Grievance Debate

Richardson Reserve

Mr BOYER (Wright) (15:07): I rise today to speak about an important local issue facing the residents of Wynn Vale and Modbury Heights. The City of Tea Tree Gully is currently consulting on a proposal to sell a 3.4-hectare piece of land, called Richardson Reserve, located on the corner of The Golden Way and Grenfell Road, Wynn Vale. The council has received an unsolicited proposal from German retailer Kaufland of $13.8 million to purchase the site and build a new supermarket.

Richardson Reserve is home to Modbury Vista Soccer Club, which currently has around 750 members and has now stopped taking members because it has outgrown its current site. The clubrooms that Vista use are also no longer fit for use, and the pitch has not been up to standard for many seasons, forcing the club to play many of its home games at the neighbouring Modbury Jets synthetic pitch, which was funded by the previous Labor government. I was very pleased to be there when the member for West Torrens opened it last year.

With the funds from the proposed sale, the council will relocate the club to another site in Golden Grove and build new synthetic pitches for Modbury Vista and other clubs, while spending the remaining funds on upgrading local open space. It was because of the incredible growth of Modbury Vista Soccer Club and the poor state of the current playing surface that the Labor Party committed to providing the club with $1 million for a new synthetic pitch, if re-elected.

As the newly elected member for Wright, one of my first acts was to meet with the president of Vista to encourage him to write to the new government to ask them to honour the election commitment made by the Labor Party. It was at this meeting that I learned, much to my surprise, that the Liberal candidate for the seat of Wright had called and spoken to the club president before I made the commitment on behalf of the Labor Party and said words to the effect of, 'Whatever Labor commits to you for your club, we will match.' I do not for a second question the intent of the Liberal candidate for Wright. He is a very decent person and I have a lot of respect for him. I know he would only have made this commitment with the imprimatur of Liberal Party leadership.

I wrote to the Minister for Sport in early April, informing him that the Liberal Party also committed to $1 million for a new synthetic playing pitch for Modbury Vista Soccer Club and have confirmation that his office received that letter on 16 April. I am yet to receive a reply, but as the consultation for the proposed sale of Richardson Reserve continues, I think it is only fair to the residents of Wynn Vale and Modbury Heights that they know there is another option on the table, and that is to preserve Richardson Reserve as public land and for the new government to honour the commitment that its candidate for the seat of Wright made before the most recent state election.

Over the following two Saturdays, I will be conducting my own consultation on the proposed sale, with local ward councillor Sandy Keane, mayor Kevin Knight and federal member for Makin, Tony Zappia. I have also written to all residents in Wynn Vale and Modbury Heights with a survey asking for their feedback, and I am closely monitoring similar surveys and polls in other online forums. Once residents and stakeholders have had an opportunity to digest the proposal and provide their thoughts and feedback, it will return to council for a final decision.

I note from the many conversations I have already had with local residents that there are different opinions on this matter, and although ultimately this is a decision for council, I commit to not taking a position on the proposal myself until after I have spoken to as many local residents as possible.

The SPEAKER: Could ministers who are not talking please be seated or leave, thank you. Deputy Premier.