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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-06-16 Daily Xml
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RIVER TORRENS LINEAR PARK (LINEAR PARKS) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 30 April 2009. Page 2156.)

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:13): My remarks on behalf of Family First will be brief, much briefer than some opposition members are from time to time. I support the second reading of this bill. Family First supports linear parks and is glad to see that the River Torrens Linear Park bill is a multi-partisan measure that governments of various persuasions as well as minor parties support.

I recall the former minister for the environment telling honourable members once that we might have a platypus in the Torrens one day. That is certainly a noble goal but sadly it is perhaps a long way off. However, it is good for us to have bold and exciting visions for public land and our urban waterways in South Australia.

This bill will enable the River Torrens model to be adapted to Gawler River, Little Para River, Dry Creek, Sturt River, Field River, Christies Creek, Onkaparinga River, Pedlar Creek and Port Willunga Creek. All those initiatives under this bill are commendable, but I want to say, particularly with respect to Field River, Christies Creek, Onkaparinga River, Pedlar Creek and Port Willunga Creek in the south, that there are some really exciting opportunities for families and communities to be involved in initiatives and environmental and recreational development and to get out and enjoy the magnificent environs in those areas.

It is one thing to put legislation in place, but you need capital funding to go with it, and I hope and trust that we will see funding being made available in future. As a comparison with these estuary linear park opportunities I refer to the old railway line from Hallett Cove through to Willunga, where many years ago I had the opportunity of being involved in workshops on the development of a concept we now see enjoyed by families right through that region. There are people riding bikes and families walking their dogs along those public reserves, and it has made a huge difference to that area. So let us hope we can see further improvement there.

Members would be aware of Family First's bill to protect the Willunga Basin from urban sprawl, and this bill to some extent assists in achieving that goal by ensuring protection of the linear parks in the Onkaparinga River and Willunga Creek areas of the south. I am a little unclear from the minister's second reading contribution about the areas where the government believes public land might currently be at risk near linear parks, and I ask whether the minister could give particulars or examples of where we might see the Underdale situation playing out again. We have had ministers standing here previously demanding an evidence-based approach for initiatives, so I am looking for some clarification on the evidence base for this initiative. It sounds well meaning, but I believe that members are entitled to a little more information on the real aims of the legislation.

To illustrate where the government has not quite come up to its public statements in the past in relation to linear parks, members will recall what happened at Lochiel Park, at Campbelltown. Notwithstanding what happened ultimately with housing developments that were initially not to be there, from my recollection some significant old growth trees were lost and significant environmental promises broken. We now have something purporting to be an eco-village or environmentally sensitive development, but time will tell whether it really is achieving that aim or is simply a new housing development dressed up to look environmentally friendly so as to justify the development occurring.

Family First believes that local families and residents who had nurtured the bushland there were devastated when that development went ahead. Family First will be watching closely to ensure that linear parks are used as they are intended to be, namely, as publicly owned open space areas for recreation for families and local communities. We have to be careful and vigilant about protecting public land, especially our waterways and linear parks. Waterways are particularly important, and we believe it is worth mentioning that our linear parks are ideal places for increasing the area of wetlands, aquifer storage and recovery points from our stormwater, so that water can later be harvested for water security purposes.

The government should be looking to expand places where it can create wetlands, and Family First will have more to say on stormwater harvesting in the years to come. Mayor Felicity Lewis and the Marion council have done a lot with walking trails and linear parks. They have highlighted opportunities for stormwater harvesting that can complement the amenity of the locality, but at this stage money to help develop those projects is not forthcoming. As I said earlier, whilst we support the bill we hope that money will be made available in future to enhance these linear parks. With those few words, I indicate that Family First supports the second reading. I have put questions on notice about examples of the present menace posed to other linear park areas.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M. Gazzola.

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