HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Subject Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-10-16 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

Grievance Debate

Badcoe Housing Development

Ms STINSON (Badcoe) (15:27): Pretty much everyone in my neighbourhood has a stake in planning and development decisions. Whether you are a home owner or a renter, planning affects how we enjoy our own spaces and how we feel about where we live. Like most members of the Badcoe community, I am not against sensible development. Well-considered new housing can add to our community in terms of its streetscape and social and environmental outcomes. There are also obvious economic benefits to constructing new homes, renewing ageing buildings and investing in eco-sensitive design and technology.

Badcoe locals recognise that we need a diversity of housing for a diversity of people. While the three-bedroom home with the big backyard remains the dream for many families, it is either not affordable or not necessary for everyone. We need a combination of established housing, affordable homes and, importantly, public housing for our most vulnerable citizens. A level of development and density is needed because we do not want Adelaide stretching for hundreds of kilometres, meaning we all need to pay higher taxes for more roads, schools and hospitals to cater for uncontrolled urban sprawl. Most people do not want high-rise apartments littered throughout character suburbs, preferring them to be restricted to major roads and transport routes.

We are lucky in Badcoe to live on the city fringe, halfway between the city and the sea, and lots more people want to live in our great community. However, local residents also know that imposing corridors of poorly planned and cheap-looking high-rise apartments add nothing. We know that there has to be give and take, but some developments are just not right in our neighbourhood. That is why so many people in Glandore and Plympton have rallied against bad development proposals, like the eight-storey apartment block at 192 Anzac Highway, Glandore, near the corner of Beckman Street.

You can easily see why this site is attractive to a developer and, in turn, to investors. The site is a stone's throw from the Kurralta Park shopping centre, delicious local cafes and the Beckman Street tram stop. There are convenient bus stops and it is zoned for Adelaide Botanic High School and also Black Forest Primary School. There are great parks and a community centre nearby as well.

Building a 36-unit, eight-storey development on not much more than a large house block is simply too much. The issues with this development are many, from being entirely out of place amid single-storey Art Deco homes in a declared character zone to blocking the sunshine to surrounding homes and overshadowing all solar panels local people have recently invested in, from inadequate parking provision to significant concerns about traffic flows onto one of Adelaide's busiest roads.

The reason a developer can even suggest an eight-storey apartment block in this location stems from an historic council error. Several years ago, Glandore residents fought hard to have a character zone established, with a maximum height of three storeys, which they rightly thought included 192 Anzac Highway. Due to a council error when drawing the lines, this site was not bound by the rules of the character zone.

I have written to the planning minister and raised in estimates our community's desire to have the height limit reduced to three storeys, as with the surrounding properties. I am glad that the minister has recently acted on those pleas, kicking off the change process with a statement of intent. The West Torrens council, and I acknowledge councillor John Woodward, who is here today, will now consult with locals about reducing the height limit, for which I expect to receive overwhelming community support. Any change will not be applied retrospectively to an existing landowner, but it will make a difference in the future.

Before question time, I tabled a petition of 602 signatures from local people opposed to reckless low-quality urban infill. Hundreds of them have spoken specifically with me about the development at 192 Anzac Highway. An application was lodged by the developer Walpole earlier this year, but it was withdrawn before the panel (SCAP) had a chance to consider it at its June meeting. It is unknown whether the plans will be resubmitted or changed.

Sadly, despite efforts to meet with Walpole they have not replied as yet, but my offer still stands to meet with them and discuss what is important to our community. I hope that the developer has heard the voices of our community and is seriously reconsidering their plans. I also hope that this government hears Badcoe's concerns—certainly Labor does and we will have more to say about planning in future.

Our community is not opposed to all development, but we will insist on respect for the character of our community, our needs and our expectations. I will keep working with my community to achieve sensible planning outcomes in Badcoe. I thank all those in my community who are doing exactly the same.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT