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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-28 Daily Xml
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Question Time

TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENTS

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:30): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question about the Clipsal site (and I note that it is nice to see the minister with a new haircut; I hope he was polite to the barber!).

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: It was reported in last Saturday's Advertiser that the government had announced on Friday that it had purchased the Clipsal site at Bowden. The article stated that a green village similar to the urban redevelopment that has revitalised the Subiaco area of Perth will be located at the Clipsal site at Bowden. The article went on to say that the 10-hectare site will be the first of up to 11 transit oriented developments planned by the state government. The other places in the 30-year plan for Adelaide include Marion/Oaklands, Modbury, Flinders/Bedford Park, Mawson Lakes, Mitcham, Glanville/Port Adelaide, Cheltenham and Elizabeth.

The article went on to say that the Premier and infrastructure minister Conlon had announced the purchase of the land. The Premier said that it was a brilliant site that comes up once every 50 or 60 years and that up to 1,500 medium and high density green star residential apartments, retail outlets and a mix of commercial offices will be built on the site around a town centre. The Minister for Infrastructure (Hon. Patrick Conlon) went on to say that he could not reveal how much the government had paid but he could reveal (and it is stated in the article) that it had been on the market for some $70 million. The article also stated that the Land Management Corporation will borrow the funds from the South Australian Government Financing Authority to fund the acquisition and the site preparation works. My questions to the minister are:

1. What process did the government adopt to assess the Land Management Corporation's ability to deliver this development better and quicker than the private sector?

2. Given that there was no mention in the article (or in any of the commentary since) of affordable housing, how will the Land Management Corporation deliver the government's requirement of 15 per cent affordable housing on this site?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:32): Essentially, those questions are matters for my colleague, the Minister for Infrastructure, to whom the Land Management Corporation reports. However, I will take up some of the issues raised by the honourable member. In relation to the future of this site (and, indeed, the other TOD sites), at present, Planning SA is the lead agency for a group within government involving a number of other agencies—such as the EPA, the Land Management Corporation, the Department of Transport and other agencies—to plan for the development of these transit oriented development sites so that they deliver the potential that this form of development has.

The honourable member in his question raised issues about how the LMC would deliver the project. If the honourable member were to visit some of the best examples of transit oriented development in this country and overseas (and I suggest that probably the development at Subiaco in Perth is as good as it gets), he would realise that the only way in which that sort of development can take place is if you have an agency that puts all the land together. If you do not have that, if there is fragmentation of the land, clearly, you will not be able to get the sort of integrated development that is found in a good transit oriented development.

A transit oriented development is more than just high density living next to a railway station. Well planned transit oriented development not only has a high density of living (and proximity to transport is clearly one of the elements) but these good transit oriented developments also ensure that there is a significant amount of employment within those areas. So, an integration of employment activities is incorporated amongst these developments. Of course, that is what modern planning should bring. You do not really want people living in far-flung suburbs being totally dependent on either public transport or vehicles to go to a centre of employment many kilometres away.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, there will be lots of jobs in the northern suburbs. But, Mr President, I will not be distracted other than to say that most of the jobs that will be created in the future—the heavy industry jobs—are likely to be in the northern suburbs, because that is where most of our industrial land will be, not far from Buckland Park.

Apart from that distraction, clearly, the area around the Clipsal site and the Thebarton bioscience precinct will be an ideal site within the sort of mixed development that you would expect to see in a good transit oriented development. It will be very suitable for some of the commercial and business activity within that area. So, the government, under the auspices of Planning SA, but involving a number of government agencies, will be undertaking the planning work for the development of transit oriented developments, of which the Clipsal site will be the first.

It has been shown by other good transit oriented developments that you need an agency to oversee it. In Perth they use various redevelopment authorities to assemble the land. If the honourable member cares to speak to the private sector, he will see that they all have the view that, if these sorts of developments are to work, it is necessary that the government should be able to assemble the parcels of land and properly plan them so that these developments can reach their potential.

In relation to affordable housing, this government has a policy of at least 15 per cent affordable housing within developments, and that is part of the relevant legislation of this state, and the government will ensure that that takes place. As I said, essentially, they really are matters for my colleague the Minister for Infrastructure.

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