Parliamentary Committees

PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: SA WATER THEBARTON DEPOT DECOMMISSIONING

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (11:02): I move:

That the 335^th report of the committee, entitled SA Water Thebarton Depot Decommissioning, be noted.

In December 2006, the Premier announced the government's intention to return the SA Water Thebarton depot to parkland following the relocation of the majority of the depot staff to the new VS1 building in Victoria Square. The depot site is to be converted to a contemporary woodland park using primarily indigenous species and sustainable landscape principles. This is based on the concept of an urban forest, which includes shared paths to provide access for pedestrians and cyclists with a link from James Congdon Drive through to the Port Road opposite the Thebarton Police Barracks.

SA Water will terminate all services to the buildings on the depot site, demolish all buildings that are not required by the Adelaide City Council and remediate the contaminated soil across the site, including Deviation Road. The degree of remediation will be consistent with the proposed use of the land as public open space so as to deliver the depot site in an uncontaminated condition to the council.

The cost of decommissioning the project is $4.814 million, and the government has also committed $800,000 as a grant to the council to assist in developing the site as an urban forest. The depot will be transformed from an industrial site to a parkland setting that will revitalise the precinct. The Temple College has an interest in using some parts of the rejuvenated site for recreation and sporting purposes and is liaising with the Adelaide City Council and the West Torrens Council about how this can be incorporated into the urban forest concept.

The West Torrens council owns a strip of land immediately adjacent to the western boundary of the depot along James Congdon Drive and running virtually the full length of that boundary. The council is keen to develop that strip of land to complement the Adelaide City Council's urban forest concept. More detailed environmental investigation is required across the site after the demolition contract is completed and the independent auditor of soil contamination must then be satisfied.

Accordingly, the most practical and expeditious way of decommissioning the site is to have separate works contracts for the demolition and soil remediation. A financial analysis has been conducted by SA Water using a real, pre-tax discount rate of 6 per cent and incorporating financial models which have been agreed with the Department of Treasury and Finance. The results indicate a net present value outcome of negative $3.8 million. The analysis includes the contribution from the Adelaide City Council of $300,000 towards the remediation of Deviation Road.

An economic analysis has been conducted to attempt to assess the impact of the decommissioning and site remediation project from a whole-of-community perspective by taking into account benefits and costs that accrue to the wider community. The results of the economic analysis for the decommissioning and site remediation project indicate a net present value outcome of negative $4.2 million. There are several potential economic benefits which have not been quantified in the economic analysis. These include the possibility of increased property values in the vicinity of the site based upon the results of overseas studies of urban open spaces together with recreational, environmental, aesthetic and educational benefits.

The handover to the Adelaide City Council is expected to occur in November 2010. Based upon the evidence it has considered and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public work.

Mr PISONI (Unley) (11:07): This was a very interesting public works hearing, and I was very pleased to see more land returned to the Parklands. This site has been used for quite some time as a depot for the E&WS, as it was initially described, and of course it is now the SA Water depot at Thebarton. It is heavily contaminated, of course, so it needs quite a bit of money to clean it up and decontaminate it. However, I think we need to put this into perspective first.

This plan has been in place for quite some time. I think for over a decade there has been talk of moving SA Water from this location and returning the land to the Parklands. I attended the Adelaide Parklands Preservation Association AGM with Rachel Sanderson (the Liberal candidate for the seat of Adelaide) earlier in the year, and we received a briefing on the plans for what was then known as the Tim Flannery park. That is what it was going to be called. The plans that were put forward to us were made several years ago and, of course, Tim Flannery moved to Sydney so now it is a park of no name.

The Hon. R.B. Such: What about Pisoni park?

Mr PISONI: I am not worthy, member for Fisher. The concept of returning public land to public use is a great idea that I support, particularly in the Parklands. We know the history of the Parklands and how difficult it was for our founding fathers to hang on to that open space; and we know that our first governor-general was not very interested because he wanted a port city and did not see Adelaide as—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: Governor, not governor-general.

Mr PISONI: Governor, thank you, Attorney-General. I am sure in your recent doorknocking of constituents you have been correcting people's English (for example, less and fewer). Of course, it took Governor Light to finally put an end to property speculators being able to purchase land that is now parklands by privately guaranteeing £1 per acre to buy that land, and today's Adelaide Parklands are the legacy of that.

The disappointing thing about the government's management of the Parklands, of course, is that, while we agree with relocating the rail yards and we think that is great land to be opened up for public use, the government will, after relocating the rail yards, whack a hospital on that site and forevermore stop the public accessing the last part of waterfront Parklands that we have here in Adelaide for public use. Of course, we on this side of parliament believe it is a waste of prime public land to lock it up exclusively for use for a public hospital when we have a perfectly good public hospital where it is that simply needs to be revamped. I am very pleased to see that Isobel Redmond has been out today re-launching our policy to revamp the existing Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Of course, if we do not revamp the existing hospital, we will lose a large chunk of public land. The rail yards just off North Terrace would make a perfect cultural, entertainment and sporting precinct in Adelaide and rejuvenate the West End. We saw in yesterday's press how businesses are moving out of the West End because of the type of activity that happens there and there is very little to draw a broader range of people into that area. Imagine what a rejuvenated West End would do for the west of the city. By using the rail yards site and returning it to the Parklands for the people, instead of it being a piece of real estate for the Department of Health, imagine the benefits that will flow from that process.

I support the returning of exclusively used government land to the Parklands and, consequently, am very pleased to see this project finally funded and coming to fruition, despite the fact that it has been in the planning for at least 10 years.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (11:12): I commend all those involved in bringing about the decommissioning of the SA Water Thebarton depot. As the member for Unley said, it has been a long time coming. It think it goes back beyond 10 years—I think it is multiples of 10 years. The decommissioning is a very important process because that is part of the gateway to the city from the west, and I think it is important that those buildings be removed and it be revegetated. I am surprised that the government has not been out there saying positive things about this decommissioning, because it is something that the community has wanted for a long time. Maybe I have missed it, but I have not seen any media coverage of the decommissioning commitment and implementation.

The Adelaide City Council, through its planting of native trees in the Parklands, is doing a great job. I do not know whether members realise that the urban forest in the metropolitan area of Adelaide is greater in area than the commercial forests in this state, and it is very important in terms of not only carbon sequestration but also providing a habitat for native fauna. Obviously, parts of the Parklands are built upon, but it is a western concept that you have to actually do something with something. We need to appreciate that things can have an intrinsic value, you do not always have to use them for some commercial or other purpose, they can have justification simply by their very existence.

We often hear people say that people are not using the Parklands, meaning that they have to either build on every square centimetre or they have to be dancing on it or doing something. That is just silly. You do not have to use every single square centimetre of the Parklands in that sense.

In summary, this is a good step forward. I look forward to the revegetation of this area, so that not only the public can enjoy it but, as I say, it will help in revegetation generally and also in boosting habitat for native fauna close to the city.

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (11:16): I would like to thank members for supporting this project. To pick up on something the member for Unley said, sometimes you cannot have things both ways. On the one hand, he is criticising the government for building the RAH on the railway lines, saying that the opposition would like to keep the RAH where it is and not impinge on the Parklands, then in the next breath he says that that would be a great area for recreational and sporting facilities, where they were going to build a stadium. So, you cannot have it both ways.

To respond to what the member for Fisher indicated, yes, it is unfortunate that the media has not picked up on this very good project, because it is something which is going to be of great benefit to the community of South Australia and, in particular, the people of the western suburbs who have not had much of that particular area available to them. With that, I move that the report be noted.

Motion carried.