by Tim Jackson

An earlier version of this story was published on 27 January 2025. This update of 23 February 2025 highlights the final opportunity to give your feedback to State Parliament’s Environment, Resources and Development Committee. Email ERDC.Assembly@parliament.sa.gov.au by Wednesday 26 February.

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Six members of State Parliament represent the last bulwark against the most blatant commercial sellout in the history of your Adelaide Park Lands.

The Planning Minister, Nick Champion has given a tick of approval to transform the former open space of your Festival Plaza into what would be one of the largest skyscrapers in Adelaide.

This deal was negotiated behind closed doors, with no public tender, and no electoral mandate to give away this part of your Park Lands.

*An artist’s impression of the proposed second Walker Corporation tower, 38 storeys, (left) next to the newly constructed 29-storey tower, both on Festival Plaza, part of your Adelaide Park Lands.*

Not only is it another attack on Your Park Lands it is extremely poor urban planning.

In private comments to me, senior planning professionals have been scathing:.

“How could anyone think this is good urban planning?”
“Appalling …and bog standard architecture”
“Such cutting-edge architecture!” [not]

There is plenty of appropriately zoned land within the CBD for commercial buildings, without thieving from your Park Lands like this.

The proposed building is intended to overshadow both Parliament House and Government House.

Parliament House is already overshadowed by the Walker Corporation’s 29-storey tower. The Planning Minister has approved something much larger, up to 40 stories, right alongside it. Pic: Tim Jackson

The Minister for Housing and Development, Nick Champion, on 9 January 2025 approved an amendment to the Planning and Design Code, to allow the construction of a building of up to 40 storeys.

The Planning and Design Code is South Australia’s set of planning rules used to assess development applications under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016.

Essentially it is the primary rulebook for development across the State.

The Planning Minister can change this Code at any time, and regularly does so, every time the State Government wants to put new buildings on your Park Lands.

Despite significant public opposition to the proposed “Code Amendment” for Festival Plaza, the Minister nevertheless proceeded to approve it.

However that is not the end of the process. Now, the Environment, Resources and Development Committee of State Parliament must carry out its duty to scrutinise the Minister’s Planning Code Amendment.

If the Committee comes up with recommendations that the Minister does not accept, then the proposed Code amendment would be referred to State Parliament to determine.

The Code Amendment must be considered by the Committee within 28 days of referral by the Minister. The Minister has now done so, but the ERD Committee is giving you only until Wednesday 26 February to provide a comment.

The Committee must call for public representations before taking a position on the Code Amendment. Interested persons have been advised:

If you wish to provide information to the Committee, your submission should be addressed to the Parliamentary Officer and emailed to ERDC.Assembly@parliament.sa.gov.au.

*The six members of State Parliament’s Environment, Resources and Development Committee. Note that one member has changed since January 2025. Former member* ***Emily Bourke has been promoted to Cabinet, becoming a Minister****, and Reggie Martin has been selected by the ALP to take her place on this Committee.*

Convincing the Committee to reject the code amendment will not be easy. The Committee is comprised of three members of Labor, one Liberal, one Greens and one independent who was previously a Liberal. As a result it is unlikely that the Minister’s decision will be overturned or amended.

Given that this political decision was publicly announced in April 2024, there has been some cynicism about the subsequent process of seeking public comment on a Code Amendment that would endorse what State Cabinet had already decided.

Festival Plaza condemned - but how badly? (31 October 2024)

The Committee can determine either to wave it through, to recommend revisions, or simply reject what the Minister wants.

*Premier Peter Malinauskas unveiling the proposed second new Festival Plaza tower on 9 April 2024. (ABC News: Rory McClaren)*

Questions have been asked about the role of Minister Nick Champion, who was part of the Cabinet decision in April 2024, and then had the related role of deciding, on a Code Amendment that would put Cabinet’s decision into the Planning Code.

The Minister’s office has advised that the Minister “undertaken deliberations in accordance with the relevant legislation and ministerial code of conduct.”

Background

Over the past decade both Liberal and Labor State Governments have supported privatisation of your Festival Plaza by Walker Corporation.

The Marshall Liberal State Government (2018-2022) approved the now-constructed 29-Level Tower One; along with a separate four-level retail building.

In April 2024, the Malinauskas Labor Government approved allowing Walker Corporation to scrap the proposed four-level building, and replace it instead with a 38-storey tower.

However, the Plaza could have been easily and cheaply returned to Park Lands to celebrate Adelaide’s world-unique asset.

A design competition for this purpose was run in 2015, by the then-leader of the Greens Party in SA, the Hon. Mark Parnell: