Planning, Development and Infrastructure (Designated Live Music Venues and Protection of Crown and Anchor Hotel) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (16:53): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading explanation and explanation of clauses inserted in Hansard without my reading them.

Leave granted.

The Planning, Development and Infrastructure (Designated Live Music Venues and Protection of Crown and Anchor Hotel) Amendment Bill 2024 (the Bill) has been drafted to provide for the preservation of the Crown and Anchor Hotel (the Hotel) at 196 Grenfell Street, Adelaide as a live music venue.

The Hotel has significant importance to Adelaide for public interest reasons, and the State Government has been working closely with its owner to ensure it is retained as a live music venue into the future. In order to achieve this though, there needs to be an ability to increase the maximum height limit of development on the site adjacent to the Hotel to ensure the same yield can be achieved as if the Hotel is not retained.

The Bill achieves three purposes:

1. It preserves the Hotel so that generations to come will be able to use it as a place to congregate;

2. It provides that the Minister can prescribe, in a notice, other live music venues so that residential development within 60 metres must be developed with noise attenuation measures; and

3. It significantly increases the supply of student accommodation in the Adelaide CBD, which will assist to alleviate the pressure on the private housing rental market by supporting housing diversity as set out in the Housing Roadmap.

The current planning rules specify that the site of the Hotel has a maximum building height of 53m (incentive policies, such as provision of affordable housing, enable over height development) and the development application before the State Commission Assessment Panel proposes a height of 64m. The Bill will allow the site adjacent to the Hotel to be developed to height not exceeding 29 storeys or 101 metres.

The Bill provides that:

The Hotel cannot be demolished, its height cannot be increased through the addition of more storeys and a change in use of the land cannot occur without the concurrence of the Minister for Planning (after he has consulted with the community for not less than four weeks).

Demolition of the gutters and parapet of the Hotel that encroach on the adjacent allotment may occur without the concurrence of the Minister for Planning.

Noise attenuation or acoustic treatment works in relation to the Hotel building will be taken to be classified by the Code as deemed-to-satisfy development and any partial demolition associated with these works does not require the concurrence of the Minister for Planning.

The proposed student accommodation on the site adjacent to the Hotel is not subject to referrals to State agencies or the City of Adelaide, and will also be taken to be classified by the Code as deemed-to-satisfy if it meets the following criteria:

In the opinion of the State Planning Commission (the Commission), the development, through high quality design, positively contributes to the liveability, durability, and sustainability of the student accommodation and the surrounding built environment.

has a maximum building height not exceeding 101 metres,

consists of no more than 29-storeys; and

meets other criteria published by the Minister for Planning on the SA planning portal.

Provides that the Minister for Planning can prescribe, in a notice, other live music venues within the Adelaide CBD, where any future residential development within 60 metres of the venue must be developed with noise attenuation measures to reduce the potential for complaints.

Makes a technical change to section 76 of the Act to allow the Code to be amended without the need for a formal Code amendment process.

Where the proposed student accommodation development meets the above criteria and is assessed as deemed-to-satisfy, a Statement of Site Suitability confirming that the necessary and appropriate remediation works in response to any site contamination have been undertaken will be required before a certificate of occupancy is issued (i.e. before the building may be occupied).

Where the proposed development does not meet the additional criteria published on the SA planning portal, the development will be assessed on its merits against the Code, but the Code is amended in such a way that student accommodation is a desirable use of the land and the maximum building height for the site is 101 metres and 29-storeys.

The State Commission Assessment Panel (as delegate of the Commission) is the relevant authority for the purposes of giving planning consent for the development of student accommodation on the site adjacent to the Hotel, as well as for the purposes of the noise attenuation or acoustic treatment works in relation to the Hotel building.

The Heritage Places Act 1993 does not apply to the Hotel site or the site adjacent to the Hotel.

It should be noted that the Bill, as proposed, will still allow development applications to be lodged in keeping with the ongoing use and maintenance of the Hotel. For example, an application to convert part of the Hotel to a function room would be assessed as a conventional development application against the existing planning system.

The student accommodation will need to comply with the following additional criteria that will be published on the SA planning portal to be considered as deemed-to-satisfy:

In relation to the primary and secondary street boundaries:

There must be 0m setbacks;

there must be a clearly defined podium with a maximum height of two storeys and there must be one or more levels above the podium with a setback of 1.5m; and

75% of the ground floor frontages must be active.

The ground floor of the building must have a floor to ceiling height of at least 3.5m.

Any habitable areas of the building must have a ceiling height of at least 2.7m.

Communal open space must be provided at a minimum rate of 100m² for every 300 beds and must be at least 5m wide on one direction.

Communal space inside the building must be provided at a minimum rate of 2m² for every bed.

There must be storage or parking for bicycles at a rate of one storage or parking area for every six beds.

Noise to bedrooms must be reduced to specified levels.

The finished floor level of the building must be at least 300mm above the kerb.

The criteria are considered necessary to ensure that a high quality building is developed. If the prescribed criteria are met, the student accommodation must be approved by the State Commission Assessment Panel within 10 business days of the development application being lodged.

With regard to the potential for other live music venues to be prescribed in a notice, the requirement for noise attenuation will be the same as currently exists in the Planning and Design Code. The designation of other live music venues in a notice will allow a more responsive and timely process to ensure live music venues are not unduly impacted, through noise complaints, from new adjoining residential development.

A consequential change to section 76 of the Act will ensure that the places identified in the notice can be reflected in the Code without needing to undergo a lengthy Code amendment process. This change will ensure that applicants are provided all assessment requirements, through the online development application process, where residential development is within 60 metres of a designated venue. This gives immediate 'visibility' to applicants or prospective developers that these noise attenuation measure apply to any potential residential development.

The proposed Bill is a sign that the Government is prepared to use innovative solutions to achieve outcomes that benefit both the live music and student accommodation industries, as well as the community in general.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

This clause sets out the short title.

Part 2—Amendment of Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016

2—Amendment of section 76—Minor or operational amendments

Currently, under section 76 of the Act the Minister may amend a designated instrument (which is defined in the Act) in order to provide consistency between the designated instrument and the regulations. This clause amends section 76 so that such amendments may be made for consistency with the Act or a prescribed Act, or the regulations or any other instrument made under the Act.

3—Amendment of section 127—Conditions

This clause amends section 127 of the Act so that a relevant authority must, in granting development authorisation for a relevant residential development within 60 m of a boundary of a designated live music venue (being a venue or place within the designated live music venue area that is designated by the Minister in the Minister's noise attenuation requirements), impose a condition that the development include noise attenuation measures in accordance with the Minister's noise attenuation requirements.

Certain definitions are inserted.

4—Insertion of Part 10 Division 2A

This clause inserts Division 2A into Part 10 of the Act:

Division 2A—Protection of Crown and Anchor Hotel as live music venue and development of surrounding land

135A—Protection of Crown and Anchor Hotel as live music venue and development of surrounding land

The concurrence of the Minister is required before granting development authorisation for a proposed development involving:

the whole or partial demolition of the Crown and Anchor Hotel building; or

development involving the addition of 1 or more storeys above the Crown and Anchor Hotel building; or

a change in the use of the Crown and Anchor Hotel land.

Public consultation is required before a concurrence of the Minister may be given.

Demolition of certain parts of the Crown and Anchor Hotel building does not require concurrence.

Provision is made in relation to development authorisation of noise attenuation or acoustic treatment in respect of the Crown and Anchor Hotel building.

The Heritage Places Act 1993 does not apply in relation to any place on the Crown and Anchor Hotel land and any State Heritage Place on that land is taken to cease being such a place and to be removed from the South Australian Heritage Register.

Provision is also made to facilitate significant student accommodation development on the surrounding land of the Crown and Anchor Hotel land. The Minister is authorised to publish the Minister's section 135A criteria for the purposes of such development.

5—Insertion of Schedule 4A

This clause inserts Schedule 4A into the Act:

Schedule 4A—Designated live music venue area

This Schedule sets out a map that identifies the designated live music venue area for the purposes of section 127 of the Act.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. L.A. Henderson.