Whatever it takes

by Shane Sody

Premier Peter Malinauskas has indirectly confirmed that his proposed "redevelopment" of golf courses in Possum Park / Pirltawardli (Park 1 of your Adelaide Park Lands) will be driven by commercial decisions.

In a letter to the Adelaide Park Lands Association (dated 28 March 2025) the Premier has deflected questions about:

  • the likely loss of many significant trees ("every effort will be made to minimise any tree removal"), and

  • the scope and duration of "temporary" fencing ("we would look to minimise the time temporary fencing is up").

Will they LIV or die? It depends on whether they are useful for making money out of golf enthusiasts.

However his response to a question about new and/or larger commercial buildings does not use the same language. There is not even a suggestion from the Premier that new buildings would be "minimised". Rather, the Premier merely says "no decision has been made" about buildings on a “re-developed” Possum Park / Pirltawardli (Park 1).

Losing trees and other biodiversity, large new buildings, new car parks, five months or more each year erecting “temporary” stands and fences; all this, and more is on the table to turn Possum Park / Pirltawardli (Park 1 of your Adelaide Park Lands) into a profit-generator.

The Premier’s response to questions about the costs of new golf course plans, the re-development time-line, and public consultation are all deflected by promising answers only when "draft designs are available.”

No Premier, it's not about the DESIGN

For Park Lands supporters, the fundamental question about the proposed golf course re-development is not about the layout or design.

It's about the Premier's vision that your Park Lands must be profit centres, and therefore access to your Open, Green, Public land (as well as protection for trees and biodiversity) must be subservient, or sacrificed to the money-making imperative.

What would the commercialisation push entail?

Previous proposals to re-develop the North Adelaide golf courses, considered by the City Council in 2018, put likely costs at up to $56 million, and envisaged that these costs would be recouped over a 25-30 year time frame, not solely by increasing green fees, but mostly from commercial rents on "offices and meeting rooms" as well as a "restaurant, function space and two bar areas operating seven days per week.”

The “Conclusions” from a previously-secret 2018 consultant’s report to the Adelaide City Council.

The Adelaide Park Lands Association will not be providing a commentary on where fairways, greens, tees and water hazards should be located on a “re-developed” golf course. That's not among our concerns.

We will be focussed on what would accompany a re-design; in order to make it consistent with the Premier’s fundamental assumption that your Parks should turn a profit for the State as a developer.

When a proposed design for the Greg Norman - Peter Malinauskas golf course is eventually released, (with, no doubt pretty pictures of stunning new buildings) then questions about the loss of trees and other biodiversity, the extent of fencing, new roads and car parks cutting into your Park Lands, and acknowledging the important Kaurna heritage location will also become part of the debate.

But the Premier is now being challenged on his fundamental assumption that your Park Lands exist to turn a profit for the State Government and their contractors.

Possum Park Protection Platoon

A public meeting at North Adelaide on 29 March 2025 generated enthusiasm for a new action group, intending to protect Park 1 of your Adelaide Park Lands from the Premier's full-on commercialisation plans.

The Premier’s words (from his letter) were read to the meeting. Very few in the audience were prepared to give the Premier the benefit of the doubt, given his insistence that the needs of a proposed professional-level golf course would dictate outcomes for your Park Lands; and his Government’s record of seven Park Lands attacks over the past three years.

The meeting was told that the Premier’s vision would require even more commercial facilities than the Council consultants envisaged in 2018, because:

  • construction costs in 2025-26 would be much higher than they would have been in 2018;

  • the Premier’s vision (involving Greg Norman designing a course) is grander than consultants put to the City Council in 2018; and yet

  • the Premier says "there are no plans to increase the cost of playing a round, outside of normal CPI increases."

Media coverage of the meeting on Saturday 29 March 2025

That leads inevitably to the conclusion that to get the Premier's desired "return on investment" in your Park Lands, many new commercial operations will be embedded permanently in Possum Park, each one taking away a slice of your Open, Green, Public land.

Construction: five months per year

The Grange golf course (pictured above) is surrounded by permanent fencing, so contractors do not need to install any temporary fencing. Nevertheless, installing and dismantling the temporary stands and other infrastructure within the Grange golf course takes five months each year (October to March) affecting nearby residents with noisy, 24-hour work and semi-trailer movements seven days per week, even overnight.

What can you do?

The new Possum Park Protection Platoon will not be wasting any time.

Can you assist us in planning or carrying out some type of activism? Contact our Executive Officer, David Winderlich executive@adelaide-parklands.asn.au


Other reading:

The author of this article, Shane Sody, will be retiring on 27 April 2025 after eight years as President of the Adelaide Park Lands Association. He is also the editor of the semi-monthly newsletter, "Open Green Public".

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