by Shane Sody
A 300-metre fence that has been blocking access to part of your Park Lands for decades has finally been removed.
After 12 months of advocacy by the Adelaide Park Lands Association, a City Council work crew received applause on Thursday 14 March as they removed this old cyclone wire fence.
The fence (and the adjacent steep embankment) were combining to block access between the riverside pathway, and the higher, open picnic area of Helen Mayo Park, in your Park 27.
Highlighted in yellow; the line of the former 300-metre fence, now removed.
This is how it looked, before the fence was removed on Thursday 14 March 2024.
It’s not clear how long the fence had been there; most likely several decades.
The fence was not keeping people off the nearby railway line because there is a higher, imposing fence (topped with razor wire) further south that fulfills that role.
A year ago, we asked the Council why the fence was there, and whether it could be removed. We’ve been in regular contact with the City Council since then, asking for updates!
The fence gone! Helen Mayo Park has been made more accessible from the riverbank although the steep embankment (at left) will remain an obstacle for most.
Removal of the fence now opens up the possibility of providing one or more sets of stairs and/or ramps to help you move from the riverbank, to the open event space of Helen Mayo Park, on higher ground, up the embankment.
The open-air event space and picnic area of Helen Mayo Park, now a little more accessible (albeit up a steep embankment) from the River Torrens / Karrawirra Pari.
Site of a State Gov’t partial broken promise
Helen Mayo Park is also the site of one of the State Government’s broken Park Lands promises.
SA Labor went to the 2022 State election, promising to “fully protect” Helen Mayo Park from the threat of commercial development.
However in December 2022, it followed through with only a partial re-zoning, so there is a remaining threat of commercial takeover of part of the Park. https://www.adelaide-parklands.asn.au/blog/2022/12/7/helen-mayo-park-the-threat-remains
Meanwhile, around the corner…..
Unfortunately another unrelated fence has popped up in recent weeks a little further downstream along the river in Bonython Park / Tulya Wardli.
As part of groundwork preparations for the State Government’s New Women’s and Children’s Hospital, about two hectares of Bonython Park has been marked out with temporary fencing, and deep excavations have been made alongside the billabong,
