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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-05-17 Daily Xml
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Light Electorate

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (17:12): I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some issues of concern in my electorate of Light and also talk about some really great things that have happened in the electorate over the past week. Last week was Volunteer Week, and I had the opportunity to attend a number of events in my electorate that acknowledged and celebrated the work of volunteers in our community. As I have said on a number of occasions, there are very few walks of life in our community that are not touched by the work of volunteers. Not only do they make a contribution to our community with their skills, abilities and time, but the reality is that they also help build the community, and they also get something out of it by being engaged with the community.

There are two events I would particularly like to mention; one is the Light Regional Council volunteer afternoon tea, which I was invited to and attended. The council acknowledged the contributions made by volunteers in various walks of life in its area. I also attended the Inner North Country Health Services event for its volunteers, people who volunteer at a number of health services throughout both the Light electorate and the Barossa area, where there are number of councils, including Tanunda, Angaston, Gawler Health Service, Kapunda and Eudunda hospitals. I apologise if I have missed out any hospital that is not in my electorate. The event is held at the Gawler Health Service to thank volunteers for their contribution.

There are people who have actually contributed over 30 years to those services, from driving vehicles, from getting patients from A to B, from helping out in the kiosks in the hospitals, to doing a whole range of different activities. It was quite clear from the people who spoke and who run the health services that a lot of things just would not happen if it were not for the contributions made by these volunteers. I would like to put on the record my thanks and acknowledgment of the work of volunteers in my community.

I also took the opportunity to publicly thank the volunteers who work in my electorate office and who help out as well. Again, if it were not for the volunteers in my electorate office we could not serve the community to the standard that we endeavour to maintain. We have volunteers who help out with JP services, we have volunteers who stuff envelopes when we are doing a major mail-out and we have volunteers who make phone calls and help follow up inquiries.

We have volunteers in many parts of our work, and without the help of volunteers we could not actually support our community to the standard we would like. Again, I would have at least one or two volunteers in my office every day of the week, plus weekends, who help out. We have volunteers of all ages. In fact, only in the last couple of weeks we have another young volunteer, a 19 year old, who has joined us and who is working, making phone calls, helping out and doing all sorts of activities in our office. Volunteers do a whole range of work, in schools, in churches and, obviously, with the CFS and the SES, which I will say a bit more about in a moment. So, there is a whole range of areas in our community in which volunteers do great work.

I also took the opportunity last week, being Volunteer Week and also Wear Orange Day, to meet with the emergency services workers in my electorate. I met with the captains and the unit managers and also with the local station officers of the three services, namely, the SES, the CFS and the Metropolitan Fire Service in Gawler. We had a great discussion about how we can actually work together to improve community safety. I must say that, at the grassroots level (and I have some experience and background in this area), they do work very well together. There is a whole range of common issues right across the services which I will raise with the relevant minister to bring to their attention.

Interestingly enough, they are very keen to improve the community's understanding of a whole range of issues regarding safety, not only bushfire safety but safety dealing with rivers, water and flooding, etc. When we talk about safety we often think just bushfires, but most often the people who die in fires are those who die in homes during winter time and at times other than during bushfires. So, we need to increase people's understanding of safety in the home, and I will be working with my local MFS and CFS people to improve that information. There are simple things that people can do to keep themselves and their families safe in the home.

Last week, my office supported and I participated in a local forum and expo, the Domestic and Family Violence Forum held in Hewett, one of the suburbs within my electorate. That was a direction-setting forum. It is made up of a whole range of local community organisations that are working together to raise awareness of domestic and family violence in the community, but more importantly to work out the local strategies that will actually reduce the rate and hopefully eliminate family and domestic violence so that we have healthy families in our community. That group has been, like I said, supported by my office. One of my staff sits on the organising committee, and they are now actually setting up a group to work out how they can engage with the community to raise awareness of this issue.

Last week, I also attended a meeting, which I organised, in Angle Vale, one of the communities in my electorate. This was in response to concerns I had received regarding a particular development application for development in Angle Vale. It was a land division application which resulted from a rezoning process, which in itself is as a result of the 30-year plan and also the rezoning DPA process which was undertaken from 2011 onwards.

About 250 to 300 people attended, and there were quite a few upset and angry people at this meeting. Certainly, they were concerned about, if you like, the rapid rate of growth or the actual proposal itself. I would like to mention that I think government, and certainly local government, need to do some more work to make sure people understand the philosophy behind the 30-year plan and the so-called 70:30 rule, where we are actually trying to increase the amount of infill and therefore not only put less pressure on the peri-urban areas but also reduce the cost of service in our communities, and that means the taxpayers.

This area of Angle Vale predominately has allotments which are 1,800 square metres or more, not because it was planned in that way but essentially because there was no sewer out there and that is the minimum size you can have to have a septic system or some related system to do with wastewater. The sad part about this community is that it has grown in an ad hoc way for about 30 or 40 years. As a result, there is a distinct lack of infrastructure.

What has happened is that rather than the detailed planning which now takes place as a result of the 30-year plan—and I appreciate that some people do not like some aspects of the 30--year plan and the DPA which is now in in place—for 40 years this town has grown in an ad hoc way. People have developed five allotments here, 20 allotments there, and as a result there have not been any reserves or parks provided, etc. There is a lack of a whole range of infrastructure, such as footpaths, and stormwater is a major issue in this town that has been raised with me a number of times.

The good thing about the current plan, the new plan, is that this development will actually help and retrofit some of the rest of the town and improve the amenity of the town. What was partly disappointing was that, certainly, it was a ministerial DPA which gave rise to this plan there is no hiding that fact. It was a government-initiated proposal to rezone this area. There was a lengthy process; people indicated that they were not aware of it, but I personally did quite a bit of consultation and in fairness to the City of Playford they did quite a bit of consultation, but still a lot of people were not aware of it.

So, there is some angst about where this whole plan is leading. It did not help when some people admitted at the public meeting that they got my leaflet and just chucked it in the bin and did not bother reading it. I thought, 'Well, there's only so much I can do to help you be aware of what is happening in your community. If you choose to disregard the messages, that's a choice you make.'

What I have heard from a number of residents, though, is that despite the fact that this plan was a ministerial and worked in conjunction with the City of Playford, and the City of Playford had quite a bit of extensive involvement, the City of Playford have almost washed their hands of the development and have just been telling people, 'Well, it's a ministerial DPA—nothing to do with it. We just have to assess it now and we have to wear it.'

I think local government tries to have it both ways. Local government has to stop playing Pontius Pilate. They are either part of the game or they stay out of the game. The reason they often lose their powers is that they play these silly games sometimes; they are not prepared to be responsible. For 40 years, they sat on their hands and this town was allowed to develop in an ad hoc way. The government steps in and does something with them and then they blame the government. As I said, local government needs to play the game fairly and stop being Pontius Pilate.

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