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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-04-07 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE SHOWGROUND

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:50): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question regarding the Adelaide Showground.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: As members may be aware, the Royal Adelaide Show has a long tradition in this state reaching back more than 150 years. The show is always held from the first Friday in September at the showground at Wayville, providing a wonderful opportunity to bring together the rural, regional and metropolitan communities of this state, showcasing the best in farming alongside arts and crafts. The Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society has made significant progress in upgrading the facilities at the showground, including the new Goyder Pavilion. Will the minister provide any further details on ways the state government is helping the society as it works to improve the amenities provided by the showground site?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:51): Indeed, the Royal Adelaide Show has been an important part of the social fabric of this state since it was established back in 1839, and it has been held at the current location since 1925, when the showground moved from North Terrace to Wayville. In the more than 80 years that the Adelaide Showground has been at Wayville, the precinct has adapted to keep pace with changes in public demand while also embracing the traditions that have made it the best show in Australia.

The annual Royal Adelaide Show is only one of many events held at the showground, most of which make use of the north-east corner of the site. The showground attracts about 1.3 million visitors each year and on average hosts an event every four days. The showground is also the home to the Wayville Sports Centre, Royal Agriculture and Horticulture Society Archives and the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market.

Although steeped in tradition, the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society is also aware of the need to update the facilities to cater for changing tastes and the public's demand for modern facilities, and we have seen that in the construction of the Goyder Pavilion. The new pavilion houses Australia's largest rooftop installation of solar panels, five times the size of the nation's next largest installation at Melbourne's Queen Victoria Markets. With about 10,000 square metres of solar panels, the array can generate 1,400 megawatt hours of solar electricity, which is the equivalent to powering more than 200 homes a year, enough to meet all of the electricity requirements of the Goyder Pavilion and more than a third of the annual power needs of the entire showground.

Against that backdrop of tradition and innovation, I had great pleasure in recently initiating a development plan amendment for the showground. This initiation is the beginning of an extensive process that allows the government to rezone the Adelaide Showground to provide a planning framework that allows the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society to transform this entertainment precinct in the years ahead.

The potential for the showground site is enormous, given its close proximity to the Parklands and to tram and train corridors. Rather than limit the use to exhibitions and the annual show, the proposed rezoning will allow the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society Inc. to examine a broader range of uses for this site. Any rezoning will take into account the heritage value of the buildings and other structures on the showground, but the proposed rezoning will also look at the potential to integrate elements of the site with the surrounding streetscape and transport corridors.

Much of the work to identify the potential for the showground site has been carried out by the RA&HS, which has prepared a concept plan that will form the starting point for the proposed rezoning. In fact, the society has $200 million earmarked for redevelopment during the next two decades, a quarter of which has already been invested in the Goyder Pavilion and other recent upgrades.

The proposed rezoning will be designed in close cooperation with the Department for Environment and Heritage, the RA&HS Inc. and the city of Unley and involves extensive opportunities for public input into the final development plan amendment. Once the draft has been prepared it will go on display for eight weeks. During the consultation period members of the public, businesses, government agencies and other interested parties—and I think almost everyone is interested in the show—can lodge submissions with the Department of Planning and Local Government.

The consultation phase also includes a public meeting that will be arranged by the Development Policy Advisory Committee (DPAC), an independent body that provides recommendations on rezonings. As usual, I strongly encourage members of the public, local government and industry and community organisations to submit their views to the department and to DPAC so that their concerns can be addressed in the final version of the development plan amendment.

What the government wants to do is facilitate the Adelaide Showground and the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society to capture their vision, and the innovation showcased by the Goyder Pavilion is a sign of things to come. The government's role in the planning strategy for the showground will be to enable the RA&HS to continue to provide a Royal Adelaide Show that is relevant to the next generation of South Australians and to maintain its reputation as the best show in the nation.

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