DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

The Hon. M. PARNELL (15:51): Today I want to outline the Greens' approach to public participation in decision making, particularly in relation to planning decisions that shape our cities, suburbs, towns and regions. A lot has been said lately about how the state government handles planning. The approach has often been described as 'announce and defend' compared to the alternative of 'consult and decide'. I think the reality is closer to 'announce and ignore', where the government announces what it intends to do, ignores all community opposition or protest, pretends that it is somehow improper or unlawful to engage in debate, and then proceeds to make the decision it always intended to.

To help it maintain this mythical view of reality, the government hides behind lame excuses such as commercial confidentiality or a desire not to influence the independent advice it might receive from bodies such as the Development Policy Advisory Committee. To add insult to injury, the government then has the hide to use titles such as 'Planning the Adelaide we all want'. Well, we actually don't all want an Adelaide that is designed and delivered by private property developers or that perpetuates the myth that access to cheap petrol will continue in perpetuity.

In short, the government hides from debate, it hides from the community, and this fosters a self-serving attitude of 'why bother' that discourages people from participating in our hopelessly inadequate system of submission writing that passes for public engagement. Despite this, I am encouraged that 541 people took the trouble to lodge formal submissions to the Mount Barker rezoning, even though many doubted that it would make a difference.

The recent selective leaking to the Sunday Mail of a government-commissioned draft Inner Metro Rim Structure Plan Final Report could and should be the trigger for a real and respectful debate in the community about where our city is heading. Instead, my bet is that the government will simply follow the letter of the law and present us with a final product, pretend to show interest in our submissions, and then gazette the plans with or without community support.

So what would the Greens do? For starters, we would be out there talking with local councils and local communities, and we would leave the doors open. The Greens would make sure that public meetings, information sessions and briefings were two-way processes, where the public had the opportunity to quiz the planners and vice versa. Better still, bring the developers in as well, and let us have a proper debate about opportunities and constraints. What are the barriers to a more sustainable city? If we also ban political donations from developers, there would be less basis for the current suspicion that developers are buying the Adelaide that they all want.

In relation to the inner metro rim structure plans, some of the leaked plans look very exciting, but they are also a recipe for conflict, unless the government makes a real attempt to bring the community along with it. Of course it makes sense to revitalise our inner suburbs with new housing and new public transport, particularly trams along roads such as The Parade or Goodwood Road. I called for this approach nearly 20 years ago in my book Greening Adelaide with Public Transport.

The idea of transit-oriented development in the 30-year plan also makes sense, particularly around existing and new train and tram stops. However, it makes no sense to simply crowd more people along busy commuter roads where they are subject to poor air quality from increased road traffic. It will not work unless you change the function of these roads from car commuting routes to zones of activity dominated by public transport, walking and cycling. The exercise is much bigger than simply zoning areas for increased building heights and mixed use.

The project of revitalising Adelaide, reducing our carbon footprint and preparing for the end of the age of cheap oil requires both vision and leadership. In turn, true leadership requires a commitment to bring the community along with you. Of course you will not get everyone, but that is no excuse for not engaging. I think South Australians are ready for a more consultative and engaging approach to planning. People are sick of being treated like mushrooms. The Greens believe that, if we are committed to treating the community with respect, the project of getting the South Australia we all want will be that much closer.