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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-06-04 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE HILLS HOUSING

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:45): As a supplementary question arising out of the answer in relation to the 30 year plan, what value is the government putting on high-value high-rainfall highly productive agricultural land in its 30 year plan?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:45): That will obviously be revealed when the plan comes out. Of course it is one of the factors, but it is a juggling act. I well recall that my great-uncle used to have a celery farm at Lockleys which was some of the best land around. He had 10 acres or something; he used to grow celery and it was some of the best celery I ever tasted. Of course, that area, just there on the Torrens flood plain, has long been consumed by housing.

Increasingly, agriculture has moved out but, fortunately, in relation to that element of horticulture, hydroponics has, to some extent, taken over. I know that when I had the pleasure of opening a glasshouse at d'VineRipe, north of the Gawler River, hydroponics was used. In that way, you can effectively have your horticulture in areas that are not necessarily highly productive or high rainfall land.

That is how we are dealing with it, but clearly that is one of the trade-offs. Not only do we need to ensure that we have minimal impact on our highly productive land but also land that has the remaining high-value vegetation and environmental value. That is where transit-oriented developments are one of the keys to making sure that is happening. Clearly, the more that we can increase high density within the existing urban growth boundary, and the more effective we are in that, the less pressure there will be at the fringes.

At this stage, we have pressure on both and, clearly, until we can get the acceptance of the community to appreciate and be part of that higher-density living, which is done very successfully in other parts of the world, there is going to be pressure on the fringes. That is why it is so important that we convince the public and produce the quality of living in transit-oriented developments along our major corridors that people want to live in. That is, of course, one of the reasons for the visit that the Minister for Transport and I made overseas recently.

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