State Election 2022 - Question #4
Restoring Riverbank Park Zoning
On 20 January 2022 the Planning Minister Josh Teague re-zoned approximately 35 hectares of Riverbank Park Lands to permit future development in Park 27 (including on Kate Cocks Park, and Helen Mayo Park) and in Park 11 (Frome Park). The re-zoning represented the biggest single attack on the Park Lands in their 185-year history.
We asked each party: “How much of this recent re-zoning would you attempt to wind back, to ensure that these sites were once again zoned as Open Green Public Parks?” Here’s what they replied:
| Party | Party Response | APA evaluation | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pauline Hanson's One Nation | 100% | The response is welcomed although the brevity of the response raises doubts about whether the respondent is aware of the uses to which the State Government wants to put the re-zoned land (i.e. partly to accommodate a new Womens and Childrens Hospital) | 5 |
| Real Change SA | I would need to take legal advice to see whether this was possible and to what extent reversals could be achieved. | A Planning Minister’s legal power to rezone is not in dispute. | 1 |
| Liberal Democratic Party | We would assess the projected value this would add or destroy to taxpayers and act accordingly. We would also allow hobby, recreation, sports, and community groups to purchase- or lease-back some of the land. | This is consistent with the party’s ethos of privatisation – but totally inconsistent with the concept of Open Green Public | -10 |
| Animal Justice Party | I would take advice from the various stakeholders to work out how much could be wound back. If rezoning of a significant proportion of 35 hectares could be achieved then this would be a successful outcome. | The concept of “stakeholders” misses the point of Park Lands. Where Park Lands are concerned the entire public is the sole stakeholder. | 2 |
| Greens | The Greens are opposed to the Marshall Government’s rezoning and fought hard to prevent this in the parliament. If in Government, we would seek to reverse the rezoning. In the new parliament, we will take whatever action we can to prevent further commercialisation of our city’s public green space. | The response is non-specific about the extent of re-zoning that would be pursued. However the Greens are on record as opposing the entire zoning changes of January 2022. | 10 |
| Liberal Party | The Riverbank Precinct Code Amendment was necessary to support the Government's investment in key infrastructure projects including the new Women's and Children's Hospital, the new Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre, the expansion of Botanic High school, the upgrades to the Adelaide Festival Centre and Plaza, and the new Adelaide Riverbank Arena. All of these projects will contribute to the transformation of the Riverbank precinct and our plan to grow the economy by creating more jobs, building what matters, and providing new opportunities. ... The Government wants our city to thrive and has a vision for Adelaide that builds upon our reputation as the third most liveable city in the world. In achieving that we acknowledge the need to balance progress with the preservation of those things that make Adelaide so special, including the Park Lands. | This response amounts to a refusal to restore any Park Lands Zoning that was lost in January 2022 | 0 |
| SA Labor | A Malinauskas Labor Government will scrap the $662m basketball stadium on our Park Lands and instead invest that money in our health system. Further, we will restore full protection to Helen Mayo Park. | “Restore full protection” is a welcome commitment although it falls short of an explicit promise to reverse the recent rezoning. There is no commitment to reverse the rest of the re-zoning of Park Lands made in January 2022. | 3 |
| SA Best | We would strongly support all of this re zoning to be returned to Open Green Public Parks. SA Best is a strong advocate for maintaining the natural environmental values that first nations and then first settler people recognised and protected in their use of and planning for the parklands. SA Best will do what ever is necessary to support this land being re zoned back to its original purpose. Parklands like this are priceless and can never be re gained once built upon and lost to development. This would be an urgent priority of SA Best. | The party’s “strong support” is welcome, especially in relation to proposed links with other trails | 10 |
| SA Party (Sustainable Australia) | SA Party believes we should preserve and enhance our beautiful outdoor spaces including our parks, bushland, coastal and riverside areas across South Australia. This includes our precious Park Lands. SA Party does not support re-zoning of the Adelaide Park Lands for future development and would, if elected, propose legislation to reverse the re-zoning of the entire area. We believe any zoning changes to the Park Lands should require unanimous support from the Adelaide Park Lands Authority. | This response is welcome although the proposal to require unanimous support of the Park Lands Authority may be problematic in practice | 6 |
