Question Time

BOWDEN VILLAGE

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:21): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question about the proposed Bowden Village.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Members would be aware of the current proposal for the former Clipsal site at Bowden, for which a consortium of Hassell and Parsons Brinckerhoff won a contract design in April 2009. In effect, the project will be a test case for transit-oriented development in Adelaide.

The winter 2009 edition of New Connections, a quarterly publication by DTEI, shows an appealing concept image of a proposed development, with a train passing through an underground line that spans the entire width of the development. Sure enough, just prior to that, minister Conlon said that one of the possibilities for the new Clipsal site would be to have an electrified rail servicing the site go underground through the development. This project is touted as:

…a Transit Oriented Development, demonstrative of international best practice; a flagship project that integrates sustainable living and working arrangements, energy and water efficiency, renewable energy generation, water harvesting and reuse that will establish a benchmark for future development along Adelaide's transit corridors.

I have now been informed by a very reliable source that due to budget constraints it is likely now that the railway line will not pass underground. My question is: will the minister confirm that the government's early pre-election ambitions for this very first and most important TOD site are now at risk due to budget constraints?

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) (14:22): The planning for the Clipsal site is in the hands of my colleague the Minister for Infrastructure, through his agency the Land Management Corporation, which has been responsible for it. They have been working closely with the Integrated Design Commissioner, since the appointment of Tim Horton, and also the Department of Planning and Local Government, as far as the broader direction is concerned. However, as to the specific details in relation to transport matters, I will refer that to the Minister for Transport and bring back a reply. It is his portfolio.