Coast Park

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:37): My question is to the Attorney in her role as Minister for Planning and Local Government. Can the minister update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is partnering with local councils to deliver the Coast Park project?

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning and Local Government) (14:37): I certainly am delighted to inform the house as to that project, the Coast Park project, which in my memory started back with David Wotton, who was a minister for environment 30 or 40 years ago. Successive governments have developed it over a period of time, but I am very pleased to inform the house that it's leaping ahead.

We have $7 million already on the table from this government since 2018 to do key sections: $2.441 million to the City of Marion for the marina coastal walkway, which is a three-stage project over three years; and, in 2019-20, another $2.65 million committed to the City of Onkaparinga for the Witton Bluff Base Trail. The Minister for Environment has given me a full briefing on what this does, but it deals with an existing gravel path from Christies Beach to the bluff and continues a new boardwalk pathway around the base of the cliff to the Port Noarlunga foreshore. I am told that will get started in August this year.

Throughout the project, the City of Onkaparinga will regularly engage with the Department for Environment and Water to ensure potential impacts on the surrounding coastal environment are appropriately managed. I again thank the Minister for Environment for his work in ensuring that the coastal protection authority was fully involved in the decision for the development of that.

Another $2.1 million goes to the City of Onkaparinga for the Port Willunga North Coast Park trail. That will deliver a further 2.8 kilometres. This sounds a bit like the Main South Road: they left the hard bits for us, but anyway we are ploughing ahead. So that's the first $7 million. That's all on top of another—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: I hope the member for Lee is interested in this.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. S.S. Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: You would think so.

Members interjecting:

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

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: I thought the member for Lee would be interested. He does enjoy a little bit of the coast of South Australia in his electorate, as do many in this place, so I would hope that they are interested in this. Certainly, the member for Colton is very interested in this. I know that he works hard in his electorate on that.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee will cease interjecting.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: Even Jake Hall-Evans, who is our candidate down there in the seat of Lee—he's a dynamo—is very active on this. I thought the member for Lee actually was quite interested in this, but when this week he suggested in the parliament that the government is 'walking away', to quote him, from completing the Coast Park project, I was stunned because he has actually written to me supporting the input to that. Indeed, when the City of Sturt—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: —handed back their $3.5 million that we had given them out of the P&D fund and asked us to do it, we got the Department for Transport onto it—thank you, Mr Wingard for that—to actually get it started. I want to confirm to the house that, notwithstanding that statement, the $6.5 million, consisting of a $3.5 million open space grant and $3.25 million from the City of Charles Sturt, has the effect, in two-stage Linear Park changes that both require Linear Parks Act amendments, to establish the Linear Park and Coast Park project, and of course it involves extensive consultation.

In fact, a number of residents who I think live in the member for Lee's electorate have been into the Attorney-General's office and we have sat around the table with Department for Transport officials to actually work out the program and work out some issues in relation to design, the medium which the pathway is going to have and the like. I do thank him for doing that. The design and architecture division in the office have finalised the design for stage 1. That will be uploaded in the next couple of weeks, and we thank all those in the community who have supported us in developing that.

The preparations are underway already for stage 2, with consultation, as the community in his electorate—perhaps he doesn't speak to people in his electorate, but they have been into our office and we have worked this out with them. That will commence later this year. I am pleased to say that as of 1 July there will be another round of P&D funding which will be advanced.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The time for answering the question has expired. Before I call the member for West Torrens, the member for Lee will leave for 20 minutes in accordance with standing order 137A.

The honourable member for Lee having withdrawn from the chamber: