PUBLIC SPACES

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (14:41): My question is to the Minister for Urban Development and Planning. Will the minister please outline how recent state government funding is assisting the creation and improvement of public spaces within the city for the enjoyment of all South Australians?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (14:41): I thank the honourable member for her question. This in some ways flows on from other proposals for the city referred to earlier through my colleague the Minister for the City of Adelaide.

The government, through the Planning and Development Fund's Open Space and Places for People grant program, provides financial assistance to local government for the purchase, planning and development of open space and for enhancements to the public realm.

The Planning and Development Fund is a statutory fund whose principal sources of revenue are derived from the open space contribution scheme. This revenue scheme allows the government to implement open space and public realm projects across South Australia.

Since 2002, more than $70 million in funding has been provided through the Open Space and Places for People grant programs to beautify this state through the creation and improvement of public spaces.

The principal objective of the Places for People program is to revitalise and create public spaces that are important for the social, cultural and economic life of communities. A secondary aim of the program is to foster a culture of specific urban design in councils establishing practices that will benefit future public realm projects.

The Open Space program involves projects designed to assist in the preservation, enhancement and enjoyment of open space areas containing elements of natural beauty, conservation significance and cultural value. The program is specifically for works relating to conservation and recreation on public land.

Whether it is helping to redevelop and upgrade local parks and recreational facilities, the government has been there to support local government bodies and local service groups and volunteers to invest in their communities. During the past eight years, this government has distributed $51.9 million to local councils as Open Space grants and a further $18.8 million through the Places for People program.

To come specifically to the question, one of the many beneficiaries of these initiatives has been the Adelaide City Council. These include grants to upgrade Hindmarsh Square which was recently completed, North Terrace which was completed just in time for the Festival and the Northern Lights, and the River Torrens Linear Park including the Zoo precinct.

Recently, the Adelaide City Council received $800,000 to redevelop the north-east corner of Hindmarsh Square. Previously, the government has also provided funds for redevelopment of the north-west corner of that square and it is great to see how popular that new area is. The upgrading of the area adjacent to the new Crowne Plaza Hotel and the new apartments that have been built there includes a new promenade, seating, planting and shared use pavement area off Grenfell Street that visually complements the new buildings that were on the former Academy Cinema site. The area around Hindmarsh Square has attracted increased residential development in recent years and the Adelaide City Council's upgrade has delivered additional quality open space in this part of the city.

North Terrace is rightly regarded as Adelaide's premier boulevard, housing many of South Australia's most important and beloved public institutions. Importantly, the North Terrace precinct provides one of the most significant areas of open space within the City of Adelaide. The government has provided $2.06 million to fund completion of the North Terrace stage 3 redevelopment, which encompasses Prince Henry Garden outside the southern wall of Government House. This section of the North Terrace project has provided a significant improvement to our premier boulevard between the National War Memorial at the corner of Kintore Avenue to the main entrance of Government House at the corner of King William Road. The completion of stage 3 is in keeping with the previous stage 1 and stage 2 redevelopment of this precinct of North Terrace, with provision of new pavement, lighting, landscaping, public art and street furniture.

The successful redevelopment of North Terrace from Frome Road to King William Road completes a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve open space in Adelaide's institutional zone. The redevelopment to the entrance of the Adelaide Zoo late last year has been an outstanding success. The government provided the Adelaide City Council with $675,000 to assist the $2.369 billion cost of returning more than 2,000 square metres of alienated Adelaide Zoo land back to public use. This project has also provided increased security in pedestrian access to Botanic Park and the Zoo. A new public entrance was constructed to cope with a forecast increase in visitors from fewer than 400,000 a year to an estimated peak of 700,000 a year with the opening of the Zoo's panda enclosure.

I also had great pleasure in attending the official opening earlier this year of a new $1 million footbridge on the River Torrens in a section of the Parklands which was colourfully known as Dead Man's Hole. This wonderful piece of infrastructure links northern Adelaide with the Adelaide Zoo and the Botanic Garden and makes it easier for people to access events such as WOMADelaide and the Fringe.

The 27 metre long footbridge provides walkers, joggers and cyclists an alternative route to and from the city, downstream from the Hackney Bridge and through some of the most picturesque sections of the Parklands. Designed by Adelaide-based company Oxigen in association with Northrop Engineers, the footbridge is a great addition to the Parklands Trail Project that is jointly supported by the state government and the Adelaide City Council. This government is proud to have contributed more than $1.5 million towards the development of the Parklands trail through the Planning and Development Fund's Open Space initiative.

These are just some of the many projects, many of them open with in the last six months, within the Adelaide council area that have been supported by the Planning and Development Fund in the past year. Many other council areas throughout metropolitan Adelaide and regional South Australia have similarly benefited from the funds provided to support their local projects. I commend these initiatives to all members of the council.