GREATER ADELAIDE REGION

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (14:50): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government and Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question regarding long-term planning for the greater Adelaide region.

Leave granted.

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN: Adelaide is facing some exciting challenges in the next 30 years. As our population grows, the city needs to accommodate extra residents. By simply allowing the city to sprawl there is a risk that people become isolated from public amenities in existing suburbs. If we keep boundaries unchanged, pressure mounts to house these additional residents in Adelaide's older suburbs or within townships beyond the commuter belt.

As I understand, a far-reaching planning review looked at these challenges and made wide-ranging recommendations in June this year. The review estimates that greater Adelaide needs to accommodate up to 537,000 new residents in the next 30 years, requiring an additional 247,000 dwellings. Will the minister update members on the implementation of the review's recommendations and any action being taken to provide a framework for planning for Adelaide's future to address these issues?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:51): I thank the honourable member for his important question. There is probably no greater challenge facing this government than the need to plan for the future. Our population is growing, the percentage of aged people is also increasing, and our city remains constrained by the sea to the west and the Adelaide Hills to the east. The best way to address this challenge is through long-term planning, and the first requirement of long-term planning is a vision. Where do we want to be in 30 years, and do we want a road map to make sure that we arrive there?

The next three decades of our city's development will set the stage for our bicentenary in 2036. Unlike those members opposite, this government has a vision for the growth and development of this city, and it is a vision that extends beyond a sports stadium. Ensuring that South Australia has a long-term plan is even more crucial at this time of economic uncertainty when governments at all levels must ensure that finances are directed to the most pressing needs.

Unlike the opposition, this government does not have the luxury to promise all things to all people regardless of the cost and consequences. In fact, it is trying to reinvent history. We have the Leader of the Opposition out there: after attacking this government for the 2½ years he has been there for not having spent anything, now he is saying we are not putting money away, notwithstanding the fact that the government he was a member of could not run a budget surplus in any of its eight years. This one has had a surplus every year, and that is why members opposite are trying to reinvent history, but they will not get away with it.

Central to achieving a vision for this city is the creation of a new long-term plan for greater Adelaide. Yesterday marked the beginning of a nine-month consultative process to design a new 30-year program for greater Adelaide. This consultative process was kicked off this week with a series of workshops between state and local government. These workshops, conducted by the Department of Planning and Local Government, are the first steps in a multi-stage process which will include major community consultation during 2009.

To help guide these workshops the government yesterday published a directions statement. The directions document can be found online on the Planning SA website. This statement, endorsed by cabinet, reinforces the broad direction for Adelaide's growth and development, which includes some of the major initiatives announced in the past year. These include the $2 billion to be invested in electrifying and extending Adelaide's rail corridors and the scope this provides to encourage transit oriented developments. The government is also in the process of implementing the wide-ranging recommendations of the planning review, which include identification of future growth areas within the metropolitan area and in the vicinity of major townships around Adelaide. This 30-year vision focuses on creating a city that does the following:

encourages urban regeneration and revitalisation, while sensibly protecting valued heritage and character;

encompasses vibrant new higher density neighbourhoods created in and near the CBD and along designated transit corridors to the west, north and south;

embraces well-planned fringe growth with new population centres closely connected to transport infrastructure and employment opportunities;

encourages the sustainable growth of near country towns and townships, while protecting our most valuable environmental, agricultural and tourism assets; and

is served by a high-speed mass transport system linked to the growth in residential housing and jobs.

This government is planning for a city that embraces a rapid transit system that allows people to live in energy and water efficient housing in both the inner city and the suburbs. It will be a city that is climate change resilient with a strong, affordable supply of housing to accommodate a growing population and a broad range of housing choices to suit young couples, families and the elderly.

This 30-year plan must detail where and how Adelaide is to develop, providing certainty but at the same time recognising regional differences, strengths, opportunities and constraints. We want to embrace the future while cherishing our past, so we aim to introduce a residential development code that streamlines the approval of new housing while making allowances for the character that is the distinguishing feature of our suburbs. The planning process must be a genuine partnership between state and local government, industry and agencies regarding local detail but with firm state leadership with respect to the broad direction.

The direction statement reinforces the direction of key government initiatives, including the $2 billion transport investment announced in this year's budget, the planning reforms package and the purchase of the Clipsal site in Bowden on the fringe of the parklands.

Last week, I announced a Growth Investigation Areas project to identify broadacre land to provide a 25-year rolling supply for Adelaide. Adelaide needs a 25-year rolling supply of land, including 15 years of supply zoned ready to go, if the predicted demand for new housing is to be met. This important project will evaluate the full range of broadacre development options for the greater Adelaide area, encompassing the review of township boundaries initiated earlier this year.

This comprehensive study has begun by evaluating land in the Adelaide Hills in the vicinity of Mount Barker, Littlehampton and Nairne. Mount Barker is one of the most rapidly growing areas in Australia, so it is not surprising that there has been strong interest in further developing Mount Barker to the south and the east. This requires a thorough evaluation of the town's boundaries to enable appropriate rezoning and planning, such as the potential for additional access from the South Eastern Freeway to take local traffic away from the main street of Mount Barker.

All these initiatives—our transport revolution, the purchase of the Clipsal site, streamlining planning assessment and the project to identify land supply—are part of an integrated approach by the state government to planning Adelaide's future development. I look forward to working with councils, industry groups and the community in facing this exciting challenge of developing a vision for Adelaide and setting down a plan to ensure that we achieve this vision together during the next three decades.