Curtis Road

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (14:32): My question is to the Minister for Transport. What measures are the government implementing to deliver on the Liberal candidate for Light's promise to ease traffic congestion on Curtis Road?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:32): I thank the member for Light for his question, and the answer is quite a lot. I was actually out visiting the Angle Vale-Curtis Road intersection, it would have to be four or five weeks ago now, and discussed with some local residents and the local residents associations the concerns that they have. If I'm talking about Curtis Road, there's a road. It's currently owned by the council. I think it's fair to say that the council wants us to own the road. I don't know how we feel about that yet. But there are also a number of intersections that are impacted on that road.

There's the Angle Vale Road-Curtis Road intersection that I went to visit. It does have some specific issues and we are seeking funding solutions for that. There is an infrastructure deed that's in place over that intersection. The cost of that intersection, as I understand it—and don't quote me on the exact figures—is somewhere between $3 million and $3.5 million. The money that's in the infrastructure deed is well short of that. There are also issues in relation to the Curtis Road and Womma Road intersection, which is the one a little bit further down.

An honourable member: Peachey.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Curtis and Peachey, that has also some specific issues. There are also some issues in relation to the Womma-Stebonheath intersection. All of these intersections have infrastructure deeds that previous governments put over them—

The Hon. A. Piccolo interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Light, order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —and we are working through how we deal with that. But can I say more broadly that there is an issue out into the north and I will present it in this way. There is a whole heap of land that was subdivided out in the north—heaps of it. What was happening at the time that this land was being rezoned and subdivided was that people were buying less housing in greenfield sites out in the north. When I say 'less', I don't mean less in absolute terms: I mean relative to infill.

What has happened is that we have two shifts. We have a lower population growth rate. We have a whole heap of land with myriad subdivisions and developments going on in the north and then people buying more infill development. So what happens is the infrastructure task gets more difficult because we have a very broad range of areas that are all asking for their infrastructure upgrades now, but the pace of development isn't there to support that.

We are working through what is a difficult issue and it's not a single issue. Curtis Road, sure, is one specific issue. We have actually reduced the speed limit on Angle Vale Road and we are working through those things one by one, but it is fair to say that we are dealing with some legacy issues out there left to us by the former government that are very difficult to deal with. I look forward to being able to come back to find those solutions about how we actually get the infrastructure developed at the right time.

I must admit that Mount Barker actually has the same issues in relation to infrastructure provision, where you have greenfield development sites and, again, it is a very difficult task that we have been left. It does seem to me that there wasn't the greatest coordinated approach to how land gets released and developed, but we are here to fix those problems. We don't shy away from those problems, but it is going to take some time to fix and I look forward to doing it.