Para Wirra Conservation Park

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:05): I have a question for the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. Can the minister tell the chamber about the current upgrades at Para Wirra Conservation Park and how the government is promoting South Australia's iconic parks?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:05): I thank the honourable member for his incredibly timely question. Last weekend, I had the great pleasure of attending Para Wirra Conservation Park to mark one of the final steps in the park's transition to becoming a conservation park, upgraded from a recreation park. The first part of the event was the official unveiling of one of the signs at the entrance of the park celebrating the new Para Wirra Conservation Park and the official announcement of the reclassification of the park.

I was ably assisted in my unveiling duties by the Hon. John Dawkins, who was there. John, we are having the photographs of the day sent to your office, so you will have that available to you shortly, I hope. I think the change of status, as the Hon. John Dawkins will know, from a recreation park to a conservation park is going to be widely welcomed by the community. It is certainly a significant event in the history of the park.

It gives formal recognition to Para Wirra's importance as a habitat for vegetation and wildlife of the northern Mount Lofty Ranges area. It also ensures that the community can continue to access and enjoy the park's wonderful recreational opportunities into the future. That is partly because of the state government's commitment at the last election to invest $10.4 million in upgrading Adelaide's metropolitan parks network.

These upgrades were part of the government's 'Connecting residents of the north and south with nature' strategy. I am very pleased to advise the council that more than $2.2 million of that investment has been spent at Para Wirra to create new natural play spaces, picnic shelters and campgrounds. We have also upgraded trails, including some designated for cycling, and improved signage recognising the significance of the park to local Aboriginal people.

It is worth noting that when we went out to the community to consult with members of the public about what they wanted to see in the parks that would encourage them to use parks more—indeed, we also talked to people who don't use parks very much at all and asked them what they would like to see—one of the things that came up quite frequently was the desire to have camp places in our peri-urban parks, parks that are close to home and easily accessible.

The other closest park where you can camp is, I suppose, Deep Creek down at Fleurieu Peninsula. With the busy lives that people have these days, having the ability to pack up the kids, tumble all the camping gear into the back of the car and zip up the road to their local park to camp out over a weekend was something that they really were interested in us pursuing. That is exactly what we have done.

It is also worth noting that the recent upgrades to Cobbler Creek Recreation Park have resulted in a significant increase in visitation rates. I am advised, and I think I have advised the chamber previously, that the visitation rates at Cobbler Creek have gone up since our investment in infrastructure there from roughly 1,100 visits per month to about 11,300.

The second part of the day was a wonderful volunteer celebration event organised by the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region. I have mentioned previously in this place how lucky we are as a state to have so many passionate people who give up their time to preserve and enhance our natural environment, particularly working on parks. The Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region includes some of our most ecologically diverse and agriculturally productive areas.

It is a biodiversity hotspot, home to unique native plants and animals that cannot be found anywhere else, and that is why it is important that we sensitively and efficiently manage this area, and engage the whole community in its preservation into the longer term, noting that we are effectively cheek by jowl with metropolitan residential areas, agricultural production and wildlife preservation zones.

Our volunteers are part of this process and they are a key reason why South Australia continues to be renowned around the country and, of course, around the world and in our region for our clean and green environment, and having such accessible parklands so close to the city. The volunteer event featured many members of local friends' groups, including, of course, the Friends of Para Wirra. The Para Wirra friends organisation has contributed significantly to the ongoing management of the park. In addition to helping out and assisting park staff, members have also undertaken weed control on park, revegetation works, environmental and historical research, species monitoring and, very importantly of course, fundraising, and educational work and working with the community and the public.

In 2015-16, across the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region alone, I am advised that more than 12,000 volunteers have contributed over 138,000 hours of work effort on park. This is a reflection I suppose of the great commitment and connection that people have with nature and particularly with our parks. It is also testament to the great work done by the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources in engaging with the local community and supporting our volunteers to help us on park.

It is an exciting month for another one of our great parks because the April park of the month is, of course, Deep Creek Conservation Park, as I mentioned earlier. Deep Creek is a much loved destination for families. It was in danger of being loved to death in some respects, especially at peak times when campgrounds would be booked out and you could not get a place. Having those extra campgrounds in our peri-urban parks will relieve some of the pressure on Deep Creek.

Deep Creek has four iconic camping grounds, fantastic walking trails and the largest remaining remnant of stringybark forest in the region. I am advised that there is an exciting ranger-guided walking tour happening on 30 April from 10am to 2pm through the heart of the conservation park. I encourage anyone who is interested to visit the 'park of the month' section on the DEWNR website before it, too, books out. You will be kicking yourself if you do not book that in.