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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-11-19 Daily Xml
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COMMUNITY CABINET

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (15:49): Last week, state cabinet visited my electorate of Light. The visit marked the 50th community cabinet held since the Rann Labor government was first elected in 2002. Community cabinet gives ministers the opportunity to hear firsthand issues of concern to the local community and to hear the stories of people within the electorate. Importantly, it also gives the government an opportunity to explain its policies. On both those accounts, the community cabinet was a huge success.

While time does not allow for all the events associated with the community cabinet to be detailed here, I would like to highlight some of the concerns that were raised by members of my community with members of the government.

On the Monday evening, ministers Holloway and Conlon were present at a forum arranged to give local people an opportunity to ask questions or raise concerns they may have about the proposed Gawler East Development or the Draft 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide. At the forum, the Minister for Urban Development and Planning gave a public undertaking that he would not finalise the Gawler East DPA until he was satisfied that negotiations between the stakeholders had addressed the issues raised by the proposed development and, in particular, infrastructure matters.

This public undertaking is both important and significant, as its highlights the government's commitment to quality sustainable development in line with community expectations. Assertions by some in the community that the local community would be forced to pick up the whole cost of infrastructure, including infrastructure outside the boundaries of the proposed development are, unfortunately, misguided.

It is now time for the parties to negotiate in good faith to ensure that if the development does proceed it results in the best outcome for all stakeholders. Until matters such as infrastructure investment are satisfactorily addressed the minister has stated that the DPA will not be approved, and this should provide the community with some assurance about their needs.

I am also aware that minister Holloway received a number of deputations in relation to a range of issues within my electorate. Many of these focused on the proposed Gawler East development and the draft 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide. I am pleased to advise that, as a result of representations made by myself and a number of local residents during the community cabinet, the minister has directed the Department of Planning and Local Government to make available all those submissions, except those marked 'confidential', on the Planning SA website.

The cabinet received presentations from local government during the two-day visit to the Light electorate, including the Barossa Council, Light Regional Council, the Town of Gawler, as well as the City of Playford. The focus of the presentations by most of the local governments was the draft 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide and their submissions made during the consultation period.

Overall feedback from local governments to the plan were supportive, with none of the representations questioning the general underlying principles or the direction of the plan. However, they did raise some concerns and make suggestions regarding some aspects of the plan. Some of these concerns, however, have been mirrored by representations made to me from local people regarding the draft 30-year plan generally, in particular the proposed development within the Concordia area.

Firstly, it should be noted that in the draft 30-year plan, at page 85, it clearly indicates that about half of Concordia is not scheduled to be considered for development until year 26 in the 30-year plan time frame. Putting aside that issue for a moment, various submissions made by the cities of Salisbury and Playford, and, if adopted by the government, would likely result in the Concordia area being considered later than anticipated in the draft plan.

The City of Salisbury has recommended further development in the Bolívar area, while Playford has suggested that if the Buckland Park development progressed it should be integrated with Virginia to create a community with sufficient population to sustain a range of community infrastructure.

Likewise, for similar reasons the City of Playford, and quite rightly in my view, argued for greater growth in and around the Angle Vale township. Residents in the Munno Para Downs area have argued, and the Playford council has supported them, for an extension of the urban growth boundary from Fradd to Dalkeith Road. Given community and council support for this additional growth, they are certainly worthy of consideration and investigation by the state government.

Additionally, the town of Gawler has called for a development based on transport oriented development principles surrounding the Tambelin Railway Station. Should these suggestions be accepted by the government, and without wanting to pre-empt the final version of the 30-year plan, the case for urban growth in areas such as Concordia would need to be seriously reconsidered, as the demand for housing land would be soaked up by other areas. Should that occur, I would strongly urge the government to reconsider the need for further development of areas like Concordia beyond those already incorporated in the urban growth boundary, adopted in 2007, for its planning for Greater Adelaide.

The results from those community cabinets and the decisions made by the government clearly indicate that community cabinet is an important progress, but, more importantly, it indicates that the government is prepared to listen to people in the local community. I would urge the state government to take on board the comments I have made today in relation to the areas around Concordia.

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