by Shane Sody
Planning SA was looking for public comment recently about the size of a new building to authorise for Festival Plaza in Park 26 of your Park Lands.
Earlier this year, Premier Peter Malinauskas confirmed that without any tender or electoral mandate, the Government had done a private deal to hand over a second part of your Festival Plaza to the Walker Corporation for a huge new office building, that would tower over Parliament House.
Premier Peter Malinauskas unveiling the proposed second new Festival Plaza tower on 9 April 2024. (ABC News: Rory McClaren)
During October 2024, Planning SA purported to seek public comment on this, but gave no option for suggesting that this Park Lands location should be returned to Open, Green, Public space.
Rather, the only options put forward were to elicit your opinion on the proposed height of the new building. One of the options believed to be under consideration is for a tower even taller than the artist’s impression above; perhaps as high as 48 storeys.
The location that the State Government has promised to Walker Corporation (marked in pale green)
The current State Government has previous poor form in pretending to consult you over the fate of your Park Lands.
The Government did not allow anyone to suggest any brownfield site for a new Aquatic Centre, and ignored more than 8,000 petition signatures urging protection for the former trees in Park 2 that have now been destroyed.
This time around, APA chose not to make any submission on the size of the office tower proposed for Festival Plaza. We saw no reason to participate in such a charade when the real decisions have already been made behind closed doors, between developers and State Government Ministers.
This most recent “consultation” on a proposed Building Code Amendment closed on 24 October 2024.
Therefore you will soon find out how large Walker Corporation’s second tower on your Festival Plaza will become.
Read the background about the commercial takeover of Festival Plaza:
