Bowden and Tonsley Development Projects

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Housing and Urban Development. Can the minister update the house on the recent developments at the Bowden precinct?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (14:44): I thank the member for Kaurna for his question and note your interest, Mr Speaker, in this part of your electorate. Members would be aware that the government purchased the Bowden site from Clipsal Australia in 2008 and a couple of years later, in 2010, bought the adjacent gasworks from Origin Energy. I understand that Clipsal had operated from the Bowden site since 1936 and that the gasworks were in operation from the second half of the 19^th century.

Of course, after all this industrial activity, when the sites were transferred they were unfortunately some of the most contaminated and blighted parcels of land in the Adelaide metropolitan area. Because of the type of industry on both the sites, significant land remediation was going to be required for the land to be used for another purpose, let alone for residential purposes. But the location of this land, so close to the city and the Outer Harbor passenger train network and also, of course, being adjacent to the Adelaide Parklands, meant that there was a remarkable opportunity for re-use of this land for residential purposes.

It was unlikely that the land could have been bought by the private sector, the remediation task taken on and a development successfully delivered, given the burden in remediation that would have to be borne. That is where the government's role to step in and take this on was so necessary. Over the next 10 to 12 years, this will be a billion dollar project in total, with an estimated 3,500 residents living in 2,400 dwellings.

Mr Pengilly: They think it's a joke down the front there, Stephen.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: The member for Finniss calls the project a joke, but in fact there are approximately 500 people living in more than 300 dwellings on the site at the moment, and I am pleased—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned.

Mr Wingard interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Mitchell is called to order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: I am pleased to advise the house that, despite the knocker on the other side of the chamber, the 500^th dwelling has now been sold at the Bowden redevelopment site. That is a fantastic achievement in the early stages of this marquee redevelopment opportunity so close to the city and it has not just been residential development that has been occurring there.

Mr Speaker, of course you would be aware of the very successful Bowden Town Square development, which is a central meeting point and area for recreation, not just for people who have already bought and continue to buy dwellings on this site but we have also seen people come in and establish their own businesses on the site as well.

We have seen the repurposing of the building called Plant 4, which has turned into a hive of activity, particularly on Wednesdays and Saturdays, when markets are set up, attracting people from the development and also around Adelaide to come in and sell their wares, particularly homemade foods, but also arts and crafts. Of course many people visit to eat there and to buy some of the goods on offer.

I understand that in total 20,000 square metres of commercial space will also be developed on the Bowden site, including those developments I have just mentioned. Of course, we have seen the successful IGA supermarket established there by a proud independent South Australian family who have had a lot of success running supermarkets, including the IGA on Gilles Street, with a very strong commitment not just to South Australian employment but to stocking South Australian goods and services. That is just another way that this fantastic redevelopment is supporting the regeneration of this important part of the metropolitan area.

The SPEAKER: The thousands of people who will live there will be very keen to have access to North Adelaide.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: A slip of the redistribution pencil might put them in another electorate.