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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-05-14 Daily Xml
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ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (14:38): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question about the rezoning required for the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: In June 2007 the South Australian government announced its commitment to invest $1.7 billion during the next decade to build a new state-of-the-art central city hospital to replace the ageing Royal Adelaide Hospital. The new hospital will be the largest in South Australia, providing care for more than 80,000 patients a year. The hospital will also be one of the greenest South Australian developments, with its planning and construction guided by the strongest environmental standards.

A ministerial development plan amendment proposing changes to land use zoning to accommodate the development of this new world-class central city hospital was released for eight weeks of public consultation in October last year. Consultation on the DPA was conducted by the independent development policy advisory committee, which received a number of written submissions from the public and the Adelaide City Council. Will the minister provide an update on the progress of this ministerial development plan amendment?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:40): I thank the honourable member for her very important and, might I say, timely question. I am pleased to inform the honourable member that today I have—it would have appeared in the Gazette a few minutes ago—officially rezoned the Adelaide rail yard site to accommodate the new Royal Adelaide Hospital and create links to the River Torrens and the West End precinct. The rezoning, which follows the extensive consultation process described by the honourable member, aims to address not just the design of the new hospital but also how this state-of-the-art building interacts with adjoining areas such as the UniSA campus and the Parklands.

The new RAH is expected to create significant economic and social benefits for the west end of Adelaide, including an increase in activity and vibrancy, as well as opportunities for new retail and entertainment facilities. At the heart of the development plan amendment is the creation of a new institutional metropolitan hospital zone for the rail yard site. This zoning will guide the development of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital and associated new land uses. The ministerial development plan ensures that the Adelaide City Council's planning policies for this area in the west end of the city are consistent with the construction of the new hospital.

The development plan contains the zones, maps and explicit rules that guide what can and cannot be done in the future with any piece of land within the area it covers. The zone, maps and policies provide the detailed criteria against which all development applications for the area are assessed. The rezoning created through this development plan amendment also supports the rehabilitation of land on the western edge of the hospital site and fronting Port Road to create open space and a garden gateway into the city. Importantly, the DPA encourages access to the River Torrens Linear Park and West Parklands through an area north of the rail yards that is currently inaccessible and unusable.

Consideration has also been given to potential pedestrian and cycling links between the new hospital and North Terrace and the River Torrens Linear Park. Development within the new hospital zone should also encourage small scale shops and cafes and ensure buildings and places are designed in a way that promotes public safety for staff and visitors. This rezoning also encourages the use of environmentally sustainable designs through extensive landscaping, including roof-top gardens, courtyards, terraces and internal gardens. Specific opportunities for incorporating water sensitive urban design—and we will be hearing a lot more about this, I am sure, in the future—are also contained within the development plan amendment, including harvesting of roof run-off for non-potable re-use within the hospital.

The rezoning also includes scope to establish a wetland within the parcel of land to the north of the site that can be used to capture and treat stormwater so that it can be re-used to irrigate open space. We hear a lot from the opposition about stormwater harvesting, so I expect it would support this wonderful opportunity to capture water from existing drains running through that part of the city as part of the hospital development.

The rezoning also acknowledges that the Port Road, West Terrace, North Terrace corner is a major entry point into the city and seeks to ensure this intersection continues to operate efficiently. Now that the rezoning has been concluded, the process for developing the site will require a change in land ownership from the Minister for Transport to the Minister for Health. A report to be submitted under the Parklands act will also be necessary before the construction of this important new hospital and the upgraded services it provides to the South Australian community can proceed.

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