Re-greening on the agenda
by Shane Sody
Your help is needed to push for a possible re-greening project in the south-western corner of your Park Lands.
The Deputy Lord Mayor, Keiran Snape is seeking Council approval to re-green a disused section of Josie Agius Park / Wikaparntu Wirra (Park 22) near the corner of Anzac Highway and Greenhill Road.
It’s been years since this area was used for netball. These former disused courts are set apart from the well-used netball areas that are under floodlights, nearby.
The site, approximately 1,960 square metres; in Park 22 near the corner of Greenhill Road and Anzac Highway.
On the City Council agenda, this Tuesday 13 August, is a motion to start the process of returning this area to ‘Open, Green, Public.’
However there might be some reluctance from City Councillors, due to the likely cost of removing the unwanted bitumen surface.
Council staff have estimated that the cost of bitumen removal could be as high as $300,000, excluding contamination management.
Please contact one or more City Councillors before their meeting on Tuesday 13 August, to urge their support of Councillor Snape’s motion.
Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Keiran Snape
UPDATE - 15 August 2024
The motion did not proceed as intended at the Council meeting on Tuesday 13 August. Councillor Snape is consulting with the SA United Church Netball Association in the hope of including their support for a similar motion in the near future, i.e. perhaps by including the Association in dot point #4 (see below).
Read the updated story here:
15 August 2024 - “Hopes High for Re-greening with netball partners” https://www.adelaide-parklands.asn.au/blog/2024/8/15/hopes-high-for-regreening-with-netball-partners
Here’s the text of his Motion, 16.4 “Returning Hard Stand to Park Lands – Netball Courts”
‘That Council:
1. Notes the commitment within the Adelaide Park Lands Management Strategy to prioritise the reduction of hard surfaces in the Adelaide Park Lands.
2. Requests the Administration to prepare a report to return to Park Lands the area of non-utilised hardstand adjacent to the South Australian United Church Netball Association (SAUCNA) netball courts on Josie Agius Park / Wikaparntu Wirra (Park 22).
3. Requests that Administration progress a costed proposal for consideration in the Quarter 1 Budget Review to return the hard stand area to Park Lands remove the hard surface.
4. Requests that Administration collaborates with community groups, such as the Adelaide Park Lands Association to green the area once the hard surface is removed.’
What you can do
You can help, by urging each one of the City Councillors to support this motion
Suggested email (please amend as you see fit)
At the Council meeting on Tuesday 13 August, please support Councillor Snape's motion 16.4 "Returning Hard Stand to Park Lands – Netball Courts"
This area has been neglected for far too long.
It would be wonderful for community groups including the Adelaide Park Lands Association, in co-operation with the South Australian United Church Netball Association, to undertake a community-spirited re-greening of this space, to improve the amenity of what is Adelaide's most popular sporting precinct.
Some of the many degraded disused hard-stand areas in your Park Lands, in need of restoration.
Background
For five years, the Adelaide Park Lands Association has been lobbying the City Council for permission to re-green one or more disused patches of bitumen in your Park Lands.
In October 2023, the City Council backed away from a previous informal commitment and informed us that for the foreseeable future, no sites were available for any community re-greening project. See the story:
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".
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