House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1) 52 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Grievance Debate Hallett Cove Development HALLETT COVE DEVELOPMENT Ms FOX House of Assembly Bright Ms FOX (Bright) (15:29): Before I begin, I would like to congratulate the member for Flinders on being one of the first Liberal members I have ever heard in this place to quote Alfred Lord Tennyson—admirable! I rise today to speak on behalf of some constituents from Hallett Cove who are extremely worried about a development occurring in the north-western corner of Hallett Cove. For those who have not had the opportunity to visit that particular suburb, it is an outstandingly beautiful coastal suburb on the edge of a conservation park. The Hallett Cove Conservation Park was established in 1976. It includes some significant Aboriginal artefacts used by Kaurna people and, of course, some very important geological sites. In 1877, Professor Ralph Tate discovered glacial scratchings across the cliff tops there, and those markings were made by an ice sheet which covered the Southern Hemisphere supercontinent 270 million years ago. It is useful to understand the type of area we are discussing. It is a very quiet foreshore overlooking the gulf, with a conservation park immediately to the north. There is not one shop or commercial outlet along here or, indeed, anywhere near here. It is, as I have said, a beautiful and tranquil residential area. Residents have spent significant amounts of money buying along this foreshore so that they can have a certain kind of very quiet lifestyle. Recently, the Hallett Cove Surf Lifesaving Club (which is no longer in operation) was leased by the Marion council as a cafe, and it has been very popular as a cafe for locals and visitors alike. There is nothing better than going along there of an afternoon, having a cup of coffee and sitting and watching the extraordinary landscape around you. Recently, however, a liquor licence has been proposed for the Boatshed Cafe, and I would like to state from the outset that many of my objections are based on the wishes of some residents as they have approached me and, indeed, not all residents. I am sure there are some who are in favour of this licence. I have some very grave doubts on two fronts: one is for the amenity and the other is for the traffic management. With increased night-time functions and the accompanying noise in what is a natural amphitheatre of sound, the comfort and convenience of residents may well be disturbed. The council has conditions: no loudspeakers, no garbage, no refuse noise, appropriate signage, etc. However, I cannot believe that 295 people partying at 10 o'clock on a Saturday night are not going to make noise in this area. I cannot believe that there are not going to be problems along the foreshore. I cannot believe that taxpayers' money is not going to be expended in policing the activities of these people. For many residents this is a very disturbing thing. It is a very quiet residential area and it is going to affect their way of life, and it is going to affect the value of their real estate. On a practical level, it is a widely acknowledged fact that parking at this particular area is already pretty tight. It is available but the parks are generally in front of or very close to people's homes. At the moment, the car park has 26 car parks, but they are going to license this place for 295 people. Where are they going to park? With increased night-time activity, traffic inevitably grows, and the noise and crowding associated with larger events will not be well managed by existing infrastructure. I really do not see how this problem can be resolved. I know that the Marion council, the proprietor of the cafe and the residents are trying to get together to negotiate an outcome. However, I would, in this place, very publicly like to voice the concerns of many residents of Hallett Cove, of many residents of Heron Way, of the foreshore along there, of Grand Central Avenue, who are deeply concerned that a very quiet, very tranquil and very beautiful area is going to possibly change overnight.