Public Works Committee: Adelaide Festival Centre Precinct Upgrade

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:03): I move:

That the 544^th report of the committee, entitled Adelaide Festival Centre Precinct Upgrade, be noted.

This project forms part of the renewal of the Riverbank Precinct and will complement the redeveloped Adelaide Convention Centre and the footbridge to the Adelaide Oval. It will provide a pedestrian link between King William Street and the Adelaide Festival Centre, the Railway Station, the Adelaide Convention Centre and the Riverbank. It will also be a place to meet to enjoy a coffee at a café whilst appreciating the new plaza with its gardens and water feature. Pedestrians and vehicles will be separated, with vehicle access and the current Festival Drive being located beneath the plaza precinct.

The plaza redevelopment will be at the level of the current plaza precinct, stretching from behind the parliament buildings to Adelaide Festival Centre and Station Road. Station Road will become primarily a pedestrian tree-lined avenue, providing direct access from North Terrace to the plaza. There will also be easy pedestrian-only access from the footbridge to the Adelaide Railway Station.

This project also incorporates an upgrade to the Adelaide Festival Centre, including shell works for the Festival Theatre and entry and foyer works to both the theatre and the Dunstan Playhouse. As well as works along the northern Riverbank, the works will make the Adelaide Festival Centre accessible from the north as opposed to the current entrance off Festival Drive. The northern Riverbank works will be some of the first works to be undertaken, along with some temporary works to allow continued access to loading docks. This is essential to ensure the Adelaide Festival Centre and other businesses remain operational throughout the project.

In addition to these public works, there are two private developments occurring concurrently in the precinct, namely the Walker Corporation construction of the office tower and five-storey underground car park and the SkyCity expansion of the Adelaide Casino. Given the complexity and number of works occurring and the ongoing operation of the Festival Centre, coordinated scheduling is key to the smooth, safe and efficient delivery of all these projects.

The government is providing $170 million of the $210 million project costs for the plaza, Adelaide Festival Centre and northern Riverbank upgrade. Private developers are responsible for all costs of the other two developments. The state government and its authorities currently own the land for the project works and will maintain ownership post development. Lease arrangements will be negotiated with key stakeholders.

There are a number of heritage buildings and structures within the surrounding project. These have been considered and addressed as part of the concept planning and design, including the view lines from the river. The appropriate state and federal approvals will be obtained for all project works. It is anticipated that the project works will commence in the latter half of 2016, with much of the public realm works completed by the end of 2017. The full project will be finalised by 2020, as restrictions will remain due to the private developments and in order to reinstate temporary access changes.

The committee appreciates that this project is still in its early stages and that there is a need to undertake some early and preliminary works. However, as a committee, we require the department—that is, the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, Renewal SA and Arts SA—to return and provide more detailed evidence on the final plans for the precinct once they have been completed.

I thank my fellow committee members for their contribution and also their unanimous support of this complex project and I also thank the committee staff for their work. Given this, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to the parliament that it recommends the proposed public works.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:07): I, too, rise to provide a contribution to the 544^th report of the Public Works Committee, entitled 'Adelaide Festival Centre precinct upgrade'. The project will hopefully breathe some life into what should be the centrepiece of Adelaide but has really fallen into a state of tiredness over the last decade. For more than 40 years, the Adelaide Festival Centre has been the heart of the performing arts here in Adelaide and, when completed in 1973, the centre was the nation's leading multipurpose arts centre and it quickly became the heart of successive festivals.

The Adelaide Festival Centre precinct upgrade complements the private sector components of the Riverbank precinct redevelopment which include the Walker Corporation and SkyCity developments. The focus on the submission put forward to the Public Works Committee related to the state-funded Adelaide Festival Centre precinct upgrade. The total expenditure for the upgrade is approximately $210 million, of which the government contribution is approximately $170 million.

There are many proposed facets to the project, including the development of the Adelaide Festival Centre, the Casino, the plaza itself and, of course, the underground car park. There will be a retail area and the office tower, as well as the much awaited underground car park that will replace the current car park that the people of this place utilise well.

Obviously what we were shown in the Public Works Committee are not the final plans, and there are many applications still to be lodged, designs to be reviewed and the independent process to go through, so I am sure we will be kept up to date with any changes. I do note that the walk of fame, featuring the names of more than 120 legendary South Australian performers who have performed at the AFC, will be a part of this project, and it will be unique in this state. I will wait to see the finished product and the number of visitors before making a personal judgement.

One of the big issues that we face with the project is the much-utilised footbridge. The department did tell us that there would be some interruption, but they are hoping that the foot traffic will be diverted to the two bridges either side of the footbridge. So, the Morphett Street bridge and the King William Street bridge will have to have foot traffic diverted that way. There are some ongoing negotiations with the Stadium Management Authority, SANFL and SACA so that we can reduce the impact of people using that footbridge while the Festival Centre Precinct is upgraded. There will be some disruption while that upgrade moves ahead, but, as I said, I support the 544^th report of the committee and hope that it is an upgrade to Adelaide's centrepiece within the arts.

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:11): I would like to thank my fellow committee member, the member for Chaffey, for his words of support on this project, and I thank him for mentioning the walk of fame, which will certainly be a feature of the whole new precinct. With that, I also thank the other members and recommend the report to the house.

Motion carried.