PORT ADELAIDE

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide) (15:35): I have had occasion previously to inform the house about the work being undertaken to activate the Port as part of a larger strategy to develop the Port over the coming years. Today, I wish to give an update on the progress of those early activation works. The works have been funded through a combination of state and local government money and are being managed by Renewal SA.

The first project to be completed was the placement of sand at Cruikshank's Corner to allow rowboats access to the inner harbour. It facilitated the outstanding rowing regatta on Australia Day this year, the first of many. While the sand was never intended to form a recreational beach in the sense of kids with buckets and spades, in fact, the beach is rarely empty, with local fishers in particular finding it a handy place from which to cast a line.

An ongoing project which has been going well is using the services of Renew Adelaide to fill shops with eclectic small businesses, which add considerably to the attractiveness of the area but are hard to finance from scratch. The three empty shops in the government-owned central building, extensively refurbished and saved from crumbling by this government a few years ago, have been filled first. Renew Adelaide is currently going through a process to extend this model to privately-owned shops further along St Vincent Street. I have also been pleased to see in recent times that new businesses have sprung up along St Vincent Street, most recently along the eastern stretch, with the existing angle parking.

One of the more highly anticipated activation projects is putting in angle parking along the western stretch of St Vincent Street, called for by the traders along that stretch who want to create the high street atmosphere, such as Semaphore Road or, indeed, St Vincent Street east and Lipson Street. What they are wanting is for customers to be able to pop in and out of their shops by parking right in front. This project will get started towards the end of August, although the surveying work and planning have already been done.

Renewal SA has also been working with the Port Adelaide Chamber of Commerce on business activation projects, such as free wi-fi hotspots around the Port, and they are working on the upgrade of the exterior of some buildings around the heritage precinct to make the area more attractive, including the visitor centre at Black Diamond Corner. More major civil works are the bike path around the inner harbour (well underway already) and the soon to be commenced outdoor area for the Harts Mill, Adelaide Milling Company precinct.

This area will include a playground, very long overdue for the Port heritage area. I called for a playground when I was first a candidate for the by-election because, as a parent, I know how good a drawcard it is to have a place for kids to play for free, letting a parent have a coffee and watch over them. I am sure that I will not be the only person to claim credit, and I have no problem with that: success has many parents. There is much more to come, but things are really getting underway, and I will continue to keep the house up to date with progress.