The Joinery

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (16:39): I move:

That this council—

1. Notes that since 2014, the former Franklin Street bus station, known as The Joinery, has been a unique space for South Australians to gather and connect;

2. Acknowledges that The Joinery is currently used by groups such as the Conservation Council SA, the Adelaide Community Bike Workshop, the Adelaide Sustainability Centre, the Common Ground community garden, the Modern Money Lab, the Wilderness Society SA, SAGE and several smaller community groups that see the space as their home;

3. Recognises the state government have announced the redevelopment of the site to deliver 392 apartments, including 35 per cent affordable housing for rent and purchase; and

4. Calls on the Malinauskas government to work with community groups to find a suitable alternative site to continue their activities.

In moving this motion I should disclose that the Greens are also an organisation that use The Joinery for some of our meetings and activities, and of course I am a member of the Greens. I want to put on the public record that our party organisation uses this meeting space as well from time to time.

Community spaces like The Joinery are vital to thriving, active, connected communities. People need somewhere to gather, to share ideas, and to develop innovations for the future. The Joinery has been a vital community space for over 10 years and is much loved by community groups. The site, previously the Adelaide Bus Terminal, was taken over by the Conservation Council in 2014, and it became a place to connect and create.

The space hosts rooms of all sizes and function spaces to cater for different community needs. There is a bike workshop, a community garden, an exhibition area and a cafe. Put it together, and it is the perfect space for communities to get together. I first became aware of The Joinery's activities during my time on the Adelaide City Council back in 2014, and it really did develop a reputation as a beloved community space.

The hosts of The Joinery, the Conservation Council SA, have allowed the space to be utilised by many different groups. These include the Adelaide Community Bike Workshop, the Adelaide Sustainability Centre, the Common Ground community garden, the Modern Money Lab, the Sustainable Prosperity Action Group and the Wilderness Society.

Beyond the regulars who use The Joinery, the space is also used by 300 different community groups. These include the monthly South Australian Grassroots Ecosystem evenings (SAGE). This is where people can come together, share a meal, learn about new ideas and create projects. Regularly these events are attended by between 50 and 100 people, and SAGE uses the entire Joinery space to conduct their workshops and sessions.

Recently, we learned of Renewal SA’s plan to turn this old bus depot into a development with apartments, a hotel and retail spaces. The Greens always welcome more housing, and I want to congratulate the government on making a 35 per cent allocation for affordable housing in the development. I think that is a really significant thing, and the government should be commended for doing that.

The Joinery is in a vital location in terms of access to community amenity. It is well serviced by public transport. So it is a very good location for affordable housing. I just want to make it very clear that I make no criticism of the government for making this space available for affordable housing, particularly given the scale of the housing crisis we face.

What this means, of course, is now that the government is making that space available for this housing, which, as I say, is a high priority at the moment, the question then must be for the government: where else are they going to find to accommodate these groups? I think that is where the government needs to now step up and do some work.

We understand that there have been conversations with community groups that there may be spaces in the new development made available for public use; however, these groups will only be able to use the space if they are charged a commercial hourly rate, and a commercial hourly rent would be prohibitive for a lot of community spaces.

I used to work in the community sector and many years ago there was a community space, the Torrens Building, which operated to the benefit of community organisations. I worked for the Youth Affairs Council; there was Amnesty based there, I believe; environmental organisations; I think SACOSS also had an office there for a time. That was a really good community space.

Unfortunately, the Rann Labor government, for reasons unknown to me, thought a better use of that key civic and community space would be to turn it into a private university. I think that was a very short-sighted and disappointing decision that the then Rann government made. I believe it was the Rann government. I do acknowledge the work of my colleague the Hon. Tammy Franks. I believe she was quite vocal on that at the time. It was outrageous to see the loss of that community space.

The Joinery has stepped in and filled that gap in many ways, in terms of being an open access space for community organisations. The government now needs to step up and find another location. There is a lot of vacant space in the CBD that they could turn to. Over the last few decades, we have seen community controlled spaces disappear. These spaces are vital parts of our community. They allow people to get together and to connect face to face. They reduce social isolation and they give people more agency in their lives.

It is important that such spaces are fit for purpose, free, easy to organise and not based on an hourly rent system, which is prohibitive for community organisations. These spaces need to be reconfigurable so that they can suit different community needs, and groups must have a level of agency in their management.

In what is an increasingly isolated world, where people mostly connect through their screens, it is so important that we provide spaces in our cities for real-world interaction and organising. This motion calls on the Malinauskas government to find alternative locations for these groups to connect and continue their activities. These activities promote wellbeing, they build relationships and they help people to develop ideas.

It is vital that this new location suits the needs of the groups that will be affected by the closure of The Joinery. What we are really calling for the government to do is to engage in negotiations with these organisations in good faith, so that a solution can be found. I feel confident that a solution can be found. I feel confident that the government can find a pathway through here, but they need to work in unison with the impacted organisations and find something that is going to really suit their needs.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.