by Shane Sody

How do you develop a greening strategy for a Government that destroys National Heritage-listed forests?

In the same month that State Government contractors have massacred hundreds of ancient Park Lands trees, the State Government’s “Green Adelaide” agency has invited your comments on its new Draft Urban Greening Strategy.

The Draft Urban Greening Strategy uses several images from your Park Lands to illustrate the document.

Pennington Gardens, Stella Bowen Park, Adelaide Oval, Angas Gardens, the Torrens Parade Ground, and Elder Park (Parks 12 and 26) in your Adelaide Park Lands - as featured on page 3 of Green Adelaide’s ***Draft Urban Greening Strategy.***

Insofar as the Draft Urban Greening Strategy is relevant to your Adelaide Park Lands, it’s closely aligned with APA’s Objectives to protect and restore your Open, Green, Public spaces.

The language used and the goals set out in the document are admirable.

The Strategy echoes our frequent articles calling attention to the benefits of Open, Green Public spaces, and the value of improving biodiversity in your urban environment.

However, where the Strategy fails, is by its startling omission.

The elephant in the room

The Strategy fails to acknowledge or offer any suggestions for addressing the State Government’s continuing attacks on the prime urban green spaces of your Adelaide Park Lands.

*Oops! The Draft Urban Greening Strategy forgot to mention this one thing…..*

The State Government has repeatedly chosen to destroy Park Lands, rather than purchase, landscape and re-green any brownfield sites for proposed new infrastructure.

The State Government has purchased 524 properties to upgrade South Road. But in the past two years, the State Government has refused to purchase properties for its city infrastructure development, preferring instead to reduce or entirely remove tree canopy in:

Frome Park / Nellie Raminyemmerin Park (Park 11); replacing Park Lands with another new high school building;
Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2); destroying dozens of trees to make way for a new Aquatic Centre, despite more than 8,000 signatures on a petition calling for an alternative brownfield site;
Kate Cocks Park (Park 27) where hundreds of trees, most of them about 160 years old, have just been destroyed to make way for a new hospital and eight-storey car park.

In the light of these unacknowledged Government attacks on your Park Lands, there is a jarring irony in the Draft Urban Greening Strategy, especially in the section headed: “Priority Area 2: Government leading by example” which includes, as desired outcomes:

Innovative and best-practice green and blue infrastructure is showcased in government infrastructure works and major projects;
Trees are appropriately valued as essential community assets that contribute to the wellbeing of our community and environment.

Your feedback

Consultation on the Draft Urban Greening Strategy is open until 28 June 2024. You can lodge your comments via this page: https://yoursay.sa.gov.au/urban-greening-strategy

The Adelaide Park Lands Association has made a submission to Green Adelaide, pointing out the metaphorical elephant in the room, and urging Green Adelaide to highlight, in its final Urban Greening Strategy, the lack of legislative protection for your Adelaide Park Lands and their trees.

Read our submission here: 2024-05-29 APA submission to Draft Urban Greening Strategy (PDF, 2pp, 182 Kb)