatic and commercial centre (a win-lose for your Park Lands). It’s up to you, right now.

Broken promises

The State Government’s current plans break three of their own promises:

Three broken promises: (1) to protect Adelaide's tree canopy; (2) to consult you on your preferred Aquatic Centre location; and (3) to keep the old centre operating while a new one was being built.

Ironically, at a time when the State Government wants to be associated with the supporting the Australian women’s soccer team, the Matildas, it is pressing ahead with this project which involves destroying two community soccer pitches off Barton Terrace West in Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2).

One of the community soccer pitches that the State Government intends to destroy to make way for a two-storey $135 million megalith aquatic and commercial centre, ignoring community demands to choose a better site close to public transport.

Very last line of defence

If neither the Council nor the State Government heeds the very clear community message to PROTECT your Park Lands, and the bulldozers are threatening to move in to destroy the trees, will you put yourself in their way?

If you’re prepared to rebel for your Park Lands, then please give us your confidential contact details, so we can invite you later to participate in specific direct action. Contact secretary@adelaide-parklands.asn.au to be put on a confidential alert list.

Read more

See our ongoing year-long coverage of the proposed new aquatic and commercial centre:

Some people characterise this debate as being about “NIMBYs” who don’t want an Aquatic Centre in their back yard. However the list of more than 5,000 petition signatories provided to the Premier included only 1% who gave their address as North Adelaide 5006.

Nevertheless, those who live in North Adelaide, especially on Barton Terrace West, have their own very distinct concerns and objections to both what’s being proposed and the way it is being rammed through all legal obstacles. Local resident Peter Fenwick has compiled his own response to the State Government and City Council’s recent flawed consultation: Peter Fenwick, Local responses: (PDF, 8pp, 11.9 Mb)