CITY OF ADELAIDE PLANNING

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (15:39): Most of us, even in this parliament, simply pass through history instead of making it, but none of us will ever forget Colonel William Light who designed this city and whose legacy we enjoy today. On the banks of the River Torrens, Adelaide is one of the very few major cities in the world whose river still meanders across the wide, public open spaces with grassy banks and native trees. In the city itself Light's design provided us with wide boulevards and large squares, and, of course, we have our iconic Parklands. Light would recognise his design even today, 176 years later.

But cities change. Just yesterday we had a major announcement. It was made by the Premier and it was made by the Deputy Premier, who is also the planning minister, and it was made by the Lord Mayor. What was this momentous news from the three most powerful men in Adelaide—the bloke who runs the state, his 2IC, and the bloke who runs the fifth largest city in the nation? Why was it news that Leigh Street, in central Adelaide, would be closed to vehicles for a six-month trial? Bang the drums, release the doves, let fly the ticker tape, a few hundred metres of central Adelaide will be excluding cars! But hold the front page: Leigh Street is already one of the few functioning streets in South Australia. Stephen Yarwood, the Lord Mayor, said yesterday afternoon that only a few cars use the street anyway. 'There's only a handful of car parks and they tend to be 15 minute parking spots anyway,' he said.

Does it really take the combined efforts of a city and a state to close a street that is already safe, shared and successful? What about starting where it counts: Bank Street, Blythe Street and Bentham Street? Yesterday afternoon, the Adelaide City Council said that Leigh Street was owned by the Ginos Group, and so it is. The Singapore-based Ipoh Pty Ltd purchased the street from the Anglican Church in 1997 and onsold it last year to Adelaide businessman Zis Ginos, who is the Managing Director of Ginos Engineers Pty Ltd. It is not every day that a developer and a civil engineering company get a Premier, a Deputy Premier and a Lord Mayor to close a public vehicular street. In fact, the former attorney-general and the might of the entire Labor Party cannot even open a street such as Barton Terrace, which has been closed for a quarter of a century.

At Leigh Street, the taxpayers will pay for it. The government will spend $50,000 on trees, planter boxes and seating. While it is clearly and obviously a good idea to activate the city, axiomatically the more people you bring to the city, the more people you have milling in the streets. Yesterday, Lord Mayor Yarwood reckoned that the number of people walking in the city, to use his words, 'could quadruple'.

One of the existing problems with Hindley Street and the West End is the real lack of public facilities. I am referring to things such as toilets. As the police know, we often hear reports of people in the evenings having to urinate in the street because there simply are no public facilities available. At night, you cannot get into a venue to use the facilities because of security guards and a line-up. We support activating streets and laneways, but we think that the government and the Adelaide City Council should make sure that there are adequate toilet facilities.

In Sydney, for example, in Kings Cross on Friday and Saturday nights there is a position called the manager of the night-time economy; she works for the Sydney city council. They have been trialling temporary toilets on weekends. The manager explained that, whenever there is a major event, they put on extra toilets. Every Friday and Saturday night in Kings Cross is virtually a major event. Certainly, in our summer months, every Friday and Saturday night in Hindley Street and the associated area is a major event.

We are very supportive of enlivening Adelaide and the West End, but we do want the government and the council to make sure it is done properly. The West End is perhaps the only area in the city which has not yet been revitalised. Millions of dollars have been spent in the East End. Let us remember that the Adelaide Fringe started in the West End, the first Adelaide City Council was held in the street. There is a lot of history in the West End, a history most of us, even in this parliament, simply pass through.