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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
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BLACK HILL PONY CLUB

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (11:36): I move:

That this house—

(a) commends the volunteers who have worked for 26 years to build and maintain the remarkable Black Hill Pony Club facility on what was previously a dump site at Woodforde and has since been used for the benefit of young people in the local community;

(b) notes the community's desire to maintain open space, sporting and recreational facilities as much as possible in their built environment; and

(c) condemns the government for demanding that the Black Hill Pony Club cease using its facility from November 2010 in order to maximise the amount of land available for new housing developments.

This issue has been discussed over a number of months now and the history of the debate has been canvassed publicly and in this place. I do not intend to retread old ground and I may not finish the debate by just going over the same things that have been said before, but I do want to introduce some new material into the context of this house.

First, in terms of commending the volunteers who have worked for 26 years to build and maintain this remarkable facility, the Black Hill Pony Club, as has been said, was previously a dump site and using clean fill and the efforts and endeavours of volunteers, they have built an arena, a cross-country course, club rooms and a facility that currently assists 200 members—children of all backgrounds in the local area—to have the benefit of access to animals, learning about using animals, very healthy activity and the sorts of recreational opportunities that they have at the pony club.

One volunteer in particular, the club's president Katherine Warren, is worthy of particular commendation. Some members who have had a bit of involvement with this debate would be aware that Mrs Warren and her family have had a dreadful year, and all sorts of challenging and difficult personal circumstances have compounded how difficult this issue has been for that family but, throughout the debate, Katherine Warren has conducted herself with a dignity and courage that is commendable. She has represented the interests of the Black Hill Pony Club extremely well throughout.

It is very disappointing that this is going on, not just for Katherine Warren and her family but also for the families of those other 200 children who are involved in the club. It has become clear that, unless the minister is about to advise us of remarkable new developments, the government will not be removing the requirement that the club move, and I will get to some more specifics later in my comments. I appreciate the responses to my inquiries from the minister throughout this debate. In one of the responses, in a letter dated 7 June, the minister concluded by pointing out:

The Magill land is a high value site and, as such, the government cannot ignore its value to the South Australian community and reinvesting the proceeds of the sale of new government infrastructure.

As I understand it, the proceeds of the sale are supposed to be reinvested in the new youth training facility to be built at Cavan, and that is a very important infrastructure development which I support. In fact, I was publicly very vocal throughout the lead-up to the election and up to the decision being made in 2009. However, there is money in the budget to do all sorts of things, and I do not believe that the best way to fund these projects is by reducing the community's opportunity to be involved in other worthy pursuits. As I said, the pony club supports 200 local families in having their children involved in active recreation and is worthy of continued support.

A number of members of the pony club, local residents, as well as others in the community, have had the courage to put their views out in the public arena, and I think it would be useful to have them in the Hansard as well. In particular, I would like to refer to some of the comments that have come to my attention for the benefit of the house. Reb Row wrote:

I am a member of the BHPC and find it difficult to understand why my government will displace and threaten this active and successful sporting club. I have been involved with horses 14 of my 22 years and directly link being around horses with increasing self-esteem, confidence and social skills. Horses have taught me, and the other children at the club, responsibility and what it means to put another being before oneself. I am dismayed that my government is so hastily compromising this club which already facilitates physical activity, education and life skills for youths; to further provide for youths who have made incorrect choices in life.

On that point, I should say that I certainly agree with the government that we need that new training centre at Cavan; that is important. Going on, Reb Rowe wrote:

It seems that the government is more comfortable dealing with punitive measures rather than prevention. BHPC was built and still runs on volunteers and fundraising and, as a hardworking club, we keep fees low to enable anyone to be involved with horses. We are living proof that horses aren't an elitist hobby. The location of BHPC is important so as to remain in the metro PC zone and keep competitions challenging in the zone and statewide. We hope an alternate option can be reached and that the government realises that gold medals are born of grassroots clubs like BHPC.

In a similar light, a lady called Vanessa wrote on the East Torrens Messenger site in relation to this matter as follows:

As a youth worker and a pony clubber when I was a child... I do not believe closing down a community—any positive community. That just goes against everything I have been taught as a youth worker!! Which is how important community and community involvement is!!

Sue Young wrote:

I have been a member at Black Hill Pony Club for 23 years. Have had three children go through, one rider representing our state in a national competition for five years and then internationally and now the youngest (12 years) training at state level, ready for selection. It will be devastating if the club goes from this site. Hard work, community support and fund raising helped to give our children/riders the grounds today so they can ride safely and practise under the watchful eye of an instructor and parents. Being a very competitive club our young riders have a passion that shows in the results. Every year we always represent our club at state competition in all disciplines and do well. We are family orientated and the children enjoy our camps at clubs in the holidays. How does one explain to the young children that they may not have their ponies for much longer? Where is the sense, that our club families that do the right thing for their children compared to the children...that don't! We are a community and a very proud one at that. We teach self-discipline, patience, social interaction, care of animals and the knowledge of landcare that involves all our families. Where's the justice??

Mike Round of Montacute recently wrote a letter to the editor, saying:

Black Hill Pony Club has been in existence for 30 years and I am appalled that the Rann government could consider upending the club for some tawdry financial deal. I might be naive, but I thought the idea of progress was to improve quality of life, but it will be sadly decreased for pony club members, their families and society as a whole. I have travelled to work past the disputed site for the past two years and I would much rather see the youngsters and their ponies than more houses. Also I thought that keeping facilities local was a government priority, in line with reducing car travel and carbon emissions. With a background of daughters and horses, though no association with the Black Hill Pony Club, I can understand the anguish this move by the government is causing. How about the government putting our young people ahead of the developers?

This is the sort of community concern that exists and has been prompted by the government's move to sell off this land. We know that the land at the Magill Training Centre site is significant—some 16 hectares I believe—and the six hectares occupied by the Black Hill Pony Club is an additional opportunity the government has seen to make some money, but it will devastate local infrastructure. Turning back to the minister's letter:

The focus is on it being a high value site and as such the government cannot ignore its value.

There are high-value sites all around Adelaide that are currently being used for community use and open space, and if that is the basis on which government will make its decisions to sell land, just looking at the value and nothing else, then all members should be concerned that their community facilities, wherever open space is in existence at the moment, will potentially be overtaken in the government's quest to sell land for housing.

The Premier in this place two weeks ago told us forcefully that he did not agree with those who understood the cost of everything and the value of nothing, but this is a prime example of this government showing that it may be able to put a cost on the Black Hill Pony Club land and what it can achieve in terms of money, but it does not know the value to the community that this club represents.

The letters to the editor continued throughout the Messenger, and I will not read out any more, but we have to look forward. We know the government is expecting the club to be off the land within two months. The club has been actively pursuing alternative opportunities for a site ever since they were first told that they would have to relocate, which was at the beginning of this year, through negotiations with various councils. It is a matter that has been discussed with a number of councils in the Morialta area. Campbelltown and Burnside do not have any available land. The Adelaide Hills Council may have one patch of land that might potentially work and the pony club will be working through that council.

The pony club has also written to other councils, but it is difficult to get answers while those councils are in caretaker mode at the moment. Hopefully, an opportunity may arise where there could be an alternative piece of land, which would not be in the best interests of the pony club, but if this land is to be sold and the government is not going to retract its position on that, then I hope the government will facilitate those moves.

I notice in the budget the community recreation/sports facilities program opportunities have increased from a maximum of $300,000 grants to $500,000 grants, and such a grant is in the range of what the pony club would require in order to be able to relocate, if a suitable patch of land can be found. In recent weeks, I wrote to the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing, requesting his assistance in potentially making that available. It would require a special exemption to the date by which grant applications must be made, because it is impossible now for the club to secure a piece of land from another council until after the council elections, which would preclude them from this grant.

I urge the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing to enable them to do that. In a similar context, I have also written to the Hon. Jennifer Rankine, the Minister for Families and Communities, requesting that, if the government will not step back from forcing the club off the land, at least it give them that extra few months that may well enable a smooth transition, if the planets are in alignment on the other matters.

The alternative of course is that this club will end and the families and children who currently benefit from the opportunities for recreation in this way in their local community will no longer have that opportunity. Riding a horse is not something that should be available only to the wealthy who can afford to own land of their own and have the time to operate it, by visiting that land and their horses in that sense. Where there is an opportunity for people of any background to be involved in this sort of activity it should be encouraged. I therefore urge the house to support this motion.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Families and Communities, Minister for Housing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Disability) (11:50): I would like to read into Hansard a letter to the president of the Black Hill Pony Club, which states:

The Department for Family and Community Services, in conjunction with the Treasury, are currently assessing options for the progressive rationalisation of the Magill Training Centre. Initially, it is proposed that the portions of the site which are not required for the operations of the training centre will be subdivided and sold. The land currently utilised by the Black Hill Pony Club will be one of the parcels to be included in that process.

Accordingly, in accordance with the undertaking given by the former minister for community welfare on 16 May 1986, I hereby given formal notice that the Black Hill Pony Club is required to vacate the site on or before 30 June 1995.

I regret that this action—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: Strike me pink!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: If the member for Croydon could be silent for just a minute. The letter continues:

I regret that this action is necessary and trust that the club can identify alternative options in the interim that will ensure that it continues to operate successfully after 30 June 1995.

Yours faithfully,

The Hon. David Wotton, Minister for Family and Community Services

That letter was dated 7 July 1994.

Let us put a bit of history to this. In May 1984 the then Labor minister for community welfare approved use of part of the land for the Black Hill Pony Club for an initial period of two years, and advised that the lease could be terminated by the minister with three months' notice. The Black Hill Pony Club agreed to this lease term. So, let us be clear about the history. They knew that, by the very nature of their lease, the government would require access to this land at some point in the future.

In July 1994 the Liberal minister for families and communities gave formal notice for the club to vacate the site, as I said, by 30 June 1995, as the Liberal government proposed to sell portions of the land. Since then the government has, in good faith, supported these arrangements. It is now important that the club abide by its original agreement.

The Black Hill Pony Club has been aware of the government's intention to sell Magill since 2006 due to the need to replace the outdated Magill Training Centre. The department has effectively given 11 months' notice, eight months more than the minimum three months' notice required to terminate the land lease. The Black Hill Pony Club has received generous support since 1984 on the Magill site and has paid no rent during this time (an estimated value of something like half a million dollars).

On 15 January 2010 the government formally advised the Black Hill Pony Club that the lease of the land at Woodforde would terminate on 30 November this year. We understand that the Black Hill Pony Club is a community organisation run by a group of dedicated volunteers and, in respect of this, the department will not require the club to bear the cost of cleaning up the site or of removing any fixtures that the club decides not to remove.

Whoever buys the land will be required to prepare a master plan for the redevelopment of the site. This process will require the purchaser to consult with all relevant parties, such as the Adelaide Hills Council, the City of Campbelltown, Rostrevor College, adjoining owners, the local community and community housing providers. The Development Act provides for up to 12.5 per cent of the site to be public open space. The form that public space takes would be subject to negotiation between the developer and the council.

As the member for Morialta has acknowledged, proceeds from the sale of the land will be used to build a new youth training centre at Cavan. The new centre will provide an environment which gives young offenders and some of our most vulnerable young people the best chance to rehabilitate and turn their lives around. It will incorporate a balance of safety and security for young people, staff and visitors. The design and construction of the new facility will ensure that national and international standards for young children and young people in juvenile justice facilities continues to be met.

As the member for Morialta said, he was vocal in expressing his opinion about the need for this new facility—he cannot have it both ways. The Magill land is a high-value site, and selling this land will be reinvesting in an important infrastructure project, which is the right thing to do for the South Australian community.

Successive governments, Labor and Liberal, have been clear about the terms of tenancy of this land. As far back as 1994, the Liberal government indicated its intention to sell the land. The actions taken by this government mirror that indicated by the former Liberal government. If the government accepted the proposition put by the member for Morialta, no government would ever again allow community groups access to vacant land or facilities that they may need at some time in the future.

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (11:56): Listening to the minister was an interesting history lesson. Let me just tell you about my history and association with the pony club. I started in pony clubs when I was a young kid living at Salisbury—not exactly a silver spoon area. It was a working-class area, and we worked very hard not only to buy our ponies and gear but also to keep the ponies going. Then, when I was teaching at Port Augusta, I started the Flinders Ranges Pony Club out at Stirling North—not exactly a silver spoon area either. Mainly railway employees lived out there and they worked very hard to buy horses and ponies for the kids.

The bottom line of pony clubs in South Australia is they provide an exceptional training area for young people with horses, but they also teach so much more about responsibility, cooperation and becoming a better person. It is not just about a bunch of little, well-heeled kids on their ponies, with mums and dads in Range Rovers turning up on Sunday to put their kids on show. It is not about that at all, and I sincerely hope there is not one tiny piece of class warfare in this.

I just hope that this government remembers that it has a social inclusion commissioner. It is a government that has tried to abide by the triple bottom line. We have a financial bottom line, so I can see issues with having to provide new facilities and infrastructure, particularly in a desperately needed area like training for young people who are involved in the justice system. If some of those young people had had the opportunity to be involved in the pony club system, they may not have ended up in the justice system.

We do need to spend on new infrastructure, but let us remember that there is also the social bottom line and the environmental bottom line. Maintaining the 12 per cent open space that the minister talked about is a good thing, sure, but it is not going to be anywhere near the open space that is there now, which may be an unfortunate consequence of having to look at the greater good—in this case, building a new training centre for young people involved in the justice system.

The social bottom line is that the end result will hopefully be a better outcome for the people in the justice system. However, the social bottom line also has to include the kids, their parents and all of the volunteers who have been working so hard at the Black Hill Pony Club for so long. It may be that the endgame is that they do have to be moved, but these are volunteers, and although they may have been on notice for a number of years they are volunteers who cannot afford to go out and buy another piece of property, or find another piece of open space, to run the pony club.

So, what has the government done to assist them to negotiate with other landowners to enable them to use other areas of open space? It is not something that is easily achieved, so it should not be just left up to the volunteers. The government knew this was going to happen; the pony club knew it was going to happen—they did not quite know when. So, there needs to be some negotiation and compassion.

It is not the 'announce and defend' that we have heard about. It should be consultation, working together and protecting the futures not only of the young people involved in the justice system, and hopefully improving them, but also of the young people whose lives, in many cases, revolve completely around their ponies. Certainly the ponies are a very large part of their lives. To miss out on being able to go to the pony club would be a huge, huge hole in their lives.

This is not just about moving a club off its grounds: it is bigger than that. It is about the whole process, including how you handle it and the outcomes. There has to be a win-win here; it does not have to be a win-lose. That can be achieved by the government assisting the Black Hill Pony Club in obtaining an alternative area for conducting its activities, which are so valuable for the future of these kids.

As a student teacher in 1971, I think it was, I was taken to Magill Reformatory, as it was then, and I remember going into the maximum security section—that is 40 years ago—and I was gobsmacked at the archaic conditions that young people were being kept in then. It was the sort of prison that you thought was something out of the early convict days; but, no, this was how we were treating young people at that time. I can still see those kids' faces looking through the bars at me when they had been locked in the recreation area, wondering what the hell I was doing in there looking in their tiny cells.

I have vivid memories of what was there then. I have not been in there recently—I should go and have another look—but I do know that you cannot continue to treat people like that in our justice system. There have to be alternatives, and you may have to make some hard decisions. Perhaps in this case one of those hard decisions—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Dr McFETRIDGE: Unlike the member for Croydon, who is happy to sell off the Parks. I have taught at Regency Park Technical High School, so I know what it was like out there. Once again, it is not exactly a luxury area, but the people out there are genuine, decent people and do not deserve to be treated the way they have been by this government. In the same way, we do need to make hard decisions on the future in order to provide the best outcomes for the various people in our society, and in this case those young people involved in the juvenile justice system. They do need better facilities than I saw back in 1971, and they do need better facilities than we know exist out there now.

If the Black Hill Pony Club does have to move—and that may be the unfortunate outcome for it—let us hope that it is not a complete dead end or a complete negative. I know that the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing is a really decent fellow. We are not expecting millions of dollars in grants—far from it; we are realists on this side. However, let us hope there can be some resources given by his department to help the people at the Black Hill Pony Club relocate and enable them to continue the work they have been doing over the past 26 years for the young people of South Australia who enjoy horse sports.

I strongly support the motion moved by the member for Morialta and hope—perhaps in vain—that this government does actually remember the triple bottom line they should be looking at: we need the financial outcomes, but in that process, at the same time, let us look at the social and environmental bottom line.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Dr McFETRIDGE: It is not just a lose-lose, member for Croydon; there can be decent outcomes all the time.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Dr McFETRIDGE: You cannot just print money; we know that on this side. We do not get into what they are doing in England and America where they are printing money (and there is a term they use for that). We know that you cannot do that; we are responsible economic managers. However, at the same time, we want to act responsibly and treat with compassion those who have hard decisions to make and those who are facing big changes in their lives. In this case, the Black Hill Pony Club volunteers need to be given a bit more time and assistance, which I think can achieve a decent outcome.

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (12:04): I thank the member for Morphett for that contribution. I noted in the minister's contribution the focus of her argument seemed to be, 'Well, in 1995 the Liberal Party wanted to sell off this land and, now that we want to sell it off, we are just doing exactly the same thing, so therefore it is okay.' In 1994, the Liberal government did give the Black Hill Pony Club notice. A government letter to the club, which was in materials sent to me, shows that in July 1994 the club was given notice of 11 months and three weeks to vacate. Later on, though, it was given a year's extension and then it went on. The point is that the previous government listened to the community and found alternative means to proceed without selling off this land.

As I said previously, if the cost of the site is the only consideration and the current value of its use to the community is not to be taken into consideration, then every open piece of land in South Australia particularly close to the city which this government has any claim on should be quivering in its boots. Hopefully, a resolution may be possible, but it will need good faith from the government.

I was disappointed by the way the minister seemed to vilify the volunteers, as if it was all their fault. I was disappointed by the way the member for Croydon continually interjected with ridiculously rude and unsympathetic skin-deep comments that are just completely pointless. It shows this government is arrogant and inane. The government would do better to listen to the community and when it says that it is going to consult with the community and be a listening government to do just that. That would be a good start.

At any rate, that is not what we have. We have the government that we have. I urge the government to negotiate in good faith with the club, to give them an extension on this land if it is intent on selling it and to help them find a new site, rather than just telling them to go off and find something by the end of November.

As I said, I echo the comments of the member for Morphett. I think the good Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing has an opportunity within the program he just expanded to assist this club to get the relocation expenses that it will need, if that is to be the case. I urge the house to support this motion.

The house divided on the motion:

AYES (16)
Chapman, V.A. Evans, I.F. Gardner, J.A.W. (teller)
Goldsworthy, M.R. Griffiths, S.P. McFetridge, D.
Pederick, A.S. Pengilly, M. Pisoni, D.G.
Redmond, I.M. Sanderson, R. Such, R.B.
van Holst Pellekaan, D.C. Venning, I.H. Whetstone, T.J.
Williams, M.R.
NOES (24)
Atkinson, M.J. Bedford, F.E. Bignell, L.W.
Caica, P. Conlon, P.F. Foley, K.O.
Fox, C.C. Geraghty, R.K. Hill, J.D.
Kenyon, T.R. Key, S.W. Koutsantonis, A.
O'Brien, M.F. Odenwalder, L.K. Pegler, D.W.
Piccolo, T. Rankine, J.M. (teller) Rau, J.R.
Sibbons, A.L. Snelling, J.J. Thompson, M.G.
Vlahos, L.A. Weatherill, J.W. Wright, M.J.
PAIRS (4)
Hamilton-Smith, M.L.J. Portolesi, G.
Marshall, S.S. Rann, M.D.

Majority of 8 for the noes.

Motion thus negatived.

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