End the Whack-a-Mole Game

by Shane Sody

Trying to defend your Adelaide Park Lands is like playing the arcade game “Whack-a-mole”.

New ideas to take away parts of your Park Lands, keep popping up, just like the moles pop up from their holes, in the 1970’s-era arcade game.

Park Lands supporters have to organise, lobby, and protest to whack down whatever happens to be the latest proposal for removing some of your Open, Green, Public Park Lands.

Just like the Whack-a-Mole game, there can be multiple pop-up threats emerging at the same time.

Over the past two or three years, many Park Lands “moles” have been popping up very quickly, one after the other. Some were first proposed by the previous Liberal State Government, but six were pursued by the incoming Labor State Government from March 2022.

Park Lands ‘people power’ succeeded in whacking down only one of the six.

If you Love Your Park Lands, then, like us, you’d rather not be playing “Whack a Mole”.

You probably wonder why your world-unique Adelaide Park Lands don’t have legal protection, or even State Heritage listing.

You might be wondering why the State Government doesn’t pick locations in the other 99.8% of the Adelaide metropolitan area for its proposed new developments.

We’ve put a number of suggestions for better Park Lands protection laws, to

  • Planning Minister Nick Champion;

  • State Opposition front-bencher Jack Batty;

  • Independent MPs Connie Bonaros and Frank Pangallo; and

  • The Greens Robert Simms.

This Act is useless for protecting your Park Lands.

Our suggestions, designed to end the never-ending game of Whack-a-Mole, include:

See more explanation of each of these items here: (PDF, 3 pages, 110 Kb)

Will MP's rise to the challenge and end the "Whack a Mole" game?   Image: Shutterstock

You can help us to end the “Whack a Mole” game for protection of your Park Lands.

Take action.

Join us.


The author of this article, Shane Sody, is the President of the Adelaide Park Lands Association and the editor of the semi-monthly newsletter, "Open Green Public".

Subscribe here.

https://adelaideparklands.m-pages.com/YWRrGW/adelaide-park-lands-assn-mailing